@Indianapolis - L

That's 12-4 for those of you keeping score at home.  I think the first 8 game win streak is very achievable.  And, I can just hear the talking heads, "No one saw this coming.  The Titans came out of nowhere."  

Anyone who followed the Titans last year knows how dangerous we would have been if the passing game was working.  Running game was solid.  Run defense was best in the league with a healthy/motivated Albert.  Pass defense was suspect at times, but the D-line made up for it.  Rob Bironas and his bionic leg gave us one of the best kicking game in the league.  All that was missing was the passing game...

Enter Mike Heimerdinger.  I can't help but think that he is going to do wonders for this offense and team in general.  It's a three headed monster having to defend against our team with Chris Johnson in the backfield if the passing game is working.  Imagine this:  

We're running out of the shotgun.  Gage and Roydell spread wide, Lavelle in the slot on the strong side, Crumpler on the strong side at TE, Chris Johnson next to VY.  Last season, no one had near the speed of Johnson, so there was always a spy on VY and two safeties helping over the top.  Because of all the over the top help, corners never had to respect our receivers because there was always back up.  Defenses can't afford to do that anymore with Johnson's explosiveness, a safety or LB will always have to account for him.  With two athletes in the backfield like VY and Johnson, it is almost impossible to defend if the offense executes correctly.

It was evident to me from the getgo that Chow did not like VY.  Leinart was his preference from the beginning.  He continued to try to fit a square peg into a round hole.  That didn't work, so he tried to take the risk out of Vince's hands which put him in even more of a position to fail.  Run.  Run.  Pass.  No quarterback will succeed in that system...and certainly not VY.

Vince has never been a drop back passer.  That has never been what made him so dangerous.  If they wanted that in a quarterback, Leinart or Cutler were the answers.  I'm not suggesting Vince is a bad passer, but merely that he is a good passer and a great athlete.  I think Heimerdinger understands this...and the pick of Chris Johnson confirms the belief.

If this offense is going to hum, the OC must use Young's athletic ability.  Drafting Johnson instead of a receiver opens everything up and makes everyone better because the two best athletes at any given time are in the backfield.  A defense will always have to account for 4.24 speed, VY's arm, and of course his athleticism as well.

So, back to our example.  Let's consider for this example, that he defense is running in man out of a nickle coverage.  Two corners cover the wideouts.  Nickleback covers Lavelle.  LB on Crumpler.  LB spies Vince.  One Safety on Johnson.  The addition of Johnson frees up some of that coverage over the top and also forces the corners to ease up a bit on our receivers since the back up is no longer there.  It may not sound like much, but those 1x1 windows VY had to throw into will get a lot bigger because of this.  This is only one scenario, and I'm sure you can all do the rest.  Having one extra athlete on the field is going to open everything up.  And, if this passing game gets working like we all know it can, everything else gets better.