Connect with your Facebook Account

• Contact

Articles

8

Tennessee Titans – Week 2

Posted by Doperbo on September 20th, 2007 under Uncategorized

Alright, whose fault is it? The Titans aren’t supposed to lose. When I correctly identify the person responsible for this mess, I’m kicking his ass. This whole 11 wins things is going to be impossible for me to pull off with this sort of chicanery going on. That was my take of course immediately following the game, and noticeably Vince’s attitude throughout much of his post game press conference. I watched the whole thing half afraid he was going to pull that massive watch off his wrist and wing it at someone’s head. In case you missed it I’ll paraphrase.

    Reporter: Can you talk about what they did to contain you on offense today?
    VY: Does Vince Young need to choke a bitch?

Actually that pretty much sums it up. I mean technically the questions changed, but you know.

I can certainly relate, of course I have the advantage of a little time to process things before weighing in, and as we all know, the first rule of blogging is to always let cooler heads prevail.

Reporter
Don’t post angry! Don’t post angry!

Which brings me to the next point, which is that things sure have changed in Tennessee, for the better in my opinion. There have been some bumps along the way, sure. Toby Keith is still making records for example, but otherwise things are progressing nicely. Recall this once proud fanbase was one yard away from a Superbowl win not that long ago, and I assume much different in demeanor than the one I joined last season, when the chief argument revolved around whether a bag on one’s head was acceptable gameday attire. Actually I don’t think that issue was ever resolved, though the foolishness of constrictive headgear during the late summer in the deep south prevented me from ever seeing any point in real debate. What exactly does that line of reasoning entail?

“Maybe if enough of us asphyxiate Bud will realize that winning 4 games a year is a bad thing!”

I didn’t get it either.

Reporter
If he wears a bag on his head I’ll reconsider.

In any event things have turned around, so much so that the burning question is now whose fault (singular) it is we lost by two points to the defending Super Bowl champions. Now this is a fan base I can relate to. Hell Yeah! As a Longhorn/Red Sox fan that mentality is almost a birthright, even if often unencumbered by facts or reason. Save the lovable loser crap for the Cubs and Lions of the world, ’cause the Tennessee Titans fans are pissed! I’m down. So let’s go over the potential candidates:

    Jeff Fisher- Nope. He called an excellent game, particularly with his clock management and the use of the challenge. We had a minute and a half left to get in field goal range and win this game- good job Fish.
    Norm Chow- Nope. We have the best rushing offense in the league averaging over two hundreds yards a game so far- we can talk red zone efficiency but the overall gameplan works.

    Jim Schwartz- Nope. We held the best passing offense in the league to a bunch of field goals- I personally hate the bend don’t break defense mindset but it works vs. the Colts everytime.

    Bud Adams- Nope. In addition to being a continuous source of irritation to Houston Texans fans, which is awesome, he signed Fish to a long term deal this week. Good on ya, Bud.

    Vince Young- Nope. I love it when people equate a personal foul with an automatic 6 point swing, as if all of the thousands of variables that go down on every play will karmically line up and happen for them after our guy screws up. Emotion and probability are not friends.

    Brandon Jones- Nope. Ideally he’d drag that last one in, but one play doesn’t lose a game. So far this season Jones : 6 rec 63 yards; Wade 6 rec 62 yards; Bennett 3 rec 42 yards. So much for the loss in production.

    Peyon Manning- Nope. He played like he always does, efficient and almost mistake free, and we managed to get to him better than most teams do. Guys who usually stay clean don’t like being planted, and Odom, Haynesworth and KVB were in his cheerios all game long. Hell Chris Hope apparently thought he was playing Slug-Bug with Reggie Wayne during that post route which allowed Cortland to get the pick, and we got away with it. Can’t blame Peyton for this one.

    Adam Vinatieri- This was actually my initial choice for scapegoat- it’s his fault for not shanking any more of those god-awful kicks into the food court. If that bastard hadn’t gotten enough clockwise spin on that one that actually hit the freaking crossbar to pull it over we’d have won.

Then I realized how foolish all this is.

I mean I understand that calling Brandon Jones “Skillet Hands” is probably cathartic, but other than that I didn’t see much to get bent out of shape over just yet. It was a great game. In fact the only thing I found to truly complain about after the game, other than the final score, was listening to Gumbel and Dierdorf for three hours. Sweet Jesus. I think I’d rather be trapped on the moon with Pauly Shore. Forever. There’s nothing like the continuous chortling of two bloated sycophants to make you regret the current wane in popularity of recreational laudanum. Are you aware that they think Peyton Manning is a good quarterback? Oh yes. Indeed. In fact if you missed it, just have one of your friends repeat that phrase to you 9000 times while hitting you in the face with a whiffle ball bat to recreate the experience. I recommend something stronger than Shiner Bock and a mute button if you try it, like watching it from Amsterdam, maybe. I did put $20 on Gumbel to win the John Madden Massive Facial Swelling Contest they seem to be having this season, so at least I’ll have some action on the side to help cope if confronted with this particular form of torture again.

