SB Nation - Lavelle Hawkins

Colts 27 Titans 17 Recap: It's Officially Over Now

Jimmy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:44:12 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Peyton waived goodbye to our playoff hopes. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

That will pretty much do it for the 2009 Titans. I know we were all hoping for the miracle playoff run, but the seventh loss of the season pretty much ends that. The thing that is even more frustrating about today is that Chris Johnson was held under the pace he needed to catch Eric Dickerson and even to get 2,000 yards. It seems that is the only thing we are going to have to cheer for the rest of 2009.

You got an idea of what kind of day it was going to be on the Colts first play from scrimmage when Peyton Manning's pass to Austin Collie deflected off of his hands right to Pierre Garcon for a 27 yard play. Three plays later Nick Harper fell down trying to cover Garcon, he went for 36 yards, and set up the Colts first touchdown- an 8 yard run from Joseph Addai.

I think it is time that we stop getting mad at Harper. I wouldn't get mad at my 15 month old son if he let an NFL receiver run right by him, so why should I get mad at Harper. The person we should be mad at is Jeff Fisher for being so dang stubborn about letting veterans play. Fisher job isn't to be loyal. It is to put the best players on the field to help his team win. He clearly isn't doing that, and save the fanposts when the same thing happens to Britt when it is healthy. That is the reality of having Fisher as the coach. It always has been, and it always will be.

One of the few smart decisions Fisher has made this year is finally letting Britt return kicks. I guess someone finally told him that it is legal for rookies to do that kind of thing.

The second thing that happened during the game that made me really mad at Fisher was in the red zone on the Titans first possession. LenDale White, your short yardage back, gets 6 yards on first down to the three yard line. Instead of giving him the ball again Fisher decides to put Chris Johnson back in the game. No gain on second down with CJ, an incomplete throw on third down and the Titans have to settle for a pointless field goal.

A couple things here- LenDale is the perfect back to run against the Colts undersized defense. We talked a lot about that after the first game between these two teams. Why do you even have him on the roster if you aren't going to use him in this situation? I understand you don't want to take carries away from CJ, but inside the 5 the home run is 5 yards long. LenDale is the perfect guy to pick up those yards.

Secondly, if you are inside the five yard line against the Colts it should be four down territory every time unless a field goal will win the game as time expires. I understand why the field goal is kicked there, but it just seems all the more reason to let LenDale hit it up in there a couple more times and see where that gets you instead of being satisfied with the field goal in your back pocket.

The Titans defense stopped the Colts on their next possession and should have taken the lead following that but Nate Washington can't catch the football. We were all mad at the Steelers fans for saying what they said about Washington in week 1, but it turns out they were right. The Titans signed Washington for one reason, to make big catches down the field. He has proven time and time again this season that he cannot do that.

The next Colts possession saw another receiver running by Nick Harper, a horse collar penalty on Vincent Fuller, and big chunks of yards all over the field before another Addai touchdown run. You started to get the feeling at this point that the game was getting away from the Titans, and you got that feeling all the more when Ahmard Hall coughed up the football on the ensuing drive.

I know that we all love the Sarge for a lot of things that he does, but he has proven in his career that giving him the ball is dangerous. He has 102 touches in his career and has lost 4 fumbles, and it always seems to come after he has picked up a bunch of yards.

The next Titans possession ended in an interception. It actually could have ended earlier had Kelvin Hayden been able to pick off an out intended for Lavelle Hawkins. Rich Gannon analyzed that play perfectly when he said it was a bad decision by Young and a bad play by Hawkins when he didn't come back to the ball.

The thing that really frustrated me after the interception was the knee injury that crept up on VY after he had bounced back in bounds to hit Jacob Lacey and sat on the bench for about 30 seconds. I know the VY people are going to kill me for saying that, but that is how it looked to me. If anyone else has another explanation I would love to hear it.

The Colts did what they do with a short field and scored a touchdown to go up 21-3.

The Titans would answer with a nice drive of their own that ended with Britt catching yet another touchdown pass. The big play on that drive was a 24 yard reception by The Hawk. This will probably seem weird since I was criticizing him a few paragraphs ago, but another thing that makes me mad at Fisher is that the only thing Lavelle has done since getting to see the field is make plays. You have to wonder why he didn't get a shot sooner.

That touchdown was encouraging because it cut the score to 21-10 with the Titans getting the ball after halftime, but of course 20 seconds is way too much time when you can't cover kickoffs, can't cover receivers and Tony Brown can't keep his head. The Colts got a field goal to take away the momentum the Titans were able to build.

The second half was even more frustrating than the first. The Titans offense was able to move the ball down the field but were unable to capitalize in the red zone until it really didn't matter. The first red zone miscue came late in the third quarter. The Titans faced first and goal from the one. First down was a fumbled snap. Second down was a hold on Eugene Amano that backed the Titans up 10 yards then a 2 yard pass to Bo Scaife. Third down was a VY scramble to the two yard line. Fourth down was a horrific play call on a fade to Britt in the back of the end zone.

The defense held again only to see a Titans drive stall in the red zone again. That drive started with a snap to VY that he wasn't ready for, no idea who was at fault, and ended with a bad throw to Hawkins.

