SB Nation - Steve McNair

Man Who Sold Gun that Killed Steve McNair Sentenced to 30 Months

Jimmy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:15:54 -0000

Adrian Gilliam Jr., A CONVICTED MURDERER, was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for selling Sahel Kazemi the gun she used to kill Steve McNair and herself. Gramsey said it is more than he expected, and I agree, but the fact that he is A CONVICTED MURDERER should have led to a harsher penalty. Unfortunately that is not how our justice system works.

This should be the last piece of news that gets national attendance in this case. Please take some time to remember Mechelle McNair and all of Steve's sons as they will be going through their first Christmas after his murder.

MCM's Tennessee Titans Team of the Decade

Jimmy — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:06:16 -0000

More photos » by Dave Einsel - AP

I made the team!! (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)

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We are continuing our "of the decade" series today with the Titans team of the decade. This list was compiled by August, Hal, Gramsey, and me. It was a fun exercise. Some of the selections were no brainers that were easily agreed on by all parties, but there were a few that were hotly debated.

The team and some comments on it after the jump.

OFFENSE

QB- Steve McNair
RB- Chris Johnson
FB- Lorenzo Neal
WR- Derrick Mason
WR- Drew Bennett
TE- Frank Wycheck
OT- Brad Hopkins
OT- Michael Roos
OG- Bruce Matthews
OG- Zach Piller
C- Kevin Mawae

DEFENSE

DE- Jevon Kearse
DE- Kyle Vanden Bosch
DT- Kevin Carter
DT- Albert Haynesworth
LB- Keith Bulluck
LB- David Thornton
LB- Randall Godfrey
CB- Samari Rolle
CB- Cortland Finnegan
S- Chris Hope
S- Michael Griffin

SPECIAL TEAMS

K- Rob Bironas
P- Craig Hentrich
RS- Derrick Mason
LS- Ken Amato

A few thoughts:

The first debate we really had was between CJ and Eddie George. It seems somewhat blasphemous to keep Eddie off the team, but you can't include 1999 and without that CJ's numbers in 2 years are more impressive.
We all wanted to come up with a way not to put Drew Bennett on the team because all any of us can think of when we think of Drew is the drop in New England, but when you look at the numbers he had to be there.
Gramsey wants Sarge over Lorenzo, but the thing that gave Lorenzo the nod for the rest of us was the decline in Eddie's career when he left.
Everything else offensively is pretty much a no-brainer.
We cheated a little bit on the defensive line putting Carter in there at tackle. He did play some tackle in his time here, but it really came down to the fact that those four guys are the four that it had to be. Who else would you put at tackle? Tony Brown was close, but Carter's numbers were so good that it was justifiable.
Linebacker was a little bit of a debate between Randall Godfrey and Peter Sirmon, but Godfrey was more dominating so he got the nod.
The safety positions might have taken us the longest. Blaine Bishop was the first thought in everyone's head, but when you look at the numbers from this decade his aren't that good. Griff would have made it a lot easier on us had he not gone in the tank this year, but his season last year was better than any season posted by a safety in the last 10 years- ergo he makes the list.
The returner debate is still going on between the four of us as I am writing this post. The numbers are close enough that I can put Mason on the list and not feel bad about it. Gramsey and Hal are all about he who shall not be named. He was electric, but he only did it for 2 seasons. That is how I am justifying leaving him off. Gramsey says I will close the comments so no one can prove me wrong. He doesn't have that "Hater" title for nothing. Have at it..

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: We're Groovin', Groovin' Edition

August West — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:50:44 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

For all of the unpredictability of this season, there's one thing we can still count on: Chris Johnson is about to start breaking some very lofty franchise, and possibly NFL, records.

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Invaluable reader ctex80 send us towards this stellar profile on Vince Young that Lee Jenkins penned for Sports Illustrated. It does a better job than many at showing just how deep the memory of Steve McNair runs for that man. The opening paragraph is enough to warm the cold, calloused heart of even most Texans fans:

When Vince Young prays before a game, he asks God to tap Steve McNair on the shoulder, to let him know he's loved and to let him know it's game time. Like any good quarterback Young has an unusual ability to feel the presence of people he cannot always see, so as he crouches under center, he'll tell you, he knows running back Chris Johnson is lined up behind him and McNair is behind him too. "He's standing in the pocket with me," Young says of McNair.

