SBNation.com User Blog: infinitystealth

Dawson to miss multiple games with hamstring injury. @glennonsports It's looking increasingly...

infinitystealth — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 21:56:18 -0000

Dawson to miss multiple games with hamstring injury.

@glennonsports It's looking increasingly likely that #Titans will place DE Keyunta Dawson (hamstring) on IR when they re-sign DE Pannel Egboh

http://blogs.tennessean.com/titans/2012/09/25/dawson-to-miss-multiple-games-with-hamstring-injury/

Thoughts on the Pats-Titans game

infinitystealth — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:04:09 -0000

Damn, that was tough. I knew it'd be tough going into the game, but you always have that glimmer of hope going into a new season that your team can pull off an upset against one of the best teams in the NFL. Well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I'm feeling a lot of negative emotions right now, and hopefully I won't let that affect my thoughts of today's game too much.

Passing Offense:

First things first. I thought Jake Locker was impressive today. I haven't yet looked at his final stats, but he did a very good job IMO. He completed a high percentage of passes, was accurate on most throws, was energized, pumping up the team, and made all the right decisions.He was hurt by a couple drops on occasion (Washington, Cook). I also didn't have a problem with the one interception he threw. It didn't look to be overthrown and Washington did slow down at the end of his route. The DB also did a great job in batting the ball up so that the Safety could intercept the ball, but in the end, he gave a chance to his WR to make a play and the opportunity was there for Washington to do something.

Now for the negatives. The fumble was horrendous. Locker needs to do a better job to hold on to the ball. This was the second time this has happened this year (I think I counted one in the preseason). Out of all his throws, I thought he had 2 terrible throws, one of which should've been picked off by Devin McCourty.

The WRs looked alright IMO. I was impressed by Wright and Cook looked really good. Washington dropped a couple passes and the others weren't really used much.

Rushing Offense + Rushing Defense:

I have one word to say. Terrible.

CJ looked OK (he did leave some yards out there though). I didn't think he was particularly bad and here's why. Our run blocking was downright awful. I know we are playing one of the better run defenses in the league, but I saw no clear holes for any of our RBs today.

P.S: I don't think CJ will ever play up to the level he did to deserve that contract, but I am judging him based on the player he is now.

As for our Run defense, that was awful. We allowed Ridley to run all over our defense, and on top of that, we missed a bunch of tackles. Griffin... what can I say. 4 missed tackles on my account. I really think that he needs a few tips from Verner, who has the tackling technique down. Verner was terrific in stopping ball carriers at the point of attack.

Passing Defense:

This was alright.

Our pass rushing was pretty bad, and there's only so much you can do to stop the quick attacking Tom Brady without the pressure. I think one complaint I have is of our DBs playing 5-10 yards off WRs and TEs when they needed only a couple yards to get the first down. This was happening the whole game and really pissed me off. Again, I don't really wanna point anyone out, but Griffin was terrible (Jeez, can you stop biting on play fakes). He allowed one TD and it should've been 2 if Lloyd didn't hesitate and turnaround looking for the ball.

Some other thoughts:

I thought Phill Simms was right on one point. Our starting position was terrible all day and I don't think we started beyond the 20 yard line on any drive. The opposite was true for the Patriots, who often started at the 40 yard line. We need this to be solved.

I think we should immediately stop running on 2nd and long. Seriously, it's frustrating because it almost always leaves us with a 3rd and long. I still don't want us to ditch the run game simply because the Patriots showed us why. With a successful running game, you can run out the clock, which is one reason why the Patriots lost last year in the Superbowl.

I also loved what Locker did in the passing game in terms of medium gains. He made terrific throws of 10-20 yard gains on a lot of plays and we need to integrate more of that in our offense.

Finally, I think we sorely miss a healthy Britt out there. We really need that huge WR to threaten defenses, especially with Locker's tendency to throw high (which I think left Washington prone to that big hit). He also adds another dimension to this offense and with him and Wright on the field at the same time, I really think our passing offense would be very tough to stop.

I know today was tough, and honestly, I was very angry about a lot of aspects of the game. However, we did play one of the toughest teams that took advantage of our weaknesses. This just means that we need a lot to work on. We also need to be proud of how Locker played today for the most part, and I hope he can learn from his few mistakes. Let's hope for a quick recovery for Washington and Locker and that we can turn it around next week. LWSS!

