Something a Little Birdie Told Me
By author
With one digit, Chuck Cecil summed up the day for the Tennessee Titans. Frustrated. Impotent. Shocking. Costly. And littered with yellow flags. Here is the Titan Sized tirade from Week 4’s game against the Denver Broncos.
…Kyle Orton and the Broncos started early as the Titans forced punts in each of their first 3 drives. In fact, the first 12 plays for the Broncos netted only 15 yards.
…the Titans came in the form of Chris Johnson’s second fumble of the season and a terrible boot from Rob Bironas, each killing early scoring opportunities.
Impotent blocking…
…tormented the Bronco game plan in both the running and passing game. Laurence Maroney deserves his share of the blame for a horrid rushing attack that ended with Orton as the leading Bronco rusher (11 yards) and only 19 yards on 20 rushes. It goes without saying that this young Titan defensive line is handful for any offensive coordinator.
…is going to get CJ2K killed. Or worse, make him an impatient runner. There was one play in particular late in the second half where CJ uncharacteristically stretched out too far and missed a great cutback lane that would have given him a meager 8-10 yard run. This is the second game of the year where CJ2K rushed for less than 3.0 yards a carry.
Shocking…
…virtually everyone, Kyle Orton continues to light up the stat sheet and opposing defenses. Not only is he off to the fastest start in his career, but he has also already surpassed Jay Cutler and John Elway in passing yards per game to start the 2010 season.
…return man and 7th round draft pick, Marc Mariani, endeared himself to Titan fans with an electrifying 98-yard return that put the Titans ahead early in the second half. Unfortunately, this love was short-lived as Mariani failed to field a pooch kickoff from Matt Prater, fumbling the football and the game into the open arms of the Broncos.
Costly…
…hits on Orton (sacked 6 times) will leave him sore on Monday and will give Josh McDaniels and the Bronco coaching staff plenty of work ahead of them. Although Orton seems to be content with dumping the ball out quickly with defenses collapsing on him, make no mistake this lack of protection will catch up with the Broncos.
…was this loss for the Titans. With 10 penalties of 110 yards, 2 fumbles, and multiple breakdowns on special teams the Titans more resembled the New York Giants than the Titan team that manhandled them and capitalized on their mistakes. Now the Titans will have to travel to Dallas and play a well-rested and rejuvenated Dallas Cowboys team.
Summary
The passive attitude of the Titan offense and rising coverage struggles of the Titan defense are eerily similar to a team that started 0-6 last year. The Broncos deserve some credit for gutting out a much needed win away from home, but at the end of the day this game was given away by the Titans.
A little birdie also told me that Cecil better prepare his checkbook and his phone for a call from Roger Goodell. On the other hand, maybe Cecil’s boss will pay the fine or teach the youngster how to dual-wield this classy form of self-expression.