So the Colts get their first win yesterday at the expense of a less than hungry Titans team. I wish I could say that I didn’t see this coming but I kinda did. The Titans have been a very inconsistent team not only this year but for many years. On a day that saw the Jets lose, who were ahead of the Titans for playoff positioning, as well as the Raiders and Broncos, the Titans should have showed a little more desire in their lackluster performance against a very bad Indy team that they beat in Tennessee in week 8 27-10.
Seems like we took a page out of Jeff Fisher’s old playbook yesterday, you know play conservative, let your defense keep you in the game and win it in the end with a FG. Yeah that didn’t work all that well back then and it won’t get it done now. It was obvious from the onset of the game yesterday that Matt Hasselbeck was not 100% but at this time of the season, many players are dinged up. With the Colts defense having already put most of its secondary on IR I find it hard to believe that the Titans didn’t try to throw the ball downfield more. Once again, stack the line, load the box to stop CJ1K and without Kenny Britt this Titans team is very beatable, even by the Dolts. The game plan didn’t call for Hasselbeck to take shots down the field and he didn’t, maybe the coaches figured that the best way to beat the Colts was to run numerous screens, shallow crossing patterns over the middle, hitches, and an occasional shot on a deep in. Maybe the coaches just felt that the Colts 3rd teamers were actually better than the starters.
On defense, well, what can one say, a week after devising a wonderful game plan to slow down the Saints, Jerry Gray crapped out. Donald Brown looked like Jim Brown and had the longest run in franchise history, an 80 yard TD run. The run D was just non existent, which has happened more than a few times this year and will sure enough always be too much for a defense to overcome. If you can’t stop the run in the NFL then you’re pretty much done, even Dan Orlovsky can pick you apart.
So where do the Titans go from here, well, you can pretty much etch it in stone that they will beat the heck out of the Jags next week, then they will close the season with a Texans team that may rest its starters and could turn into a very winnable game in that scenario leaving the Titans at 9-7 for the season. Does 9-7 get them into the playoffs? We’ll have to wait and see but it doesn’t look good, they need a lot of pieces to fall into place for that to happen and normally its very tough making it in at 9-7.
A jewel from the loss though, Jake Locker is going to be a very good QB for the Titans. I have to say, we still haven’t seen a whole season or even a whole game but has IT….you know…IT…that wow factor, he’s thrown the ball well when he’s played and the team really rallies behind him. He has a chance to be special. I look for Hasselbeck to hand over the reins next year.
Keep your heads up my fellow Titans fans, nobody saw them even being in position to make the playoffs this late in the season and its not over yet, who knows what can happen. If the Chiefs can beat the Packers, well then anything is possible in this league.
Shawn Eagle
You can follow me on twitter @RS1eagle