So what did we learn from this game? Oh hell, lots of things. We learned Fish knows how to challenge and manage a clock, that the Colts are a much better defense with Bob Sanders in run support, that our red zone defense and special teams are solid, that we really need some receivers to step up, that Vince is emotional, that Peyton is a good QB but labors under the delusion that he is also a referee… hmmm… actually I don’t think I learned a damn thing. At least nothing I didn’t already know. You figure these two teams have played each other three times in the last two years with a total margin of victory of 6 points. If you add up the scores from the last 180 minutes they’re even. They’ve have been doggedly slugging it out of late, which is nice, because the Colts are a damn good football team. I do think you can pay attention to a few more more stats after two games, though it’s still early. So far I still like what I see.

We’re running the ball really well, and moving the chains despite the lack of a legit #1 WR. VY’s completion percentage is over 60%. By any measure other than red zone percentage- 1st downs, 3rd down conversions etc. the offense is playing well. If VY throws for another couple of TD’s that is going to open up. We’re playing good team defense. We’ve faced one of the best running and passing offensives in the league, respectively, and the defense is sitting at #17 with 326 ypg and 16 ppg. Cortland has looked really good at CB, especially considering the competition last week, and we’ve actually managed a decent pass rush from the front four. Griffin had a fumble, but overall his return skills are better than I thought they’d be. We even managed to mess with Vinatieri’s head on ST, which is hard to do.

For this week I think the most important thing for everyone to realize, in case you’ve missed the flood of commercials so far, is that VY is playing Reggie Bush on Monday Night Football. Go on. Realize it. There’s also some other dudes involved, coaches and players or somesuch, but really it’s all just VY vs. Reggie. Of course:

    1) VY and Reggie are friends
    2) they will never actually be on the field at the same time and
    3) Reggie won’t even be on the field for half the offensive snaps

…but don’t let that get in the way of The Showdown! The Saints have a lot riding on this one. It’s their home opener, they’re avoiding 0-3, Peyton told Reggie if they lose he won’t let him be in any more commercials… it’s big. As such pundits are predicting a career game for Bush, something on the order of 80 total yards from scrimmage. I already can’t handle the excitement.

Reporter

Article Tags:

, , , , , , ,

More from this Barker


Share This

  • StumbleUpon

8 Responses

  1. UTtuck said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 10:59 am

    I don’t know how I just found out about you guys (I know how I found you guys, I don’t know how you kept it secret from me for so long) but you make me so happy. It is like every write-up that you do makes me want to print it out and drive up to Kirk Bohls house to show him how to write about sports. Oh, and I like your stuff.

    hook’em

    UTtuck

  2. Born a Horn said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 11:23 am

    One play doesn’t lose a game? Considering that every game the Titans play will likely end up being won or lost on the final drive, I think what goes down on that final drive does have a lot more weight. It’s like the NBA and not watching until the final two minutes because it doesn’t really matter what the score is, it’s all about who controls those last few minutes. And ask Tony Romo if he thinks one play does or doesn’t win a game.

    Then again, maybe you shouldn’t.

  3. Uncle Teardrop said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 11:23 am

    What has happened with their DL that wasn’t there last year? Haynesworth is a beast.

  4. Doperbo said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 11:53 am

    The main difference is Tony Brown and a healthy Antwan Odom on the dline, it’s harder to double Haynesworth and VandenBosch now. There is a reason you’ve never heard of a guy named Sean Conover, it’s called last year.

    As far as the one play thing, I suppose it’s an issue of perspective. I mean if Adam doesn’t hook that FG it isn’t that close, or if Hope doesn’t interfere with Wayne, or any number of other scenarios. What if Davis doesn’t fumble the ball? They missed that field goal, but would we have converted that possession? You drive yourself nuts trying to break down a 60 minute game into one play that decided it.

    On the other hand I agree with the overall take. We are going to be in a lot of games where the WR’s need to channel their inner David Thomas on the final drive and just make plays- so they better get used to it. Phrase the question a different way, would you want to be the WR who dropped the ball after seeing Vince in that press conference? I think I’d rather eat ricin.

  5. Huckleberry said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 12:10 pm

    I would rather you eat ricin as well.