Kenny Britt taken off PUP

infinitystealth — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:08:57 -0000

Kenny Britt taken off PUP

According to Wyatt:

#Titans WR Kenny Britt has officially been taken off PUP

UPDATE: Britt will now be allowed to practice with his teammates next week. Unless, of course, he's suspended by the NFL #Titans

Titans vs. Saints Week 14

infinitystealth — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:53:46 -0000

Titans vs. Saints Week 14

Titans vs. Saints Week 14 ranked as 17th best game of 2011 by NFL.com

MCM Mock Draft Contest Results and More

infinitystealth — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:50:50 -0000

Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well and having an awesome summer so far. The weather up north has been really pleasant so far and there are no indications that it'll be changing anytime soon.

Anyways, I haven't been on MCM for a couple weeks now due to a few issues I have had in the last month or so. Primarily, I had surgery done about a month ago and it has been a tough task getting back to 100% for baseball season. That, along with work and volunteering has taken up the bulk of my time and although I have browsed MCM for the past couple weeks, I haven't had the opportunity to chime in or leave any comments due to the busy schedule.

Now that my body is close to 100% shape, I can now tone down my conditioning and training regimens and finally get a chance to get back to contributing to MCM. My first order of business is posting the results of the MCM Mock Draft Contest that I held right before the NFL Draft. My apologies to everyone for the delay in handing out these results.

I would like to thank everyone for participating in this contest and hope that everyone had a fun time constructing their first round mock draft. The draft had a bunch of surprises and it was really interesting to see how everyone performed. Just a reminder, the point scheme for the contest can be viewed here.

Here are the results:

Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well and having an awesome summer so far. The weather up north has been really pleasant so far and there are no indications that it'll be changing anytime soon.

Here are the results:

1. Deaconbrodie/Titans_Firefighter/Titanluv318 - 36 points

2. Titansfan4ever/infinitystealth - 34 points

3. Trevor2013 - 31 points

4. WinnipegTitansFan13/njthrashers - 30 points

5. Middlesex/NYTITAN21/Habi868- 29 points

6. alijeal - 24 points

7. KGDrummer - 19 points

I would like to congratulate Deaconbrodie, Titans_Firefighter and Titanluv318 for being in a 3-way tie for first place. Again, thanks to everyone for their participation and I hope that no one is discouraged by the results. I also promise that I have a few ideas for next year's contest so that it will be a more enjoyable contest. I would also use a more mathematical approach to calculating the winner next year to have a more accurate result rather than having a 3-way tie.

Just for fun, I also calculated the performance of some of the more well-known "draft experts" out there just to compare how we MCMers stacked up against the so called pundits:

1. Mike Mayock - 37 points

2. National Football Post - 36 points

3. WalterFootball - 34 points

4. Peter King/Mel Kiper - 32 points

5. Matt Miller - 25 points

I heard that McShay was more accurate than any of the aforementioned guys in his first round mock draft but I couldn't find a copy of his mock anywhere (unfortunately, I don't have an ESPN Insiders Account).

Anyways, that's it from me for now. Again, I would like to apologize for the delay in providing the results and I hope that it doesn't discourage anyone from entering the contest next year. Have a great day everyone!

2012 NFL Draft Day 3 (5-7 Rounds) Live Thread

infinitystealth — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:38:32 -0000

Our first 5 picks so far:

1. Kendall Wright, WR, Baylor

2. Zach Brown, OLB, UNC

3. Mike Martin, DT, Michigan

4. Coty Sensabaugh, CB, Clemson

5. Taylor Thompson, DE/TE, SMU

Our first 5 picks so far:

1. Kendall Wright, WR, Baylor

2. Zach Brown, OLB, UNC

3. Mike Martin, DT, Michigan

4. Coty Sensabaugh, CB, Clemson

5. Taylor Thompson, DE/TE, SMU

Been an interesting draft so far, especially the latest 2 picks in Sensabaugh and Thompson, who we traded up 10 spots for. Thompson, who is a DE/TE hybrid, has had conflicting reports on what position he will play for us. Seems like a really raw player.

The Titans have only one pick left in the draft, 6th rounder pick # 190. We still need help along our Interior o-line and Safety. There are a few good prospects left in both positions, with David Molk/Brewster and Markelle Martin/Iloka. It'll be interesting to see who the Titans take with this last pick.