That pretty much did it. The Colts got a field goal to push the lead to 27-10 after a 15 play drive that took 7:23 off of the fourth quarter clock. The Titans came back after that to get a touchdown that didn't matter. Then they actually recovered the onside kick, but all comeback hopes were laid to rest after four incomplete passes.

This team looked a whole lot more like the team that started the season 0-6 than the one that was 5-0 out of the bye. A lot of people were talking this week about how the Colts aren't that impressive because they have barely won a lot games, but we saw today why they are so good. They don't make mistakes that kill them, they are really good on third down and their defense bends but doesn't break. That is the type of ball that wins championships. The Titans just simply aren't there this season.

If you loved how negative this recap was, you will love MCM Radio tonight at 9 for sure. Click here to join us.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: That One Needs A Nickname, People Edition

August West — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:50:42 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

Catch tha game winner (Like a boss)!

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The increased accuracy, improved timing and sounder decision making of Vince Young were all on display yesterday, and we wouldn't have won had we seen anything less. I honestly can't think of a quarterback who has made bigger strides in a year and a half on the bench than Vince Young. That's a tribute to his hard-work, intelligence and maturity. The Vince Young we saw in 2006 and 2007 was hard to coach and overly-enotional. The Vince Young of the past five games must be soaking-up Mike Heimerdinger's lessons like a sponge. It's going to be fun watching him do what no one else in the NFL has done so far this year: smoke the Colts.

I agree with Jim Wyatt: though Vince Young's early list of comeback wins as a Titans is impressive, yesterday's 99-yard march takes the cake. Given that every single game is must win for us now, that was the stuff legends are made of.

Don Banks breaks-out a near perfect comparison for Vince's performance:

Elway-esque

The only one that would have been better was Montana-esque.

Jim Wyatt tells us that he's hearing LenDale was inactive for this game after being late to a walk-through on Saturday. It was the first game LenDale has missed since he was drafted. I'm guessing this was also a message to the veterans on this team whose playing time are in jeopardy: there's no room to be slacking.

Follow us through the jump as we give love, love and more love...

How great was it to see Kenny Britt, Lavelle Hawkins and Jared Cook play critical parts late in the game? We'd all expected Britt and Cook to step-up in their rookie campaigns, but Hawkins had been pretty much left for dead after being completely silent for a year and a half. He showed some nice skills and ability to get open we needed yesterday.

OK, this needs to be said: Nick Harper was not a complete disaster yesterday. He got beat twice, but they weren't for huge plays. He kept plays in front of him and provided excellent run support (led the team in tackles). I know that won't be popular, and I've been killing that man more than pretty much anyone on the internet, but I'll give him his due for his first good game of the year.

Mike Florio takes a look at the undeniable awesomeness that is Chris Johnson's 2009 season.

For all the improvements Chris Johnson has made this year, an anonymous NFL personnel man correctly pointed out the two most important areas he's improved:

"No. 1, he is doing a much better job of running inside," said the personnel man, speaking on condition of anonymity. "… And his pass protection is much better. He's become a complete back out there. He's always had the speed to outrun everyone."

The personnel man also noted that Johnson has much better lateral agility than he's given credit for. "(Johnson) can cut on a dime," he said.

In short, Johnson will be very difficult for Tennessee to take off the field as long as he stays healthy.

Dan Graziano of the AOL Fanhouse asks the question you'll hear a lot this week, and even more if we dump the Colts: Can these guys seriously pull of the miracle finish and make the playoffs?

Ron Hood was inactive because he was sick, according to Terry McCormick.

My boy spencer096 at MajorLeagueJerk.com says it all when it comes to the new VY:

And I feel bad for not getting into VY’s 4th quarter drive that was just about as good as it gets, but just go read a recap of his NC win and put Titans in for Longhorns and there you go. That TD to Kenny Britt was a helluva throw. Uncle Rico my ass.

Check-out the pics of T-Rac's Posse's group outing to LP Field, and the lesson learned was RESPECT THE NOSE BLEEDS.

Late addition to the links, but TBL has a bunch on VY's resurgence.

You gotta love the 7 Word Re-cap from the broadcast yesterday (hat tip to Randolph WInston for the pic):

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 Peytoon Manning makes YET ANOTHER commercial. Is that what you want?!!!!?!?!

Titans 20 Cardinals 17 Recap: Vince Young to Kenny Britt

Jimmy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:06:11 -0000

More photos » by Wade Payne - AP

There's your winner. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

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I don't even know what to say about this game. It was that unbelievable. I have said it a lot of times over the last month, but the transformation this team has made in 5 weeks is nothing short of amazing. Instead of feeling like the Titans are 2-3 years away from contention, I feel like they are in contention this season and are 2-3 players away from being a really, really good team next year.

Let's start with the obvious- Vince Young is a winner, and today he was a winner with unfathomable numbers. He was 27 of 43 for 387 yards and 1 touchdown. 387 yards! He answered a couple of the questions I have had about him today: 1. How will he react when faced with adversity? It was a pretty bad play at the end of the half to let the time run out, but he didn't hang his head. He came back even better in the second half. 2. How will he do when a team knows he has to throw to win the game? How does 9-16 for 93 yards sound? And oh yeah, he did that in the final 2:37 of the game. VY is a legit NFL QB, and he is proving people wrong, myself included, with each passing week.

