Vince Young strong in first win of the season

Titans coach Jeff Fisher's hand was forced by owner Bud Adams to make a change at QB, and it paid off ten fold in a huge win on Sunday vs their rival Jacksonville Jaguars. The Titans won the game 30-13 giving them their first win of the season.

Chris Johnson was the obvious most valuable player from this game giving his two long ridiculous TD(52,89)runs. Johnson rushed for a career high 228 yards on 24 carries. Johnson once again showed why he is the AFC version of Adrian Peterson as the most electrifying player in the conference.

The real story of the day though was the performance by Vince Young. Young had a stellar day completing 15 of 18 passes and 1 TD when he connected on a perfectly thrown pass to Nate Washington to extend the Titans lead to 10-0 early in the 2nd quarter.

It is far too early to expect performances like this on a weekly basis from Young however. Defenses will make adjustments, and Young will have bad games. He adds another dimension though that Kerry Collins couldn't provide. The pursuit from the backside DE will decrease as they have to stay in their lanes because of the scrambling ability of Young. This should give Chris Johnson & Lendale White more space in the run game. You saw it yesterday first hand, give Chris Johnson a hole and he can take it to the house. I think you will see a lot of misdirections, bootlegs & option type plays from the Titans from here on out.

"I told him he played like I thought he could play," Titans owner Bud Adams said. " … I see him having a great future with us here." If Young is the future in Tennessee they will certainly need to re-work his deal for next season as he is due an outrageous 14 million dollars. The only way Young plays for the Titans next year is if he renegotiates that deal or he leads the Titans to 14 straight wins and a Super Bowl championship.

The Titans got back to basics on offense Sunday. 37-18 was the rush/pass balance. In recent games this year, the results were almost exactly opposite with a 2-1 ratio in favor of the pass. The Titans got their identity back on Sunday.

I think the coaching staff tried to get too smart in the off-season. All you heard from the media was the Titans need a big time receiver to win it all. The Titans will never win it all playing their style of offense. So what does Tennessee do? They franchise their top receiver in TE Bo Scaife, add Nate Washington in free agency and draft a receiver in the 1st round in Kenny Britt, the first Titans WR drafted in the 1st round since Kevin Dyson. So the Titans finally have the pieces on paper to make a legit Super Bowl run and the coaching staff tries to turn this team into a passing offense. You have to blame the coaching staff for the change in scheme. I am aware of the dozens of dropped passes that have plagued this team for years, and they definitely didn't help this season either but throwing the ball 40 times a game is not what this team does best.

The Titans would be 0-7 if it wasn't for Bud Adams, as there would have been no way Fisher would have made that move to switch QB's. Thank you Bud for giving me and and all of Titania hope again.

Titans Embarrased on National Television vs Colts

What a crazy day of football yesterday. The Chiefs hanging with the Cowboys. The Broncos upset the visiting Patriots to go 5-0. The Bengals beating the Ravens on the road. The Titans were poised to end their losing streak on primetime vs the arch nemesis Indianapolis Colts.

The first series of the game the Titans looked like the Titans of 2008. The front four was getting pressure on the QB. Nick Harper & Jason McCourty both made some nice open field tackles. The Colts offense sputtered and it looked like the Titans were back.

The Titans opening possession was fine until TE Alge Crumpler fumbled on a great hit by Colts safety Antoine Bethea that was reminiscent to the key fumble that Crumpler lost in the playoffs to the Ravens last year. Peyton Manning and the Colts did what Peyton Manning and the Colts do. That is capitalize on turnovers, and with a short field the Titans were down 7-0.

The Titans went three & out on their next possession and after a punt that hit an Indy player, the Titans were finally giving a break with great field position at the Colts 37 yard line. A bad penalty on Kevin Mawae ended this drive, and luckily the Titans were able to get a field goal.

The next Colts possession Peyton Manning was intercepted by Keith Bulluck and the Titans started again inside Indy territory on their 34 yard line. Once again though penalties killed the drive. Ahmad Hall's 2nd holding penalty of the game, and a false start by Justin Gage pushed the Titans back near field. Luckily again the Titans ended up with a field goal. We will get back to this drive later.

The Titans defense stepped up again forcing a three and out next drive, and then another questionable call on the ensuing drive for the Titans offense. 3rd & 1 on their own 46 yard line. Kerry Collins over throws Justin Gage on a deep pass on the left sidelines. We will get back to this later as well.

The Colts offense finally got on track and drove down 81 yards on 12 plays to give them a nice 14-6 lead with a 1 yard Joseph Addai TD run.

The Titans got the ball back with just 5 minutes left to go in the half, and put a great drive together until predictible passes (seven in a row) occured once again, and the Titans had to settle for another FG to cut the lead to 14-9.

