What Is the Titans' Offense Missing?

Obvious to all of us is the lack of evolution our offense has undergone. Is this a tug of philosophical war of Fisher vs. Heimerdinger? Maybe, but I doubt Dinger is putting up too much of a fight, if so. It could be it's hard to scrap the entire book, or large parts of it, and re-write it to suit these guys.

However, it does seem that Fisher is reluctant to try anything he does not personally believe in. He believes in lining up, and execution. He does not believe in an up-tempo offense, and probably thinks with the amount of penalties we have (speculation), that a motion-based / QB-driven offense will create more confusion. He could be right. Is he afraid to give up clock control, and does that make him reluctant to pass more?

After last year, I was pretty sure Fish was going to make some changes to all phases. We've been seeing the D develop into what we thought it would. Special teams, opening kickoff Sunday aside, has improved.
Offense? I'm starting to think good intentions here (from last year), but he doesn't know really how to accomplish it. Well, that's where Heimerdinger should come in, right?

We've all seen great glimpses of what our O can do "in the right conditions." Last drive against Arizona. All passing, crossing routes. We've seen bootlegs, moving pockets, options. Even a little TEs down the seams and admittedly, more play-action. But why do these things fall off track?

Understand you take two approaches in my view: you either let the defense dictate what the offense does, or vice versa. I think a trust issue is also there with the players, including Young. Do you trust them to play, or do you suppose they cannot do some of the things you ask of them? Even with limited options and weapons, teams can have success in otherwise stingy conditions.

So what is the deal with the Titans? Quarterbacks aside, it starts with a gameplan, and it's on the coaches to employ and change tactics when necessary to be effective. We've witnessed enough stagnancy on offense to know our coaches are not quick to change gameplans. And I will say inserting Collins, right or wrong, was evidence of the coaches' refusal to change the gameplan.

Personally, I don't care what they do, as long as they DO...SOMETHING...DIFFERENT. I think we've known for up to 3 years even (at least that's when I heard from fans of other teams) the Titans offense never surprises anyone. It's all based on simply, "Can you stop what we're doing?" This is very old school Lombardi. And I think Fisher clings to that. Apparently his time around Walsh meant little offensively.

I get the feeling so much of our offensive success comes from "right conditions." Right teams, right execution versus favorable team, not individual, matchups, etc. We seldom deviate from what works. I fear the lure of massive success in the running game has deposited our team in its present position. Sure, we'll abandon it to pass when we need to, but the challenge I thought was to do BOTH successfully, and SOMETIMES, try to keep the opposing defense from guessing which one your offense is going to do.

OPTIONS
BOOTLEGS
MOVABLE POCKETS
AUDIBLES
3 TE SETS
6 OL (something the Ravens have used with Flacco, and I've fully expected the Titans to do it...but no)
2 BACK SETS
MOTIONS
MATCHUPS


Where the hell is this stuff in our offense? I don't care who the QB is, folks. I, like many, want to see Young do well primarily because I loved Steve as our QB and he clearly passed that torch to him. When Collins plays, I wish him more success than he's ever had in his career. And if we get anyone else in there, they will face the same limitations at some point in our current scheme.

I don't care if it's all Fisher's fault, all Heimerdinger's fault, all Young's fault, or any combination, permutation or derivative of all three. IT JUST NEEDS TO CHANGE.

What are your thoughts?

 

Sorry for the long post, guys, and sorry if any of this has been tread in other threads.

 

Yes, we have it when, as I alluded above, we have the right matchups, the right conditions. I automatically give us 8-10 wins a season based on what we have and our usual m.o.s on offense.

But I'm talking about the defenses most posters feel we can't get around when it counts. I get Fisher's philosophies. We all do. But we've changed our skill players enough with the additions over the last few years, but not really our approach.

We're stuck in an awkward gear on offense, I feel, and no this isn't a Chicken Little moment. I think most of us have been waiting for an evolution to take place, and it's not really happening that much.

We can play the way we've played, and for teams like Oakland, that's going to work most of the time. But I feel we need to make better adjustments, all the way up to changing the play at the LOS, if that's what's needed to put an attacking defense on its heels.

This offense needs more spontaneity. It needs more improvisation.

 

Not talking about a gimmick. Here's a good example for instance. One very little thing I think the Titans miss is 1- and 3-step drops in the passing game. Is that a gimmick? I think it's routine to allow your QB to adjust calls at the line of scrimmage. I think it's routine to use the skills of your playmakers to the best of their ability.

That's not a gimmick. That's common sense.

The Titans have invested a lot of time and money revamping the makeup of their skill positions, but so far we have not seen an equal effort in utilizing these players' abilities on the field.