Just wanted to add some numbers to the debate. Though I was never in favor of him being on the team in the first place, Hasselbeck certainly proved his worth early on and helped keep this team in contention while the other half of the offense was MIA. However, over the last 5 games, it has become abundantly clear that Hasselbeck is no longer the same guy that carried us through the fist half of the season.

While QB rating is an incredibly imperfect stat, it does give at least a broad sense of whether a not a QB is completing a high % of passes, racking up passing yards, and throwing more interceptions while minimizing INTs.

QB rating, first 8 games:

JAX  L 14-16	93.1
BAL W 26-13	95.1
DEN W 17-14	119.1
CLE W 31-13	108.3
PIT   L 17-38	72.0
HOU  L 7-41	38.8
IND  W 27-10	98.5
CIN  L 17-24	94.8

Outside of the Steelers and Texans meltdowns, which were 53 man losses, Hasselbeck's play was remarkable, and really convinced me that we had gotten a steal when we picked the guy up.

However, in the past 5 games, Hasselbeck has really declined, and not just by a little bit.

QB rating, last 5 games:

CAR W 30-3	79.1
ATL  L 17-23	49.4
TAM W 23-17	53.6
BUF W 23-17	78.7
NOR L 17-22	87.8 (only 7 pass attempts)

All of this is to say that it is very possible, I would even say likely, that Hasselbeck no longer gives this team the best chance to win. He's an old guy with a long injury history that just got a little longer. It appears that as the season has gone on, the wear and tear has begun to catch up to him.

On the flip side, we have a rookie QB in Jake Locker who has certainly looked more than competent in his relief duty appearances. He gives opponents a drastically different set of skills to prepare for, and those skills have very little game tape on them, whereas Hasselbeck is pretty much an open book to the rest of the league.

Matt's play through the first 8 games is the one and only reason that this team has a shot at the playoffs. This cannot be overlooked, and he deserves our gratitude. With that said, he is very clearly trending downward in the most crucial part of the season. It's time to pass the torch to Jake Locker, regardless of what Hasselbeck's injury status is.

There has been much discussion about what is wrong with the Titans’ offense through 4 weeks.  Yesterday, Jimmy brought up the troubles they are having with the offensive line and creating running lanes for Chris Johnson.  Unfortunately, talking about the run game is only scratching the surface of what is going wrong with this unit, which has consistently been one of the best in the league since hitting back-to-back homeruns in the 2005 draft with Michael Roos and David Stewart.

However, through 4 games the is truth unavoidable: Plain and simple, the Tennessee Titans’ O-line has been one of the worst in the league. Statsification after the jump..

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This issue is beginning to be raised in the comments threads so I figured I'd just get it out there now. Yes the Titans are still mathematically alive.  The Titans' best chance is to be the only 9-7 team in consideration at the end of the season, since they already have 7 conference losses.  Assuming the Titans win the last four games (not a safe assumption at all) this is how it breaks down:

The Titans need 6 of the next 7 teams to have the indicated record (or worse) from here on out:

- Pittsburgh Steelers - 2-2
  (@CLE, GB, BAL, @MIA)

- *New York Jets- 2-2 (or New England 1-3)
  (@TB, ATL, @IND, CIN)

- *Miami Dolphins** - 2-2 (or New England 1-3)
  (@JAX, @TEN, HOU, PIT)

- Baltimore Ravens - 2-2
  (DET, CHI, @PIT, @OAK)

- Jacksonville Jaguars - 1-3
  (MIA, IND, @NE, @CLE)

- Denver Broncos or San Diego Chargers**- 0-4
  Den(@IND, OAK, @PHI, KC), SD (@DAL, CIN, @TEN, WAS)

So that's the scenario.  Possible, but highly improbable.

* New England going 1-3 can only count once.  Basically the 2nd best AFC East team must be 8-8 (or Miami 9-7).  One of those 3 will win the division and thus don't affect the Titans.

** Because the Titans can still beat Miami and San Diego and thus would hold a head-to-head tie break, they can both be 9-7 as well and the Titans will still get in.

"And you may ask yourself: Well....How did I get here?"

-David Byrne and Brian Eno

Nothing about the Titans season has gone as planned.  A team that most people expected to at least be among the 10 or 12 best teams in the league sits at 0-3.  On the bench, one of the most respected coaches of the last two decades holds in his hand a roster that returned all the crucial, marquee players, save one, from a team that went 13-3 last year.  It's a roster full of Pro-Bowlers and other assorted veterans, some of whom have rings on their fingers from their previous destinations.  The rookies on that roster belong to a highly regarded draft class that provided much to be optimistic about during the preseason.

The Titans lost a coordinator, but promoted from within in hopes of maintaining a great system.  They lost an All-Pro, but put trust in the best in the business, Jim Washburn, to turn another nobody into a somebody, yet again, as he has done so regularly throughout his tenure in Tennessee.  The players were steaming mad and itching to complete some unfinished business after squandering one of the easier roads to a Super Bowl one will ever see last season with the fiasco at home against Baltimore in early January.  This was a team that had absolutely every reason to come storming out of the gates, tough schedule or not, and assert themselves as a contender early on.

And they now sit at 0-3.

The Titans have problems, big problems in all three phases of the game.  Some are personnel based, some are errors in execution, and still others are coaching related.  After the jump, my take on the State of the Titans and what must happen, starting on Sunday with Jacksonville.

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The Titans were in shoulder pads and shorts once again today, but that didn't keep things from getting quite physical, both before and after the whistle.  By my count, the Titans have only been in full pads once in two weeks.  It's hard to see how our tackling, which was pretty bad against Buffalo, is going to get any better if they don't at least go through hits at full speed every now and then.  I know they want to avoid any injuries, but I would at least like to see a couple of tackling drills out there.  More thoughts after the jump.

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The Titans were back out on the practice field today in shoulder pads and shorts.  I hate to stoke the Vince Young fire any further, but there's really no way to talk about today's practice without doing so.  But you're going to have to read to the end for the juicy stuff.  Thoughts after the jump.

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Today the Titans were finally in full pads, and that makes for a much more interesting practice.  It was hot today, but it was easily the most crowded of any of the day practices so far, and the players gave the fans a pretty entertaining afternoon.  My thoughts after the jump.

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The Titans practiced this morning without pads.  They were, however, sporting the ultra-fly baby blue Oilers throwback helmets and they look great.  Without the pads on, they mostly focused on the passing game, and spent about half of practice playing 11 on 11.  They will take the field again tonight at 7:30 at Baptist Sports Park under the lights, and according to one member of the Titans Radio staff, they will be in full pads.  Come on out if you can, because there is not a better free ticket in town.

My observations after the jump.

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Today was my first day this season to get out to Baptist Sports Park and watch training camp.  I was really impressed by the new parking setup right across the street from the facility (no shuttles!).    I plan to be at pretty much all of the rest of the practices, and would definitely encourage others to catch a few if you can.

My thoughts after the jump.

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Last time, I looked at the season opener against the Steelers, and part of what I talked about was that, as I see it, the Titans match up extremely well against the Steelers.  Well, in this installment of the 2009 Opponents Preview series, I will look at a team that potentially flips that script on the Titans, the J-E-T-S Jets.

The Jets come into this season having jettisoned the nauseatingly over-hyped, old and busted Brett Favre, choosing instead on draft day to trade up 12 slots and pick USC QB Mark Sanchez.  The Jets also kicked Head Coach Eric Mangini to the curb, making him the most recent Belichick disciple to fall flat after leaving New England.  Mangini has been replaced by former Baltimore Ravens defensive architect Rex Ryan.

More on why this could be a nasty trap game for the Titans after the jump.

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With training camp only a week away, I can almost taste it.  Football season will soon be upon us and the black hole of interesting sports that is the month of July will have finally passed.  With training camp on the horizon and, with it legitimate football news, it's time to get out the last drops of preseason speculation.  What follows is the first entry in a 13 part series in which I will give a broad overview of the teams standing between the Titans and the playoffs.  I will go through the schedule in order, saving the divisional opponents for last.  

This season, besides the 6 divisional games, the Titans get the NFC West and the AFC East, as well as the other 2 AFC Division Champions from last season (Pitt, SD). The first 6 weeks look to be nothing short of brutal, with road trips to Pittsburgh, New York, Jacksonville, and Foxboro, and visits from Houston and Indianapolis.  The schedule makers did Tennessee no favors there.  The goal for the Titans will be to simply survive early on this season and then cash in on some more favorable match-ups in the second half of the season, when they will close with 3 of the last 4 games at LP Field.

After the jump, I will start things off with a preview of the grudge match which opens the NFL regular season on Thursday, September 10 in prime time between the Tennessee Titans and the Defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

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Given VY's current residence in purgatory and the distinct possibility that he gets cut after this season, we need a new young guy to be developing for the future.

This story is about Mike Reilly from Central Washington.  He apparently broke all of John Kitna's school passing records, and most impressively, set the NCAA All Divisions record of 46 consecutive games with a TD pass (as in, every game he played).

But the most impressive part about his resume and what has led me to campaign for Reilly here on MCM is contained in the following two paragraphs:

"It really was different all four years I was there," he said. "I played for three head coaches, three offensive coordinators, and three quarterback coaches while I was there. We kept winning, and our coaches kept getting offers to coach bigger schools. My first three years were pretty similar in that I was under center about 80 percent of the time. I didn't really ever get into shotgun until my junior year, but I was pretty much under center the whole time. It was more traditional -- one tight end, two running backs or vice versa -- but we never got too much into the spread offense. Even in those heavier sets, we still threw the ball quite a bit. We would throw the ball 30 to 35 times a game -- a little pass-happy, but nothing like you see from Texas Tech or Hawaii, where they're throwing the ball 60 times a game.

"In my senior year, we switched to about 80 percent shotgun under a new coach. So, I have exposure to both styles, which I think is a big asset. There are a lot of guys who really don't know how to take a snap under center. Especially in my junior year, my coach harped on that -- 'Hey, if you want to play in the NFL, you need to know about taking snaps under center.' Getting into different drops -- we worked a ton on that. It's been a big benefit to me."

He's a hard worker with tons of verstility and coachability, and bit of a chip on his shoulder coming out of D-II.  He was the most successful QB in school hostory, despite being jerked around by 3 different coaching staffs, which tells me that, mentally, he is tough as nails.

If Vince doesn't do something this season, he's gone unless he and the Titans decided to do a major renegotiation where he takes a 60-70% pay cut over what he would receive next year under his current deal---very unlikely.  We need to have another guy in development this year, so that if VY slinks out of town after this season, we are already set with Kerry's successor.

So I know the conventional wisdom in Titans Nation is that Boldin would be a brain-explodingly amazing pick up for the Titans via trade.  In an effort to stir things up, I submit this article for those of you with ESPN Insider.  It's a little piece by the guys at Football Outsiders which should serve to bring at least a little rain to the current pro-Boldin love parade.  For those without the WWL's pay service, keep reading and I will lay out some of the issues raised.

Injuries, age, draft picks and cash money dollar bills after the jump.

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