Orchard Park, N.Y.

Chris Johnson ran for a game-high 153 yards and two touchdowns, guiding the Tennessee Titans to a 23-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Johnson had 106 yards on just nine first-half carries, including a 48-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Titans the lead - which they maintained the rest of the way.

"To get the running game going right off the bat; Chris' long run was huge for us right there," said Titans head coach Mike Munchak. "Like we've been saying for a long time, if we can run the ball well, we become a tough team to stop."

The Bills (5-7) have now lost five consecutive contests. The win is the Titans' (7-5) third in four weeks - all of which Johnson gained more than 100 yards on the ground.

"It's real big because in the beginning of the season the passing game carried us and now it's time for the running game to step it up," said Johnson, who didn't surpass 100 yards in the Titans' first eight games.

"I think it's momentum," Munchak said of Johnson's slow start to the season. "I think it's finally having things go well for a couple games in a row. The last three out of four weeks, we've run the ball much better. I don't think something's changed [with Johnson]."

Making the third start of his career, Bills running back C.J. Spiller accounted for 93 yards in the first half - 80 of which came on the ground. He would finish with just 83 rushing yards and 19 through the air.

"That was a great offensive team and those guys have a great running back," said Spiller, referring to the Titans' Johnson. "And they can really chew up the clock by running the ball, so we were just trying to get that momentum, get our fans back into it. So I never questioned the play selection when we were down by 10 points [in the second half]."

The Bills did not go down without a fight, however.

Wide receiver Stevie Johnson caught a two-yard touchdown with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to bring Buffalo within striking distance.

After stopping the Titans on the ensuing drive, the Bills got the ball back with 1:02 to play. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed a 25-yard pass to Naaman Roosevelt to advance to the Buffalo 46. But that was as far as they'd go.

Fitzpatrick spiked the next pass to stop the clock at 26 seconds and misfired on the two throws to follow, turning the ball over on downs.

"No timeouts and you've got 85 yards to go with eight and sometimes nine people in coverage and you're trying to get the ball down the field, which makes it difficult," Fitzpatrick said of the Bills' final drive. "We were able to hit Naaman on the seam to get rolling a little bit, but it's a tough position to be in."

Fitzpatrick completed 29 of 46 pass attempts for 288 yards with one touchdown. Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck connected on 16 of his 25 passes for 140 yards.

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