Last point about this draft is that a lot of our picks this year have a single characteristic in common: athletecism. Lots of these guys are track stars and it'll be interesting to see how it'll transfer to the pros.

Draft Analysis on Lavonte David

infinitystealth — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:13:17 -0000

As a lot of you guys have probably learned over MCM these past couple of weeks, I have shown an excessive amount of love towards one of my favourite player's in this year's NFL Draft: Lavonte David, LB, Nebraska. Now, I understand that LB is not one of our biggest needs going into the draft (I would give that honour to DE, DT, OG/C), however, please hear me out on my reasons as to why we should spend an early round pick drafting one of this year's most underrated prospects.

First and foremost, I have watched as much tape as I was able to find on Lavonte over these past couple of days, and there are three things that stood out on his tape.

Intangibles - During his 2 years at Nebraska, David was well known for being a solid playmaker (case in point: here and at 1:10 of here). In both these videos, we have a view of the game-changing plays that Lavonte David is capable of, but the one thing that I would like to point out in both tapes is his motor and his knack for never giving up on plays. This is highlighted in the first link, where David trips on his path to the WR, but he doesn't let that stop him. He ends up not only stopping the opposing WR, but strips the ball during a key moment of the game. Furthermore, David has the leadership that our Defense badly needs due to the loss of veterans through free agency in the last couple of years (ex. Finnegan, KVB, Bulluck). In almost every single game tape you put on, you can immediately feel David's presence on the defensive side of the ball by his ability to run audibles, make calls and position his teammates in the right position before each play. Another thing I would like to mention is his positive attitude. Every transition period in David's life has been marred by his lack of ability or skills, whether it be his grades (from high school to university) or his size (from Community College to Nebraska and now again from Nebraska to the NFL). However, this hasn't stopped David from trying to reach his goals at every stage of his life, and I believe that even with his lack of size at LB, it won't stop him from being successful in the NFL.
Instincts - Lavonte is well known for racking up immense amount of tackles each game, and after seeing his tape, this is highly credited to his knowledge of the game in deciphering what the other team is running and his ability to quickly react to these plays. It is with these instincts that makes Lavonte a good leader, as he is not only able to read and react quickly, but he is quickly able to set up his teammates in the right position so that they can make a play on the ball. However, I would like to point out one thing in Lavonte's tape. There has been a lot said about the large number of tackles David makes, however, there are a large amounts of these tackles made in the secondary, after the player has gotten the first down. Now, this shouldn't diminish David's skills as a LB, but I would just like to put it out there that you can't base everything on his number of tackles. As a matter of fact, I would like to credit these tackles pursuing the runner in the secondary with David's team-first attitude and his unwillingness to give up on each play.
Pass-Coverage - Now, as everyone knows, the NFL ~~is shifting towards~~ has shifted towards a passing league, with most of the successful teams in recent years having prolific passing offenses (ex. Patriots, Saints, Colts, Lions) and more and more teams shifting from a focus on their running games to their aerial attacks (ex. Steelers, Falcons, Giants). With this transition period in the NFL has come a greater need for most teams to improve their pass-rush and pass-coverage, which is where David would come in. Lavonte's ability to cover TEs and RBs during pass plays is the best I have seen out of any prospect coming out this year's draft. He can blanket them for a prolonged period of time and his speed and instincts help him in covering ground quickly between him and the receiver. This ability to cover TEs has been missing out of our LBs for years, and with the evolution of the pass catching TEs that have damaged our defenses, I believe that David can single-handedly make an impact in this area of the game.

Now, having said all that, a lot of you guys may be wondering that even with these characteristics and the praise David has received from many analysts, why is he projected as a second round draft pick. Ultimately, it is because of his size. Normally, I don't put a lot of emphasis on the measurables and physical specimen that a player is, even though it may help. However, what people have to realistically understand is that there are some limitations that come along with the size, and the one and only weakness I saw in David's game is his lack of skills to escape from lineman in his pursuit to get to the runner (mainly due to his size). This wasn't present in every game, but there were a significant amount of times in which this was the case. Even with this weakness, I have the utmost confidence that everything else David offers on the table as a football player will triumph over his lack of size and help him in being a solid linebacker in today's game. I hope that the Titans consider taking David with their 20th pick or trading up from their second round to snatch him, as he is one helluva player who has all the charactersistics, except the size, to be a great defender (natural 4-3 Weakside Linebacker) in the Titans scheme.

