For three seasons, Tennessee put Jevon Kearse in the lineup each week, and he was some poor offensive coordinator's burden to bear. Understandably, Schwartz started to forget how good Kearse was.

"I compared it to being married to a beautiful woman," Schwartz said. "When you see her every day and you wake up every morning and go to bed every night, you might grow used to the fact that she's so beautiful. ... Everybody else that sees her only once in a while is just knocked out by her, and you sort of grow used to it."

When Kearse broke his foot on the second play of the 2002 season, it was Schwartz's time to cope.

Luckily for him, it was also Kevin Carter's time to shine.

	Kearse

	Carter

With Kearse out, Carter, a profound disappointment for Tennessee in 2001, stepped up his game. He helped hold the Titans together during Kearse's 13-game absence, registering 7 sacks, often freeing up rookie defensive end Carlos Hall (8 sacks) to make plays.

Now that Kearse is back, the Titans have what they thought they were getting when they traded a first-round pick to the Rams for Carter in March 2001 -- a smoldering bundle of matchup problems to spring upon offensive coordinators throughout the league.

And oh, the options Schwartz has now.

"If you like the matchup with Kevin Carter with one of their guards, you can put him down on the guards and Jevon outside," Schwartz said, likely rubbing his hands together on the other end of the phone. "You can work different pass-rush games, and they're both interchangeable.

"You can also affect protections. If you have Carter and Kearse on the same side of the field, you can pretty much predict what the protection's going to be, and then you may be able to exploit it on the other side, blitz away from those guys as they work hard to protect (against) those (two) guys." Last season, it was Kearse who dominated the focus of opponents, as injuries zapped Carter's ability to get to the quarterback.

The injury troubles started shortly after the trade, when Carter had knee surgery. A leg infection struck next. Then he injured his groin in training camp, never fully recovered and finished the season with only 2 sacks. But with Kearse in a cast this season, Carter started to flash the skills that made him such a terror for the Rams in their Super Bowl season three years ago. He racked up a pair of two-sack games, and played much more stout vs. the run than he did a year ago.

	“	I compared it to being married to a beautiful woman. When you see her every day and you wake up every morning and go to bed every night, you might grow used to the fact that she's so beautiful. ... Everybody else that sees her only once in a while is just knocked out by her, and you sort of grow used to it. ”
		— Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, on the play of DE Jevon Kearse

Schwartz credits Carter's resurgence to an adherence to stretching exercises that increased his hip flexibility.

"You saw a quicker guy," Schwartz said, "because he's got really good skill in beating blockers. The biggest thing with Kevin is finishing to the quarterback, because there's not many offensive linemen that he can't win one-on-one against. It's just finishing the play, getting the quarterback down, or having enough time to get to the quarterback."

With Kearse back, Carter is getting that extra time he needs. He has 4 sacks in Kearse's four games (including playoffs).

"Having someone like him in the lineup -- just the threat of him -- he lifts everyone's play," Carter said of Kearse.

Like a Titans' secondary that gave up more than 250 yards passing in six of the 13 games Kearse missed.

"They know. No. 1, teams are going to protect with running backs and tight ends a little bit more," Schwartz said of the defensive backs, "so they don't have as many people flooding the route and then, No. 2, if they don't keep those extra guys in to protect, the ball's going to come out a lot faster, so they don't have to cover very long."

Kearse gained an appreciation of a good pass rush from cheering his teammates on from the bench.

"From being injured and watching the game on the sidelines, everything works together," he said. "It's like a contract you sign with your cornerbacks and your linebackers. I'm pretty sure they don't want to be covering all day just like we don't to be pass rushing all day."

Kearse has been as disruptive as ever thus far, registering 2 regular-season sacks in relatively limited action since his return Dec. 16. Kearse has seen most of his action on passing downs, and exclusively from the left defensive end position, owing it to being easier on his foot.

"He's got some nerves in the foot that have been affected by the screw and surgery and scar tissue; it's probably a combination of things," Titans head coach Jeff Fisher said last week after Kearse missed practice because of the injury. "To me it's probably the force and pressure that he's placing on that specific area that's not completely healed that is causing him the discomfort."

Said Kearse: "I'm taking a lot of reps I need to get better, but I can't take too much."

The Titans can afford for Kearse to take it slow. Hall, a seventh-round pick, has been a revelation. Rookie defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth also has played well.

Carter can play both end spots and also will play some at defensive tackle, lining up next to Kearse on passing downs.

"It's a good, favorable situation for him to come into," Carter said. "It's not like the pressure's on him to have to lift us to win."

Not with Carter and company doing their fair share. Mike Wilkening is an Associate Editor for Pro Football Weekly. Material from Pro Football Weekly.
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