Speaking of gone too soon, yesterday was the 42nd anniversary of the day some cruel deity called back one of his greatest gifts to the world: the voice and stylings of Otis Redding. Once Otis gets in your ear drums, he just Can't Turn You Loose! It's the second half of the medley, but so help me if I find out you skipped over Pain in my Heart I'll track you down and do terrible, terrible things.

491: that's how many yards Chris Johnson needs to cross the 2,000 mark. 597: that's how many yards CJ needs to surpass Eric Dickerson and reach NFL immortality.

Follow us through the jump for more on the rushing record and VY's injury...

PFW says breaking the rushing record certainly isn't impossible for CJ, and the deliver scouting reports on the previous members of the 2,000 yard club.

CJ has been on the injury report with an ankle injury, but the company line coming out of Baptist Sports Park is that CJ's 'fine', and Fisher is just giving CJ ann easy week so he can rest-up for the home stretch.

So we all heard about Vince Young tweaking his injured knee and being pulled from practice yesterday. Jeff Fisher sounds completely sure that Vince will be able to go on Sunday, and that they mostly yanked him from practice as a precaution against further damage.

Tony Brown was fined $10K for reaching into the face mask of Colt's instigator Kyle DeVan last Sunday. Of course DeVan wasn't punished for pushing Brown over the pile well after the whistle or the uppercut to the chin on the following play that sent Brown's helmet flying. For those who didn't watch the game Sunday, it was that kind of officiating.

Breaking News: A seldom used (this year, at least) NFL back-up RB wants to carry more of the load! But, because he's a stand-up guy, he's complementary of everyone and supports the starter who may be having one of the best seasons in NFL history.

Here, several Titans discuss the remote possibility of the playoffs.

Astute reader/commenter ryansax points us towards this Yahoo! Sports post that looks at the greatest Fantasy Football playoff runs of all time, and ranks Billy Volek to Drew Bennett in 2004 as the best.

Ha ha... ha ha ha ha.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAAHHA!!!!! Anybody got a towel I can wipe these tears of laughter with? I friggin' love it when these guys lose now.

Turf Show Times takes a look at the similarities and differences between the Titans and Saints.

PFW praises our numbers-over-talent defensive line, but fears that there will be drastic changes to the unit this off-season.

Have love, need links: mcmaugustwest@gmail.com

49ers QB issues: Marc Bulger for the short term anyone?

Fooch — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:00:17 -0000

Before anybody loses their lunch over this, or flips out on me, I'm just posting this out of curiosity. I'm not advocating one way or the other on this. So take a deep breath before posting your response.

The Rams announced yesterday that QB Marc Bulger is likely to miss 3-6 weeks with a broken tibia. In reporting on this, Mike Sando commented that this could be the end for Bulger in St. Louis. He's scheduled to make $8.5 million next season and has three years after that worth almost $30 million. As Sando said, it "was going to make it tough for the Rams to justify keeping him unless Bulger played at a high level while the Rams won a few games down the stretch." Over the course of this season, Bulger has had two good to really good games: last week against New Orleans (26/40, 298 yards, 2/1) and a few more weeks before that at Jacksonville (22/34, 213 yards, 1/1). Not great, but certainly some skilled performances.

Is that enough to warrant bringing him back in St. Louis? I don't know their cap space, and I don't know what their plans are with what will be a very high draft pick. But say St. Louis decided to release him to start clearing up cap space. I've said it in the comments somewhere else, and I'll say it again, the current crop of free agent quarterbacks is rather miserable. Your two best QB options are Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell. Some may like one or the other, but clearly this is not a high caliber group.

And so I thought I'd at least put this out there for people to chew on. Say the end of the season arrives, and Alex Smith has not really shown enough to warrant keeping him around. And say you improve the offensive line in the offseason, because whomever is there will need to be kept alive in some fashion. Whether you go look to groom Nate Davis, or you decide to draft a young QB high in the draft, would you bring in Bulger for a Chris Chandler type of role (mentoring Steve McNair)? A guy who can play for a year or two and bring more than Trent Dilfer brought to the table. A guy who can help you develop that young QB.