And then there is Chris Johnson. The pace he is on is just crazy. He had another big TD run in this game, 85 yards, and finished the game with 18 carries for 154 yards and a touchdown. He only needs to average 120.8 yards per game for the rest of the season to get 2,000 and 141.8 per game to tie Eric Dickerson's single season rushing record of 2,105.

What about Kenny Britt? This kid has stepped up in the absence of Justin Gage and proven that he is a legitimate NFL receiver. It has been a long, long time since the Titans drafted one of those. He came up big time and time again in this game including a great catch of the first fourth down of the final drive and the game winning touchdown catch. And you have to love the comments he makes about it after the game:

Kenny Britt, gripping the ball he caught for winning TD, just told me he’s put it down only for a shower. "I’ll never let it go,’’ he said.

(h/t) smash

The Titans defense came out strong in the game forcing the Cardinals to go three and out on their first offensive possession. The Titans did catch a break not having to face Kurt Warner, but Matt Leinart looked better than I expected him too. He looks to lack arm strength, but he is very accurate and gets the ball out on time. On an unrelated note, how much do you think Leinart hates VY? There is little doubt in my mind that he was having flashbacks to the Rose Bowl in the final 2:37 of this game.

Vince got off to a fast start in the game hitting Nate Washington for a 29 yard gain on the Titans first offensive play. That play set up a 52 yard field goal from Rob Bironas that gave the Titans an early 3-0 lead. Bironas struggled in camp and the early in the season, but he has returned to his form as one of the best kickers in the game.

The defense held again and the Cardinals downed the punt at the Titans 5 yard line. Vince took the offense 90 yards to the Arizona 5 before the drive stalled forcing another Bironas field goal. That drive included a big pass to Bo Scaife and another to Britt.

Arizona would get on the board with 2 minutes remaining in the first half when Neil Rackers hit a 41 yard field goal. Vince would hit two big plays on the ensuing drive to get the Titans in field goal range. Unfortunately the Titans would not get a field goal because of the one bad play Vince made on the day. He took a snap with eight seconds left in the half and scrambled around before he was sacked at the half ended. SuperHorn made a good point in the quick recap that about 50% of the time Young makes a TD happen on the play. While that is a good point, Vince has to have better awareness of the time there and get down in time to give Bironas a shot. I have no doubt that VY will learn from that play.

The third quarter was pretty boring until CJ took a hand off and went 85 yards for a TD while running away from two Cardinal defensive backs that had an angle. Kick coverage, which has haunted the Titans all season long, haunted them again on the ensuing kickoff when LaRod Stephens-Howling went 99 yards for a TD. Momentum stolen.

The Cardinals would take their first lead of the game on a six yard TD run by Tim Hightower. That was set up by a 21 yard completion from Leinart to Beanie Wells on Nick Harper as shocking as that may be.

I found it interesting that Rod Hood and LenDale White were inactive for this game. Fisher was very short about the decision on White in the postgame which leads me to believe that it could have been disciplinary. However that is pure speculation on my part. The more interesting one was Hood. What did Fisher expect to happen if Harper or Cortland Finnegan were injured? Did he not watch Hood play in the three games he filled in for Harper? I am really at a loss on that one.

The defense would hold twice after the TD drive to give the offense a chance at the end. It looked like the Titans were going to take the lead after the first stop when VY hit Britt for 51 yards, but Britt was stripped from behind by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and the Cardinals recovered.

And here is the final drive play by play:

Play 1- Vince does a nice job of avoiding the rush in his own end zone and finding Britt for a 6 yard gain. I wondered while watching live why they weren't quicker to get on the ball, but I figured that they were planning to run once because the two minute warning was coming up. I was wrong.

Play 2- Incomplete pass to Scaife on the sideline. Looked like a play he should have made.

Play 3- Incomplete on a slant to Britt. The throw was a little low but in a good place because it was either going to be caught by Britt or no one.

Play 4- Maybe the best throw of the drive. Vince throws what looked to me like a stop fade to Britt. The DB never saw the ball coming. Britt made a heck of a play on it.

Play 5- This was the crazy tip ball that ended up in the arms of Scaife for a 19 yard gain. The Titans got a huge break here because balls that are tipped up like that rarely land in the arms of the offense.

Play 6- Lavelle Hawkins catches a 2 yard out. Not a big play but positive yardage and clock stoppage.

Play 7- Jared Cook makes an appearance with a nice catch and run of 12 yards.

Play 8- Incomplete intended for Nate Washington.

Play 9- Vince scrambles for 6 yards and gets out of bounds.

Play 10- Vince does a great job of getting away from the blitz and throwing the ball away.

Play 11- The second 4th down conversion on the drive in the form of VY to the Hawk for 13 yards and out of bounds.

Play 12- Complete to Scaife for 5 and out of bounds.

Play 13- Incomplete on a shot down the field to Washington.

Play 14- Cook makes his second play of the drive 17 yards and out of bounds.

Play 15- Incomplete on a miscommunication between VY and Scaife.

Play 16- Vince sacked, but not a terrible play because it was only a loss of 1 and the Titans still had 2 timeouts.

Play 17- Incomplete on a ball that Washington should have been able to come down with.

Play 18- Vince steps up like he is going to run while keeping his eyes down field and finds Britt in the back of the end zone for the game winner.

