NFL: White scores 3 TDs, leads Titans past KC, 34-10
By DOUG TUCKER
AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Winning seems to be getting easier for the NFL's only unbeaten team. Of course, just about everyone is having an easy time with Kansas City.
LenDale White rushed for three touchdowns and 149 yards, including an 80-yard sprint, and Chris Johnson unfurled a 66-yard gallop while rushing for 168 yards to help Tennessee cruise past the punchless Chiefs 34-10 today.
The Titans (6-0), who had never even been 5-0 in their history, scored 10 points on their first two possessions and were never threatened by the Chiefs (1-5), who seem headed for an even worse season than last year's 4-12.
The Chiefs got more bad news after the game, when they learned that quarterback Brodie Croyle's knee injury would keep him out the rest of the season.
White went 80 yards virtually untouched in the fourth quarter, matching the franchise's longest run since 1983. Johnson made it 33-3 with 4:01 left in the third blowout loss the rebuilding Chiefs have experienced this year.
It was the first time since 1977 that two runners had gone over 100 yards against the Chiefs.
After going seven straight quarters without scoring, the Chiefs got a field goal from Nick Novak and a 14-yard scoring run from third-team quarterback Tyler Thigpen in the fourth.
In the second quarter of his first appearance since injuring his shoulder in the season opener, Croyle hobbled away with a sprained right knee. The Chiefs' designated quarterback of the future has been injured four times in eight career starts and Kansas City will probably make finding a young quarterback a top priority.
Damon Huard came in for Croyle, but injured the thumb on his throwing hand and was replaced by Thigpen with 11:56 left. With Larry Johnson not active for disciplinary reasons, the Chiefs managed only 58 yards rushing.
Kerry Collins, in the meanwhile, was taking no chances and hardly ever was hurried by a Kansas City defensive line which has not recorded a sack in six games. The veteran who replaced injured Vince Young in the first game was 11-for-18 for 123 yards.
Until Thigpen got hot late, the Chiefs' only spark was provided by a player who spent the past week trying unsuccessfully to get traded to a contender. Tony Gonzalez had six catches for 97 yards, including a spectacular leaping grab for 28 yards in the final seconds of the first half. But Novak missed a 50-yard field goal attempt as time ran out.
On Tennessee's second possession, Collins led the Titans 53 yards in six plays, sparked by a 28-yard pass to Alge Crumpler and Johnson's 13-yard run on third-and-eight. White's 6-yard run up the middle made it 10-0.
In their second touchdown drive, the unbeaten Titans ripped off gains of 12, 10 and 17 yards and then Johnson broke loose for 24 yards to the 6. Two plays later White scored from the 2.
Rod Bironas kicked a 49-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 46-yarder in the third, stretching his streak to 18 in a row. Since the Titans began their streak of nine straight wins going back to a victory last year over Kansas City, Bironas has not missed a kick.