With 1:04 left in the half and starting at your own 7 yard line, you would expect most teams to just take a knee and take the lead going into half. When you are playing the 2009 Titans and you have a hall of fame QB apparently this is not the case as Peyton led the Colts to another TD in just 47 seconds. 30 of these yards were because of roughing the passer penalties. Kyle Vanden Bosch came in low which drew the flag for one, and a cheap shot by Jacob Ford was the other flag. The game was pretty much over here, and won't get into any more of the recap, but will offer some analysis.

The entire coaching staff was terrible starting


Mike Heimerdinger
Heimerdinger must be living in the past, because Kerry Collins is not Steve McNair. Another big play of the game was a 3rd & 1 on the Titans 45 yard line. Instead of keeping the drive going with a short pass with a high completion rate or just running it down the throat of the opponent like the old Titans would do, a stop & go with Justin Gage? Seriously? When you are battling a team as good as the Colts are, you need to capitalize on these drives.

The play calling is absolutely terrible. Chris Johnson only had 9 carries in the game. Johnson needs 25 touches a game period. He is a game breaker. Find ways to get him the ball. Coaching is one big chess match, and it seems Dinger is always a move behind.

Jeff Fisher
In a previous blog this year, I suggested that maybe a coaching change was needed in Nashville. I certainly feel stronger about that after Sunday nights game. One of the big plays of the game was a 3rd & 19 from the Indy 43. Raheem Brock of the Colts jumped offsides which gave the Titans a free play. Collins connected with Bo Scaife for a 18 yard completion, which left them 1 yard shy of the first down at the Colts 25. If you accept the penalty you have a 3rd & 14 from the Indy 38. Bironas does have a strong leg, but most likely the Colts give you the underneath stuff here anyways and you gain a few yards and Bironas field goal attempt is maybe a 50 yarder instead of a 43 yarder. If you decline the penalty, you go for it on 4th & 1. Fisher elected to decline the penalty, and then kick the field goal. You have to give your team a chance to win.

Kicking field goals vs a team as good as the Colts is not going to win you the game. Fisher should know this by now. Fisher was even crazy enough in 2004 to do the unthinkable. 3 onside kicks (2 of which were recovered) in one quarter vs the Colts back in a game in 2004. The Colts ended up winning that game 51-24. That Jeff Fisher had the "marbles" to make that kind of move. If you play on the Titans defense, and you are shutting down the Colts for 1-1/2 quarters like they did last night, and your offense is only putting up field goals, it has to get a little bit frustrating.

This team also lacks the discipline that it needs to win games. Wide Receivers should never have a false start penalty. Ahmad Hall had two terrible holding penalties that could have been avoided. The personal fouls have got to stop. There is no accountability anymore. Fisher used to bench someone for making dumb mistakes, now he puts them right back in. (ex. Mouton Jets game)

Fisher used to be that young energetic coach. He got the most from his players, it just seems to me that the players have given up on him and his system. I think it is time for a change in Nashville. Fisher is one hell of a coach, but I think he could benefit from a year off, and then a possible return to coaching elsewhere in 2011.

When it rains it pours, Nick Harper to be sidelined for up to 6 weeks. The already banged up Titans secondary battle an upset Patriots team this weekend. 0-6 anyone?

Fire Jeff Fisher, is he on the hot seat ?

The Titans fell to 0-3 today, and there are many grumblings around the online Titans community that Jeff Fisher is on the hot seat.

Jeff Fisher has been on the sidelines since 1994 making him the longest tenured coach in the NFL. Fisher has a regular season record of 128-105, and a post season record of 5-6. His first and only trip to the Super Bowl was back in 1999 where Kevin Dyson came up one yard short vs the Rams.

Is it time to make a change in Nashville? Lets take a look at some interesting head scratching moves that Fisher has made recently.

Personnel
Yes, A lot of this is on GM Mike Reinfelt has well, but I think Reinfelt has actually done a great job with this team since his arrival. Why on earth is Craig Hentrich still on the roster? This has nothing to do with a GM, but everything due to Fishers loyalty to his veteran players. Hentrich is at the age (38) where injuries are going to bother him more, thus the Titans are forced to carry an extra punter on their squad because of this. Do you think it was Reinfelt's decision to re-sign Hentrich to a one year deal in the off-season? This was Fishers decision.

The Titans lose CB/KR Chris Carr to free agency and they do absolutely nothing about it. Instead they rely on rookies Javon Ringer, Ryan Mouton & Jason McCourty to return kicks. If the Titans didn't have to keep 2 punters on their roster, they could have at least kept WR Chris Davis on the roster to return kicks where he was at least servicable last year.