And there you have it. 5 in row in a season that continues to boggle the mind with the playoffs still being a possibility. It is really unbelievable to watch.

Site note: I understand people having a problem with the countdown to the draft remaining up on the front page, but the Titans haven't lost since I put it there. I refuse to have a loss on my head so it stays.

Titans 20 Texans 17 Recap: Vince Young Reclaims Houston

Jimmy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:48:35 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Money! (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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That was a really fun game. The transformation this team has made since the Boston Massacre is really astounding. They are playing with a fire that they really didn't in weeks 4-6. I am not sure how much of that can be attributed to Vince Young, but it is safe to say that his enthusiastic style of play is rubbing off on the guys around him. It is fun to watch.

The Titans came out of the gate hot last night forcing Houston to go three and out on the first series. The third down play was especially sweet as the front four collapsed the pocket around Matt Schaub before Tony Brown brought him down for a sack. Chatt Town Tony Brown has made himself a lot of money this year playing so well outside the shadow of #92. It is amazing that the Titans brought him in basically off the street- another in a long line of success stories under Jim Washburn.

The Titans went three and out as well on their first possession after a Lavelle Hawkins! sighting would have given them a first down but was negated because of an illegal shift. Anyone else curious why we never see Hawk returning anything. I am pretty sure he returned at least kicks in college, and if he is going to be active the might as well find a way to use him. The third down call- screen to Bo Scaife- was horrendous.

The Texans would get the first score of the game after a terrible 34 yard punt from Brett Kern gave them great field position. The play that set up the score was a Schaub 15 yard completion to Andre Johnson with our secondary chasing him Reynaldo Hill style. The touchdown came on a little underhanded toss to Slaton.

After both teams traded punts the Titans would put together a 9 play 80 yard drive that was capped off by a 13 yard pass from VY to Kenny Britt. The play was a really good read by Vince because he had Chris Johnson short but waited for Britt to come open in the end zone. Britt also had a 16 yard catch on that drive. Britt is easily the best rookie receiver the Titans have ever had, and should stay on the field even when Justin Gage comes back from his injury, but of course we know that it is impossible for a player to lose their starting job to injury, unless they are named Vince Young.

The next score came from the Texans when AJ ran right past Nick Harper (SHOCKING!) for a 12-yard TD catch. That prompted a whole host of jokes involving Harper, a vacuum, and Andre's last name in the game thread. Let me take this opportunity to thank everyone that participated in the open game thread. I don't get to be in those nearly as much as I would like, and I had an absolute blast being there last night.

The Titans would answer once again with another long drive- 75 yards this time. That drive included another catch by Britt, a 36 yard run from CJ and the first of two plays on the night that made me run around my living room in celebration when VY faked the pitched to CJ and took the ball to the one. He had been setting that up for a couple of week now and executed it to perfection. The nearly forgotten LenDale White punched it in on the next play to tie the game.

The Titans had a nice drive going coming out of the half that was halted when, in the words of gramsey, Vince went Kerry Collins and fumbled running by himself. The Texans made a couple of big plays off the fumble but were unable to capitalize when Kris Brown missed a 49 yard field goal wide right. That was a huge play in the game because the Texans get a lot of momentum if he is able to hit that kick.

The Titans came back and got a field from Rob Bironas that was set up by a 12 yard run by Vince Young. I can't remember if that was the option read or not, but the option read they ran was a thing of beauty. The Texans defensive end crashed on the fake to CJ, Vince kept the ball and got a big gain. Again, it is amazing how well he is running this offense. He is obviously putting in the time to really understand what Dinger is wanting to do, and it is paying off.

The Texans got a field goal of their own after both safeties decided to watch Johnson run by himself. Maybe Johnson has really good running form and the guys in our secondary are just trying to learn from it. That play went for 49 yards to the Titans' 8 yard line, and to the defenses credit, they were able to hold forcing the field goal.

Bironas missed a 49 yard field goal on the Titans ensuing drive, and things didn't look good for the Titans. The Texans had been hitting big plays and had good field position, but the defense stepped up. Tony Brown got another sack that forced a third and long and AJ dropped a pass going across the middle. He was being defended by Keith Bulluck on that play, and as much as we all love Bulluck, that is a HUGE mismatch. That prompted Hal to ask me why we kept having linebackers covering Johnson. Excellent question.

After trading punts again the Titans had the ball at the Texans 6 with 2:52 to play. The first play was CJ for 3 yards, but the Titans got the phantom horse collar call. Yes, it was a bad call, but they owed us one from the non-call when Vince was tripped. We all know how it played out. My only problem with the last drive was we had 1st and 10 at the Texans 40 with 1:09 left- I understand they wanted to get closer, but they should have run the ball at least once. Best case scenario CJ breaks another one to get us even closer, and worst case scenario it gets stuffed and they are forced to use one of their timeouts. I love that there was never any doubt about the Bironas field goal from the moment it left his foot.

The same cannot be said for Kris Brown's field goal that never had a shot. I was scared when we gave the ball back to the Texans after the horrible pooch kick. They had good field position, :44 seconds and two timeouts. The announcers were quick to tell us that K. Brown had been hitting them from 80 in warm-ups. I have never understood how that is relevant. The Texans hit plays of 16 and 11 before attempting the kick. I probably would have taken one more shot had I been them to try and get it closer. They didn't, K. Brown kicked it a mile to the left and I once again ran around my living room.

