Expectation Management

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by Carpy, Oct 15, 2007.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Carpy

    Carpy Disgruntled foreign veteran

    3,520
    285
    399
    Okay, I'll start with what we are not.

    * We are not the Colts or the Patriots on Offense - nor will we be any time soon. So let's stop the comparisons already.
    * We are not good enough to consistently win when we lose the turnover battle by 2+.
    * We are also not the same Defense that was playing for the first half of last year. We are top 3 in run defense, and I would guess we're top 5 in points allowed.

    And here is what we are:

    * We are competitors
    * We are young
    * We are 9-3 in Vince's last 12 starts
    * We are a team that currently has a winning record
    * In Jacksonville, Indy and Tampa we have played 3 of the top 10 teams in the NFL already (2 on the road)
    * We are 12 months removed from an 0-5 start
    * We are 1 1/3 seasons removed from being the 3rd worst team in the entire NFL

    We've lost 2 games this season. Inside the last 2 minutes of both those losses we had a chance to win the game and couldn't make the play we needed. In all 3 of our wins, we made plays in the last 5 minutes of the game that sealed the win.

    The trade deadline is tomorrow. We are going with the roster we have. This roster is not built to score 40 points a game, but this team has proven with good defense and controlling the clock, you don't need to score 40 points to have a chance to win.

    We'll have better games and well have worse games. Yesterday we lost our starting QB, starting FB and co-starting RB to injury during the game, and our #1 receiver didn't suit up. All against an excellent Tampa Defense. To think that our offense wouldn't miss a beat with those changes is insane.

    Lendale's YPC was dissapointing, and it's clear that he needs to be part of a committe at this point and not "the guy", but he also did a lot of his running without the threat of Vince rolling out and without Ahmard Hall blocking for him. Those with short memories should remember how woeful we have been in the past on 3rd and short running plays or running at the goal-line. Lendale gives us a weapon there, but he isn't good enough to be the only guy.

    Most of our games will be decided by a TD or less. We need to make plays in the clutch and this team is built around our ability to win games in the 4th quarter. So far, in games decided by a TD or less, we are 2-2. If we win our division games against the Texans and Jags, we are still a good shot at making the playoffs.
     
  2. VolnTitan

    VolnTitan Starter

    3,013
    218
    379
    Carpy...

    That post makes sense. It has no place in here.
     
  3. Slackmaster

    Slackmaster Starter

    1,219
    29
    374
    It was a great post.

    Too many "VY sucks" or "We need Pac-Thug" posts have made my eyes glaze over.

    It was a narrow loss when we are used to narrow wins. And that points to the real problem.
    We need to get ahead quickly, then play Fisherball.

    Odds are the lack of "star talent" WRs are the biggest hindrance to this, but unless we take the shots with the available talent, then I don't see the rest of the season being any different. Each game is just a crap shoot to see if the D can win for us in the final minutes.
     
  4. VolnTitan

    VolnTitan Starter

    3,013
    218
    379
    Hey, I'm as dissappointed in our loss as anyone especially since we were our own worse enemy. But we are a pretty young team that I am pretty happy with at 3-2. Sure I wish our offense was clicking better, but you have a 2nd year QB still trying to be developed and not everything is going to be perfect. We probably aren't as good as many thought we were when we were 3-1 and we aren't as bad as many think we are at 3-2.

    I can guarantee you one thing...we will win another game and we will lose another game.
     
  5. MJTitans

    MJTitans Chris Whitley look him up

    1,831
    346
    309
    Very good points... The strong start set some unfair expectations - but we weren't as good as we looked the 1st 2 games, and we're not as bad as we've looked the last 2. They have a solid team, but it's still trying to figure out what it has on offense. Titans have a young, but promising QB, with youth at every key position on offense... Youth = Inconsistency. Each of them has been up some games and down some. We'd be crazy not to expect that this year, hopefully with experience beginning to show more near the end of the season.

    At the current pace, we're looking at a 10-6 season - pretty much exactly what we all expected. We've been in every single one of the 1st 5 games - something we haven't been able to say for a long time. Despite feeling like the running game is sputtering, we're still controlling the clock and we have the #1 run defense. The growing pains are still there, but it's nice to see some of the receivers beginning to step up - Moulds, Williams and Gage all had a nice game.
     