MCM Mock Draft Contest

infinitystealth — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:52:02 -0000

Hey guys,

Hopefully everyone is as excited for the upcoming NFL draft as I am. Since the draft is only a week away, I thought that it'd be pretty cool if we had a contest amongst ourselves to see who can best predict the outcomes in the draft.

Hey guys,

The rules are fairly simple. Everyone will submit their mock draft for round 1. The entry that will be the most accurate to the actual draft will be crowned the MCM Winner, and with their prediction skills, may become the Titans GM over at MTD. Jokes asides, you will each get to submit only one entry and the one with the most points wins. Here is how the points system works:

5 points - Predicting the correct Titans pick

2 points - For predicting the correct position group that the Titans addressed but not the correct player (ex. if you predicted the Titans to take CB Stephon Gilmore but instead they took CB Dre Kirkpatrick)

3 points - For predicting correctly any other first round pick

2 points - For being 1 pick off

1 point - For being 5 picks too early or too late

0 points - For being more than 5 picks off on your prospect

No trades are allowed to be predicted, as it will be too hard to count.

Here is the order we will work with:

1. Indianapolis Colts

2. Washington Redskins (via Rams)

3. Minnesota Vikings

4. Cleveland Browns

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

6. St. Louis Rams (via Redskins)

7. Jacksonville Jaguars

8. Miami Dolphins

9. Carolina Panthers

10. Buffalo Bills

11. Kansas City Chiefs

12. Seattle Seahawks

13. Arizona Cardinals

14. Dallas Cowboys

15. Philadelphia Eagles

16. New York Jets

17. Cincinnati Bengals (via Raiders)

18. San Diego Chargers

19. Chicago Bears

20. Tennessee Titans

21. Cincinnati Bengals

22. Cleveland Browns (via Falcons)

23. Detroit Lions

24. Pittsburgh Steelers

25. Denver Broncos

26. Houston Texans

27. New England Patriots (via Saints)

28. Green Bay Packers

29. Baltimore Ravens

30. San Fransisco 49ers

31. New England Patriots

32. New York Giants

Good Luck to everyone! The deadline will be for April 25, at 12 PM EDT.

NCAA Championship Game Thread

infinitystealth — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:25:14 -0000

Anyone wanna discuss the game live can do so here. Gotta fill out the word requirement so just gnna give my brief overview of the game:

I was lucky enough to predict both finalists right, and looking good sitting on top of the MCM Pickem pool on Yahoo. I got Kansas winning simple because they have more heart. They have the will to grind it out and beat other teams even though they may be less talented than some of the teams they faced (ex. UNC and OSU). However, they will face a tough test in Kentucky, who are definitely the most talented team and predicted, by most, to win.

I don't understand why anyone would cheer for Kentucky anyway.

Anyone wanna discuss the game live can do so here. Gotta fill out the word requirement so just gnna give my brief overview of the game:

I don't understand why anyone would cheer for Kentucky anyway.

Buying Jerseys

infinitystealth — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 03:00:08 -0000

Hey guys,

First time I am posting but have been a huge fan of the Jays for years, living 30 minutes from Toronto myself. I haven't ever bought baseball jerseys online before. I just wanted to ask if you guys know of any safe places (online) that sell authentic baseball jerseys, as I wanna get one of my friends an Edgar Martinez jersey for his birthday, and I am hoping to buy myself a Griffey jersey some day.

Hey guys,

My First Mock Draft

infinitystealth — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:34:22 -0000

1. Colts - QB Andrew Luck (Self-explanatory)

2. Rams - WR Justin Blackmon (I think Fisher understands that surrounding Bradford with weapons will go a long way to help him succeed; he will also give his current young tackles - Smith and Saffold - one more year to grow)

3. Vikings - OT Matt Kalil (Need a blind side protector badly to help out young Ponder)

*Note: The 2nd and 3rd selections can easily be reversed depending on who the Rams pick, which will be either Blackmon or Kalil

4. Browns - QB Robert Griffin III (His upside and talent is huge and I think it is finally time for the Browns to give up on the McCoy project)

5. Bucs - CB Morris Claiborne (The Bucs have regressed badly in their defense and so it is time for them to upgrade their secondary)

6. Redskins - CB Dre Kirkpatrick (Hard to gauge what the Redskins will take, as their needs would cause them to reach on players, so they go with a solid player to improve their defense)

*Note: I honestly believe that the Redskins will try their hardest to trade up and get Griffin III, as they need a QB REALLY badly, and are really a QB away from being an above average team. If they don't end up getting Griffin, I think that another possibility would be to trade back, acquiring some draft picks in an effort to get Tannehill. Again the Redskins are probably the most QB desperate team in the league right now.

