Titans fumble away win vs Jets

It was by far the best game of the year the Titans played but costly turnovers on special teams resulted in two Jets touchdown drives on short fields and a 24-17 loss.

After a great 1st drive put together by Mark Sanchez and the Jets that resulted in a touchdown, Titans rookie CB Ryan Mouton fumbled on the ensuing kickoff which led to another Jets touchdown to give them a 14-0 lead.

The game was far from over though as the Titans clawed back into the game. There wasn't a lot of running room for Chris Johnson today, but he did finish the game with 97 yards on 22 attempts. Kerry Collins looked especially good in the 2nd & 3rd qtrs of the game and the old vet led the Titans back with 17 unanswered points to give them the lead. Lendale White played great today. He hit the hole hard and was always fighting for that extra yard. His TD run today in the 2nd qtr was probably his most impressive TD run I have seen from him in a long time.



The big story of the day was the Titans defense. They were getting pressure with their front four, and a few timely blitzes from DC Chuck Cecil who failed miserably in his debut vs Pittsburgh. The Titans defense was the reason why they were able to come back in this game.

The Jets had no answers on offense for the Titans defense, but like earlier in the game benefited from another huge turnover as Ryan Mouton fumbled another return deep inside Tennessee territory. The Jets capitalized with a Jerricho Cotchery TD Reception and they never turned back. The fumble was clearly the turning point in this game, as the momentum was shifted back into the Jets favor.

Tennessee did have some chances to get back into the game, but the same problems that have plagued this offense in the past showed up again in the 4th qtr. The inability to make a clutch catch, Justin Gage, Nate Washington, Kenny Britt & Alge Crumpler all dropped passes that need to be caught in this league. The sloppy conditions might have been a small factor, but a couple grabs here and there would have resulted in a possible comeback.

Kerry Collins was 0-13 in his last pass attempts but a lot of the passes should have been caught. I don't blame Kerry for the loss even though both of his interceptions were bad throws. His play was very good today.

"It's frustrating," Collins said. "By no means can we start pointing fingers and start pushing panic buttons. We've just got to stay together and keep believing in what we are doing and we'll get it turned around."

So what now? Since the expanded playoff format in 1990, only 3 teams have made the playoffs since going 0-3. The last team, the 1998 Buffalo Bills. Can this Titans team make it 4? It will be very tough to do so in the AFC as it looks right now that the Jets,Ravens have a pretty good hold of both wildcards being 3-0 right now. (I still expect New England & Pittsburgh to win their divisions) For a wildcard in the AFC you will need to be at least 10-6 to be considered.

So lets look at the schedule. 4 more losses ends the season. A split vs Indy & Houston, a sweep vs Jacksonville. 4-0 vs the NFC West which I don't think will be a problem. That puts the Titans at 8-4. That means the remaining games vs the AFC are absolutely critical. (New England, Buffalo, Miami & San Diego) 2 of 4 from this bunch would result in 10-6.

The talent & coaching is there, lets just hope lady luck is on their side.

Titans lose heartbreaker vs Steelers

The Titans dominated the majority of the game in the season opener at the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night, but came up short in overtime as their tired defense could not stop another Ben Roethlisberger 4th qtr comeback.

The Titans defense started the 2009 season as expected with a forced 3 and out, but Tennessee CB Courtland Finnegan who was returning punts for the first time in his NFL career made a costly mistake by not fair catching a punt which would have given the Titans ball on their own 10 yard line. Instead, Finnegan let it drop and Steelers CB Keenan Lewis downed the ball at the 2 yard line.

The Titans first offensive possession of the year was a quick one, as their backs were up against the wall. Troy Polamalu made two tackles on the drive and the big one on 3rd & 6 where he hit Chris Johnson like a bullet coming out of a gun.

The Steelers started their 2nd drive of the game on the Tennessee 43 yard line, but 2nd year DL Jason Jones who dominated Pittsburgh offensive linemen last year with 3-1/2 sacks got to Roethlisberger and knocked the Steelers out of FG range.