  6. terrykalaka

    terrykalaka Camp Fodder

    53
    3
    0
    To think that we lost 3 of our starters during the game, our #1 receiver before the game, 2 big refs calls go against us(vince's intercept and garcia accross the line of scrimmage) the fact that with 1min to play we had the game tied up tells me that we have a damn good team. And so our expectations should be high. No matter how high our expectations are i'm sure vince's and fish's are higher. And of course we'd be dissapointed with losing, but we are in with a great shot at the play-offs, from the hardest division in the league in the hardest conferance in the league. We'll only ever be as good as our competition, and we've been giving them all a real run for their money and no doubt will continue to do so.
     
  7. Soxcat

    Soxcat Pro Bowler

    9,131
    1,117
    679
    We can look at the positives and granted there is something there to hang our hat on but the facts are this team is playing terribly on offense right now. Our defense is good enough to keep games close but unless our offense picks things up I'd not expect to us to be better than 500 the rest of the season. Our QB play has to improve, we need Brown when he is healthy to be more involved and someone needs to step up in the WR group. The problem is all those things work together for bad or good. When you have a WR wide open for a deep TD and the QB under throws the ball for a pick don't blame our WR. Defenses don't respect our deep strike ability and why should they? When we can't average over 3 YPC defenses don't fear our running game which can open up the play action stuff (of course I could never figure out why you would play action and then throw a 5 yard pass like we do all the time). Until we prove we can make defenses pay somewhere we will still struggle.
     
  8. GoTitans3801

    GoTitans3801 Forward Progress!

    7,454
    477
    0
    Carpy, thanks for a great, level headed post. Really enjoyed it, and agree with almost all of it.

    Soxcat has a point, that our offense really needs to improve, but I think you've accounted for that. I'm hoping we can put together a strong running game in houston this week.

    This is the type of Titans football I love. I don't want blowouts, I want good games, and a team fighting for them.
     
  9. Deuce Wayne

    Deuce Wayne NOW Y'ALL GET THE MESSICH?!

    33,738
    7,678
    1,259
    Losses are losses whether you blow it with 2 minutes left or with a half left. Why people take close losses as some sort of measuring stick of success, I don't know. But you have to win the close games. Losing them only makes things worse.
    And how in the world is Jax and Tampa in the top 10 of teams?? lol Tampa will be lucky to go to the playoffs at season's end. Jax the same.
     
  10. Carpy

    Carpy Disgruntled foreign veteran

    3,520
    285
    399
    Gloat,

    This post was designed for those who could read and comprehend English.

    Losing yesterday sucked, and is not a "measure of success". Posters that come on here and blast the defense, or call for changes at QB or RB or even WR are kidding themselves, but. People's expectations for this team don't appear to revolve merely around wins and losses, but are expecting the perfect game.

    We are not an all-world team. Nor is that a realistic expectation for a team that has essentially been re-built from scratch in 2 seasons.

    We are a good, tough team that is well coached and plays to our strengths. Running Lendale all day on 1st and 2nd down yesterday after Collins came in was the right game plan. Did you really want to see KFC get blitzed to buggery on 2nd and long or 3rd and long? We kept drives alive, we played conservatively and we gave ourselves a chance to win.

    We do NOT have superior talent to every team we face. The last 2 weeks have proved that this team isn't good enough to dominate a game when we turn the ball over. We had our chance to stop them yesterday in the last 2 minutes and get the ball back to go for the win and we couldn't get it done. We had a chance to beat Indy a few weeks back but we drop a clutch pass.

    My point exactly is that we HAVE to win the close games, because we'll have one just about every week.

    And when you're done, go ahead and list 10 teams that are better than Jacksonville and Tampa.

    I'll get you started:

    New England
    Dallas
    Indianapolis
    Pittsburgh
    ........
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  • Welcome to goTitans.com

    Established in 2000, goTitans.com is the place for Tennessee Titans fans to talk Titans. Our roots go back to the Tennessee Oilers Fan Page in 1997 and we currently have 4,000 diehard members with 1.5 million messages. To find out about advertising opportunities, contact TitanJeff.
  • The Tip Jar

    For those of you interested in helping the cause, we offer The Tip Jar. For $2 a month, you can become a subscriber and enjoy goTitans.com without ads.

    Hit the Tip Jar