Titans: They Are Who We Thought They Were

September 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

On Sunday the Titans opened up the 2012 season with an extremely reputable opponent in the New England Patriots. The Titans could not have asked for a more difficult matchup to get the season under way.  Although there were a lot of high hopes going into the game with thoughts of seeing a rejuvenated Titans team on both sides of the ball, the reality is that fans witnessed pretty much the same thing they saw all of last year.

Still No Run Game: During the preseason fans were excited about seeing some positive strides in the run game. In the second preseason game against Tampa Bay Chris Johnson ran for 2 touchdowns with both being 14 yard touchdown runs.  However, everyone knows that preseason does not count for anything. One of the main reasons the run game did not work is because the Titans were playing from behind the entire game. Chris Johnson only carried the ball 11 times for 4 yards so hopefully the Titans can start strong against the Chargers and more touches should equal more yards next Sunday.

Inconsistent Offense: The Titans gave the fans plenty to cheer about on the opening drive of the game, but in classic Titan fashion the drive stalled and Bironas came on for a routine 28 yard field goal. This would set the tone for the rest of the day. The Titans managed just to score one touchdown on the day. Late in the game fans were thinking comeback when the Titans put together a long drive and had a first and goal on the Patriots 1 yard line. Unfortunately for the home team the Titans lost 5 yards with a Chris Johnson run, ultimately settling for a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down. Needless to say the fans were disappointed in the decision and lack of execution in the red zone.

Soft in the Secondary: Granted, Tom Brady is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the game so it’s hard to knock the secondary of the Titans too hard here. With that said though, Brady completely picked the Titans defense apart all game long completing almost 75% of his passes. He made it look so easy and effort less. It was really impressive to see that high powered offense work the way it does in person. It didn’t matter if the defender knew where the ball was going, the Pats offense could not be stopped.

No Need to Panic: Despite the big loss to the Pats Tennessee fans should not panic. The Patriots are a great team and have been for years now. The Titans have a first year starter at quarterback and a ton of young second year players on defense. At least they kept this game closer than they did the last time they faced the Patriots in New England a few years ago, but just barely though. Hopefully the Titans will learn from this loss and get a win in San Diego on Sunday. They have no choice but to win in order to avoid a dreaded 0-2 start to the season.

After the game I’m sure you could just hear Denny Green shouting, “They are who we thought they were” over and over throughout the stadium (maybe it was only in my head). In any case, this time the Titans never had the Pats on the hook.

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Five Reasons for Titans Fans to be Excited

January 12, 2012 by 1 Comment

Despite of just falling short of making the playoffs this season, Titans fans should feel pretty good about going into next season. Many analysts didn’t even think the Titans would have a shot at making the playoffs, but if it wasn’t for a handful of missed opportunities and maybe the worst loss in Titans history to the Peyton-less Colts, the Titans would have been the sixth seed in the playoffs. However, the Titans did not make the playoffs, so all fans can do is look forward to next season. Although the negatives are magnified, there are plenty of positives for Titans fans to take away from this season. Let’s not forget that this season marked a new era in Titans football with a new coach and a new starting quarterback, along with many other new faces and new additions to the team.

Going into the offseason Titan fans have plenty of reasons to look forward to the 2012 season:

1. Full Offseason and Training Camp
Of all 32 teams, the Titans probably could have benefited the most from a full training camp last year considering the team was basically brand new, ranging from the coaching staff to the players on the field. For the Titans, it seemed that for the first half of the season the team was still learning how to play together. With many new faces and schemes put in place, and the lack of a full training camp, the Titans were just thrown out into the season and forced to pretty much “wing it” for much of the first half of the season.  Now this year, the Titans will have the benefit of a full offseason and training camp together. This should help out tremendously in all areas of the team, but hopefully for Titan fans the biggest improvement will be seen in the run game.

2. Young Defense with Experience
One of the main positives from this season comes from the play of the rookies on defense. Karl Klug, Akeem Ayers, Jurrell Casey and Colin McCarthy all played big roles for the Titans defense this season. These rookies saw significant playing time all season long making in impact on the field. Titans’ coaches and fans witnessed the emergence of rookie linebacker Colin McCarthy who seems to get better and better every time he steps on the field.  McCarthy’s potential seems to have no limit at this point and there is no reason to think that he won’t keep improving and becoming the leader of this defense. McCarthy may be the next Brian Urlacher, or even better.

3. Offseason Acquisitions
Now that Coach Munchak’s first season under his belt he and his coaching staff should have a good idea of what they have in the locker room.  Now they must figure out what they need in order to compete for the division and make a run in the playoffs. Look for the Titans to make some moves on their roster in the offseason, more so in the secondary, defensive line and the offensive line, through both the draft and free agency. Safeties Chris Hope and Michael Griffin will probably not be in a Titans uniform next season according to some sources. This will allow the Titans get a couple younger upcoming safeties to go along with Jordan Babineaux. Hopefully the Titans can acquire the necessary pieces to get them back to the Titans defense of old.  On the offensive side of the ball the Titans will make some changes to the offensive line in an effort to boost the run game and open up some holes for Chris Johnson.

4. Kenny Britt and Upcoming Receivers
This season Titans fans witnessed a style of play that was different than most Titans teams seen in the past. Because of the ongoing struggles of the run game, the Titans had no choice but to try and win games through the air and they did have quite a bit of success doing just that. This allowed young receivers like Damian Williams, Lavelle Hawkins and tight end Jared Cook the opportunity to prove themselves in the passing game. All of the receivers improved significantly from last year, but most importantly the players and coaches feel that the overall improvement is huge for the confidence of this young receiver group. Oh yea, Titans will have a healthy Kenny Britt too. That alone will have fans excited about next year, especially if he can stay healthy and out of trouble.

5. Full Season under their Belt
Now that the Titans have completed a full season fans should have more hope going into next season than they did coming into this season. Hasselbeck has proved he can still play and he obviously has the leadership skills needed at the quarterback position. It seems to be a great fit for Jake Locker to learn and grow under the veteran. Titans fans have already seen Jake step up when his number was called and one could only imagine that Locker will just keep getting better. Having a complete season in the books will allow the coaches and players time to evaluate their performances as individuals and as a team, ultimately finding ways to get better as a whole in all 3 phases of the game.

 

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Will the real Titans please stand up?

November 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment
All season long the one consistency of the Titans has been the inconsistency of their play on the field. They are consistently inconsistent much to the fan’s dismay. The past 3 games starting with Carolina, Titans fans have seen the best and worst of the Titans. The last 3 games have actually summarized the entire season so far for the Titans as far as the lack of consistency from the team from one game to the next. In fact, the Titans have only won back to back games once this season when they beat the Ravens in dominating fashion and then barely got by the Denver Broncos, who were at the time led by Kyle Orton, but since then has been let go by the organization and now led by Tebow Time.
The Titans have struggled all season to establish any kind of identity both on offense and defense. One week the defense will look a team with 11 pro bowlers forcing turnovers and stops all game long, much how they did against Carolina in a dominating 31-3 performance. However, other times the defense will get beat all day long on the ground and through the air, much like they did against Atlanta a week ago. It appears that the defense is having a hard time getting on the same page with each other on a regular basis, and it’s not clear what the reason for that may be. It could be just that this is a new defense with a new defensive coordinator and there are a bunch of new faces that are playing a big role for the defense. With all the inconsistencies that do exist on defense, the one main consistent play Titans fans are excited about is coming from the “U” rookie Colin McGrath at the middle linebacker position. The last 3 games since McGrath has pretty much taken over for Ruud, averaging about 11 tackles a game, not to mention “C-Pimp” (what his teammates call him) came up with a huge pick this past Sunday against the Bucs late in the game.
Aside from the defense, the offense is just as guilty of not having any type of identity. Just as you think we are a passing team, CJ rushes for over 130 yards against the Panthers. Then the following week, Johnson, one of the highest paid players in the league, rushes for a whopping 13 yards on 12 carries against the Falcons. Against the Falcons the Titans struggled all game long in basically every phase of the game. The only positive came when Jake Locker replaced an injured Hasselbeck and got the opportunity to gain some real NFL experience throwing 2 touchdowns to Nate Washington keeping the outcome at least within the spread. Locker’s performance no doubt gave Titans’ fans positive hope about the future of the franchise. As bad as the Titans played against Atlanta it was good to see that they never quit, despite everything that could have and did go wrong for the team that Sunday.
The last game the Titans played was right in tune with how the season has gone. Good one game, bad the next, and then they play well enough to win the next one. It’s been every other week kind of season for the Titans this year. As sloppy as the game was on Sunday, the Titans stuck together and found a way to win. This game had a little bit of everything, from a ton turnovers to huge special team and defensive touchdowns from both teams. Tommy Campbell finally shined in the spotlight on the way to his first NFL touchdown on a kick off return off a reverse from Marc Mariani. It really was a great play from the special teams
Filed Under: The Big Features, Titans

Three reasons why Mike Munchak is not the answer

November 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

More than halfway through his first season coaching the Titans, Mike Munchak is showing some signs that he may not be the right guy to replace Jeff Fisher. Here are three reasons why:

1) No Run Game: Munchak is a hall of fame offensive lineman. Munchak has been the offensive line coach for the Titans for many years before becoming head coach. He has coached some of the best linemen in the history of the game, including long time Titans offensive linemen and Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews, who is now the O-line coach. So why is there no run game in Tennessee? That is the question that has been asked all season long and nobody seems to have an answer. One would think that if the Titans would be good at anything, they would be good at running the ball considering Munchak’s background. However, the Titans are the worst in the league on the ground and at this point there are no signs of any significant improvement.

2) No Consistency: So far this season Titans fans have seen many numerous identities of the Titans on Sundays. They range from great to awful depending on the day, but not really depending on the opponent. For example, the Titans played terrible in the season opener and suffered a bad loss against the division rival Jaguars. The very next week the Titans came out and dominated the Ravens, one of the best teams in the NFL. And on Sunday the Titans played well in the first half and had a 10-point lead at halftime, but in the second half they couldn’t do anything, giving up 17 points in the half on the way to a disheartening 24-17 loss. It was a tale of two halves. All season the Titans have been up and down with no consistency in their game whatsoever. Titans fans don’t know what they are going to get on Sundays and it’s hard not to think that it may be a result of poor coaching.

3) Lack of Adjustments: Coach Mike Munchak came into the season with a lot of support and high hopes from the fans. However, as the season goes along and the Titans continue to get out-performed and out-played by their opponents throughout the course of the game, many begin to question Munchak’s ability to coach. Of the teams the Titans have wins against, only one, the Ravens, has a winning record. In the games against the Steelers and the Texans when the Titans were down at halftime, it would appear that no adjustments were made in the locker room to try and get back in the game. And on the other end of it, when the Titans have had the lead going into the half, like they did on Sunday against the Bengals, adjustments the opponent made could not be countered by the Titans coaching staff, ultimately ending up in yet another tough loss, leaving the Titans with a 4-4 record at the halfway mark of the season.

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Five Ways the Titans Can Improve the Ground Game

November 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Titans get an Easy Win over Struggling Colts

On Sunday the Tennessee Titans faced the Indianapolis Colts in another divisional game for each team. The Titans were looking to get their first win in the division, and the Colts were searching for their very first win of the season. Expectations going into the game for Titans fans were high. The Titans really needed to put on a good performance to get some momentum going, especially after how they have played in the last two games. In the Titans’ last two games they have allowed more than 40 points in each and produced very little offense. So needless to say, the home game against the Colts came at a perfect time.

This was a chance to build some confidence going into the second half of the season. Fortunately for Titans’ fans, the game went pretty much as expected with the Titans winning easily. The special teams played a big part scoring the first touchdown on a blocked punt recovered by Jason McCourty in the end zone. Also, the defense performed well against a Peyton-less offense coming up with two picks and two sacks on the day.

Many fans were hoping that this would be the game that CJ and the O-line would finally have a huge game to get the ground game going in the right direction. But no, it was the same performance fans have seen all season with CJ not doing much at all, and Ringer being the only back to make any sort of impact. The Titans don’t seem to know how to fix the problem and the situation is obviously not getting any better. Luckily for the Titans, Nate Washington played a big time role in this game scoring two touchdowns, one rare touchdown for Nate on the ground just before half, and then with just over five minutes to go in the fourth Hasselbeck found Washington on 14 yard pass in the end zone to put the game out of reach. With the win, the Titans move to 4-3 on the season and are now looking ahead to take on the surprisingly 5-2 Bengals team, in a late afternoon game next Sunday at LP Field. But, even with the Titans coming out on top 27-10, the same questions about the lack of running game still remains the main topic of discussion.

 

Five Ways the Titans can Improve the Ground Game:

1. More Deep Threats: If the Titans intend on getting the run game going, they will have to pose a real threat through the air. So far Hasselbeck has been pretty solid, but with no Kenny Britt the offense needs everyone to step up and make big plays. We know Nate Washington is capable of making big plays for the offense, but the other receivers, like Williams, Avery and Hawkins, will need to come through big when their number is called, especially down the field with a chance to make a big play.

2. Get the Tight Ends more Involved: The Titans must utilize their tight ends more, and get back to the way they used Frank Wycheck, one of the greatest tight ends in Titans’ history. Jared Cook and Craig Stevens are both very talented and smart players, who have the potential to be great tight ends. If the Titans want a more balanced offense, these two must play a bigger role in the passing game. Once Craig Stevens is healthy again and back on the field fans should expect more big plays from the tight end position.

3. Two-Back Set: Every game this season fans have been waiting for that one huge play from Chris Johnson to get this run game going. To the disappointment of the fans and the team, this big play has yet to happen. It doesn’t matter what down it is, but when Chris Johnson is in the backfield, the defense will do everything it can to shut down the run. When CJ is not in the game the defense has to play more of a guessing game, which is what has allowed Javon Ringer to have more success per carry. Both backs do a pretty good job of blocking so why not try and implement more two-back sets to keep the defense on it’s toes. There really isn’t a good reason not to try it because obviously nothing else is working with much success.

4. O-Line gets in Sync: All season long the biggest topic of debate is what is wrong with the once explosive Titans ground game. Is it the offensive line or is it Chris Johnson? Many critics and members of the media have put the majority of the blame on Chris Johnson. If anyone else has been paying attention though, in order for CJ to run, he must have solid blocking up front. There has been anything but solid blocking up front. The O-line tends to lack the nastiness that is required to block for a back that defenses specifically key in on to shut down. Instead, it seems as if the line is just going through the motions, and at the same time getting dominated. The Titans know what kind of weapon they have in their own backfield, but guess what, so does the rest of the league. Therefore, the O-line needs to bring more of a swagger and attitude in order to dominate the opposing defensive line, which will open the holes for CJ to bust loose.

5. More Jamie Harper: The Titans have to be contemplating giving Harper, the biggest back on the team, more playing time. Harper had a very impressive preseason and caught the attention of a lot of fans. Right now the majority of Harper’s play is on special teams, but he does play a very limited role in the run game. Harper is a big solid back who is capable of running through tacklers to get that extra couple of yards. Although he is a big back, Harper has been able to make defenders miss in open space, allowing him to make a big play. Since the Titans’ run game ranks last in the NFL, there is no reason why Harper should not get more touches just to see what he can do to try and spark the dormant run game of the Titans. It’s worth a shot, because at this point the Titans’ ground game could not get much worse.

 

Photo by Joel West

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Five Reasons the Titans Will Make the Playoffs

October 27, 2011 by 3 Comments

The top two  teams in the AFC South met on Sunday at LP Field in Nashville to fight for first place within the division. Going into Sunday’s game the Tennessee Titans held a half game lead over the Houston Texans with a chance to solidify the top spot in the division. With the Titans coming off of a bye, everyone in the stadium was anticipating a great game, envisioning the Titans coming out on top.

The game started and both teams traded punts and in a way traded jabs. It had the feeling of a close game in the making. The Texans held just a 3-point lead after one quarter. But in the second period, former UT Volunteer Arian Foster began to take over the game. Foster completely went off playing like it was a homecoming game. On his way to helping the Texans beat the Titans, Foster became the first player in Texans franchise history to earn more than a 100 yards, both on the ground and through the air. This was a one-sided game all the way to the end and the stadium was empty by the beginning of the fourth.

However, there was a slight sliver of hope for Titans fans after Hasselbeck threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jared Cook with a little over five minutes to go in the third. After the Titans forced a punt on the next possession there was still a little life left in the Titans, if only they could get a quick touchdown. Instead, the Titans went three and out, ending with a 41-7 humiliating defeat courtesy of the Houston Texans.

As bad as the Titans looked on Sunday they still have a great shot to make the playoffs and here are five good reasons why:

1. Parity in the AFC — This season doesn’t seem to have a standout dominant team like we have seen in the past with the Colts and the Patriots. The Colts are obviously struggling and even though the Pats have only 1 loss, there seems to be a lot of questions about their defense. Many of the so called experts have labeled the Ravens as the best team in the AFC, but after a bad loss to the Jags on Monday night the door opens up for the middle of the pack teams to gain ground in the AFC playoff hunt.

2. Matt Hasselbeck — Matt Hasselbeck is the best QB to lead the Titans since Steve McNair. After years of babysitting VY, Titan fans are now loving what they are getting out of the quarterback position so far this season. Hasselbeck brings a new leadership and fire to this team that has been missing in Tennessee for quite some time now.

3. CJ Bound To Go Off — Chris Johnson will soon bust out with a long touchdown run that will jump start the Titan’s dangerous run game… Right? It has to happen at some point for the Titans to even think about the playoffs.

4. No Peyton — No Peyton equals no Colts which equals new Division Champion, and two seemingly easy wins.

5. Long Season — The season is seven weeks in and the Titans are 3-3 with 10 games to go. There is plenty more football to be played and anything can happen throughout the course of a long season. After all, not many people thought the Titans would even have a .500 record after six games into the season, so who is to say they can’t make a run for the playoffs?

 

Photo by Joel West

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