I'm not saying this has any remote chance of happening. And even if it was on the radar, I'm not saying I'd agree or disagree with such a move at this point. Bulger has struggled the last three or so years, but one can say that has coincided with some miserable Rams teams that have combined for 6 wins during that time. I'm not saying it would work, but is anybody intrigued by such an option? Or is this a pointless exercise?

There's something about Nate Davis...

Fooch — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:15:22 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

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Ok maybe that's a cheesy headline, but it's actually kind of true. Whether you're for or against 49ers QB Nate Davis (as opposed to those of us in the middle), the young man has inspired an inordinate amount of debate. I suppose this isn't surprising given the struggles of 49ers quarterbacks since the departure of Jeff Garcia.

Whatever the situation, it's not surprising some folks have latched on to Nate Davis as the guy of the future. They might not be calling him the next Montana, but they want him out there ASAP. Other folks have made it clear they think Nate Davis is nothing, is not going to make an impact in the future, and has no place on the 49ers roster going forward. Both sides have been quite vocal in their support or lack of support for Davis.

I bring all this up because of my own position, and my curiosity about the extreme folks thoughts on certain issues. When it comes to Nate Davis I am definitely excited by his potential, but I'm also not ready to bet the farm that he's the long term answer. I think the potential exists for him to be a long term answer, but I don't think the team needs to put him out there at this point in time.

What I want to do with this post is offer the various counter-arguments I see to the two extreme positions. I believe that it's way too early to make any sort of hard judgments about Nate Davis one way or the other. I can say with virtual certainty that plenty of folks will disagree on both sides of the debate, so please feel free to fire away with your opinions. And given how some of these debates have developed in the past, let's try and keep things respectful.

After the jump, I consider the two sides of the coin. There's no poll because I don't see this as a black and white issue even with numerous poll options. So whether you agree or disagree, let us know your thoughts in the comments...

Argument 1: Nate Davis should be starting now
I'd first like to clarify this argument. There are certain folks who want to see Nate Davis out on the field later in the season after the team is completely out of playoff contention. I am not talking about this argument. I think a little mop-up time is certainly not completely unreasonable. The argument I take issue with is the argument for getting Davis out there starting now, or as soon as possible.

The easy counter that seems to come up frequently is to point to Alex Smith's rookie season in 2005. Smith was in over his head and was just annihilated out there. Why do that again with Nate Davis as a rookie? Well, this is not actually the argument I would make, at least in its entirety. The 2009 San Francisco 49ers are much different from the 2005 49ers. This team is struggling, but this team also has a lot more talent on it and clearly Nate Davis would be surrounded with an immensely improved group of skill players.

The one area one might compare would be the struggles of the offensive line. And that's where my point is in countering this argument. As much as people complain about Alex Smith and Jimmy Raye, this offensive line is rather abysmal. They'll make a nice play once in a while, but more often than not it seems like Alex Smith has to run for his life. Actually, it's not even running for his life, because many times he has no time to run. Nate Davis certainly has a cannon for an arm and can get the ball deep to Crabtree, Davis and Morgan. However, when a quarterback has 1 second before the pass rush is on him, how exactly are the wide receivers supposed to run their vertical routes? If somebody can answer me that question, maybe you should send the 49ers a postcard.

Argument 2: Nate Davis is useless and has no place in the long term plans of this team
This is more of a summary of that side of the debate, than anything word-for-word. So feel free to correct me if you think I'm misconstruing the argument(s). The way I read it, some folks contend Davis is never going to be a good quarterback and the team needs to consider alternative options.

My problem with this side of the debate is the fact that Nate Davis has been in the NFL for less than one season. I realize his only game action came in the preseason, which is one reason I'm not prepared to name him the savior. At the same time, I don't see why the anti-Davis crowd can't admit that he showed some talent in the preseason (even if it was against backups). It is only preseason, but showing some skills in preseason has to be better than performing poorly in the preseason, right? Or am I wrong on that? Please feel free to rebut this presumption.

I know some folks are concerned about the learning disability, but that's another thing that I think is being overblown. Nate Davis has dyslexia, which basically involves an individual's ability to read, write and spell. It interferes with an individual's "acquisition and processing of language." The team brought Davis in before the draft and had him work with QB coach Mike Johnson. Obviously learning the playbook might be an issue, but I'm guessing the coaches figured that was something that could be overcome. Seeing as he learned the Ball State playbook, I'll agree with them on that. As far as in-game action, the only issue I could see would be in the hurry-up offense when Davis might be reading the play-chart on his forearm. However, I'd like to think the team has figured out a way to overcome that. I could be wrong, but that seems like a fairly basic issue to resolve.

Handling Nate Davis
As I said at the top, I fall somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to Nate Davis. I definitely see some skills that could project into the quarterback of the future. However, I also realize 1) it's only based on preseason performance, and 2) putting him in right now behind such an abysmal offensive line is not the smart move. If the team is in fact going to push him as the #1 guy next year (I'm not expecting it initially), why not get a couple big hogs on the offensive line to keep him upright? Build up that offensive line and suddenly those weapons could be absolutely fierce. Davis and Crabtree have looked good this year. Imagine how they would look with more time to develop their routes?

So how would I handle Nate Davis, long term? I'd go with some variation on the Carson Palmer/Steve McNair philosophy. Palmer was drafted in 2003 and sat out the entire year behind Jon Kitna. He never touched the field in a regular season game and then was named the starter at the beginning of the 2004 season. Steve McNair was drafted in 1995. He saw action in 4 games, starting 2 his rookie season. His second year he appeared in 9 games, starting 4. Both seasons the #1 QB was Chris Chandler, who finally gave way to McNair completely in 1997.

So, I'd say if Davis is going to see any playing time, it should be late in the game against the likes of Detroit and St. Louis, if even then. It's a bit more difficult in this situation because you don't have the aging veterans that know they're being worked out the door. You have a young guy in Alex Smith, and a still relatively young guy in Shaun Hill, who won't be quite so accommodating (even if they act nice about it). Hill's only chance as a starter going forward is if the team cuts loose Smith and wants a bridge to the QB of the future, be it Nate Davis or anybody else. But clearly Hill's not a long term answer (or even really a short term one). But the general idea, whomever you're rolling out there, is that Nate Davis could conceivably become your starting QB either midway through 2010, or at the start of 2011. I know that's too long a wait for some folks, but I think if you build up your offensive line this year it's worth the wait.

One interesting little fact about McNair, the year before McNair was drafted, Jeff Fisher took over as head coach with six games left in the season, and had the interim tag removed for the next year. Last year Mike Singletary was interim head coach for 9 games, before having the tag removed. And he also has a rookie QB. It's a bit of a stretch, but it's fun to consider those random possibilities.

Of course, if the offensive line is really the problem, and it's enough to make Alex Smith a better QB next year, that throws a monkey wrench into the plans I suppose.

Ravens Lose Another Win-able Game

Bruce Raffel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:43:56 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

about 1 month ago: Baltimore Ravens' Billy Cundiff kicks a field goal in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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The scoreboard will just show another close game lost by the Baltimore Ravens, this time 17-15 to the Indianapolis Colts. But to those who witnessed the game, it is just another of the frustrating disappointments that this season has become. With the team trailing by two and just under five minutes to play, the Ravens had the ball inbside the Colts 10 yard line with a third and goal. All day the team had either run and play for the field goal or throw outside to either DerrickMason or dumped it off to Ray Rice. Mason had his way all day against the Colts secondary along the sidelines but for some reason the play was called for Mason to cross the middle near the goal line. It was pretty obvius that Joe Flacco had made up his mind in the huddle that no matter what he was throwing to Derrick and regardless of the fact that he was surrounded by Colts defenders, Flacco still tried to force the ball in there. We Ravens fans know exactly what that is called- it's a "McNair Moment" just like the time in the 2006 playoffs where the late Steve McNair did almost the exact same thing in their 15-6 loss.

There is so much to complain about in this devastating defeat, so why don't you all start it off, as I'm pretty numb after this one and perhaps should settle down before typing anymore. All yours, guys.

Titans 41 Bills 17 Recap: No Double Barrels Here

Jimmy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:28:47 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

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This is the first time the Titans have scored 30+ points in three consecutive games since 2003 (the year Steve McNair was co-MVP). It is amazing the transformation this team has made coming out of the bye. We are all feeling good now, but the true test of how good this team is comes over the next three weeks. Houston, Arizona and Indianapolis all boast extremely dangerous passing attacks. The one thing that the Titans haven't exactly fixed yet is the big plays given up, and if they are going to win those games they are going to have to get that fixed.

We saw the first big play of the day yesterday on Buffalo's first offensive drive. I have no idea if they had given other teams the "wildcat" look yet, but the Titans safeties apparently had no idea it was legal to throw from the formation. Fred Jackson gave a little fake up into the line, the entire defense bit, and Lee Evans was all by himself for the 27-yard touchdown reception.

The Titans came right back and answered that score on their next drive. Again, it is just remarkable the transformation that Vince Young has made since the last time we saw him as "the guy" under center. He just adds a whole new dimension that has opened up a lot of stuff for Chris Johnson. That drive covered 80 yards and had a 19-yard reception by Nate Washington, a 17-yard reception from CJ and was capped off by CJ's 28 yard touchdown run. It is so much fun to watch a guy that is gone pretty much every time he gets the corner.

The defense stepped up on the next drive and forced a three and out. A nice return by Alvin Pearman set up a short field for the offense. Pearman had a very solid game yesterday averaging 20 yards per kick return (should have been higher but one big return got negated by a hold away from the play by August's boy Donnie Nickey) and 18 yards per punt return. The offense was able to capitalize on that field position after Vince hit Kenny Britt down the sideline for 38 yards. Two plays later VY found Washington for a 14-yard TD pass.

The defense stepped up again on the next drive and the Titans were able to come away with a field goal on their ensuing drive. At that point it felt like the rout was on, but Buffalo answered with a TD on their next drive that was set up by, you guessed it, a big passing play. This time it came in the form of a Trent Edwards to Terrell Owens 48-yard gainer.

Vince's only interception of the day, and his three starts, came on the next possession. We talked quite a bit about that pick last night, and it is one that we can live with for a few reasons; the first being that it was actually a good read just a poor throw. Those happen (see Peyton's first pick last night). The second reason is because Bills safety Jairus Byrd made a heck of a play to get to that ball to pick it off. Byrd now has 8 picks in the 7 games he has started. The third is that taking shots like that, even if they aren't successful, helps keep the defense from loading up the box.

The defense was able to hold, and neither team would score again before the half. The Titans did line up to kick a 60 yard field goal before the end of the half that Bironas ended up way short on. That set up one of the scariest plays in football with an athletic guy, in this case Jackson, running with the ball in his hands against the guys out there to block for the field goal attempt. Luckily Craig Stevens and Michael Roos were able to bring Jackson down without any damage.

The Bills opened the second half with another....wait for it...big pass play to T.O. on a play where it looked like T.O. could have fought for extra yardage had he cared anything about the game that was going on, but instead he just stepped out of bounds. The defense was able to step up and hold the Bills to a field goal that tied the game at 17.

There wouldn't be anymore scoring in the 3rd quarter. CJ got his second TD of the game early in the 4th quarter, this time a 1-yard run where he bounced off two would be tacklers, and finally the rout (and sprinkler apparently) was on.

The Titans would get a 51-yard field goal from Bironas, a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown and 31-yard interception return for a touchdown before the 4th quarter was over.

This three game winning streak has been fun, but the toughest 3 game stretch of the remaining schedule is no ahead. For now let's enjoy this win, but maybe in a different way than Bud.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Thank You To Our Real Veterans Edition

August West — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:18:09 -0000

Gotta love KSK

What better way to start off the Veteran's Day links than with a story about the Titans' own veteran of military service, Ahmard Hall. Hall served in the Marines in Kosovo and Afghanistan before walking on to the Texas Longhorns team upon his return. We can't thank Ahmard Hall and every other veteran for the US Military enough for their bravery and sacrifice for this nation, so perhaps the best we can do is never forget that they're the backbone of everything good in our lives. Without our veterans we wouldn't have the freedoms we enjoy today.

