Tennessee Titans Morning Links: Pure Black Looking Clear Edition
Bo Scaife is not a happy camper this morning:
"He dove at my leg. It was a cheap shot,'' Scaife said. "I have been playing my whole life and no one has ever hit me like that. So I know when it is real and when it is not real. So it was a cheap shot and I don't care if that gets back to him either.''
Since I'm going to their show Monday, today's Friday Jam is Metallica: Harvester of Sorrow. Such a harvester would have plenty to collect around this town today.
Steelers fans want to say our loss was karma for the towel stomping (it wasn't), but one thing was oft-over-looked last night: The Madden Curse! Troy P was on the cover, and now he's in the trainer's room.
Follow us through the jump for the good stuff....
Paul K has the postmortem, including some lame quotes regarding the special teams FAIL last night:
"I had a field goal blocked and a field goal missed," Titans head coach Jeff Fisher said, offering more when prompted. On the block there was penetration inside, on the miss the snap was low and despite a good hold Bironas was thrown off, Fisher said."
Jim Wyatt has seen a loss like this one before...
Our defense was stellar last night until the Steelers broke-out the no-huddle attack late in the game. At that point they started picking us apart. I understand that Cecil was trying to make them drive the field and attempt a lot of plays since penalties and sacks had killed their momentum before, but a few more blitzes would have been nice to see late.
Gary Estwick has notes from the press box at Heinz Field, including this gem which I was screaming when it happened:
*Rookie WR Kenny Britt needed to challenge Polamalu for that jumpball, even if all he did was knock it down.
Still, it was a strong debut for rookie Kenny Britt, who caught 4 passes for 85 yards. You have to love the size, routes, hands and athleticism Britt showed last night against the league's best defense.
Don Banks writes a lot about the Steelers here, but he makes some salient points about the Titans as well: like who needs Albert Haynesworth when you can get steady pressure like we got for much of the game?
If there's anything you would like to share with the MCM community, please take advantage of the comments, fanshots and fanposts to do so! Or, you can always email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com.
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We should've won, I freakin hate the Steelers, but...
We saw some positive things:
-Our Defense is still good if not great.
-I think our offense was a little rusty, but once Washington and Cook gets back we’ll be even better
-Thank God Finnegan is not our permanent punt returner. Better field position would’ve meant more points.
-Bironas wont have another game like that.
I think we proved we can beat the Steelers (as long as we don’t beat ourselves… again). Watching our team last night I felt better about tough games we have coming up against the Colts and the Patriots. We have some problems, but they are fixable. And once they’re fixed we’ll be even better than last year.
by theologic on Sep 11, 2009 9:15 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree..
..with all those points. To me, our D did look pretty good. I mean, yeah, the pressure dropped off in the 2nd half, and Ben took advantage of that, but most of that was due to play call. They were also a bit gassed from running down a QB praised for his ability to extend the play. There isn’t too many QB’s with his ability to do that.
With the execption of what they’re going to do on return punts and kickoffs, I think most things are fixable.
by J3G77 on Sep 11, 2009 10:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
RE: returning punts...
I hear Pacman is available….
:-D
by TNTitans on Sep 11, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
A+ caption
Titans Blogger at Music City Miracles even though gramsey hates it.
by Jimmy on Sep 11, 2009 9:34 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Best one yet.
Official MCM Hater!
Retire #9!
by gramsey712 on Sep 11, 2009 9:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
On the block there was penetration inside........
ewwwwwwwwwww! lmao
"If you're an asshole, you're gonna come back as a cockroach or a worm or a fuckin' anal bead, okay? If you're a man and you act heroic, you'll come back as an eagle. You'll come back as a dragon."
by chrisd21 on Sep 11, 2009 9:42 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Game was terrible.
Two missed FGs is inexcusable; it is time to stop making excuses for them. They cost the game. Period. A simple check of the scoreboard confirms this.
Finnegan returning punts was a disaster. No field position all night; he was even afraid to Fair Catch because he’s OBVIOUSLY not practiced at it. How many times did the Titans start inside their own 10? It was at least 5. This is not the plan.
And that’s your game. With FGs in hand, the 2nd half unfolds differently, to say the least.
Scaife’s fumble was OBVIOUSLY his payback to the team for the Franchise Tag. That was horrible. * “Ow! My knee! Here! Take the ball!”* Argh.