Winning is so much more fun. That one was especially fun with all of the crap leading up to the game. Now on to Arizona.

Golden Bears in the Pros: Week of October 12th

Avinash — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:00:28 -0000

All thanks as usual to danzig for the video!

Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo Bills

Beast Mode is getting back to doing what he's always done--gets amped up, plays amped up, leaves amped up.

He's back. Or, at least the Browns' awful run defense made Lynch look like he's back. He had 125 total yards on 23 touches, he blocked well (while I saw Fred Jackson whiff on at least two blitz pickups), and he made a beautiful play on a wheel route down the middle for the longest gain on the day, a 35-yard pass reception. No, it didn't matter, and yes, playing Cleveland - one of the worst defenses in the league (not that Buffalo could exploit it) - certainly helped. But for this game, he was clearly the better back between he and Jackson - and that's why he starts.

See more about BeastMode's ability after the jump, plus a litany of other Golden Bear pro performances!

Jackson, who had a phenomenal start to the season, looked bad. He picked up 47 yards on 15 touches, but couldn't find holes in the run game the way Lynch did. As I mentioned, he had a couple of poor efforts in blitz pickup - an area where he's usually top-notch. This was just a bad game for a guy who had been Buffalo's most consistent performer to date.

One last note - Lynch came out of this game really early. Again. He's become known for getting super hyped before a game, getting worked up after one or two carries, and having to leave the field to either throw up or finish hyperventilating. He has not yet outgrown that. I have nothing against a guy being amped for an NFL football game - quite the opposite, actually - but as good as Jackson is, flip-flopping runners that early gets the offense out of rhythm, too. Maybe Jackson should start games and let Lynch take more and more carries as the game wears on.

Marshawn takes his cart on the road to New York for a do-or-die game for the Bills against the Jets.

Desean Jackson, Philadelphia Eagles

Jackson had a quiet game, letting his teammate Jeremy Maclin shine in the shredding of the Bucs (HT, Bleeding Green Nation).

The Eagles scored 33 points despite receiving next to nothing from DeSean Jackson, their top receiving threat. Of the three passes thrown his way, Jackson caught one of them – for one yard. Jackson also attempted one rush – and gained nada.

"That shows you how dangerous this team is when myself only has one catch and Westbrook has [eight touches for 35 yards]," Jackson said Monday evening on his weekly radio show on 950AM. "We have a lot of weapons.

You might be asking, "radio show"? Actually, it's pretty good, with lots of nice insights about how things are going for Desean and what he thinks of his fellow Eagles teammates. Oh, and he briefly gets his game on with the ladies halfway through. Smooth Desean...

#10 returns to the Bay Area to play the Raiders on Sunday.

Scott Fujita, New Orleans Saints

We strive to remain apolitical on this site, but we give kudos to Fujita for lending his voice and support to one of the bigger political issues of the day.

DZ: Do you have any concerns that teammates, fans, people will say Scott Fujita may be married and have kids, but maybe on the down low he might really be gay? Do you have concern that teammates, bloggers, the press will talk that kind of smack about you either behind your back or to your face?

SF: No, I have no concern about that whatsoever. I know who I am. My wife knows who I am. I don't care one way or the other Dave. I imagine that when some of this gets out guys in the locker room might give me a hard time, and they always give me a hard time. They call me the Pinko Communist Fag from Berkeley. I'm used to it. I can take it all.

Also, the thread on Canal Street Chronicles dealing with this subject was nice to look at. Lots of different opinions expressed without much rancour.

Fujita's Saints have a big showdown of undefeated teams with the Giants.

Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Falcons

Tony G takes a SHOT at Oakland's bleaguered ~~refrigerator~~ quarterback.

Tony Gonzalez helped explain why Matt Ryan has succeeded as a young quarterback while players like JaMarcus Russell have struggled.

"On a scale of 1-to-10 in terms of work ethic, I hear [Russell]’s like a 3," Gonzalez said. "You hear rumors [from other players] about some of these young guys who don’t get it at all, and I’ve been around quarterbacks like that. Matt’s a 10, which is what you’ve got to be to be a franchise quarterback. At Pro Bowls over the years, I’ve talked to Peyton a lot about this, and that’s the key to being great – a willingness to be prepared at the highest level."

Justin Forsett, Seattle Seahawks

Despite Forsett's awesome play, he still has his weaknesses, as noted by Field Gulls. Hopefully he'll get through it one of these weeks and make the turn upward!

All of a sudden, Forsett has a wide open cutback lane (the triangle beginning between 89 and 74 and extending towards the end zone), a cornerback to beat and Owens to block in front.

Forsett times his cut poorly and runs up on Carlson's legs. Carlson could have blocked Harvey better, but not much better. He eventually pancakes Harvey. Forsett's initial hole is not gaping, it's a cutback lane after all, but it's clear and large enough for any rusher to explode through with a head of steam. Instead he stumbles and the defense swarms around him. He gains two, but if he gets through that hole cleanly, he should have no problem taking it to the house. One only needs to see how empty the right side of the field is to see the brilliance of this play call and how close it was to a touchdown.

Alex Mack, Cleveland Browns

Coach Mangini has plenty of positive things to say about his young center's progress.

