Tennessee 20, Cincinnati 7

CINCINNATI, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Derrick Mason returned the opening kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown Sunday as the Tennessee Titans continued their dominance of the Cincinnati Bengals with a 20-7 victory.

Slowed by injuries this season after setting an NFL single-season record for all-purpose yards with 2,690 in the 2000 campaign, Mason showed some of his old form on the game's opening kickoff.

Mason fielded Neil Rackers' kickoff in the end zone, set up a wall of blockers and cut down the right sideline before going untouched the rest of the way for a touchdown.

"They did a great job blocking," Mason said. "We challenged ourselves this week to get everything going."

"We put pressure on our special teams to get us one play. We asked for one play and got it," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said.

The start could not have been better for the Titans, who were coming off an emotional 16-10 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.

"I've been fortunate to be on the winning side of a lot of games with this ballclub the last couple of years, but I'd have to say this one is way up there as far as wins, considering what this football team went through this week and the difficulty we experienced Monday night," Fisher said. "For them to emotionally overcome what happened and then come back and play was very impressive.

"We were challenged this week and they came back. I'm especially proud of them. There's an old saying, 'One person with courage is a majority,' and that's kind of what they showed. We weren't perfect, we didn't do a lot of things well, we made mistakes, but we found a way to win."

Steve McNair threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Dyson in the third quarter for the Titans, who have won the last seven meetings from Cincinnati since 1997. Tennessee (4-5) avoided matching its loss total from the last two seasons combined.

Jon Kitna threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ron Dugans in the opening quarter for the Bengals (4-5).

"It was a tough game and a tough game to lose," Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. "It was a hard-fought game on both sides. We didn't score enough points, obviously. You can't score seven points and expect to win."

After Mason provided the fireworks at the start, the Bengals moved to the Tennessee 32 on their first possession. But instead of trying a field goal, Rackers punted and the ball landed in the end zone for a touchback.

McNair, playing with a bruised thumb that had him questionable for the game, led the Titans on 10-play, 57-yard drive on their initial possession. He made the big play on the drive, finding Mason for 21 yards to the Tennessee 41 and also had a key third-down completion to tight end Frank Wycheck.

The Titans' march stalled at the 23, and Joe Nedney came on and kicked a 41-yard field goal for a 10-0 advantage with 5:14 left in the opening quarter.

McNair had an efficient afternoon, going 16 of 25 for 172 yards with one touchdown and an interception.

Cincinnati got its only points of the day with 1:06 left in the opening quarter when Kitna capped a nine-play, 70-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Dugans. Kitna went 23 of 42 for 234 yards and two interceptions.

"There's no question we need to score more points to win," Kitna said. "We didn't make the plays we needed to."

The Bengals were unable to get running back Corey Dillon in gear. Dillon was held to 38 yards on 17 attempts by a Tennessee defense, which played without run-stuffing safety Blaine Bishop.

Tennessee also did not have any success in running as Eddie George was held to 61 yards on 23 attempts.

After undergoing toe surgery in the offseason, George has rushed for just 505 yards and is still looking for his first 100-yard game. He entered this season with at least 1,200 yards rushing in each of his first five years in the league.

McNair gave the Titans some breathing room with 2:06 left in the third quarter when he hooked up with Dyson on 28-yard touchdown pass, extending the lead to 17-7. Mason finished with four catches for 62 yards.

Nedney provided the final margin, kicking a 37-yard field goal with 2:56 remaining in the fourth quarter.