Titans @ Jags Postgame Thread

It's not Finny's first NFL start. He started against the Eagles last year.

Regardless, even a step behind, that ball was the receivers or no ones.

 

Good game. Im just hoping this is not like a couple of seasons ago when we stuffed the Raven's run offense early in the season, and then the rest of the season the ball was ran down our throats.

 

Vince had a bad game, but it was good for the team that they still won. Takes the pressure off him.
There are the people who praise VY, that he has some magic where he wills wins, but we saw yesterday that he can have an off day (which he is allowed to have) and the Titans can win in spite of his play.
That is good for the TEAM.

This team is getting better than what we've been watching the past few years. They are not a superbowl team yet, but they are moving in that direction.
The Titans window of opprotunity, which slammed shut a few years ago, is begining to open again...

 

like i've been sayin,this is a different team in a different season.I knew we were going to head to JAX and rough them up and we did.I know this is only the first game but you watch how far this win is going to take our team...

 

And Indianapolis one game. Not only that, what is this picking on Finnegan??? He had three solo tackles, and three pass deflections. Harper just had six solo tackles. Doesn't look like Finnegan was getting picked on in the statline. Both, Harper and Finnegan missed gimme interceptions though. I was yelling at Harper to do pushups.

 

A couple observations about Finnegan... here's a breakdown of the good and bad:

1-10 (1Q, JAX 13), 22 yd pass, got JAX out of bad field pos
1-10 (1Q, TEN 47), 47 yd TD pass
2-19 (3Q, JAX 47) 14 yd pass... they converted the following 3rd & 5

2-4 (2Q, TEN 4) nice TD pass broken up against M Jones
2-9 (3Q, TEN 43) good tackle for only 5 yard gain
1-10 (4Q, JAX 29) deep pass broken up, leaped up in front of M Jones
3-8 (4Q, JAX 28) pass broken up - great timing by Finny coming in from behind... this was with 3 minutes left - JAX never got the ball back.

So he had 2 early mistakes - although the TD pass might not have been his fault, and hats off to Garrard for a perfect pass and to Broussard for a great diving catch. What sticks out to me was that he came up big after that. The 3 passes he broke up were huge - especially the TD pass in the corner (which the much taller Jones had in his hands), and the final 3rd & 8 which turned out to help seal the game. IIRC that was the one where Finny was trailing the receiver, Garrard made a perfect throw but Finnegan timed his hit well and knocked Northcutt's arms so the pass fell incomplete.

All in all, when it counted he came up with the play. As opposed to last year, when teams exposed a DB over and over again in the game - the Jags were unable to really hit any big plays after that 1st TD. Best thing of all - Harper and Lowry were pretty silent - very solid tackling all around and no huge mental errors. And it appeared that we were stacking the LOS a good bit to stop the run - so the DBs were on their own. It wasn't a perfect outing, but the Jags were determined to pass the ball, and in the end they just couldn't get it done well enough. Definitely a game to build on.

 

IMO the game ball ought to go to the Jags field goal kicker for coming up lame in the pregame warmups. If he hadn't no telling what might have happend. When the Jags went for it on 4th and 10 and didn't make it I knew if the Titans got ahead by 3 the Jags couldn't tie with a FG. Surprising they don't have a backup FG kicker (IE punter)

Props to the D for shutting down the Jags running game. CB..wow where did that come from. Keep it up.

 

Agreed... he had an off day - although that INT was overthrown Moulds didn't appear to really make an effort for it either. I think the INT threw his confidence a bit, he was hit from behind twice (once that prevented a TD pass to Davis), and maybe in the heat he was having trouble gripping the ball well from sweaty hands?? I think those things combined to shake him a bit, but he did manage the game and he completed passes. He looked a bit like he did in NE last month - hopefully he has a similar good turnaround against IND next week.

Keep in mind that Manning was only something like 8-15 for 100+ yards at halftime last week. The game got out of control after that, and I think the NO game plan had a lot to do with it. The Colts were rolling on offense last year when they hosted the lowly 0-4 Titans who were starting a rookie QB for his 2nd game and had no running game to speak of. The Colts looked as good last week as they did last year when we met them, and we look much much better.

It won't be easy, but we match up well against the Colts... especially when we are more physical than they are. That's the best thing about the Jags game - they showed they can do that again. If they can hold Addai, the Manning playaction isn't nearly as effective. That poor rookie left tackle is going to get abused again, and Manning won't have the confidence that he can take the time to go deep. He also will have trouble stepping up in the pocket if our DTs get the kind of push they did against the Jags. We've got a good shot at this game - it's at home, too. 3-0 at the bye has gone from very unreasonable to almost possible, and a respectable 2-1 at the bye is definitely within reach.

 

Here's my take... for what it's worth....

Young looked unconfident and ill prepared at times. He looked exactly like he did against Jax last year. He seemed to be thinking too much instead of just playing... Like forcing the pass instead of just walking in the end zone on the first score. I think Jax confuses him. The good thing is he looks totally different against other defenses. So I expect him to have very good games against the Colts and Saints and struggle against the 3-4 Chargers.

The preseason run defense looks to be legit. Fat Albert was a big time force in the middle. Odom looks to be a breakout player... he was close a few times.

Finnegan will be fine. He bounced back very well after the long TD ( I would love to see the angle of that catch that faces the reciever, I think that ball hit the ground). I'm very interested to see how the secondary (with the young safety) holds up against the Colts. If the Titans D has a hole it's givign up the big play.

Chris Brown has looked good all preseason and yesterday. I like the idea of starting White and coming back with Brown. I think it's a perfect combo. I don't think this game was a fluke. The O-Line was creating massive holes and Brown always seemed to find them on the cut back.

I'm interested to see how the offense performs against a revamped Colt's D. I'm curious to see if Manning goes after Harper like he did David...

 

I say the Bears have the #1 run stopping D at the moment. I will agree on the rushing O.

edit: Correction, the Eagles have the #1 Rush stopping D... but look at who they were playing. We are currently #5. Number ten in overall defense so far.