NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans suddenly find themselves in fix-it mode.

All that talk about being a good team? Tough to believe now that the Titans have blown second-half leads in each of their first two games.

The team that started 2008 by winning their first 10 games suddenly can’t find a way to finish off a victory, and the Titans find themselves 0-2 for the first time since 2006.

“I don’t think anybody expected us to be 0-2,” defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch said. “The perception was we were a good team, a veteran team, and we felt good about where we were at. But the reality is we are 0-2, and we’ve got to fight our way out of this thing.”

They can start by looking in the mirror.

A defense that spent the offseason talking about how much Tennessee wouldn’t miss free-agent departee Albert Haynesworth has given up 678 yards passing this season. Haynesworth is the only starter missing from a Titans defense that ranked ninth in the NFL in 2008, giving up 199.8 yards per game.

Matt Schaub shredded the secondary, throwing for 357 yards and four touchdown passes in Sunday’s 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans. Tennessee didn’t sack Schaub once, though he was hit a few times after finding receivers downfield. Defensive end Jevon Kearse said he was somewhat concerned about the pass rush.

“If something breaks down on the back end, that’s not our fault. It’s just a few things here and there. We’ve been in these last two games. We just gave it away toward the end. We have to figure out a way to end these ballgames to close them out,” he said.

Special teams and offense haven’t helped either.

Coach Jeff Fisher insisted after releasing veteran returner Mark Jones he wasn’t concerned about his special teams, going with rookies Ryan Mouton and Javon Ringer. Mouton mishandled a punt Sunday he should have let roll into the end zone only to have to down the ball at his own 1. Ringer’s longest kickoff return was 25 yards, and the Titans didn’t start any drive off a kickoff better than their own 34.

The Titans outgained Houston 449-420 on offense but had four drives where they went three-and-out. Kerry Collins ended their last chance when he lost the ball trying to tuck it while scrambling.

Luckily for Tennessee, Chris Johnson proved a tremendous third-down option in becoming the first player in NFL history to score two touchdowns rushing longer than 50 and 90 yards and have a TD reception longer than 60 yards (69) in a game. Johnson’s 57-yard run came on third-and-19. His 91-yarder came on third-and-10.

“One thing I am convinced of is we’re not playing good football,” linebacker Keith Bulluck said. “We definitely need to pick it up as a team and come out and play better, if want to win next week.”

These Titans haven’t missed by much, losing 13-10 in overtime at Pittsburgh to open the season. Vanden Bosch noted they did a much better job closing out tight games in 2008 when they posted an NFL-best 13-3 record.

The schedule may be their biggest challenge now outside their own locker room. They visit the New York Jets (2-0) on Sunday, the first of three road games out of the next four on the schedule. Their lone home game October is Oct. 11 against AFC South rival Indianapolis.

But the Titans are confident they can correct their problems. They have enough experience with 12 players 30 or older and enough talent off a roster that returned 20 starters from the team that posted an NFL-best 13-3 record in 2008.

Fisher has been able to turn around teams from poor starts with the best result coming in 2002 when the Titans started 1-4 but reached the AFC championship game. In 2006, the Titans finished 8-8 after an 0-5 start and just missed a playoff berth after losing the regular season finale.

“It’s too big of a hole that we don’t want to be in right now,” Kearse said. “So now, maybe we’re just getting our losses out of the way right now. Maybe we’re going to finish up strong. Whatever it is, we’ve got to hurry up and get to it.”

NOTES: Fisher said Monday he studied the coaches’ film and the TV version and could not see the punch defensive tackle Jason Jones threw in the sideline scrum in the fourth quarter. The coach said officials must be sure a player threw a punch before ejecting him. Fisher also said Texans receiver Andre Johnson started everything by pulling cornerback Cortland Finnegan down by his face mask. Johnson was not penalized, but Fisher said Johnson will be fined for that.

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