Cards, Titans put win streaks on the line

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Arizona Cardinals certainly are making their first visit to Music City at an interesting time. The Cardinals are road warriors this season, having won their first five games away from home for the first time since 1948.

Cardinals gameday: Titans preview

Kurt Warner appears healthy enough for his 42nd straight start after pulling himself in last week’s 21-13 win over St. Louis after his head hit the turf.

Something will snap Sunday when the Cardinals, the last NFL team to visit LP Field, put their three-game winning streak up against the Titans, who have made league history by becoming the first team to start 0-6 only to rebound with four consecutive wins.

“It’s a great thing right now because everyone counts us out,” Titans linebacker Stephen Tulloch said.

“We’re a 4-6 team that started 0-6. Nobody expected us to be where we’re at now. That’s the attitude we want to have ... the underdog.”

The Titans also have a home-field edge, beating 23 of the first 30 teams in their LP Field debuts. It’s just a scheduling quirk that the Cardinals finally are coming to town a decade after the stadium opened.

With their rebound, the Titans have given their fans plenty of reason to come out. Vince Young has won eight straight starts, including all four since relieving Kerry Collins, and Chris Johnson is the NFL’s leading rusher.

He will try to match Earl Campbell (1980) and Eric Dickerson (1984) as the only players in league history to rush for at least 125 yards in six straight games.

Warner has been nearly perfect in the last three games, going 66-for-89 for 804 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions. His 116.3 passer rating on the road is the NFL’s best .

Arizona has the NFL’s fourth-best passing offense, averaging 270 yards per game. Larry Fitzgerald has a league-high nine touchdown catches.

Tennessee is the same team that was torched by Peyton Manning and Tom Brady earlier this season, and the defense is next to last in yards passing (271.7). But the Titans finally are healthy again after the return of cornerback Nick Harper from a broken right forearm last week.

The Titans have 14 sacks and seven interceptions during their win streak. Getting to Warner won’t be easy, though: Arizona hasn’t allowed more than two sacks in a game since giving up four in a Sept. 27 loss to Indianapolis.

“The defensive staff said they can play without offensive linemen,” Fisher said. “It’s coming out that quick, and he’s very, very accurate. It’s not like you’re going to shut Kurt Warner down, you just have to buckle down inside the 20-yard line and make them kick field goals.”