Tennessee Titans Players to Watch VS the Minesota Vikings

Aug 13, 2011; Nashville,TN, USA; Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak talks with Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier following the game at LP Field. Tennessee defeated Minnesota 14-3. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-US PRESSWIRE

The Tennessee Titans are coming into this game feeling more evenly matched than any of their previous four games, but it’ll still be a lot of work to get this win, especially when you consider the fact that they’ll be without QB Jake Locker. Here’s some key players the Titans need to have come through for them in this game if they’d like to come out with another win:

QB Matt Hasselbeck

His play in this last game was beyond awful. Two dirty picks along with a traumatizing fumble gave the Houston Texans an extra 21 points. The Titans were actually in that game, but Hasselbeck’s turnovers sure didn’t make it look like it. The fact that he couldn’t move the offense didn’t help either. Chris Johnson and the O-line were the only saving graces on that side of the ball. The Titans need him to rebound from that performance.

RB Chris Johnson

Even on the times that his O-line didn’t dominate the Texans, if Johnson got hit, he was still falling forward for an additional yard or two. The Titans really have to be hoping he comes through for them again this week, especially considering they’ll be without Jake Locker and, most likely, without Britt once again. They need Johnson to have another strong performance.

MLB Colin McCarthy

The Titans defense has sorely missed McCarthy, giving up ungodly amounts of yardage to receivers over the middle. McCarthy will be a huge boost to the Titans defense, even if he is still playing a little reserved coming off of his injury. He’s the leader of this defense and he should make a big impact on how much success teams have when trying to pass underneath on the Titans.

DE Kamerion Wimbley

It’s been an up and down season for Wimbley and the Titans could really use some more production out of him. His play in this game could set the tone for what to expect from him the rest of the season. Obviously, we don’t want to see that be a negative tone, but with only one sack so far, it’s hard not to be a little pessimistic. This guy can be a beast and maybe part of the problem is just adjusting to being a DE again, but either way, we need more from him.

I could list a couple more, but these are the guys I’m going to be eyeballing after kickoff, especially Hasselbeck. Let’s all hope the Titans can put together a better game than they did this last week against the Texans. Not only the fans, but the team itself can’t take another melt down like that. This team won’t be seeing a bye week until Week 11, so they have to turn around things on the run.

Now is the time.

You can find me on Twitter @JustinLStewart