BALTIMORE -- Shannon Sharpe is on a mission.

His goal this season -- along with trying to repeat as Super Bowl champs -- was to become the NFL's career leading tight end for receptions and yardage. No problem. Sharpe caught three passes for 57 yards in the 26-7 victory Sunday over the Titans, giving him the first of his goals. The 57 yards allowed him to become the first tight end to go for more than 8,000 yards. He now has 8,018.

Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens personnel director who brought him to Baltimore, had 7,980.

"One of the officials told me on the sideline that to get a record, you've got to play a long time, you've got to be old," Sharpe said. "So I've played a long time. But that's not the record I want. I want the catch record."

Sharpe is 24 catches shy of Newsome's career mark of 662.

"I'm trying to get Ozzie's name off the record books," Sharpe joked.

Sharpe's importance to the Ravens offense was equal to that of Newsome's to the Cleveland Browns during his Hall of Fame career. Sharpe is a tight end who doubles as a receiver. In fact, there is some debate that the league might take back 99 yards from Sharpe's totals because he was a receiver during his rookie season with the Broncos in 1990 when he caught seven passes.

Against the Titans, he was a matchup nightmare. On first and second downs, Sharpe either lined up in the slot or next to the tackle. It caused major confusion for the Titans defense.

"The Titans have to make a conscious decision what they want to do with me," Sharpe said. "They either have to cover me with the strong safety and have only seven players in the middle to stop the run. What the Titans like is those matchups. But we knew that they would leave a linebacker on me and a safety behind me if I got past him. We like those matchups."

	“	One of the officials told me on the sideline that to get a record, you've got to play a long time, you've got to be old. So I've played a long time. But that's not the record I want. I want the catch record. ”
		— Shannon Sharpe, Ravens tight end

Sharpe's head games for the Titans defense allowed the middle of the field to be more open for the running plays. That's where Sharpe was an additional player. He's one of quarterback Elvis Grbac's main targets for play-action passes. Over the first four weeks of the season, the Ravens offensive personality is evolving.

"With the play-action fake, I know Peyton Manning is good, but I think Elvis is the best at it," Sharpe said. "Plus, Elvis can flat-out throw. I don't think he got the credit he deserved in Kansas City because he was on 9-7 or 7-9 teams."

Play-action is meaningless if you can't run the football, and despite the loss of Jamal Lewis for the season, the Ravens can run. Terry Allen had 108 yards on 22 carries. Jason Brookins had 68 yards on 15 carries. Overall, the Ravens had 207 yards on 40 carries.

"Early on, we were trying to find our identity on offense," Sharpe said. "We're not going to move up and down the field like we did when he had Jamal. We have to manufacture some things. We have several guys who can do this. One guy (Allen) is a slasher. The other guy (Brookins) is power. Moe Williams catches the ball. And we're starting to realize that we have a good offense."

Grbac is getting to learn Sharpe's value. Sharpe leads the team with 20 catches for 225 yards. Plus, Sharpe is a leader. After the game, he spoke of the team's sentiments about why they don't like Titans coach Jeff Fisher.

"It's just funny how you listen to the media in Tennessee and how Jeff Fisher talks about how classless we are," Sharpe said. "I like being classless and winning. Those are classy losers, oh, they drive me crazy.

"If a player says you're classless, you can live with that. When a coach says it, you ask why. We say all the things here you are afraid to say. One thing I can tell you about Brian Billick is that he is ego, he is anal and he is excessive compulsive. But he's like that every day. He's consistent. Guys respect that because you know what you are getting every day. He won't do stupid things to motivate a team."

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