The Titans second possession started on their own 11 yard line, and they quickly marched down the field behind a 32 yard run by Chris Johnson with a personal foul late hit by Troy Polamalu, and a 20 yard pass completion to TE Bo Scaife. The Titans drive stalled on the Steelers 19 yard line, and a bad snap by center Ken Amato made Rob Bironas push a 37 yard field goal attempt wide right.

Pittsburgh couldn't capitalize on their next attempt with the ball. DT Tony Brown sacked Roethlisberger on a 3rd and long and the Steelers had another 3 and out.

The Titans moved down the field well there next possession until Kerry Collins hung one on a long pass attempt to rookie WR Kenny Britt. Britt made a rookie mistake by not playing defender and Polamalu made a great one handed interception.


The Titans quickly got the ball back as Ben Roethlisberger threw and interception of his own on a 3rd and long to S Vincent Fuller. The 1st quarter had ended, and the Titans defense was outstanding. Three drives, two sacks, 1 interception, and zero first downs.

Titans punter Craig Hentrich pinned the Steelers down at their own 5 yard line, but Big Ben finally connected on some passes and had two nice first downs before finally having to punt.

Tennessee marched from their 27 yard line all the way down to the Steelers 13 yard line. Collins threaded a pass perfectly in the endzone to Justin Gage on a 3rd and long, but Gage could not hold on. Bironas who has been one of the best kickers in league history in terms of accuracy had his next field goal attempt blocked. Troy Polamalu got injured on the play when Alge Crumpler fell on his knee when Polamalu was trying to scoop up the block.

The Steelers moved down the field with their two minute offense and Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes on a 34 yard passing touchdown on a pump fake where Chris Hope just bit big time.

The Titans were resilient though getting the ball back with only 1:22 left in the half. Collins hit a wide open Kenny Britt, and Britt did the rest on a nice run after the catch. Collins hit Justin Gage on the very next play in the endzone for the touchdown to tie the game.

The Titans scoring drive was only 34 seconds long, so Pittsburgh did get the ball back, and managed to drive all the way down to the Titans 42 yard line. It was looking like the Steelers would have a shot at a FG until DE William Hayes came up big with a sack pushing the Steelers back to midfield. The Steelers were forced to throw up a hail mary which Courtland Finnegan almost pulled a James Harrison by returning it for a TD. Finnegan ran out of gas, and blockers.

Going into the 2nd half, there was some big news for Titans fans. Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu who was all over the field in the 1st half would not be returning to the game. Polamalu suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and he will be out a few weeeks.

The Titans once again marched right down the field only to have their drive stalled when Bo Scaife fumbled after getting hit in the knee.

"He dove at my leg. It was a cheap shot,'' Scaife said. "I have been playing my whole life and no one has ever hit me like that. So I know when it is real and when it is not real. So it was a cheap shot and I don't care if that gets back to him either."

This was the turning point in the game as the Titans lost their #1 receiving option.


The Titans had another nice drive to start the 4th qtr and Rob Bironas finally connected on a field goal when he hit a 45 yarder with just over 11 minutes left in the game.

Pittsburgh finally went back to what was working in the 1st half with their next possession when they ran a lot of no huddle which stopped Tennessee from substituting their players on the d-line. Pittsburgh moved right down the field, but when they got to the Titans 10 yard line on a 2nd & 2, they ran two consecutive run plays. The Titans stuffed both of them, and then didn't jump offsides on a 4th & 1 where Roethlisberger was trying to draw the penalty. Jeff Reed nailed the chip shot to tie the game with just about 3 minutes left.


On the ensuing kickoff Tennessee had a huge holding penalty, that cost them 10 huge yards. Collins to Gage got those yards back, but then the Titans offense sputtered for the first time pretty much all game when Pittsburgh brought the heat and Justin Gage dropped a catchable pass on 3rd & 10 which would have kept the drive going. The Titans did not take any time of the clock in this drive. The Steelers received the ball back with just under two minutes left in the game.

Once again, the Steelers two minute offense was too much for the Titans conservative defense and Roethlisberger tore up the Titans soft zone. It looked like a Titans loss until Hines Ward fumbled at the Titans 10 yard line on an incredible strip by Michael Griffin. All Ward had to do was fall to the turf and the game was over, he admitted it was a mistake after the game in a post game interview.

