1st Quarter Struggles

Yeah, Like you said though, its the timing.

It could be worse though.

 

Yeah nearly 50% of the season total all came in the first half against Cleveland.

IMO that's why we lost that game.

 

Yep I think our team will go to the next level when the light comes on for whiz and he realizes that he has to let Mariota throw on first down in the first quarter (and Mariota has to be accurate and the receivers can't drop the ball of course). The question is will whiz realize this before it's too late to have a good season.

 

I personally think that's one of the biggest fails of the Titans team right now. I think with the way this defense and offense stepped their games up from last year we need a solid PR/KR specialist. If we had that I highly doubt we be 1-2 right now. This team IMO biggest issue is the inability to flip the field on special teams. Yes we have other issues and could use a series upgrade at RB but with an average of 126 yards per game WITHOUT MM running the ball, it could be worse...it could be a lot worse!

 

You guys are funny all last year you complain that Whiz wanted to throw the ball too much and abandoned the run too fast, now he's running a seemingly balanced attack and you want him to....throw the ball more??? Lol

Not saying this is you, but it sounds like many people on the board are all for Whiz decisions when they work and when they don't work say he should have did the opposite lol.

Unlike last year, I am not concerned about this team. On the contrary I am very excited about it. I think the team in drafting Marcus took a major step forwards. The team isn't just laying down for their opponents like they did last year. I also have no issues with play calling or coaching. Unlike last year I don't feel as though we played a team that out coached our staff. The fact that we lost two games back to back in my opion is due to untimely penalties, some favoritism with the refs against Indy (all the missed holding calls..but if you going to hold every play why call it), and the fact that this team just doesn't have that killer instinct of the Titans of the past. If Whiz increases the toughness of this team who knows what could happen.

 

I agree with conservative play calling hurting us. Not just this year, but going back to last year. It's as if Whiz is playing to not lose instead of playing to win. That's why we have watched teams come back on us when we have 2 TD leads. Whiz takes his foot off the gas and tries to ride the clock.

I know we need a solid run game and agree balance is important. However, right now this team needs to keeping pouring it on until the last minute. We can't afford to sit back and say we got this......we have proven too many times that even when we are leading; we do not have it in the bag.

 

I
I think you are misunderstanding my point. In our 2 losses we ran on first down

I think you missed my point. It's not about our offensive balance for the entire game but the offensive balance specifically on first down in the first quarter. For example, we ran on first down on 4 of 4 first downs in the Cleveland game until we were down 14-0. We ran on 4 of 5 first downs n the Indy came until we were down 14-0. On the other hand in the Tampa game we ran on only 2 of 7 first downs until we were up 21-0. Predictability on first downs to start a game is a huge liability. I'm happy with our progress but I think Whiz is going to have to trust Mariota more to start a game if he wants to win. Putting him in a hole to start games is too much pressure on a rookie IMO.

 

Okay...admittedly they are fair points. My comment albeit linked to your post was more for the others. So many people still complaining about the team when in fact the team and coaches are performing light years better than they were last year. This is all evident by the stats. Yeah we dont have the wins but the increase in stats show we are definitely on the right track. If a couple of things bounce our direction we will turn this young season around. That's mostly what I'm saying.