SAN FRANCISCO – Kelly Holcomb waited until the last possible minute to save the Cleveland Browns – and maybe his job.

Andre Davis caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Holcomb with 29 seconds left as the Browns rallied for two late scores and a 13-12 victory Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Browns (1-2) had one touchdown in their first 11 quarters this season before scoring two in the fourth.

Holcomb knew his starting spot might have been in the balance after two lousy games, but he finally led the Browns on two stirring drives for the victory.

Titans 27, Saints 12

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Steve McNair joined some exclusive company Sunday, and the Tennessee Titans avoided repeating last season’s stumbling start.

McNair threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, becoming just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to notch 20,000 yards passing with 3,000 yards rushing as the Titans beat the New Orleans Saints 27-12.

The Titans, who started 1-4 last season, improved to 2-1 with a dominating performance that could have been even better if they had not stopped themselves.

They settled for two field goals by Gary Anderson, including once inside the New Orleans 10, and McNair fumbled on another possession near the goal line.

But Eddie George had 29 carries for 100 yards and ran for his first touchdown of the season to seal the victory. The Titans held the ball for more than 39 minutes, which was more than enough as the defense had three sacks and held New Orleans (1-2) to 188 yards total offense.

The Titans came into the game with an NFL-best streak of 22 straight home games without allowing a 100-yard rusher, and they improved that to 23 by stopping Deuce McAllister, the NFC’s leading rusher last season with 1,388 yards.

McAllister had only five carries in the first half for minus-9 yards. He finished with 11 carries for 8 yards.

Aaron Brooks had no better luck jumpstarting the Saints, who had the NFC’s highest-scoring offense last year. Against the Titans, they could only outscore their special teams, which had a safety, through the first three quarters.

McNair, who finished 22-of-33, needed only 171 yards passing to join Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, Randall Cunningham and Steve Young as the only quarterbacks with such numbers. But he came into the game questionable after dislocating his right ring finger last week.

He showed no signs of pain even with the finger on his throwing hand heavily taped, and completed 10 of his first 11 passes against a defense missing five different starters because of injuries. He guided three different scoring drives using up more than seven minutes each.

The Titans started strong as they held New Orleans to just 20 yards in the first quarter, but they led 13-5 at halftime despite limiting the Saints to minus-5 yards rushing. New Orleans scored its first points following a miscue by Tennessee.

Keyuo Carver hit Justin McCareins as he caught a punt, and McCareins fumbled backward toward his own end zone. Tony Beckham picked up the ball and threw it forward to Lamont Thompson who was tackled, and the officials flagged the Titans for an illegal forward pass and a safety, which made it 3-2.

That was as close as the Saints would get because Melvin Williams fumbled the ball on the ensuing free kick, and Tyrone Calico recovered for the Titans. McNair drove the Titans 38 yards, which he capped with a 2-yard TD toss to Justin McCareins.

AP-ES-09-21-03 1608EDT