TJB Scout: Tennessee Titans
Remember the Titans?
No, not the Titans of New York — the Titans of Tennessee!
Okay, you’d have to be sleeping under an oil rig not to have heard, but Jeff Fisher’s terminally competitive squad is (again) having a pretty decent season, what with not having lost a game yet. With the grizzled Kerry Collins under center, they have won in the classic style — with a pounding two-headed rushing attack and a punishing defense. Right now, they are the best team in the AFC, and possibly, all of football.
So let’s see what makes perfection tick . . .
Cheerleader check: Heck yes, a bunch of country cuties.
The scene: The game is at LP Field in Nashville, a natural grass surface where the Titans have a huge advantage with a winning record of 40-24. Currently, the forecast is for partly sunny and in the low 50s.
Record: 10-0, good enough for first in the AFC South and probably a first-round playoff bye.
Streaks: The Titans have won their last 13 games in a row, including a 10-6 victory over the Jets last season on Dec. 23, 2007.
Barometer: Steady. The Titans are a rock solid organization, from head coach Jeff Fisher right on down. The team is well-coached, physical and deep. They make few mistakes and don’t take many bad penalties.
Old Friends: The Titans are a veritable treasure trove of ex-Jets, including center Kevin Mawae, defensive end Dave Ball, offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger and wide receiver Justin McDropsies.
Questions: There’s really only one: Will the Jets be the team to knock the Titans from the ranks of the unbeaten?
Key injuries: McDropsies (concussion), defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) and linebacker Keith Bulluck (chest) are all currently questionable.
Five things to know about the Titans offense:
- Here Comes the Rush – The Titans 7th-ranked rushing offense (132 yards/game) has successfully employed a thunder-and-lightning approach in the backfield: speedy rookie Chris Johnson is averaging 4.4 yards/carry for 787 yards while bruising (6’1, 235 pounds) LenDale White is the touchdown vulture, scoring 11 TDs. Unlike the Jets who use the play action to set up the run, Tennessee tends to be a team that just lines up, no gimmicks, and runs it down your throat.
- More Than a Manager – Some people regard quarterback Kerry Collins as a mere “game manager” of Mike Heimerdinger’s rush-heavy offense, but the past two weeks against better defenses in Chicago and Jacksonville, Collins has lead the team through the air to victory — against the Bears, he was 30 of 41 with 289 yards and 2 TDs, then after struggling early the next week, came back to throw 3 TDs against the Jaguars. Since replacing the unreliable Vince Young, Collins is a solid 160 of 271 (59%) for 1,755 yards, 8 TDs and 4 interceptions. With the stout Titans defense, expect a lot of safe, short passes — Johnson is the 2nd leading receiver on the team, grabbing 30 receptions out of the backfield.
- It Starts Up Front – Here’s all you need to know about the Kevin Mawae-led offensive line: Kerry Collins, who, at 36, is about as fleet-of-foot as Mike Westhoff pre-surgery, has only been sacked 5 times this year. Yes, FIVE times. Take a bow Michael Roos (left tackle), Eugene Amano (left guard), Jake Scott (right guard) and David Stewart (right tackle) — sweet teams are made of this.
- Go to Bo – The Titans leading receiver (by 14 receptions!) is tight end Bo Scaife, who has grabbed 44 passes for 450 yards and a pair of TDs. As the Jets have struggled to cover tight ends this season, look for Scaife to be featured heavily on Sunday. The reliable Alge Crumpler (17 receptions, 177 yards, 1 TD) provides skilled depth.
- Justin, Justin and Jones – Aside from sounding like a skateboarding law firm, the Titans receiving corps isn’t exactly a group of household names. Justin Gage is a big (6’4”) deep threat, averaging 17.9 yards a catch with 4 TDs; Brandon Jones is the “hands” guy, with 20 first downs on 29 receptions; and Justin McCareins is . .. well, Justin McCareins. ‘Nuff said!
Jersey watch (offense): Expect to see lots of the #28 of Johnson and the #25 of White.
Five things to know about the Titans defense:
- Did We Mention It All Starts Up Front? – All-Pro defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth anchors the formidable line and has set the tempo for the defense, notching 39 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 7 sacks. He is flanked by an older but still effective “Freak,” Jevon Kearse, who has 2.5 sacks this season, and Tony Brown, who has netted 3.5 sacks.
- Will Bosch Be Back? – Pro Bowl defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch has been in and out of the lineup this season — including being out the past two weeks with a groin strain — and may be back this week. The really scary part is that this hasn’t slowed the Titans defense all that much as they’ve gotten 7.5 sacks from replacements Jacob Ford and Dave Ball. (Yes, that Dave Ball, ex-Jet who out of football last season.)
- Four Is a Magic Number – Cornerback Courtland Finnegan, and safeties Chris Hope and Michael Griffin, all have 4 interceptions each; overall, the Titans are 2nd in the NFL with 15 picks. The Titans secondary has also had its share of injuries recently: cornerback Eric King broke his arm last week while cornerback Nick Harper has missed time with an ankle injury. Overall, the unit is ranked 6th against the pass, only yielding 186.7 yards/game.
- No Bull – Suffern, N.Y. native and Tennesse Titan institution Keith Bulluck continues to grind away, notching a team-high 62 tackles from his weakside linebacker slot. Third-year man Stephen Tulloch mans the middle while tackling machine David Thornton (5 straight years of 80+ tackles, including three seasons over 100) watches the other side.
- Solid From Front to Back – Jim Schwartz’s physical, imposing 4-3 defense really has no weaknesses, ranking 1st in points allowed (13.1 points/game), 6th in overall yards (281.8 yards/game) and 10th in rushing yards allowed (95.1 yards/game). They also are +10 in turnovers, including 10 forced fumbles to go with the 15 interceptions.
Jersey watch (defense): Hopefully the #92 of Haynesworth won’t be standing over the prone body of #4 too often.
Three things about the Titans special teams:
- My Bironas – He’s no Al Del Greco (the former greatest player in NFL history), but Rob Bironas continues to kick well, hitting 18 of 21 (85.7%) on field goals, with a long of 49. He’s also been averaging 67.8 yards on his kickoffs, including 13 touchbacks.
- Still Kicking – Sixteen-year veteran Craig Hentrich is having another solid year, currently averaging 43.1 yards/punt (36.9 net) and dropping 22 kicks inside the 20.
- Baby, You Can Run My Carr – The versatile Chris Carr returns both kicks and punts for the Titans, averaging 27.2 yards/return on kicks and 9.5 yards/return on punts.
What to expect from the broadcast booth: Once again, the Jets find themselves in CBS’ spotlight game, drawing the No. 1 broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms. However, as the Titans are undefeated, expect that angle to be beaten to death.
Spotlight matchup: Kevin Mawae vs. Kris Jenkins – If the All-Pro center can control Jenkins, and thereby, the line of scrimmage, then it should open up critical running lanes for the Titans.
The pressure is on: The Titans offensive line to keep the strong Jets pass rush away from the not-so-mobile Collins.
Expect the unexpected from: The Titans receivers. As a group, they have been underused all season — with the Jets’ troubles defending the spread-out two-minute offense, it would not be surprising if the Titans employed that offense during key spots in the game.
Bottom line: I usually use this spot to downplay expectations and preach caution against whoever the weekly foe is (“on any given Sunday, anyone from the Chefs to the Raiders can win, blah blah blah”), but for some reason, even against an undefeated favorite playing on their home turf, I really think the Jets match up well against Tennessee and have a good shot of winning. Go figure.
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Game will be won in the trenches. Mawae vs Jenkins, Mangold vs Haynesworth it will be a low scoring affair, similar to last year but with a different winner, if the Jets can avoid giving away points on turnovers.
We will win the trenches because of our pass rush and rushind D. Collins will be hurried and forced into mistakes by our pressure. We have to play our game of the last three weeks and special teams, Feely, must be special.
Actually the Jets matchup better against the Titans then they do with the Broncos. Oh yes Hentrich should have been a Jet back in 1993 if Colset didn’t cut him.Since then the Jets have had 14 different punters.
Everyone in the titans secondary has 4 interceptions. So Favre has to be careful.
The jets game plan has to be similar to what other teams will start doing to the jets. Go No Huddle.
Get Haynesworth to drag his feet and not put up a battle against our OL.
Do the no huddle and go for 4-6 yards at a time, which will tire out the defense and will force tennesse to not go no huddle on us because theyll need to take their time to give their defense some rest.
One small quibble with the numbers from the ‘lies, damn lies and statistics’ department. Tennessee’s rushing stat is inflated by a ridiculous game against Kansas City where they gained 334 yards. If you look at their rushing performances over the season, they’ve been wildly variable (much more than the Jets) with two performances below fifty yards, a low of 20 yards against the Bears and the inflated KC number for a high. If you remove their highest and lowest gains, and compare that number to the Jets, they’re almost identical 973 to 968 yarss for the Jets running game. So, on balance, the Jets running game is roughly the same as the Tennessee game. The Jets, however, have had three games gaining 200 yards or more while the Titans have had only one game above that level, for what it’s worth.
As for the TItans’ passing game, it has been dismal until the past two weeks. The impression is that it was always good but had simply been shelved because it wasn’t necessary, but that’s not accurate. They have NO receiving threat at wide receiver whatsoever (notwithstanding the rookie’s performance last week) and their passing game, engineered by the lifeless and unimaginative Mike Heimerdinger, has been historically toothless.
I offer these notes to add a little flesh to our evaluations this week. The game, of course, will be decided by execution. Moreover, we are not without our own weaknesses. Our advantages, fwiw, are Favre if he plays within the system, explosiveness out of the passing game and the ability to stop Tennessee in what they do well forcing them to win with skills they are not known for or particularly skilled at. Let’s not forget, the Titans were picked to go 7-9 pre-season, just like the Jets. This isn’t the Patriots. 10-0 is undefeated not flawless.
Wasn’t Dave Ball (not the WR) very critical of the Jets once he was out from under Mangini’s thumb? I can’t find a link … but I remember him having something to say about Mangini ..
Bassett,
here it is:
http://www.thejetsblog.com/2007/08/10/former-jet-dave-ball-on-mangini/
Good points Andrew.
When you look at the stats, Tennessee looks beatable but, there is one thing they do where they are ranked number one – They know how to win.
This won’t be easy but, if we play to the level of our ability, we’re going to win this game.
This will be a tough game. Jeff Fisher is one hell of a coach. He will have them prepaired for us. We can win this one though, I do believe that. We’ll just have to hang in there and gut this one out. I don’t believe this one will be decided before the fourth quarter.
NOTE: The Titans are the second most popular team in Tennessee.
I just read that Dave Ball comment. My respect and admiration for Mangini is growing by the minute. That s ridiculous and Dave Ball should be ashamed of himself as an NFL player. That’s like when the Yankees let go of Ruben Sierra and he said “all they care about is winning”
Dave Ball is a moron.
If you read the comments from Mangini about Dave Ball in his press conference, you will see there is a mutual respect, and he obviously liked him. Just because a player is candid does not make him a moron, coaches understand that.