NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Steve McNair finally sat out a game with an injury. Backup Billy Volek made sure his absence didn’t hurt the Tennessee Titans.

In his first NFL start, Volek threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as Tennessee snapped a two-game losing streak by rallying for 28-26 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Buffalo had one last chance to force overtime when Drew Bledsoe drove the Bills 81 yards in nine plays before finding Mark Campbell on a 6-yard TD toss with 24 seconds left.

But Bobby Shaw couldn’t control a low pass in the right corner on the 2-point conversion try, and Erron Kinney recovered the Bills’ onside kick to clinch the victory.

Tennessee (10-4) remains the AFC’s top contender for a wild-card berth, but Cincinnati’s 41-38 victory over San Francisco delayed the Titans from clinching their fourth postseason berth in five years.

Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher was stung by three fumbles lost on special teams in last week’s 29-27 loss to Indianapolis, so he took no chances and used Derrick Mason, a Pro Bowl returner in 2000.

Mason caught nine passes for 137 yards and had 165 yards combined on kick and punt returns.

Buffalo had four sacks, and Pat Williams returned a fumble by Volek 28 yards for a touchdown and a 17-6 lead in the third quarter. But the Bills defense, which hadn’t allowed a team to top 20 points since a loss to Kansas City on Oct. 26, couldn’t compensate for an offense that failed to hold a 10-6 halftime lead.

Tennessee sacked Bledsoe three times and held the Bills to 241 yards. The Titans also improved its NFL-best streak to 28 straight games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. Tennessee held Travis Henry to 88 yards.

McNair dressed despite being on crutches until midweek with a cracked bone spur in his left ankle. Tennessee didn’t announce until just before kickoff that Volek would start, snapping McNair’s 43-game consecutive starts streak.

Volek, a four-year veteran who was an undrafted free agent out of Fresno State, filled in ably against the NFL’s second-best defense. He was 26-of-41 for 295 yards in helping the Titans hold the ball for nearly 37 minutes.

Broncos 23, Browns 20

DENVER – Jason Elam made sure the Denver Broncos kept their edge in the playoff race.

Elam hit a 36-yard field goal with six seconds left in regulation, then a 25-yarder in overtime, leading Denver to a 23-20 win over Cleveland Browns on Sunday that kept the Broncos in the lead for the final AFC playoff spot.

Denver (9-5) has won three straight and four of five to stay at least a game ahead of Miami. The Broncos hold a tiebreaker advantage over the Dolphins, who host Philadelphia on Monday night.

But it may have come with a price: Star running back Clinton Portis, who had 139 yards and two touchdowns, had to be helped off the field after spraining his right ankle and knee on the play before Elam’s winning kick. X-rays were negative and Portis will have an MRI on Monday.

Cleveland (4-10) made Portis earn every yard – he had a career-high 38 carries – but it wasn’t enough to prevent its fourth straight loss and seventh in eight games.

Raiders 20, Ravens 12

OAKLAND, Calif. – Jerry Rice and the Oakland Raiders still have some life in them – at least enough to trip up the Baltimore Ravens.

Rice caught his second touchdown pass of the season and the Raiders shut down Jamal Lewis and the Ravens’ offense in a 20-12 victory on Sunday, snapping Baltimore’s three-game winning streak.

Zack Crockett scored on a 1-yard plunge set up by Phillip Buchanon’s interception return on the Ravens’ opening drive. Oakland (4-10) never lost that lead while snapping its three-game losing streak, though neither team was terribly impressive in a game dominated by defense, penalties and mistakes.

The loss was damaging to the Ravens (8-6), who fell into a tie with Cincinnati atop the AFC North after the Bengals’ win over San Francisco. Baltimore hasn’t won on the road since Oct. 12, losing four straight.

Though Lewis gained 125 yards on 24 attempts, the NFL’s leading rusher couldn’t get in the end zone or spark his teammates.

Rice caught a 21-yard slant from Rick Mirer 1:20 before halftime. It was Rice’s 194th career TD, 64 more than Cris Carter atop the NFL career list.

Rice has been angry and silent for most of the season as the Raiders plummeted to the bottom of the league. He has 51 catches for 696 yards, easily his least-productive campaign since 1997, when he was injured after playing just two games with the 49ers.

After struggling on offense for most of the first three quarters, Baltimore pulled within 17-12 on Anthony Wright’s 13-yard pass to Todd Heap late in the third period. The Ravens mounted another strong drive on their next possession, but Lewis and Wright fumbled their exchange at the Oakland 27 with 10:54 to play.

Jets 6, Steelers 0

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Curtis Martin carried the New York Jets through the snow and to a sloppy victory, while etching his name in the NFL record books.

Martin had 30 carries for 174 yards and caught four passes for 54 yards, while Doug Brien kicked two field goals to help the Jets beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 6-0 on Sunday. It was the first time in over three years the Steelers (5-9) were shut out, dating to a 16-0 loss to Baltimore on Sept. 3, 2000.

Playing on a snow-covered field after a winter storm dumped several inches of snow on the Northeast, Martin showed that he still has plenty left in his 30-year-old legs – even if there were few fans in the stands to see him.

Martin went over 1,000 yards for the ninth straight season, joining Barry Sanders as the only players in NFL history to accomplish the feat. He reached the benchmark on an 8-yard run late in the second quarter. The video board said, “Congratulations Curtis” and teammates mobbed him on the field after the gain, while the sparse crowd sitting through a snowstorm cheered.

Sanders had 1,000 yards in each of his first 10 seasons.

Earlier, Martin passed John Riggins for 11th place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. Martin has 11,488 career yards.

His runs came up huge on a day in which neither offense could generate much of a passing game. Martin’s rushing counterpart, Jerome Bettis, also passed Franco Harris for eighth place on the career rushing list, though Bettis was limited in the fourth quarter with a right knee injury and finished with 16 carries for 68 yards.

Bettis has 12,184 career yards.