7. Jags - WR Alshon Jeffery (I am not huge fan of this pick, as I am not the biggest fan of Jeffery due to his separation issues, but there are some teams out there who will fall in love with his talents, especially the Jags, who will fill a huge need)

*Note: If the Redskins pass up on Kirkpatrick, the Jags may draft him, but due to the Jags new HC being an offensive mind, I think surrounding Sunshine with talent at WR would be the best route to go.

8. Dolphins - OT Riley Reiff (This is the other team that may consider trading up to get Griffin, but I think that ultimately they will draft Reiff in an effort to improve their horrid RT play this year)

*Note: I am in belief that the Dolphins WILL end up looking to obtain Flynn in the offseason and will probably trade a second rounder for him.

9. Panthers - DT Devon Still (Fills a need and it's time for Panthers to upgrade the defense)

10. Bills - OLB Courtney Upshaw (I have a few Bills fans here in Toronto, and they have told me that they need a pass rusher badly)

11. Chiefs - OT Jonathan Martin (A combination of need and BPA)

12. Seahawks - DE Whitney Mercilius (Seahawks need help along the d-line and Mercilius has played himself up the draft boards - other players at same position would include Coples and Ingram)

13. Cardinals - DE Melvin Ingram (I am not too sure about this pick, could go with ILB too - just not certain with this team, so I picked them pass rush as you can't have enough of that in the league)

14. Cowboys - OG David DeCastro (here goes my favourite pick of the draft and it fills a need for the Cowgirls)

15. Eagles - ILB Luke Kuechly (Easy - Eagles need LB help badly)

16. Jets - WR Michael Floyd (Need help with 2 things - pass rush and receiver; I think he goes with receiver as the Jets Defense is at least playing above average; however, I do believe that Ryan may go back to his old ways and booster up his stingy defense by drafting a threatening pass rusher)

17. Bengals (via Raiders) - RB Trent Richardson (Finally, here goes the talented RB)

18. Chargers - DE Nick Perry (He shot up draft boards after his effective year)

19. Bears - WR Kendall Wright (I wish we could get a shot at him, as he is really talented, but the Bears need to help Cutler out)

20. Titans - SS Mark Barron (Here is what all you guys were probably looking towards and again this fills a need at safety and is filling a need for Munchak and Gray - a playmaking defender)

*Note: I could've gone at pass rush, but Coples didn't impress me this year and there are really no other pass rushers talented to go at this point of the draft. I also thought about OG (with Glenn) and C (with Ponz) but I don't think Titans spend a first rounder on o-lineman.

21. Bengals - CB Janoris Jenkins (One of the most talented CB with off-field issues)

22. Browns (via Falcons) - DE Quinton Coples (A team will finally take the risk with Coples who didn't have a great statistical year in 2011)

23. Lions - C Peter Konz (It's time for Raiola to leave.)

24. Steelers - OG Cordy Glenn (Need to protect Big Ben and can't risk him being injured like how he did this year)

25. Broncos - TE Dwayne Allen (A talented TE who can do it all at the position)

26. Texans - WR Mohammed Sanu (Jacoby Jones' performance today warrants this pick)

27. Patriots (via Saints) - DT Jerel Worthy (Pats bolster up that d-line)

28. Packers - RB Lamar Miller (I think GB finally gets a talented RB after all these years)

Here it is, lemme know your thoughts. I didn't bother filling out the last 4 picks as their order hasn't been decided and I had to finish some school stuff, so I got a bit lazy.

Also, here are my predictions as to where the Titans go with the rest of their picks.

2nd round - DE Vinny Curry - Speed Rusher will help improve the bad pass rush

3rd round - C Michael Brewster - Upgrade the interior o-lineman (Could also look at other OGs here)

4th round - WR Jeff Fuller - Talented guy but just has injury issues.

5th round - OLB Danny Trevathan - A talented linebacker from Kentucky who I have heard a lot about and will improve our run defense and add the instensity and playmaking skills we are looking for from our defenders.