Monday Morning QB: Jaguars @ Titans Grades
Phil Luckett
Nov 12, 2007
If copying another team's game plan were illegal, Jeff Fisher would have an open and shut case because his rights were clearly infringed upon yesterday.
The Jaguars came to town and played Fisherball and did it as well as it's been played for a while. They shut down the run, generated 166 yards rushing, protected the football and played solid on special teams on their way to a 28-13 win.
Copyright © 1994 - 2007 Jeff Fisher/Tennessee Titans. All Rights Reserved.
For the Titans, their weaknesses were glaringly obvious. The Jaguars dared them to rely on the arm of Vince Young who continued his erratic ways. The league's top rushing defense looked like a cheap imitation of itself without Albert Haynesworth. The running game which averaged 149.5 yards per game going into the contest sputtered early and was quickly abandoned.
"I think overall as a team, we got exactly what we expected out of the Jaguars. They are due congratulations for executing in the same style of game that we did not execute in. We knew they were going to run the football. We knew they were going
to be careful, selective with their passing game, play good special teams. Their defense certainly improved over the first matchup against them.''
It appears the Jaguars also got what they expected from the Titans and responded by beating Fisher at his own game.
Let's look at the 28-13 loss to the Jaguars and grade out the Titans by position:
Quarterback
Vince Young was 24-for-41 for 257 yards and a 64.8 passer rating. He had one TD and two INTs. He had eight carries for 52 yards.
Despite his first passing TD in over a month and showing some promise in stretches of the game, Young had two interceptions which has become far too common.
If Titans fans want to look for a silver lining it's that Young looked much more effective when Fisher went to the shotgun and allowed him to get into a rhythm. Hopefully, OC Norm Chow will look to using it for more than just the two-minute offense or when the Titans are down by two TDs or more.
Grade: C
Running Back/Fullback
LenDale
White had 12 yards rushing on eight attempts. Chris Henry was minus 2 on his three carries. Receiving, White had five yards on one catch and Henry had 15 on two receptions.
White's string of 100-yard games came to an abrupt halt on Sunday. After hanging 282 yards the Jags in week one, White and Henry had nowhere to run.
Grade:
F
Wide Receiver
Justin Gage had 90 yards on seven receptions and a TD. Brandon Jones had 51 yards on five catches. Roydell Williams had four receptions for 31 yards. Eric Moulds had one catch for 18 yards.
Despite a few missed opportunities, this unit was as productive as it's been for some time. Gage had a solid day and a circus catch for the TD. Jones made a clutch fourth-down catch to keep a drive alive.
Grade: B
Tight End
Bo Scaife had three catches for 38 yards. Ben Hartsock had one reception for nine yards.
Scaife had a nice 16-yard reception but the TEs were not much of a factor in the game. It appears the team has lost all faith in Ben Troupe.
Grade: D
Offensive Line
Young was hurried five times and went down on four sacks. Kevin Mawae botched an important snap on fourth down. Titans RBs were repeatedly met in the backfield as this unit was dominated most of the day.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
Kyle Vanden Bosch and Randy Starks each had six tackles. KVB had a QB hurry and one pass defensed. Tony Brown had four stops. Antwan Odom has two tackles, one sack and one QB hurry. Demetrin Veal had two stops and Sean Conover had one tackle.
It's difficult to understand how much impact one player makes until that player is missing. Without Albert Haynesworth, the league's top rushing defense gave up 166 yards on the ground. More important, the Jaguars were able to gash the Titans up the middle in the same fashion most teams did throughout last season.
When the Titans needed a stop on third and fourth downs, this unit came up short repeatedly. The pressure the Titans front four was able to generate the first half of the season also disappeared as Odom was the only player to record a sack. The repeated offside penalties by Brown were maddening.
Grade
: F
Linebackers
David
Thornton had 10 tackles. Keith Bulluck had eight stops. Ryan Fowler had five tackles including a pass defensed and a QB hurry. Stephen Tulloch had one stop.
Thornton led the team in tackles but also missing a costly one. Bulluck appeared a step late at times to the football. Fowler was manhandled too often as the Jags saw success running it up the gut.
Grade: D
Secondary
Chris Hope
had eight tackles. Cortland
Finnegan had seven stops. Michael Griffin and Nick Harper both recorded four tackles each. Reynaldo Hill had one stop and Vincent Fuller had one pass defensed.
Quinn Gray only generated 101 yards but the Titans secondary didn't do much to help the cause by dropping a couple of INT opportunties and allowing the Jags to convert some key plays.
Grade: C
Special Teams
Rob Bironas
was two-for-two in FGs. Craig Hentrich averaged 31.0 yards net
including a
long of 52 yards. Brandon Jones averaged six yards per punt return and Chris Henry averaged 13 yards per kickoff return.
Michael Griffin made an impressive stop on a fake FG attempt and Bironas made the most of his opportunities but the Titans did little else on special teams. It appears Chris Davis was demoted on punt returns but Jones did little to give the offense a boost with his opportunities. Henry didn't help the cause much either.
Grade: C
Coaching
With 12 seconds remaining in the first half and the ball on the Jags 19, Fisher left a timeout in his pocket instead of giving Young a shot for a TD. Though it's understandable that Fisher wanted to go into the locker room with the points and a little momentum, his lack of faith in Young and the offense spoke volumes.
DC Jim Schwartz looked like he reverted to his old ways by being unable to do anything to slow the Jags run game. OC Norm Chow continues to not have answers for an offense which doesn't appear good enough to get the job done when the defense takes a day off.
Fisher may have to shake a few things up this week for the Titan to go into Denver on Monday night and play with the intensity they clearly lacked yesterday. If the Titans are going to be contenders instead of pretenders, Fisher & Co must do a better job scoring points.
Grade: F
|
|
| NEXT GAME |
TBA
|
| LAST GAME |
| Titans |
17 |
| Seahawks |
13 |
| Passing |
V. Young:
17/28, 171 yards,
1 INT, LG 29,
RT 63.2 |
| Rushing |
C. Johnson:
36/134, 3.7 AVG, 2 TDs, LG 12 |
| Receptions |
N. Washington:
6/83, 13.8 AVG,
LG 29 |
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2009
TEAM STATS
|
|
Total Offense
|
12th
|
|
Total: 351.4
|
| Passing: 189.4 |
| Rushing: 162.0 |
| Scoring Avg.: 22.1 |
| Total Defense |
28th |
| Total: 365.6 |
| Passing: 258.7 |
| Rushing: 106.9 |
| Scoring Avg.: 25.1 |
2009
STAT LEADERS
|
|
Passing
|
| V. Young |
|
Attempts: 259
|
| Completions: 152 |
| Yards: 1879 |
| Touchdowns: 10 |
| Interceptions: 7 |
| Passer Rating: 82.8 |
| Rushing |
| C. Johnson |
| Carries: 358 |
| Yards: 2006 |
| Average: 5.6 |
| Touchdowns: 14 |
| Receiving |
| K. Britt |
| Receptions: 42 |
| Yards: 701 |
| Average: 16.7 |
| Touchdowns: 3 |
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