Tennessee Titans Morning Links: The Elephant Freak And An Indecent Proposal To Trade VY Edition
by August West on Jan 7, 2009 8:39 AM CST
in Tennessee Titans Links
Email
Print
Three hurrahs for Boom King and Albert returning to practice yesterday!
From elsewhere in the SBNation: should we trade Vince to the Texans for a 4th round pick? I love a good laugh in the morning, don't you?
Paul Kuharsky nails it: if we could have one guy back from the 2004/2005 Salary cap purge it would be Derrick Mason. Alas, now he's playing for the hated Ravens and was acting like a [insert archaic feminine hygiene product paired with a narrow, oar-powered boat] last time we saw him.
If The Ravens come in our house and try to run their version of the 'Wildcat' formation they're going to get crushed. Our front 4, especially with Haynesworth collapsing the middle, get too much penetration to give up much there and the Ravens don't have the speed at RB to get outside and break contain on us.
No matter how much Fisher wants to tell everyone that the history between the TItans and Ravens is old news, it's bunk. I'm just glad there are fiery leaders like Jevon Kearse and Keith Bulluck to remind us of that:
The defensive linemen of the Tennessee Titans have photos of animals taped on the nameplates of their lockers, sort of as a descriptive depiction of their character or a particular look.
Perhaps defensive end Jevon Kearse should have an elephant as his designated animal, because Kearse hasn’t forgotten what happened to the Titans courtesy of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2000 playoffs.
"It definitely was stolen, because those guys went ahead and won the Super Bowl that year," Kearse said of the Ravens’ 24-10 victory over the top-seeded Titans that day... You could look at it as payback. I’m not going to lie. In the back of my mind, I’m looking at it as payback, because so many things that we had going that year, and we did have the best defense that year," he said.
Big ups to prolific contributor/haterade baron gramsey712 for pointing us towards the story about Kevin Mawae: the Titans center was on SIRIUS radio with John Riggins, and he didn't sound like a man who really plans on playing Sunday:
Riggins: "Will you be there this weekend?"
Mawae: "No, I'm not going to play this week. It's still questionable. We're day-to-day and hopefully things progress to where I'll be able to play next week. But again, we're day-to-day right now."
Schein: "So you're not going to play this week against Baltimore?"
Mawae: "Don't know. We're preparing like I'm not. Leroy Harris is taking the snaps right now and my job is just to get healthy and get stronger. But the final decision has not been made yet."
Then the AP asked Mawae about it and he backtracked. So, feel free to believe whichever account helps you through the day.
Paul Kuharsky pulls some great stats on how opposing kickers have struggled mightily at LP Field, where their hitting FGs at a rate about 20 percent lower than the league average. It's definitely a good read.
Every time you email me a link the football gods smile upon you, so 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 semi-anonymous credit.)
52 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Freakin nervous about Mawae not playing.
That article about the kickers is weird. PK does all that talking about how opposing kickers don’t do well at LP field and then goes on to say that Akers is 10 for 10.
Stupid Akers.
It'll be fine.
Mawae is better at adjusting the protections at the line, but considering how well the Titans Offense rant the ball against Pittsburgh after he went out, I think Leroy Harris might actually be a stronger, more physical player. He was getting AWESOME push against the Steelers’ D-Line, and he was doing it over and over again.
I’m not saying that I think Harris is an upgrade, but I think that with a veteran QB, it’s a push. As is the case with a lot of these guys, he could probably start on most other teams.
*
And now to make myself into a screening panel for *Superhorn
And now to make myself into a screening panel for Superhorn:
- “Should we trade Vince to the Texans for a 4th round pick?” Absolutely.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
Harris' play against the Steelers did a lot to comfort me as well
because those are very similar blitz schemes compared to what Baltimore runs.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
Yo Danno.
I don’t want to dig through the posts, but you’ll agree that in as little as on month ago you were calling for Vince to get some playing time. Citing that he can provide similar production to Kerry but has more upside and the ability to use his legs.
