JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- After four years of wandering, all the Tennessee Titans needed was a coliseum to call their own, a rookie dubbed "The Freak" and more than a touch of overdue good luck.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were so successful an expansion team that they've spent the last three years trying to overcome a reputation as underachievers.

So while a trip to the Super Bowl is at stake when they meet Sunday in the AFC title game, so is a lot of pride, particularly for the Jaguars, who made it this far in 1996, their second season but haven't been back since.

For while Tennessee has already had an unexpectedly successful season, 15-3 and two playoff wins, Jacksonville, at 15-2, still thinks it has a lot to prove. Since upsetting Buffalo and Denver to come within a game of the Super Bowl, the team is 1-2 in the playoffs and hasn't advanced past the divisional round.

"We were there a little sooner than we thought and the reality of us being just a moment away from being in The Game that soon has had a significant bearing on us," says Michael Huyghue, the Jaguars' senior vice president for football operations.

"Since then, we've been mindful of how precious it is to be in this situation and the significance of having advanced this far."

This year, in a way, was worse.

The Jaguars entered the season as the AFC favorite and went 14-2. But it was, as one team official put it, "an uncomfortable 14-2," drawing criticism in print, on the air and from the ubiquitous callers on talk radio.

The only team the Jaguars played with a winning record was Tennessee, and they lost twice, making this game even more pivotal.

Tennessee's problems have been playing on the road for three seasons, even when they were nominally at home. So even despite a solid nucleus of talent, they were 8-8 for three straight seasons.

In 1996 they were the lame-duck Houston Oilers, drawing less than 20,000 to most of their home games and going 6-2 on the road and 2-6 at home. The next year, their stadium in Nashville still under construction, they played in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, averaged about 30,000 per home game and again went 8-8.

And last season, when Adelphia Coliseum remained under construction, they played in Vanderbilt's stadium where for some reason the Nashville fans gave them only a lukewarm receptions. Again, they were 8-8 and considered underachievers.

This year?

The fans in their new home are among the loudest in the NFL and they finished 13-3 and won their first two playoff games, one at home -- "the Music City Miracle" decided on a last-second lateral-kickoff return, then in Indianapolis last week.

"For three years we were lame duck teams," says running back Eddie George, whose 68-yard touchdown run was the key play in the win over the Colts. "The organization was in disarray at the time. It wasn't easy for us to get organized and it wasn't easy to win."

Best of all, they got Jevon Kearse -- "the Freak"-- with the 16th overall pick in the draft. He had 14.5 sacks, forced 10 fumbles and allowed the Titans to play the conservative style preferred by coach Jeff Fisher -- running, defense, and field position.

"It's rare that you come across a rookie like him," Leon Searcy, Jacksonville's right tackle who has shut down Kearse pretty well in their two meetings, said Thursday.

"You don't see this much talent combined with his feel for the game in a player so young. 'The Freak' is a good title for him.' "

Still, the Jaguars seem confident.

"We have every psychological edge except one -- that they beat us twice," says Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin.

"But we have the big one -- we're at home."

TENNESSEE Season schedule and results

JACKSONVILLE Season schedule and results

September 12 Cincinnati W 36-35 September 19 Cleveland W 26-9 September 26 @Jacksonville W 20-19 October 3 @San Francisco L 22-24 October 10 Baltimore W 14-11 October 17 @New Orleans W 24-21 October 31 St. Louis W 24-21 November 7 @Miami L 0-17 November 14 @Cincinnati W 24-14 November 21 Pittsburgh W 16-10 November 28 @Cleveland W 33-21 December 5 @Baltimore L 14-41 December 9 Oakland W 21-14 December 19 Atlanta W 30-17 December 26 Jacksonville W 41-14 January 2 @Pittsburgh W 47-36 January 8 Buffalo W 22-16 January 16 @Indianapolis W 19-16 January 23 @Jacksonville 12:30pm ET

September 12 San Francisco W 41-3 September 19 @Carolina W 22-20 September 26 Tennessee L 19-20 October 3 @Pittsburgh W 17-3 October 11 @NY Jets W 16-6 October 17 Cleveland W 24-7 October 31 @Cincinnati W 41-10 November 7 @Atlanta W 30-7 November 14 Baltimore W 6-3 November 21 New Orleans W 41-23 November 28 @Baltimore W 30-23 December 2 Pittsburgh W 20-6 December 13 Denver W 27-24 December 19 @Cleveland W 24-14 December 26 @Tennessee L 14-41 January 2 Cincinnati W 24-7 January 15 Miami W 62-7 January 23 Tennessee 12:30pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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