Jim Trotter of SI.com makes his prediction for the second half of the season, and he's predicting a continued marriage between Vince Young and the Titans after the season ends:

3. Vince Young will be the Titans' QB beyond this season.

... Young looks as if he has been humbled and hardened after being relegated to the sidelines the final 15 games last season and the first six games this year. He always has had a way of rallying teammates, and he'll do it again by leading the Titans to four to six wins in their final eight games (which means six to eight wins in his 10 starts).

If you missed the debacle excitement last night , head on over here to check-out a preview of the upcoming game by Jimmy, Buffalo Rumblings and myself.

Follow us through the jump to learn more about the history of Kearse's knee problem...

In a sign that doesn't look too good for the injured David Thornton, the Titans added LB Eric Bakhtiari to the practice squad yesterday. It's not an outright admission that Thornton's hip problems are serious, but it shows they feel the need to increase depth behind him now that McRath is an interim starter.

One of the chief concerns VY needs to focus on heading into this game is rookie stand-out safety Jarius Byrd, who enters the Thunderdome with 7 interceptions already to his name, including a three game multiple-interception streak. Here, USA Today takes a closer look at his game.

Jevon Kearse's knee problems date back to his days in Philadelphia, and when he re-injured it earlier in the year doctors found that it had never fully healed correctly. He's hoping to be back in practice as the team prepares for the Buffalo game this week.

Mechelle McNair won a court decision yesterday giving her the right to sell Steve McNair's recently opened restaurant, Gridiron9. A buyer has already come forward.

Every time you read a great Titans-related story on the web and don't share it with the MCM community through the fanposts, fanshots or by emailing me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com a Ravens (or Steelers) fan smiles. Is that what you want?!!!!?!?!

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans

sireric — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:03:09 -0000

Buffalo Bills (3-5) at Tennessee Titans (2-6)
Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 1:00 PM ET
LP Field - Nashville, TN

Coming off the bye week, the Buffalo Bills get a good challenge in the Tennessee Titans, who after an 0-6 start have won two in a row and seem to be back on track. This is the fifth-ever regular season meeting between these two long-time rivals. Does that sound weird? Well yeah, because this is the fifth time the Bills have played the Titans and sixth overall, but the forty-second all-time meeting between these two franchises if you count the days of the Houston Oilers. Both teams have traded signature franchise wins versus the other. For the Bills, it was "The Comeback Game," while for the Titans, it was "The Music City Miracle." Recaps of last five regular season games between these two teams are after the jump.

Sunday, December 24, 1995: Oilers 28, Bills 17
Todd Collins started this game for the Bills, but current Bills offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt finished it. Either way, it wasn't pretty for the Bills. A sack of Collins in the end zone and two Al Del Greco field goals led to an early 8-0 lead for the Oilers. After a Steve Christie 44-yard field goal closed the gap, not one but two Rodney Thomas touchdown runs gave the Oilers all the cushion they would need. The late Steve McNair hit Frank Wycheck for another score to put the game away. Van Pelt hit Andre Reed and Justin Armour for late scores to make it look respectable, but it wasn't as close as the final score looks.

Sunday, November 23, 1997: Titans 31, Bills 14
Once again, the Titans/Oilers jumped out to a sizable lead early, this time on a Marcus Robertson fumble return and two McNair touchdown plunges, giving the Titans a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. The big problem for Buffalo in this game was the lack of a run game - and when I say lack, I mean complete and total absence. The Bills had 4 rushing yards on 14 attempts. Antowain Smith was the Bills' leading rusher with 7 yards on 9 attempts. Quinn Early did have a nice game for the Bills with 103 yards on 8 catches and two touchdowns, but when you get only 4 total rushing yards, you can't expect to win very often.

Sunday, September 3, 2000: Bills 16, Titans 13
This was the season opener after the Music City Mugging ended the Bills' season the year before. After Rob Johnson hit Peerless Price to open the scoring, the ageless Del Greco hit two straight field goals to bring the Titans back to within one point. Steve Christie then hit two fields goals of his own to give the Bills their seven-point lead back. Eddie George then knotted the game up at 13 with a two-yard dive into the end zone. The Bills launched a late march, and this time, after Christie hit a 33-yard field goal with 31 seconds left on the clock, the Bills covered the kick return to seal the win.