Then, Kerry has a good game a Pittsburgh. Vince plays poorly with his backups and w/o Chris Johnson in a very vanilla offense. In a two week span, you’ve gone from wanting him as a starter/getting some reps, to trading him for a fourth round pick. Based on one performance? Really? Can you really take that much away from a garbage game?
Yup.
I wanted to see him play. I wanted to see him improve. He did not. I’m ready to call it a day. I’m sure we can agree to disagree.
All of which makes KC’s play that much more important. At this point, I feel a bit like we’re flying without a net.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
I'm sorry.
I actually thought for a minute before posting and decided that we needed something to talk about. It’s a rainy, boring day in the office.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
After one game?!?
Danno, you’re one of the voices of reason around here; objective, and informed. That makes this all the more unusual.
Consider that only one year ago Kerry Collins had an equally bad/mediocre performance against the Tampa Bay Bucs in a game that actually mattered, with teammates who played like it mattered, a coaching staff who called plays like it mattered. Did you want to dump him after that game?
I’m not going to defend Vince’s performance a few Sundays ago. It was mediocre. But, to look at just one game and decide to show Vince the door when he was ROTY as little as two years ago defies reason.
I don't think KC played badly against the Bucs.
He led the team to a score, and if the Defense hadn’t given up a long pass play on a 3rd-and-long, that was a big “W”.
As for the rest, I mean, it’s the Not For Long League. What has he done lately? There is evidence that he’s breaking under the pressure and little recent evidence of anything positive to counter-balance it. I don’t believe Norm Chow for one instant. Hell, truth to tell, I don’t trust anybody—at least not about pro-football. The Titans are all pathological when it comes to the performance of their players. Fisher will almost never say anything of substance in public, certainly never anything negative, to the point where it’s actually funny most of the time. So we’re left to draw our own conclusions.
And yeah, Kerry Collins hasn’t been a world-beater this year. With the exception of the recent Steelers game, his recent body of work is suspect. That concerns me. I want him to play better. But, man, that performance against Indy two weeks ago was so amazingly dreadful that it defies logic. And that scares me a lot more.
Truth: I’m still not as optomistic about this game as I could be. The Ravens want to win this game, and they’ll kick you in the teeth in order to get the win. If the Titans don’t snap out of their entitlement mentality and play like a bunch of angry bastards, then it’s gonna be 2000 all over again. CJ and his “I should have been rookie of the year” and “we’re really the best defense” and all the rest of that over-hyped crap is just that… crap. This bunch of closet cry-babies needs to get its collective minds right, quit worrying about all that worthless drama, and smack people in the mouth. Otherwise it’s gonna be yet another offseason of “close but no cigar.”
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
Fair.
My suggestion about Vince: Give it time before you kick him to the curb. As you said, we don’t know what happened at the beginning of the year. The whole thing was weird. But I think the guy deserves a second chance…and the Colt’s game certainly wasn’t it.
better than "fair"... dead on the $!
pissed off is what we should be right now. none of the rest of it matters right now…NONE OF IT! play with fire or go into next year thinking about how a second rate team got in your heads and beat you in your own house. the stars are lining up now…this IS the superbowl!
by stetix01 on Jan 7, 2009 12:24 PM CST up reply actions
i still think lorenzo neal was the biggest mistake of the purge
didn’t cost nearly as much as mason and it directly shortened eddie’s career.
The Official Enforcer of MCM
true, but he walked after 2000
but yeah, Eddie probably has 2 more years in his prime if Lo doesn’t head to Cincy. Lets hope the same doesn’t happen to Ahmard Hall.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
And then they brought in Greg Comella (sp?), and... ugh.