"Over the last few weeks, I think Alex has really made a lot of stride. There are multiple plays on tape where he’s getting good drive at the point of attack, whether it’s him alone or whether it’s him as part of a double team. He does a nice job down the field. Sometimes it’s pulling on some of those outside runs and sometimes he’s on the backside of that and he’s not going to be a puller, the way that he’s able to cut off linebackers. He plays with a high motor. He’s pretty good at lining the target up and finishing the block. It’s nice to see his progress each week. I think it is a function of, as he’s played more, not just things have slowed down, but he’s slowed down a little bit. There were times early where, right idea, right place, just a little too quick getting there, a little too quick if you want to execute the assignment. I think he has a better sense now not just where he has to fit, but how he has to fit and at what tempo the fit needs to be at."

Brandon Mebane, Seattle Seahawks

Mebane contributed on a huge play in Seattle's rout of Jacksonville.

The good was Brandon Mebane. After going Zapruder Film on the replay, I am pretty sure Mebane stripped Garrard a split second before Lawrence Jackson. Jackson and Reed were single blocked on the outside and Cory Redding dropped into cover. Mebane navigated a triple team before twisting close enough to Garrard to drop a meat hook on the ball. Before he could slap it away, his indomitable bull rush freed Reed by briefly forcing a quadruple team. Reed disengaged from Tra Thomas and ran across the line. He shed the idle right guard, Uche Nwaneri, before breaking to scoop the ball and run 79 yards for the touchdown.

Zack Follett, Detroit Lions

Pain Train didn't get to toot the whistle this week, but he seems to be determined to bring the heat every week.

"Just from watching, I didn't see the passion," Follett said Wednesday. "I didn't see guys running down there full speed and, like, really wanting it. I feel kind of like a pit bull that's been caged-up that's been watching every week and just been waiting for my chance. So I think I finally get it this week, so I'm going to run down there and try to change the mentality of special teams."

The Lions struggled badly on coverage units in Sunday's 48-24 loss at Chicago. They released linebacker Darnell Bing make room on the 53-man roster for Follett, a seventh-round pick this year.

"I'm strictly special teams," Follett said. "Learn every position. Coach said I shouldn't be leaving here until 8 o'clock tonight. If that's what it takes, I'm going to make sure I know my job."

Thankfully, he's only on special teams, so he won't get any chances to sack...

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Acme Packing Company is higher on their quarterback than the current stats indicate.

Build around QB Aaron Rodgers: After four weeks, he's listed as only the No. 13 QB overall by Football Outsiders, but consider that they count sacks against the QB. He's currently sitting with a QB rating of 101.1. And that's with a disappointing season from WR Greg Jennings and awful pass protection. And as I described in an earlier post, the pass protection can be fixed.

Other Golden Bear NFL pro tidbits:

Kyle Boller had a nice run at starter, but suffered a mild concussion in defeat. Marc Bulger replaced him in relief and has also reclaimed the starting role.
Thomas Decoud had four tackles, two solo, and a pass deflection in the 45-10 beatdown of the Niners.
Nnamdi Asomugha is a superhero. He also happens to be the best player on an awful, awful team. His quote after the 44-7 Giants loss? "We're underachieving as a football team." Although the Raiders are shopping around players, Nnamdi is not on the list.
Will Ta'ufo'ou was involved with many other Bears rookies in unveiling a state-of-the-art fitness center for a North Chicago high school. He is still on the practice squad.
Craig Stevens suffered a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet collision with his teammate, eerily simliar to the one he suffered at Rocky Top.
Lavelle Hawkins was inactive for Sunday Night's game against the Colts. He still remains the fifth/sixth receiver in the rotation behind Washington/Scaife/another-guy-who-I-can't-remember.
Ryan Longwell had a 47 yard field goal and five extra points in the Vikings 38-10 victory.
Tully Banta-Cain had 3 tackles and a sack in a loss to the Broncos in overtime.
Arrowhead Pride ponders whether Ryan O'Callaghan will stay at right tackle or will be moved over to the Chief's more vulnerable left side.

NBA preseason

Ryan Anderson, Orlando Magic

His preseason stats so far have been impressive. He's had three games with double digit scoring. 22 points, 6-9 from downtown starting against the Hornets in Wichita, including sixteen points in 3 and a half minute stretch...had a rough 2-10 shooting night against the Grizz...12 points and six boards against the Rockets...also led the Magic with 16 points scoring against the Heat.

Third Quarter Collapse interviewed Anderson after his performance against the Heat.

If you don't start, do you believe you can help the team pack a punch off the bench?

Oh yeah, I mean, I think this team compliments my style of play. Dwight on the inside, four shooters on the outside. It's tough to guard, it's really tough to guard and because so many guys are going to be sagging down on Dwight, it's going to create open shots for everybody along the perimeter so I mean, I think that for myself, I think I'll definitely be competing in the rotation. Whether or not ... Brandon is a heck of a player, too, whether or not he's a three-point shooter, it doesn't really matter. The guy busts his butt and he does what he needs to do. He's a strong player, like I said before, so I mean, we have so many weapons, so many options so yeah, I'm obviously going to compete for my minutes, I'm not going to be handed anything so I'm going to fight and when I get in the game, just do what I do, just shoot the ball and rebound.

Here's what Stan Van Gundy has to say.