Sunday, December 14, 2003: Titans 28, Bills 26
After two consecutive Gary Anderson field goals, the Bills rattled off 17 straight points. A Rian Lindell field goal, a six-yard Drew Bledsoe-to-Bobby Shaw touchdown pass, and a Pat Williams 28-yard fumble return for a touchdown that no doubt left him struggling for breath accounted for the scoring. Billy Volek then connected with Erron Kinney and Justin McCareins for two scores. Add in a Robert Holcombe plunge for the two-point conversion, and the Titans suddenlyhad a 21-17 lead. Lindell hit another field goal, and Volek ran in another score to make it 28-20. Bledsoe then hit Mark Campbell for a touchdown, but the two-point try failed, giving the Bills the loss.

Sunday, December 24, 2006: Titans 30, Bills 29
This was a real back and forth game, with 13 different scores and 7 different lead changes. Lindell hit five field goals and Rob Bironas hit three more for the Titans, his last one coming with just over two minutes left to play to give the Titans the win. Travis Henry, playing for the Titans, ran for 135 yards, and Vince Young added another 61 and a score. Lets hope that doesn't happen again.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: CJ's Awesomeness Average Continues To Grow Edition

August West — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:04:12 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

If CJ's going to get 2,000 yards he's going to need a lot of barf bags, never mind the cars for his O-line.

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Sunday's match-up will feature a coaching duel steeped in Chicago Bears tradition as former teammates Jeff Fisher and Mike Singletary square-off. Here, Coach Fisher shares some of his thoughts about his former teammate and current opponent.

Sunday's game will also feature two highly drafted QBs who are attempting to prove to their respective teams that they have the chops to thrive in the league. Both Vince Young and Alex Smith have lost their jobs and taken a beating in the press at times, and have thrown the exact same number of TDs (23) and INTs (33).

It's been nearly 40 years since any week 8 rushing leader averaged better than Chris Johnson's 6.92 yards per carry, and that rattling you hear is the 49ers run defense after watching the film reel. However, the 49ers currently rank 2nd in the NFL at stopping the run (84.9 yards per game), and they handled studly running back Steven Jackson earlier in the year.

Our recent history west of the Rockies is a bit gory: after a string of 8 straight losses out there, we're sitting at 1-9 in the last 10 games.

Follow us through the jumps for a pile of better than usual links...

Chris Johnson's absurd production so far this season continues to turn heads.

Chris Davis is humbled by his DUI experience, and wants nothing more than to make the most out of this second chance he's been given.

Kevin Mawae talks about being voted as one of the league's dirtiest players (the complete list included Cortland Finnegan as well), and notes that he can't remember the last personal foul he got... which seems odd for a notoriously dirty player.

The Sporting News went deep to come-up with a the All-Time greatest defense of Titans/Oilers players. make sure you take some time to read this primer of the Oilers days as only punter Craig Hentrich makes the list from the Titans era.

PFW's latest edition of Audibles has an interesting note about our upcoming opponent, who are mired in a 3 game losing streak:

• "Mike Singletary's bravado will only carry the 49ers so far. At some point, you have to be able to coach and teach and get past all the bravado. You can't turn chicken (feathers) into chicken salad with a bunch of fist pumps. At some point, it becomes negative because everyone has heard it enough. He called a timeout in the first half just to rally the guys (vs. Atlanta in Week Five) — to get them all around him and give an 'Iron Mike' speech — and it wound up costing them seven points. The ball was not fumbled on the kickoff (before the first half ended), but they did not have a timeout to challenge the call. It's another pants-down thing. You have to be better than that in the NFL."

A tip of the hat to gramsey for pointing it out, and a much heartier congratulations to Steve McNair Jr., who has chosen to matriculate down the football field at Southern Miss. Interestingly enough, Steve's father usually hosted his summer QB clinics on the campus of Southern Miss, so the campus locale is pretty familiar to the young WR recruit.