Just Got Back And Just Saw The Bengals Game;

I thought Griff looked good for a change...

 

I actually think the Bengals are gonna be really good this year. I also don't think Bernard or Sanu are scrubs. With that said, I was dissapointed in our performance. I wanted us to look like contenders right away but we weren't there yet.

The pre-season will help a team like us more than anything. We have a lot of new players coming together and we have a brand new OC and now a new defensive situation.


I'll wait till week 1 before I make any real assumptions. I'll also pay attention to certain things this weekend against Atlanta.

 

I also watched the game last night for the first time. I agree the Defense was the most troubling, in that there was confusion with assigned responsibility on multiple plays, poor (but improved) gap control and too many missed tackles. Those CAN be fixed. I'm a bit concerned there doesn't appear to be an "on-field" player (like a Peter Sirmon) that can help insure our OLB's, DE's understand their assignments during a pre-snap read. I saw one play where it 3 and 5 and the slot man was totally unaccounted for. I knew right away Dalton was going there which he did as he threw it immediately with a 2 step drop. In short, I don't know if we have some brains in the MLB position. I liked what I saw with some of the hybrid "10 in the box" looks. That rattled Dalton. Cinci is a GOOD team.

We should have been neck and neck scoring. We were moving the ball well with the run and I think that is going to translate in regular season to a much better performance. I do like that Munchak only ran in power formations during the first few series as it was effective. Once that work was done, he quit putting our starters in injuries way. We will be able to control the clock and stay in games during the regular season much better than what we're seeing in these pre-season games. OL looked good. Locker also looked much better. We didn't score because of dropped passes and missed field goals. Both correctable. I suspect the WR's weren't focused because they didn't want to get drilled by a big hit in pre-season. I'm sure their ear-holes are ringing about it.

I don't know WTF to think about Bironas. We might really be looking at a new kicker if he doesn't get it fixed and show old form in the next 2-3 weeks. IMO Bonani has a legitimate opportunity here. He didn't do much with it.

So problems that we saw should be easy to fix with review of game tape. they include:

1. Incorrect pre-snap defensive positions/assignments.
2. Poor tackling (that CAN be fixed)
3. Dropped passes
4. Missed FG's


I think our schemes are OK. We are running well. Locker was going through the progressions and for the most part, getting the ball to the WR's. We will use what works more, with personnel of starting caliber who are familiar with and can execute the schemes we do well.

Except for a couple of execution problems, we looked like a much better team. I feel pretty good about what I saw as it relates to the regular season style of play and anticipated performance.

 

Griff looked good.

 

Bengals look like a team thats going places, I wish we knew how to finish drives like those guys.

The encouraging thing about Saturdays game was we reached the redzone 6 times. Typically thatll win you the game.

 

Again, people are making their decisions about the Titans based on what they see in a freakin scrimmage game. O.K. missed tackles and missed FG's are no excuse, but, they will play much different come week 1.

 

You'd think that wouldn't you...

These are the Titans, if history has taught us anything, expect nothing.

 

That is usually the case, but you cant miss 3 of 6 FG's and drop two passes that may lead to TD's, when you make it to the red zone. But it is preseason , i guess some of that is to be expected.

 

I take pre-season with a grain of salt, but the missed tackling looked all too familiar and therefore, very worrisome.

I'm legitimately concerned about Bironas.

But I agree Locker looked good, the OL is dominant and the run game should help us put together long drives, controlling the clock. That alone is a recipe for a better season than last year.