Same cost. Half the effectiveness.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
Neal opened holes for Eddie
then LT in SD and now is part of the Ravens “heavy” package, where he lines up in front of Le’Ron McClain. That’s new since the previous game, and sets up a 255# FB in front of a 260# RB, and we also used a lopsided o-line w/ and extra left tackle. Now that’s a “heavy” package!
Rexx
gotta love the sexual harassment episode
when Jim keeps setting him up in front of Jan… good stuff right there.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
I love that Packer gives Michael the nod
and then he goes ahead and says it. Then he blows the kiss when Jan pulls him in his office. Classic.
Titans Blogger at Music City Miracles even though gramsey hates it.
VY post is a good laugh
My favorite part:
Texans send fourth round draft pick to Nashville for Vince Young, with Vince agreeing to serve as the #2 QB, #3 WR, KR and PR.
If Vince was willing to be a WR, he’d already be on the field, IMO. And, despite what Danno and others might think, I still think Vince has a future here. Only time will tell who’s wrong, but I’d be surprised if Vince didn’t get another shot.
Norm Chow agrees that Vince’s “benching” was just due to Kerry’s success:
“Kerry Collins is a consummate professional, he studies, he works hard at it,” Chow said. “He played so well they had to keep him on the field.”
And what of the speculation concerning Young, the questions about his emotional maturity?
“I think all that’s hogwash,” Chow said. “He’ll be fine.”
There are other good tidbits in the article as well from Mack Brown and others close to Vince the past few years. It’s worth a read.
and norm chow has no reason to make up nice things about vince
interesting.
the whole trade thing is dumb. trading/cutting vince is the worst thing we could do and will not happen. the salary cap hit would be somewhere in the 9 mil range for him to play somewhere else. dumb dumb dumb.
The Official Enforcer of MCM
agreed
but after nobody commented in yesterday’s links, I had to throw a VY bone out there!
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
yeah
i think i have decided that i just don’t know about VY. i’m not sure anybody really knows what is going to become of him. if collins leaves, then the move is to have vy and chris simms duke it out in training camp, but that seems like a risky proposition, because there is a decent chance that neither of them are very good. fisher always like to have a steady veteran qb on the roster. if it’s not collins i’m really not sure who it would be, but the idea of simms and vince being our only 2 options heading into next year is scary to me.
we are at the exact wrong time in the age “flow” of this team to be having qb issues screw things up. almost every other position on the field is entering or still hanging on to their prime performance years. the first wave of guys are starting to get a little old. in the not too distant future we will be looking to find future replacements for guys like bulluck, mawae, hope, kearse, harper, kvb, albert, thornton.
all of that is to say, we need to have a capable guy at qb, whoever it is, so we don’t waste any years in our championship window this time around.
The Official Enforcer of MCM
Agreed.
I think we can all agree that there will never be consensus on the site about VY, but I’d like to hear what folks are thinking. It’ll be an interesting off-season for sure, and if they lose some of these veteran guys, it’ll be a MUCH different team next year.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
Heimerdinger always has that 3rd QB he like to coach-up
like Volek was years ago here and Brooks Bollinger was at the NYJ when Dinger was there… Hopefully Simms can be that if he’s here for a while, because he has better physical tools (when healthy) than any of those cats.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
I'm with you hal
About the QB issue. Having just Vince and Simms is a bit scary.
I don’t know if Vince is the answer for this team. I’d like to think he is, but part of me thinks that Fisherball isn’t meant for Vince. I hope I’m wrong. In order to really understand if Vince is going to work, the offense needs to be designed around him. In light of recent events, that’s an enormous gamble…one I don’t see the Titans taking.
The whole thing feels like the wrong fit. Vince has a (I hate using this cliche) gunslinger mentality. He’s always going for the win…sometimes against better judgment. That’s the antithesis of the prototypical Fisherball quarterback. He wants a guy that will limit turnovers, hand the ball off, and can throw for a first on 3rd and 6 when called upon.
