Titans Win on Late Field Goal 17-16

The Titans squeaked out a victory with a 33 yard field goal from backup kicker John Vaughn as time expired.  3rd string QB Ingle Martin led the Titans down the field going 6 for 8 on the last drive concluding the best offensive series the Titans had in the game.

Let me say this first.  I hate preseason.  The road is littered with people jumping on and off the bandwagon.  People don’t seem to get the concept that these are basically glorified practices where the play calling is designed to work on particular areas and /or to see how certain players react to game situations.  There rarely is any balance to the playbook and most teams keep the majority of things basic.

That being said, the Titans still have the same questions that they had at the end of last year.  Are the wide receivers going to be able to open up enough space to get open?  Will Vince Young look more like the dynamic quarterback of 2006 or will he continue to regress in performance like he did in 2007?  Last night VY did not look comfortable in the pocket and his passing was erratic at best.  Of course the Titans focused on the passing game last night and did not use a balanced attack so the Raiders didn’t worry about the running game during his time in the game.  Kerry Collins didn’t fare much better though he did connect on the offenses only touchtown with a 51 yard touchdown strike to rookie wide reciever Lavell Hawkins.

Game Grades

Running Game   B

The Running game was not the focus of the game and the Titans still ran the ball effectively totalling 140 yards and an average of 5.4 yards per carry.  

Passing Game   D -

The passing game needs to improve significantly if the Titans are going to challenge for the playoffs this year.  14 completions on 39 attempts isnt going to scare anyone

Defense  B

The defense wasn’t as good as they were against the Rams but they did force a turnover and overall played fairly well.  The pass rush will need to improve and they had problems covering the tight end for most of the night.

Special Teams  A

The special teams continues to shine in the preseason.  Ahmard Hall recovered a fumbled punt for a touchdown and John Vaughn made the game winning field goal.

MusicCityMadness

The two Titans who had the most impact in winning the game were Ingle Martin and John Vaughn.  Both of these guys are from Nashville and went to Montgomery Bell Academy and Brentwood Academy respectively.  Those two schools have one of the longest and most heated high school rivalries in the state of Tennessee.

Vince Young began hearing the boobirds when he came off the field for his last series.  It reminds me of the first game at LP Field in 1999 when the Titans opened the season at home against the Bengals.  That day the Titans won 36-35 on a last second field goal from Al Del Greco.  Steve McNair faced some of the same fire that Vince Young faces today.  He can’t pass the ball.  He can’t lead the team anywhere.  Despite throwing for 341 yards that day he still heard the boos from the fans as the Bengals made a comeback at the end of the day.  As this was my first exposure to Titans fans after being a lifelong Giants fan, I wondered what do these fans want out of the guy.  He threw for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns and they are still booing him.   Of course they went on the magical run that ended a yard short in the Superbowl and his critics were finally silenced. 

Vince Young will have to do the same thing.  People continually bring up Jay Cutler and Matt Leinart and what a bad pick they made in picking Vince Young despite his 18-8 record as a starter.  I agree he has to show improvement this year over last but I still like his upside and he has always been a winner. 

Lets see how next week goes and if there will be more room on the bandwagon or will it be filled to capacity

 

 

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Last post (s) by Victor Minicozzi

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