The slide has been coming for a long time.

I've been expecting this in the back of my mind since 1) Fisher benched Young in the Pittsburgh game and 2) the Titans failed to make the trade for Haynesworth happen.

My biggest fear was the amazing pressure we generated in the beginning would disappear. I've always worried Tony Brown + Jason Jones = 3/4 of a Defensive Tackle, and that has borne out this season.

I just have a hard time trusting that things going well is permanent. Stuff has to change, and you have to change along with it. Too many things have to be accounted for. Brown and Jones starting the season with injuries or just finishing them up made not signing Haynesworth seem brash and overconfident.

I've seen too many examples of "Fisher's Way or the Highway" this season. Sure, it seems Fisher and Young can't get along, but really, where does that start? I'm sure Fisher could have found a way to "play" Young better, to get the most out of him, if he had wanted to. Say what you want about Young's maturity, no one wants to feel unwanted or not believed in. That may sound somewhat unmanly, but it's at the core of performance, like it or not. Potential injuries notwithstanding, we could have done better here, guys. I don't know for a fact that we couldn't have put Young and any other combo of ragtag QBs out there for a time and mustered out enough wins to remain in contention.

Young proved enough last year that Fisher should have dispensed with the games this year, IMO. I think Fisher hurt us more than Young both the short and longterm. Fish put us in the worst possible position on both sides of the ball.

I do give him HUUUUUUGE props for the quick expansion of the passing game, though it was a little too late - I mean, if everyone's screaming for it by the time you do it, it's a little "behind the curve." But a big step that he did it, nonetheless. Last time was 8 years ago.

I'm glad we got Moss, but pissed we immediately play Gage when we do. Not to mention, Moss was, to me, a little compensatory by Jeff, for not getting AH. Yeah, it made sense with Britt being out, but there was a little more to it than that, don't you agree? I mean, we've been using Justin Gage more than Moss and Damian Williams combined! Am I right? I think Fisher took advantage of his falling to us on the waiver wire because we were already feeling the effects of passing on Haynesworth. Problem is, he wouldn't even use Moss to adequately replace Britt much less Big Al.

Oh, and I don't care if you like Albert or not, or think this or that. We could have added Albert, for less than a first, and gravied Moss on top this year without the cap. A simple aspect of a coach's job is really about giving his team the best chance to win. You can talk about the draft picks all you want, but the fact is the Redskins were only talking to the Titans about Albert. Moss had Tennessee on a very short list. Something was drawing these guys here, and I'll say it was a couple of players and a couple of coaches that made that desirable for those players, and Fisher caulk-blocked it.

Then there's Cortland Finnegan.... Don't tell me his behavior is anything new. Conversations should have happened long ago with him, and that's been on Cecil and Fisher for a while. Hindsight makes that 4-year/$17M contract seem particularly wise right about now. McCourty and Verner could make a case for replacing him when it's time.

I said at the beginning of the season before the passing game opened up, but I don't think it's been particularly fun playing for Fisher for a while now. This season has been all about the egos, and it's been won and lost by them.

It's a shame because at a certain point you just have to put them aside and play the game, and the Titans have done a horrible job of that. The problem to me seems that internally everything is so political, and you can't have a team in accord when that permeates the atmosphere.

I'm confident that a healthy Young and Collins, with Haynesworth, and Moss actually incorporated on the team, plus Johnson, would have gone deep in the playoffs, especially getting back a healthy Britt, just in time.

What I get year in and year out at this point is that Fisher just wants to win it his way or not at all.

 

Best post I've seen on this site in awhile GLinks. Agree 100%. Especially this last part...

The (few remaining) Fisher lovers can throw out all the excuses they want. But the bottom line is this team, even without Haynesworth, had more than enough talent to have all but locked down a playoff spot by this point. 17 years into his tenure and Jeff Fisher's teams are still having major problems with discipline and motivation. There's just no excuse for it. It's completely inexcusable for us to be 5-6 right now.

And I couldn't agree more that Fisher seems to want to win only on his terms. A truly great coach would've adapted his playbook and gameplans to the talent unique of his team. And I think we could all agree that between VY and CJ we had some of the most unique offensive talent in the entire NFL. Yet Fisher refuses to take advantage of those talents. Oh wait, I forgot about the option.

Seriously everyone, just take a second to sit there and imagine what a coach like Bill Belichick or Andy Reid would've been doing with a starting lineup that included VY and CJ. Yet outside of the option we didn't run any plays with them that Kerry Collins and Javon Ringer couldn't also run to roughly the same degree of success. It's insane. I get disgusted just thinking about all the squandered talent and opportunity this team has endured under Fisher.
:barf:

 

Thanks, SawdustMan. Yeah, we've practically begged for big-caliber players at various positions on offense, especially after Steve and Eddie were prime, and now we have them. Five years coming, and it all explodes. The signs of ineptitude along the way regarding utilization you can only forgive for so long about needing to take it slow and everyone being too stupid to get what you're really trying to do here. I mean, I guess it shows the reason Fish has been slow to get the big talent it takes to succeed relying on the passing game and the offense in general is because, as you say, he doesn't know what to do with it creatively. But is it also that he can't effectively manage with the talent lopsided toward the offense? I don't know. Maybe this style of team play marginalizes him too much.

 

Thanks SawdustMan and GLinks for some really thoughtful posts. You both have nailed what I've been thinking as well. I, too, feel sick at the way the Titans have squandered this season. I honestly don't understand how we can be so uninspired and uncreative with the weapons we have.