The game went to overtime when you guessed it, the Steelers win the toss and march right down the field against a soft zone defense and mediocre pass rush. Jeff Reed nailed the game winner and the Titans lost 13-10.

Some things I noticed

1. The Titans need to utilize the screen pass a little more. Find more ways to get Chris Johnson the ball. When Johnson has the ball in the open field he is as dangerous as any player in the league. The Titans had 2 called vs Pittsburgh, but the pressure came too quick before the screen developed.

2. The defense strives on rushing with their front four, putting pressure on the QB and forcing mistakes. They are able to do this by rotating fresh bodies in at a constant basis. When teams go no huddle against them, tired legs are in the game and they don't get the same result. Defensive Coordinator Chuck Cecil will need to mix it up with a blitz every once in a while, otherwise the Titans will be sitting ducks all season. 30 other NFL teams took note of how to beat the Titans defense, so hopefully changes will be made in the next game.

Titans D-line will be strong even without Haynesworth

When you lose a defensive MVP type of player, you would expect a team to have a set back the following year. This will not be the case in the '09-'10 with the Tennessee Titans.

The Titans decided to let all world DT Albert Haynesworth test the free agent market, and lost him to the Redskins. Haynesworth signed a 7 year $100 million dollar deal which included $41 million in guaranteed money.

Haynesworth actually was offered more money from the Buccaneers In a recent radio interview with Adam Schein, (who might I add, I am big fan of his show Loud Mouths on Fox Sports NY) Haynesworth said

"I could've made more money with Tampa Bay if I really wanted to. They offered me a whole lot more, and even with their tax situation, it could have been 20 percent more. But you look at Washington, they've got a lot of the pieces together. They're right there. They're in a huge market. It's one of the largest markets in the world. You've just got a large, huge media outlet and it can be life beyond football. Going to Tampa, I mean, great city. Looking at it from the off-season standpoint, I love the water. I love to be out in the sun. It's just awesome, but it would've been like another Nashville. Tampa doesn't have that big market and they don't have a huge fan base like the Washington Redskins do, so I think it was just a choice just to look at it that way"

Haynesworth has been the best defensive player in the NFL over the past two seasons in my opinion, but in the past he did have a bad rap for taking off plays, and he has been injury prone his entire career. Haynesworth has missed time every year since his rookie season.

Haynesworth really turned his career around after the ugly face stomping incident back in 2006 against the Cowboys. Haynesworth was suspended five games, an NFL record for an on field action.



Since the incident, Haynesworth has been a changed man. Playing in the NFL was a privilege that he did not want to lose. The injuries still occurred, but you didn't see him taking any plays off. He was a dominating force. Most thought that his career season was because he was in the last year of his contract. I am not one of those believers. I think Haynesworth just grew up.

Haynesworth was slapped with the franchise tag after the '07 season. Titans GM Mike Reinfeldt wanted to see Haynesworth do it one more season before rewarding him with a large contract. This was obviously the right decision given his track record. Needless to say, Haynesworth outplayed his '07 season with a monster season last year, thus pricing him out of Tennessee. Franchising Haynesworth last year allowed the team to secure CB Courtland Finnegan and both starting offensive tackles Michael Roos & David Stewart. If you look at the contracts they received, Tennessee got these players at a bargain price in my opinion.

So where does this leave the Titans for the 2009 season? Suprisingly, I think the team is in excellent shape heading into the season. The loss of Haynesworth hurts, but I think the loss of their depth at corner losing Chris Carr & Eric King stings just a bit more.

Tennessee added free agent DT Jovan Haye from the Buccaneers in the offseason, and also drafted DT Sen'Derrick Marks in the 2nd round out of Auburn. Marks was hampered by an ankle injury last year, but when he was healthy, he was one of the best DT in the nation.

Tennessee drafted a pair of defensive linemen last season as well getting DE Jason Jones who has since slid over to DT, and DE William Hayes from Winston-Salem State who was ranked 66th among DE prospects from draft guru Mel Kiper. The duo of Jones/Hayes registered 4.5 sacks in a week 16 game against the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, a game played without Albert Haynesworth. (Jones 3.5, Hayes 1)



The Titans also have DT Tony Brown who CBS Sports writer Pete Prisco called the most underrated player on the team. I agree with Prisco 100% with his assessment.