How have you've liked Ryan Anderson's play so far?

Ryan has been terrific. I mean, I remember people, Brian Schmitz especially asking me in pre-season and I mentioned that Ryan would have a chance to start at the four early with Rashard out, he was like, incredulous, now after two games I don't think people would disbelieve as much. Obviously he stretches the floor when we play offensively but you saw other things, I mean, in both games. He can put the ball on the floor, he's rebounded the ball pretty well, he's had more rebounds than Brandon in each of the last two games so he's playing extremely well and I'm really happy with the way he's playing. I thought again, like everybody else, his pick & roll defense tonight was not good but other than that, like I said, other than two guys, I wasn't really happy defensively. Now on the offensive end and on the boards, I thought we did a pretty good job.

Yellow fever will now weep silently into his White Castle burger.

Jason Kidd, Dallas Mavericks

Kidd suffered a minor ankle injury at practice, but didn't miss a beat with 5 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds and 5 steals against the Grizz. In his other two preseason appearances he went 17 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, +11 against the Wizards, and 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals, and a +7 against the Magic.

Leon Powe, Cleveland Cavaliers

Powe's surgery is ahead of schedule, and he could be back for the Cavs after the All-Star Break.

Sean Marks, New Orleans Hornets

I'm sure Marks is a nice guy, but...

Armstrong, Marks and Barron combined for 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 fouls. Project that production out over 48 minutes and you've got a big, steaming pile of crap

Wince. Rough.

Titans Elevate Cary Williams; Cut Patrick Ramsey

Jimmy — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:36:01 -0000

The Tennessean is reporting that Cary Williams has been elevated to the active roster today. No word yet on who will be released- ahem Lavelle Hawkins ahem.

This move was pretty much a necessity with only 3 healthy corners on the roster.

[UPDATE]- Well this is a little bit of a shock, but to make room for Williams on the roster, the Titans released QB Patrick Ramsey.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Matt Jones > Casey Jones Edition

August West — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:48:06 -0000

by SUSAN WALSH - AP

Still pimpin', just in better suits these days.

View full size photo »

So the Titans are working out Matt Jones. You know what, as much as I want to scream nooooooo!, I have to say that if they're looking to bolster the depth at that spot, then you can do a lot worse than a completely healthy 26 year old 6'6" physical freak who managed to catch 62 passes in a pretty bad offense last year. His production has gone up every single year he's been in the league. In the grand scheme of things his legal problems are pretty easy to stomach by NFL standards: I'll take a possible cokehead over a wife-beater/violent criminal every day and a few times on Sunday. Besides, playing WR has got to be way easier than driving that train...

Put it this way, I'd certainly take Jones over Jerry effin' Porter or Samie Parker. Jerry Porter has been terrible for years, and was a major locker room cancer in Oakland. On a related note: you know who should be freaking out? Lavelle Hawkins. If they had any faith in him this wouldn't be happening.

Paul K thinks we could definitely sign Jones, but that we're really looking for a WR who can also help out in the return game. That means a smaller, shiftier style WR, and doesn't bode well for Porter or Jones.

Follow us through the jump to find out the one thing Fisher is lacking...

Teresa M. Walker notes that there's only one thing lacking in Jeff Fisher's tremendous resume: a Super Bowl win. To wit:

He already ranks 22nd in coaching wins and is second only to Bill Belichick (153) among active coaches with his 133 victories. Only nine other coaches have spent more time with one team than Fisher with 240 games, and that list includes such great coaches as George Halas, Tom Landry, Don Shula, Chuck Noll, Curly Lambeau and Joe Gibbs.

Most of the decisions for who will be cut on 4:00 pm on Saturday have almost certainly been made, but there's always the chance that a huge effort tonight could save a man's job.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it does.

In advance of Saturday's deadline for teams to get to the 53 man roster, Ross Tucker goes over the common ways players react when they fear they may be on the wrong side of that bubble.

I know this is groundbreaking news across the interwebs, but Peter King sucks at his job.

And for reasoning why, just read the Scouting report Don Banks wrote that is linked by PK. He knows better than that sack of crap. Many thanks to commenter SoCalTitan and super-hater Gramsey for pointing these links out!

If there's anything you would like to share with the MCM community, please take advantage of the comments, fanshots and fanposts to do so! Or, you can always email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Please Hammy, Don't Hurt 'Em Edition

August West — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:56:38 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Alex Mortensen (far left) is still enjoying his time at NFL fantasy camp. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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Lavelle Hawkins certainly didn't earn any more playing time at Jeff Fisher's Celebrity softball game last Saturday:

-Current Titans receiver Lavelle Hawkins was named the Least Valuable Player. At one point, Fisher had Hawkins fake an injury in a bases-loaded situation for his team so he could have former Titan quarterback Steve McNair come up to bat.

Also, if anyone knows who was heckling VY at a damn charity softball game, please smack them in the back of the head for me. You're classier than that Titans fans.

Kenny Britt 'tweaked' his hamstring in OTAs once again... this better not be a preview of things to come.
Kevin Mawae's recovery from off-season elbow surgery has actually been a boon for our O-line unit: it means LeRoy Harris has gotten to go through the entire off-season working as the starting center. So, if anything happens to the captain, Harris will be more prepared than ever to step in, have the respect of the huddle, and make the blitz adjustments on the line than ever before. That's big because Terry McCormick is right: if we're getting to Miami this year, we're getting there on the backs of our big O-line.

DE Jevon Kearse is looking improve upon his 3.5 sack performance last year, and hopes that his legs are a little healthier this year than last year.

Meanwhile second year player William Hayes is looking for a break-out year, and even set the lofty goal of a double digit sack total. Hayes is probably the wildcard in our DE rotation: if he has a year like Jacob Ford had last year you can pretty well bet that means we have the sickest, deepest D-Line unit in the league... which is a huge advantage late in games and over the course of a full season.

This towel stuff just keeps on coming back around.

Patrick Ramsey didn't sign with the Titans to become the no. 3 guys, and he's pushing VY with everything he has to make himself the back-up.

A statistical measure for which game was more exciting? It's a nice thought anyways, but I'm not buying that or their list of the most exciting Titans games.

Travis Henry may be the father of two more kids: twins in Florida. He might as well be gunning for some record now.

So if you and your brother were mega-NFL stars who already had championships, boat loads of money and were at the peak of your worldwide influence, you could probably pull some strings to see some amazing shows right? Well who did the Manning brothers use their tremendous pull to see? Better Than Ezra. Somehow I can just hear them bother doing that weird noise-sing thing their lead singer does compulsively ('aww- haw' does not count as a lyric).

Now that the slower period of the off-season is upon us your help in finding out of the way Titans stories is more important than ever. If you have a link you'd like to submit for tomorrow's Morning Links email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com! (Be sure to include your commenting handle so I can give you glowing, semi-anonymous credit.)

State of the Tennessee Titans Roster: Wide Receiver

Jimmy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

Kenny Britt proving that he is better than Justin McCareins by simply holding the ball in his hand. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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Wide receiver has been the biggest need of the Titans forever, and for the first time I can remember they actually did something in the offseason to upgrade the position. It is too early to tell how much the position was upgraded, but the fact that Justin McCareins is not on the roster alone means that the 2009 receivers will be better.

The Starters

Justin Gage will enter the season as the team's #1 receiver. After battling injuries early in the 2008 season, he finished strong and proved that he is a legitimate receiving threat in this league. He should only get better with a year under his belt in Heimerdinger's system.

Nate Washington was the Titans' biggest free agent signing, and I am excited to see what he brings to the table. His career numbers don't jump off the page at you, but he has been stuck behind two very good receivers in Pittsburgh. He gives the Titans the deep threat potential that they have been desperately needing for so very long.

The other guy that we are all pumped about is first round pick Kenny Britt. There is no way of knowing how much he will be on the field until we see what his progress looks like in camp. One thing we do know is that rookies have a hard time getting on the field under Jeff Fisher. Britt has said that he is already spending a ton of time studying the playbook. That bodes well for him.

The Rest

Lavelle Hawkins better spend some time of his own in the playbook if he plans on seeing the field in 2009.

Hopefully either Dominique Edison or Dudley Guice will pan out to be a solid player. Both guys are products of spread option college offenses but both have freakish skills that could make them big play receivers.

Paul Williams, Chris Davis and Craphonso Thorpe should be looking for "career changes" this summer.

Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Kick Out The Jams Edition

August West — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:58:47 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Even Tony Dungy has to be surprised that ESPN sees his retirement as a boost to the Colts. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Mike Heimerdinger is a legend for his demands that players, especially wide receivers, know all of the subtleties of his offense before they can expect to see the field (see Hawkins, Lavell and Williams, Paul). Kenny Britt says that's what he's used to, and is excited by the hard work in the books and the film room that it takes to play under 'Dinger:

Many a young player has felt the wrath of Heimerdinger, and even first-round pick Kenny Britt knows he won’t be immune to such criticism, if it’s warranted.

But Britt says he is totally prepared for it, from the way practices were run at Rutgers University.

"Our offensive coordinator [John McNulty] at Rutgers was just like ['Dinger]. Actually it motivates me," Britt said.

The best way to avoid the wrath of Heimerdinger, of course, is to know what you’re doing well enough to execute your routes and assignments correctly. And for Britt, that is job one in between the May and June OTAs.

Paul K has a long post about one of the major focuses for the WR corps this off-season: beating the jam to get off the line and into their routes cleanly and quickly. A failure to do so has been the downfall of many a talented WR in the NFL, and if these guys can become great at it Kerry will look 10 times better this year.

You know who else liked jams... especially crunchy jams of their own variety? The MC5! Yeah I went there. Expect more music links on Fridays moving forward.

In a companion post, Cortland Finnegan talks about how important jamming a WR is for a CB, and he names Reggie Wayne as the best in the AFC South at getting free on a regular basis.

Mike Florio: still part of the problem. He really has piss poor reading comprehension for a lawyer. No wonder he ended up with another line of work. Still, at least he's not as dumb as his commenters.

The jokers at T-Rac's Posse put the ESPN Power Rankings on blast, and it includes this gem about the 5th place Colts (the Titans are 8th):

ESPN's take: Donald Brown should provide a nice boost. But without Tony Dungy and with two top assistants in limbo for at least awhile, do things stay stable? (PK)

T-Rac's Take: Lose their whole coaching staff and they leap over the Titans. Makes sense.