NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Despite a 6-1 start, the Tennessee Titans don't believe they have played up to their potential.

	Eddie George says the Titans felt like "The Beatles" upon returning from Indianapolis.

"We keep saying it," tight end Frank Wycheck said. "We're not putting a whole game together."

The Titans are right. They are tied with three other teams for the best record in the NFL after knocking off the league's last undefeated team with a 24-21 victory Sunday over the St. Louis Rams.

The Titans scored 21 points in the first quarter, but wound up punting nine times. Five of their six victories this season have been by a combined 11 points, and six games were decided in the final minutes.

Their rushing game continues to lag at the bottom of the NFL despite Pro Bowler Eddie George at running back, and they are giving up more yards (334.1) per game than they gain (325.7).

"We're going to have to learn how to finish guys and finish teams when we get up with a big jump like that," linebacker Joe Bowden said.

If they can do it, the Titans feel they can not only reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993, but maybe even the Super Bowl.

"We're going to take it one day at a time, and hopefully we'll be at our destination," safety Blaine Bishop said. "That's 242 miles up the road in Atlanta."

A quick lesson in geography: Atlanta is down the road from Music City, home of the former Oilers since 1997, not up the interstate from Houston, where the franchise failed to get past the AFC Championship Game in its only two tries.

"We're a good team now," linebacker Barron Wortham said. "We want to be one of the great teams."

For people needing to update their information on the former Oilers, here's some advice: Forget the jokes about empty seats in Tennessee.

The team that had the NFL's worst attendance the past two years had a franchise-record crowd of 66,415 Sunday. The remaining four games this season already are considered sellouts in the new Adelphia Coliseum, the team's fourth stadium in four years.

And while people might think the uniforms came from the defunct USFL, remember that the Titans like the jerseys with the Columbia blue stripe across the shoulders.

The Titans aren't ready to make any reservations for Atlanta yet. They visit Miami (6-1) on Sunday night, their first nationally televised game this season, and Fisher said he is trying to enjoy the fact that they have some room for error after struggling to finish 8-8 the past three seasons.

They might need that margin. Four of their next five games are on the road, and eight of their final nine games are against AFC opponents.

Fisher wouldn't be pulled into making any predictions or even gauging where his Titans are right now. He said the AFC's best team is whoever wins the AFC Championship.

"That's how you judge a team," he said.

Asked if the Titans could be called the AFC's best if they beat Miami, coach Jeff Fisher refused to take the bait.

"I don't deal in hypotheticals," he said.