Jacob Ford, Dave Ball & Kevin Vickerson round out the rest of the Titans "unknown" defensive line. Ford had 7 sacks, Ball had 4.5 sacks, and Vickerson is very effective as a run stopper.

The other two linemen are of course Kyle Vanden Bosch & Jevon Kearse. Vanden Bosch is entering the final year of his contract, and I think we might see a Haynesworth type of performance out of him this year. Vanden Bosch was plagued with injuries all last season. He ended the year with only 4.5 sacks, his lowest number since joining the Titans. Kearse was effective at times last year, but he clearly isn't the player he was five years ago. He has only managed 3.5 sacks in each of his past three seasons.

The most important piece to this Titans defensive unit is defensive line coach Jim Washburn. This will be Washburns 11th season with the Titans. He has made careers out of many players including Vanden Bosch.

The Chain Gang will be back in the '09/'10 season, some of the faces might have changed or they might not have the "flashy name", but one thing is certain. The results will be the same.

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.

MVP Steve McNair murdered

Steve "Air" McNair was not only one of the best quarterbacks that I have seen play in my lifetime, he was also my favorite Titan of all time. McNair was found dead in a residence he was leasing yesterday. Autopsy results show that this was a homicide.

The Tenneessee Titans organization was waiting for coach Jeff Fisher to address the media about this tragic situation. "I am deeply saddened and at this point do not have the words to describe this loss,’’ Fisher said. “It is an extremely emotional moment and I don’t have the words to explain how I am feeling. I ask people to please pray for Mechelle and the entire McNair family. This is a tragic moment for his family, and it is a tragic moment for anyone who knew and loved Steve.’’

McNair was known for his warrior type leadership. He played injured numerous times and he led the Titans to their only Super Bowl back in 2000. The game was most known for Kevin Dyson getting tackled at the 1 yard line as time expired, but it was the drive that Steve McNair led in the final moments of that game that defined his career.

McNair had numerous other accolades including 3 pro bowl births, and Co-MVP in 2003 with Colts QB Peyton Manning.

In 2006 the Titans broke the hearts of many fans by releasing McNair. It was a move that saved the Titans nine million dollars against the cap. Many Titans fans myself included were more upset over the way they handled the situation. "Steve was told that until he got his contract straightened out, he wasn't welcome at the facility," said Cook. "Heck, he's got his contract already straightened out and now he's trying to fulfill it by reporting for the offseason."

McNair signed with the hated Ravens and led them to a 13-3 record in his first season. McNair battled injuries the rest of his career with the Ravens and was forced to retire.

He may not have hall of fame numbers on paper, but Steve McNair is a hall of famer in my book.
Heres hoping that another player the caliber of McNair graces the Titans franchise in the near future. We definitely could use one.

Lendale White contract situation.

The Titans have a big decision to make after this up coming season, and by big, I mean big as in Lendale White. White is only under contract for this coming season, and reportedly is 20 lbs under last seasons weight.

"Listen, Listen.Contract year or not, I know what they’re going to say and it’s hilarious, yeh. I’m not doing this to have the titans redo my contract or make it better. This is the end of my contract with the titans, if the titans Titans don’t pay me, someone will. My heart is with the titans, I want to be a Tennessee Titan, I didn’t lose this weight to get a better contract.” White said

We saw first hand in the playoffs what kind of player Chris Johnson is against one of the best defenses in the NFL. Johnson gets injured, and the offense was just not the same. Lendale had some good games, including a monster game against the Chiefs where he had a 80 yard touchdown run, but the future is with Johnson not White.

White clearly wants to cash in big during free agency. The Titans FO is not stupid, the more TDs Lendale gets next year, the higher the price tag will be to resign him. I expect to see a lot of Chris Johnson in the redzone.

The NFL is a two back league now, but I don't see how the Titans can pony up the cash for him next year, unless he really proves to be more than just a short yardage back.