  6. Doperbo said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 1:12 pm

    I’m surprised you didn’t make a copy Titans thread in order to say so.

  7. Born a Horn said:

    September 20th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    Yes, it’s a part of chaos theory – sensitive dependence on initial conditions. i.e. small variations of the initial condition of a nonlinear dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.

    It’s really a deep philosophical question that was best explored by Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect.

    And, it’s one of the 6 questions VY got right on the Wunderlic.

  8. Doperbo said:

    September 21st, 2007 at 9:25 am

    Here’s some more info on why the Dline is more disruptive this season:

    Tennessean.com

Leave a Reply

Follow Us

Related Articles

Hot Forum Topics

Activity

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Recapping the West   31 seconds ago

    Great recaps, Trips, er Kev. Keep pumping out the great content. Sorry about UTEP…..

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Rumor Alert–TMG   6 minutes ago

    NDS,

    What will your team look like w/o those two guys? Who do you have coming in???

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Nike U in Turmoil   17 minutes ago

    Getting off a sinking ship. Bellotti is supposedly very much like Mack in his affinity for the media. I’ve always wondered about the assumption that Mack would be happy as the Texas AD when he could just go get a cushy analyst job. Mack clapping in studio would be great TV, no??

  • Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Recapping the West   18 minutes ago

    The Wild West was anything but considering all games played according to seed except for Vanderbilt and Murray State. Let’s start with the big dog.

    Syracuse vs. Vermont

    The Orange took an early first half lead and never looked back. Using five players with double figure scoring, and a new-look zone missing interior presence Arinze

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Turns the Page   18 minutes ago

    AAS wrote a dumbed down version of this subject today. Barnes says he’s bringing in another guard. Good, because I feel very confident in our depth in the front court. Alexei, white stiff #1, and white stiff #2 make me ooze with confidence especially behind a true freshman and undersized 4…….

    Barnes, asked

  • Farmer Ted wrote a new blog post: Suh Meets with Lions   38 minutes ago

    Not too long ago we laughed at the idea that a team would consider taking anyone ahead of Ndamukong Suh in the NFL draft. Now it appears very possible — even likely — that the Rams will take QB Sam Bradford with the #1 pick, which would give the Lions the next shot at Suh

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Black Scholes commented on the blog post Texas Turns the Page   41 minutes ago

    Hamilton needs 1-2 years to seriously work on the deficiencies in his game. He goes now, and in a couple of years he’s “whatever happened to …?”. The risk is while he might get drafted now on potential, if he can’t/won’t develop as a player he won’t even have that to offer in

  • NorthDallasSooner commented on the blog post The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour   1 hour, 7 minutes ago

    “Coincidentally I maintain a subscription to Texas Monthly magazine in an effort to keep up with my roots in some way, shape or form. The April issue showed up at my house this afternoon and features a fairly in depth article about the ongoing drama between Texas Tech and the Dread Pirate Leach. The more

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Recapping the East   1 hour, 11 minutes ago

    Again, no news is good news when you’re one of the top seeds in the region. That motto holds true in the East as the top four seeds advanced.

    Kentucky vs. East Tennessee State

    This was a blood bath from the tip. Anyone that thinks this young Wildcat club may have one eye on the

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • NorthDallasSooner wrote a new blog post: Rumor Alert–TMG   1 hour, 19 minutes ago

    It’s certainly unconfirmed, but I got this email this morning from a friend who follows the hoops program very closely. Stay tuned……

    “A very reliable source close to the OU BB program told me yesterday TMG is gone. He packed his bags and unless Capel can talk him out of it our PG for the future has left

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour   1 hour, 37 minutes ago

    Great survey, whiskey. I miss football a lot.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Recapping The South   1 hour, 43 minutes ago

    There were lots of surprises in this region and a near miss or two that could have really turned this bracket upside down. But after the dust settled, seeds 1 through 4 remain alive…for now anyway.

    Duke vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

    Let’s start at the top where Duke methodically disposed of an Arkansas -Pinebluff cub that gave

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout   1 hour, 58 minutes ago

    Funny, an OU blog talking about a Texas’ team when referencing the state of unrest and embarrassment. I mean, you have such a rich history to draw from. I’ll miss Tiny. Like Sailor, I love his nickname…..

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout   2 hours, 5 minutes ago

    Why do bad things happen to bad people?