Game Decisions
Ryan Mouton had two fumbles in Week 2 vs the Texans, but yet he was back in action in Week 3 vs the Jets. Does Fisher just have a soft spot in his heart for CB's? I remember back in the old Fisher days where when you make a mistake, your ass is on the bench. Mouton was giving ANOTHER shot in the 3rd qtr today vs the Jets and muffed another return. You fix these things in practice, not in a must win game like today.

Rob Bironas has one of the best legs in the league, but yet Fisher will not give the guy a chance to put up points on the board. If you are inside the 35 yard line, you need to be kicking field goals and attempt to put up points on the board. Going for it on anything more then 4th & 2 is crazy. This has happened in 2 of 3 games this season, and a handful last year.

Mike Heimerdinger was great back in the Super Bowl years, but Heimerdinger also had a great QB to work with in Steve McNair. Kerry Collins is not a great QB. He is a game manager, not a game breaker. McNair was a game breaker. The Titans need to get back to their smash mouth run offense. They need to find more ways to get Chris Johnson the football. The Jets were attacking all day today. How many screens/draws did the Titans run today. ZERO. Lendale White who also played well today needs more touches. The Titans win by running the ball, not by throwing it 30 times plus a game.

Defensively adjustments needed to be made in the Pittsburgh game. It was Chuck Cecil's first regular season game as defensive coordinator and Ben Roethlisberger was picking apart the Titans soft zone defense. Fisher needs to step up and make an adjustment on the fly if his coaches are not doing it. Coaching is one big chess match, and Jeff Fisher is certainly no Bobby Fischer.



Back to Kerry Collins. How many times has he actually put this team on his shoulder and won a game? When is the last time he has made a clutch throw late in the game?
Fisher does not have the cajones to make the move back to Vince Young. That would be admitting that he was wrong about the switch to begin with. Young might not be able to throw the best pass, but I remember a few games where he battled back and won a game late for us. (Giants comeback, Texans OT game) Vince has actual weapons now in Chris Johnson, Kenny Britt & Nate Washington to work with that wasn't there two years ago. The change needs to be made now at QB, not for the sake of this season but for the sake of the franchise. Tennessee needs to see if Young is a franchise QB NOW before the draft next year.

I am one of the biggest Jeff Fisher fans out there, but his coaching has cost the Titans all 3 of the games this season. It is time for a change at QB, and if Fisher does not make that move, then it is time for a change at head coach. Jon Gruden anyone?

Kerry Collins starting QB but should he be ?

When the 2009 NFL Season opens in Pittsburgh on September 10th, the man behind center will not be the future of the franchise Vince Young, it will be journey man Kerry Collins.

Collins lead the Titans to a NFL best 13-3 record last year, more importantly managed the games and limited turnovers. Collins only had 7 interceptions and 1 fumble lost last year. Compare that to Vince Young who in 2007-2008 season had a total of 20 turnovers. Young didn't have the benefit of having a superstar running back like Chris Johnson to work with though, or a good receiving core either. Young had 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles (both recovered by Tennessee) in the season opener against the Jags last year.

WR Justin Gage had a great year despite only 34 receptions. He looked great down the stretch, and should look good along side free agent speedster Nate Washington and first round selection Kenny Britt. This was the first time the Titans drafted a WR in the 1st round since their draft blunder in 1998 where they drafted Kevin Dyson over future hall of famer Randy Moss.

New Offensive Coordinator Mike Heimerdinger who was the Titans OC during the Steve McNair days also was added to the mix last year. Could Young have had that same success that Collins had last year? We will never know, but Heimerdinger did wonders with McNair who was a "project" coming out of 1-AA Alcorn State.

In a recent ESPN interview below, Young said,

"I'm ready to play football, And I don't know what NFL player around the league don't want to play or be a starter. So what I'm saying is that I'm ready to play ball. And if it's not here, in my next two years that I'm not going to be able to play here, then I'm telling guys around the league, I'm ready to play ball. That's basically what I'm saying. ... I'm just saying I'm ready to play football, and if I don't get a shot to play again here, then obviously I'm not going to be here."

I do believe there will be an open competition for this spot, but clearly Fisher will not tolerate Young's mistakes and pouting. Young actually has a better career completion percentage then Collins does, and he can make plays with his legs that Collins cannot. On the flip side Collins throws one of the nicest deep balls in the league, and that is something Vince has struggled with so far.

When your team is built around a solid running attack, ball control & good defense, you need to have your quarterback limit his mistakes. Tennessee made mistake after mistake in the playoffs last year against the Ravens, and still almost won the game. Throw in a pick or two from Young in that game and it would have been a 10 point game.

This fan is hoping that Vince can turn it around and start playing like the QB we all thought and hoped he would be coming out of college. We need a new hero in Nashville, and I believe Vince can be that guy.