I think we saw that awkward fit against the Colts…especially considering Vince’s postgame reactions. The Vince I know would have been pissed, but it feels like the coaches are so hell bent on making him a conservative, check down, check down, check down, quarterback that they are taking away what makes him great.
See, now I agree with that completely.
Why is it such a stretch to try to find a better fit and make it work all the way around. VY would probably do really well with the Redskins’ Offense or maybe with Mike Martz as his OC.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
Yeah
I’m just holding out hope that Fisher can adapt. I see big similarities between Fisher and Mack Brown. Mack took that leap and ended up with arguably the best offense in college football history.
Part of me still thinks that drafting Chris Johnson was part of that plan. Maybe not, but a guy can dream, right?
Not going to get sucked into this
other than to say that college and the NFL are not the same.
Titans Blogger at Music City Miracles even though gramsey hates it.
Just when you think you're out!
They pull you back in!
Stompin' your Terrible Towel and still hatin' Music City Miracles!
Yes.
But, it’s still the same game. I still haven’t heard a good argument as to why the spread option can’t work in the NFL.
Back to Chris Johnson. His drafting, and Chris Henry’s before him, makes me think that some form of the spread might have been in the plans. In order to run the spread, you need a speedy back that can get to the edge. Lendale doesn’t provide that speed. Why draft a speed back in the first two rounds two years in a row? It’s no secret that Vince is better out of the shotgun. Maybe Fisher and Co. understood that you need a quick back in order to run a offense out of the gun effectively.
Last year's Pats were the only team I've seen who could come close
and they had a HOF QB, WR and a few other Pro Bowlers scattered in there… a true spread won’t ever work because it limits play calling so much that defenses adapt, especially when they see it twice a year in the division.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
Patriots spread
Is different than the “zone-read” spread. It’s like comparing Texas Tech and West Virginia. The concepts come from the same roots, spread the field, but they are two completely different styles of offense.
What Texas ran with Vince is basically a blend of the two…
Something else that's important to add here...
The spread is the way football is moving. You can do more with less talent; level the playing field. The zone read is taking high school football by storm, and it’s moving into the college ranks too. Again, I haven’t heard a good reason as to why it can’t work in the NFL. Maybe there is a reason. But, it 10-15 years from now, it may be the case that the spread is all that some NFL prospects know. It’s all they’ve run.
I’d like to see someone try it. If it doesn’t work with VY and Chris Johnson, it won’t work with anyone, IMO. We saw a little creativity from the Dolphins this year and gasp IT WORKED. Things in college CAN work in the NFL. It’s the same game. Is it too much to ask for the NFL offensive coordinators to get a little more creative?
I know ATL tried the exact same zone read from the shotgun scheme
with Vick and couldn’t get it to work. Their coach even went and studied at West Virgina with Rich Rod to get the nuances.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
Tried...I guess
They half-heartedly implemented it, though. It wasn’t their system play in and play out.
In the same vein
And tying it in to another thread.
Draft Pat White in the middle rounds.
He provides relief as a quasi backup QB, has the speed to stretch the field as a receiver, and would be great for trick plays with Vince.
Win. Win. Win.
Completely agree there...
he’s got the right attitude and heart to find a way to excel at QB, receiver and even some snaps RB.
Where I was raised 2 + 2 = 3rd and 6.
hypothetically speaking...who would you rather have starting for us on saturday?
1) Neil O’donell
2) Billy Volek
3) KC
by stetix01 on Jan 7, 2009 12:35 PM CST reply actions
Not Volek.
The other two are a push.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Go Titans!
Collins will play well on Sat. mark my words
Everything is on the line for the team. His biological clock is ticking for producing a Superbowl ring, so he will be playing at the top of his game. I am sure he will be more relaxed than Flacco going into it. I am not worried about the game, unless KC gets injured then its all up in the air. So relax, enjoy the next couple of days and watch close, the Titans are going to rock this one. Titans 23 Ravens 10
Joy Kat
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Music City Miracles
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