    I will always love the name Tiny Gallon. I see him being a fan favorite in Turkey and he’s going to love the souvlaki.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • whiskey commented on the blog post The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour   2 hours, 33 minutes ago

    This all might actually work out for Tebow in the end. If nothing else he is both a winner and a fierce competitor. I will be surprised if he goes the way of Eric Crouch. I am also liking Quinn’s chances in Denver. He knows that offense and he will

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Ag_in_TX wrote a new blog post: Utah State Post-Mortem   2 hours, 51 minutes ago

    Have You Read the Gospel According To Mark? – Sign hanging in Spokane last night.

    At some point, you have to ask if A&M is the best coached team in the Big XII. All due respect to Mr. Self in Kansas – but to use a poker analogy – Self is trying for a flush

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Trips Right wrote a new blog post: Second Round Bets   3 hours, 6 minutes ago

    Since my leans are hitting at a better rate than my wagers I’m going to go back to basics and post every thing I like but down to half a unit. We’ll see if that works.

    Here goes:

    Villanova -4.5: After a scare against Bob Morris, time for the ‘Cats to wake up. Too

  • Patrick Bateman wrote a new blog post: Texas Turns the Page   4 hours, 21 minutes ago

    Well, WTF was that?  A train wreck is what.  That’s how the entire Texas basketball season can be described.  A screaming, screeching, ugly train wreck.  After ascending to #1 in the nation for the first time in school history, the wheels just fell off during conference play.  You can read all about the final and

  • Ibas water bottle commented on the blog post Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout   6 hours, 25 minutes ago

    At what point do A.Ds stop hiring Duke people? At a certain point former coach K players stop being successful college players and start being coaches with shady recruiting results right?

    Oh and God bless the crime rate in Stillwater. The simple odds keep the shit from hitting the fan regularly for us.

    Who

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Oklahoma Sooners – Recruiting So Far   10 hours, 8 minutes ago

    BOC: Neither has visited, yet we hold ’ships open for both.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Nate Heupel wrote a new blog post: Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout   10 hours, 17 minutes ago

    TMZ reports that Tiny Gallon took a $3000 payout from an agent.

    My God, Capel has no control over this team whatsoever. This is 2007 offseason Texas football levels of embarrassing. You can’t let a half dozen bad apples spoil a bushel of 10 apples…that analogy sucked balls, but you get my

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Previewing Jimmer and the Cougars   11 hours, 28 minutes ago

    Great stuff, bear. really looking forward to this game.

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Barnes worst team   11 hours, 28 minutes ago

    06_UT: you are probably right. I thought about changing the post description to “least favorite Barnes team” because that’s more accurate but I didn’t feel like it.
    That said, I’m not sure this team would beat those other two. They would lose Abrams and let him go 7-15 on 3s and the Abrams team played better

  • admin commented on the blog post Nike U in Turmoil   11 hours, 33 minutes ago

    Aren’t they building some sort of super duper hoops arena? Most expensive ever bilt or something?

    Who will the get? Mark Few?

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Nike U in Turmoil   11 hours, 33 minutes ago

    Aren’t the building some sort of super duper hoops arena? Most expensive ever bilt or something?

    Who will the get? Mark Few?

  • srr50 wrote a new blog post: Nike U in Turmoil   11 hours, 50 minutes ago

    10 weeks ago, Oregon played in the Rose Bowl as Pac 10 champions. Since their loss to Ohio State, the program has been in some kind of bizzaro parallel universe where every headline concerns a player arrest, a firing, or now a resignation.

    Mike Bellotti, the Duck AD and former head coach earlier this week

  • Luke commented on the blog post First Round: Clemson Tigers   14 hours, 1 minute ago

    Prescient comment, Doc.

    I think we learned today that no team is really a mirror image of Missouri, even if Clemson is about as close as it gets. Unless you have significantly better/more talented athletes, if you try to run with the Tigers, you will lose. This team is so much fun to watch in games

  • srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux   14 hours, 15 minutes ago

    Good to see that Tom Penders still believes in the weave offense. Maryland finally figured out that if you pass quickly, the middle is always open.

    37-29 Maryland late in the first half.

  • Luke wrote a new blog post: Previewing Jimmer and the Cougars   14 hours, 16 minutes ago

    Kansas State is going to be under a lot of pressure tomorrow night in primetime at the Ford Center.

    Not only are the Wildcats the favored #2 seed going against #7 seed BYU, but if the Wildcats lose, they may sentence hundreds of boys to nonstop harassment from all the kids who think that “Jimmer” was

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Ibas water bottle wrote a new blog post: Georgia Tech post mortem   14 hours, 28 minutes ago

    We came up short.

    Credit to Georgia Tech they worked the ball inside where they had the advantage and played great D on the perimeter. Matt Pilgrim is the most athletic big man we’ve had in years around here and he was irrelevant. When we tried to drive they collapsed like Chris Farley on a

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });