St. Louis Rams @ Tennessee Titans : 5 Keys to Victory

by Aditya T (smashville) on Dec 12, 2009 8:00 AM CST in Previews Comment 14 comments

Run the ball. Chris Johnson is the leading rusher in the NFL. The Rams have the fourth worst run defense in the NFL. Enough said. This defense is the worst one we'll play this year, so it would also be a good idea to get Chris Johnson involved in the receiving game as well. Who knows, maybe the defense will forget to cover him like the Texans did. It would be great if he got 175+ yards to get back on his pace for the all-time rushing record.
Stop the run. Steven Jackson is by far the Rams' best weapon. The Titans are the eighth best run defense in the league, and they need to prove it on Sunday. Jackson is known for breaking tackles and being fast enough to outrun defenders, so the Titans need to put him on the ground as soon as he takes off. When the Rams get into the red zone, things need to be locked up. That shouldn't be too hard against the worst red zone team in the NFL. They get points within the twenty yardline only 57% of the time, and they get a touchdown only 32% of the time.
Win the turnover battle. When the Titans win the turnover battle, they usually win. In the last three games, the Titans haven't had a turnover. Kyle Boller has thrown five interceptions in the last four games, and the Rams have a -6 turnover differential on the year. The Titans need to be physical and try to make that number go even lower.
Play well on special teams. It looks like we've found ourself a pretty good returner in Kenny Britt, but the Rams are in the top half of the league at covering both punt and kick returns. With good field position, the Titans can easily make good things happen on the field. We also can not give the Rams good field position to start their drives, because with such a lack of offense, a shorter field would give them a significantly higher chance to score.
Don't get too confident. Yes, the Rams have only won one game this year, but since Week 7, the average score differential is just eight points. They are definitely being competitive in games, so the Titans shouldn't get too confident and take this as an easy win. If Thursday's Steelers loss to the Browns explains anything, any team can win on any given Sunday. Those minuscule playoff hopes we have will turn into dust if we don't take care of business ourselves first and win these last four games.

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I think this is a perfect game to......

open it up on offense…maybe a flea flicker, or a double reverse, or a wildcat formation, or a fake punt, maybe go deep a couple of times to KB (maybe give NW a chance to redeem himself to get his confidence back). What do you think, smash?

by titansfan4ever on Dec 12, 2009 9:18 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Anything to confuse the defense would be great.

"We really feel like we can go 10-0 in these last ten games...we’re trying to do something nobody has ever done." Chris Johnson
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by Aditya T (smashville) on Dec 12, 2009 12:04 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs