Tennessee Titans: Week 11 Winners and Losers

Nov 25, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; Tennessee Titans linebacker Zach Brown (55) sacks Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne (7) in the first quarter of their game at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-US PRESSWIRE

I guess we all know who the biggest loser for the Tennessee Titans is this week…Chris Palmer.  I won’t even include him in the Winners and Losers section below.  He got fired because he was not doing his job very well.  The offense has been erratic and frustratingly inconsistent all season.  He was able to install “his” offense this season and it has looked worse than the offense the team ran last season.  That’s a pretty big sign that things weren’t working out for the team.

Besides Palmer, there were plenty of other losers this week.  Thankfully, there were some good performances in this game as well, so this article won’t be all doom and gloom.

Winner:  The Pass Rush.
I won’t single out any one player because so many of them played really well. Jerry Gray used a lot of effective blitzes and even when he didn’t blitz the front four were able to generate a lot of pressure all day against the Jags. If we see this kind of intensity and aggression from the D-Line the rest of the season, then the future will look a lot brighter.

Loser: Safety Play.
I might as well make Michael Griffin a permanent member of the “Losers”. Sadly as bad as he was on Sunday, he was probably the best safety on the field for the Titans. Clearly, this is a big area of need in the 2013 draft.

Winner: Alterraun Verner.
He is quietly having a very good season. He’s not playing at a Pro Bowl level, but he is not that far off either. I think it is safe to say that the cornerback position is pretty stable going into 2013.

Loser: Wide Receivers not knowing where the out of bounds line is.
These kind of mental lapses are completely unacceptable. If you want to be a good NFL receiver, you have to know where you are on the field. If the Titans make those plays, they win the game. Simple as that.

Winner: Jerry Gray.
Chris Palmer got fired first which buys Gray a little more time to show that his defense is headed in the right direction. Use your time wisely Jerry.

Loser: Jared Cook and his stupid demands to be traded or used more in the offense.
Jared, the team will use you more when you prove that you won’t drop easy balls. The problem is, you seem to drop easy balls every single game. This is not rocket science. Believe me, the Titans would really love to take advantage of all the mismatches you create. But until you can convince them that you will not choke, you aren’t getting more opportunities.

So, that about sums it up for this week. Watching the Titans lose to one of the worst teams in the league has become an annual tradition. I for one hope it’s a tradition that dies a painful death very, very soon.