Victor Minicozzi

The Titans are supposed to be working toward improving for the opener in two weeks.  Last night they took a giant step backwards with an uninspiring 17-3 loss to a fiesty if not chippy Falcons team.  The Falcons had been pointing to this game as a major test for them this preseason and they passed with flying colors.  New coach Mike Smith has the Falcons playing a nasty to the end of the whistle and beyond style of football.  The Titans had no intensity and were basically pushed around the entire game on both sides of the ball.

The Titans offense continues to struggle in the preseason.  The first team offense has been on the field for a total of 12 drives which have resulted in 2 field goals and 0 touchdowns thus far.  The receivers cannot create space and in the rare instances when they do they either drop the passes or fall down.  Vince Young looked better last night than in any of his previous two games but still is not close to sharp enough with the season only two weeks away.

Lets hope this serves as a wakeup call.  They received a tongue lashing from Fisher and Heimerdinger at halftime but didn’t respond with better play in the second half from the second and third team squads.

There really aren’t any highlights from this game.  Chris Johnson did run for 35 yards on 11 carries and also caught 2 balls for 23 yards in his first half duties.  Jevon Kearse registered his first sack since returning to the Titans.  John Vaughn kicked a 50 yard feild goal in the first half.

The Titans traditionally point to the last game as their benchmark in getting ready for the opening game.  Lets hope for a more spirited effort and maybe even an offensive touchdown against the Packers.

Victor Minicozzi

Alge Crumpler and the Titans visit the Georgia Dome tonight as they continue to get ready for the opening week.  Crumpler, who spent his first seven years in the NFL, claims to have no ill will toward the Falcons but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind catching a touchtown pass or two tonight.  The first team will go for a quarter and a half tonight.  The first roster cutdown is next week so it will be important for the coaching staff to get a good look at those bottom tier players.  The roster must be down to 75 from the current 80 on the 26th and down to 53 by the 30th of this month.

In order to keep my sanity I hope that Vince Young can have a solid game tonight to keep people from jumping off the Shelby Street bridge.  The worst case scenerio will have him struggling again and Matt Ryan throwing for a couple of touchdowns.  I can then look forward to the endless sports talk calls for the next week about how awful the quarterback is and the need to fire the coaches and everyone involved in selecting him instead of Jay Cutler.  Nevermind that his winning percentage is much better at this point. 

Things to look for tonight

I expect the Titans to go with a more balanced attack tonight and will feature Justin McCareins and Brandon Jones at wideout.  A good showing from Jones may spell the end for Paul Williams and even Roydell Williams who is slow to come back from his ankle injury and despite his 50 plus catches last year.   They will continue to feature and develop a role for Chris Johnson at both running back and slot receiver as well as returning kicks.

Albert Haynesworth should see more time as he continues to round into shape.  Look for a big year out of Defensive Tackle Tony Brown who is the least talked about member of their formidable line.  

I’m predicting another Titans victory, 31-17.  I’m also looking for a good game out of Vince Young which includes at least one touchdown pass.

MusicCityMadness Ramblings

I’m coming to the realization that I’m not as young as I used to be.  I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert last night at the Sommet Center and after a great 3 hour show made my way back home.  In the old days I could attend a show and stand for 3 or 4 hours with no problem.  Not anymore and it takes a few days to recover as well.  I’m cursing the aging process!! 

I also have a six year old daughter with whom I agreed to coach her soccer team in a moment of weakness.  If you don’t have kids or especially a daughter when they look at you and give you the bottom lip you tend to agree with whatever they are asking.  So there I am out there coaching a sport I know nothing about and I look up and there are 9 little girls all dressed in pink.  Please pray for me. 

Steve McNair is having a Retirement Celebration and Benefit on the General Jackson cruise ship on Friday, October 31, 2008.  There will be other Titans players both current and retired attending this dinner which will include a show and meet and greets.  Steve has done a lot of good charity work both here in Nashville and in his home area of Louisiana. 

If your from this area I suggest joining the Nashville Sports Council.  They do a great job in promoting sports in the Nashville area and you get the opportunity to be involved in some great promotions such as the 11th Annual, Titans Kickoff Luncheon featuring Coach Fisher and many members of the Titans team.  I hope to get some interviews and thoughts about the coming season.  The lunch is on Tuesday, September 2nd at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.  Tickets are still available.

Victor Minicozzi

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