Sloppy play on both sides was the only thing that kept the Titans in this game at all, but as God is my witness, if they give Manning as much time as they gave Rothlesburger, he’s gonna hang AT LEAST 50 on this much-vaunted (much over-rated) defense.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 9:50 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
That looked very painful
I’m not sure how much you can blame Scaife for that. It’s natural for somebody to grab their leg when their knee gets hit like that.
by TheElusiveShadow on Sep 11, 2009 10:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's fine.
He can grab his knee as soon as he’s down. Until then, he needs to hold the ball. They pay him a lot of money to catch and hold the ball.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 10:30 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Jim Wyatt is right
We did not come and finish our unfinished business, and the cheap shot to Scaife’s knee should also be considered for the eerie parallels.
RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!
Member of the Committee to Keep Keith Bulluck.
Eric Berry for Heisman!!
by Pride of the Southland on Sep 11, 2009 9:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Re: Scaife
There is only one reason you aim your helmet at someone’s kneecap. And it is not to knock the ball loose.
Official MCM Hater!
Retire #9!
by gramsey712 on Sep 11, 2009 10:02 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Who has been consistently catching passes all night?
Oh right, Scaife, well lets take him out of the game then.
RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!
Member of the Committee to Keep Keith Bulluck.
Eric Berry for Heisman!!
by Pride of the Southland on Sep 11, 2009 10:03 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's still no excuse for putting the ball on the ground.
That was a crtical fumble, and it was unforced, regardless.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Im not saying that it wasnt stupid
But the guy did just get jacked in the knee in a cheap and painful way, I think he was just trying to go down as quickly as possible to mitigate further damage.
It shouldn’t have happened, the hit, or the fumble, and now we have two straight games against opponents who have taken cheap shots at our most productive players of the game
RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!
Member of the Committee to Keep Keith Bulluck.
Eric Berry for Heisman!!
by Pride of the Southland on Sep 11, 2009 10:15 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I can't fault Scaife..
The guy just wasn’t able to land right after being jacked in the knee. Hell, the hand a person would normally use to catch themselves when falling, was the hand that he had the ball in. He did what he could, I think. It wasn’t a boneheaded fumble.
by J3G77 on Sep 11, 2009 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I just read the PK article...
…and now I am even more pissed than I was. Because he is absolutely right. Here we are, eight months and five pre-season games later, and the Titans drop a totally winnable game because of stupid special teams execution errors! It really was the Baltimore game all over again, and what makes it worse is the way they’re saying, “See! The D-Line is GREAT! No Problem!”
Say what?
What I saw was a D-Line that was OKAY up until it mattered, and then they couldn’t do shit. Meanwhile, the much-vaunted Bironas comes to camp out of shape, misses some time, and proceeds to screw kicks all over the place.
It’s freakin’ inexcusable! Where the Hell is the accountability on this team? These little mistakes are the very reason these guys come up a damned yard short every year. This year’s looking to be no different and probably a lot less impressive than last year was.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 10:03 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Before we throw Bironas under the bus
Remember, there are 15 games left, and I for one think we looked pretty damned good against the Super Bowl champions.
The shanked kick could be blamed on the bad snap and the blocked kick could be blamed on the penetration, but you’re right, a veteran kicker whose name every football fan knows (so, who’s the kicker for the Seahawks? didn’t think so) does not miss kicks. No excuse.
But let’s not throw away the baby with the bathwater- I feel like we looked damned good. Anybody who thought CJ was gonna come out and rush for 200 yards and we would hang 42 on the Stellars D is a fool.
Could we have done better? Yup. Are we doomed for the rest of the year? Too early to call.
by TNTitans on Sep 11, 2009 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
They were a yard short. Again.
It’s enough already. Time to fix the little mistakes. They had eight months and five preseason games. No excuses. They are all well paid. It is a business. They need to handle theirs.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
You do realize this is Fisher's style
The way the Titans play, the margin of error is often slim. You can’t argue with Fisher’s overall results, but when you play to win ugly, low-scoring games, those little mistakes can kill you much more so than a team capable of more explosiveness. The Steelers had plenty of their own ugliness, including a laughable inability to convert third and short, but with a quality group of receivers and Big Ben’s arm, they were able to tear up the Titan defense at the end.
by TheElusiveShadow on Sep 11, 2009 10:38 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was just typing this same response.
In a Jeff Fisher offense, the kicker has to be perfect every time (Yogi Berra). Can’t have missed kicks, and you can’t have punt returners fielding the ball inside the 10 and giving invalid fair catch signals.
Official MCM Hater!
Retire #9!
by gramsey712 on Sep 11, 2009 10:40 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm certainly not going to argue that.
Why then cut the only returner on the team? So we can keep a 2nd round draft pick who needs a seeing eye dog to run behind one of the best O-Line’s in the League?
And why tolerate your Kicker coming in out of shape? I agree; the guy is critical. He’s also been very good in the past.
Bottom line: if they can’t clean up these little mistakes, then they’re going to continue to be a good team that somehow never gets it done. And yeah, that’s better than being the Lions, but it isn’t what it ought to be. Not by a long shot, and especially not when you have the most experienced coach in the League.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 11:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
And not only that, its not like he even touched the ball.
Id rather spend a spot on someone I know is going to get 5-6 touches a game, than someone who most likely will not see the ball all game, and vaguely has upside from a mythical “good preseason” that he had.
RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!
Member of the Committee to Keep Keith Bulluck.
Eric Berry for Heisman!!
by Pride of the Southland on Sep 11, 2009 11:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I am with you Danno...I thought I was responding to TNTitans.
I agree with you that this is a larger problem than we want to admit.
All we have heard is this “unfinished business” crap, and last night was business as usual.
Official MCM Hater!
Retire #9!
by gramsey712 on Sep 11, 2009 11:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I also agree more or less with what Danno said
about no excuses and what not.
But let’s not sell the whole team down the river just yet.
by TNTitans on Sep 11, 2009 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'm not. That's the whole point.
You got good performances out of 90% of the team and a few boneheaded plays, even out of guys who on balance played well. The critical errors were all on special teams, and they were both horrible and predictable.
The fact that this crap keeps happening is what kills me. We have ONE good year of returns, and suddenly it’s not an issue? No, it’s a recurring issue, and cutting the guy who could’ve helped you to keep freakin’ Chris Henry is just not smart at all.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 12:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Exactly
I saw a lot of real good things out of this team last night, just very frustrated that we let that one slip out of our hands.
RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!
Member of the Committee to Keep Keith Bulluck.
Eric Berry for Heisman!!
by Pride of the Southland on Sep 11, 2009 1:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
My thoughts
Long time reader, 1st time posting…But game looked good…We should have no problems going to playoffs….only bad thing about game was the announcers…They need to get off Pitts nuts
by Dont worry bout it on Sep 11, 2009 11:23 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I thought Collinsworth was pretty good
Except he still seems to think Rothlessberger (who cares how to spell it) is a great QB.
by theologic on Sep 11, 2009 12:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed.
Rothlesburger is okay, but he’s not a shadow of Manning, Brady, Brees, and the other truly elite QBs. And he won’t be until he can get the quick passing game down.
Actually, that’s what scared me the most about this game. If you think Big Ben torched the secondary, wait until Manning gets ahold of that kind of time to make plays.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 1:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
but
if i remember correctly, we didnt get any pressure on manning in the monday night game last year.
by jayosanne on Sep 11, 2009 2:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don't remember that.
But more to the point, you’ll NEVER see Manning sit in the pocket for more than a few seconds at most. This is why he is so rarely hurt… and also why Big Ben has such a hard time staying healthy. I’m not knocking Ben; he certainly won the game last night. However, the Titans made a TON of mistakes and still hung in there. If they make thay many mistakes against Manning, Peton will hang 50. That’s all I’m saying here. It has happened before.
DannoE
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
by DannoE on Sep 11, 2009 2:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
we got decent pressure on Peyton
just couldn’t close the deal because he’s the best you’ll ever see about getting the ball out on time.
Music City Miracles blogger and official Jon Bovi tour manager.
by August West on Sep 11, 2009 2:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
The secondary was far more of a playcalling issue than personnel.
Sure, they bit on some pump fakes, but what are they supposed to do when they are ordered to play the same defense for every play? Someone should have told Cecil that when Santonio Holmes is alone on one side and theres a 3 bunch on the other, THEY ARE THROWING TO HOLMES. Why cover all 3 of those recievers closely and not Holmes? I don’t know if he had first real game jitters, but he needs to get it in gear far more than anyone else.
Who doesn't want to be a promiscuous dope fiend?
by BonzosMontreaux on Sep 11, 2009 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
August, I'll be at Metallica, too!
Are you ready to rock?
by hartley on Sep 11, 2009 12:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I was born ready!
First Metallica show in about 10 years… I’m interested to see what they have left in the tank…
Music City Miracles blogger and official Jon Bovi tour manager.
by August West on Sep 11, 2009 2:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
So
So Manning is a great QB no doubt. But I dont think hes as tough as Ben. I hate them both and manning even more (I despised him as a vol too). He gets hit like Hayes hit him and he might be done for the game who knows. I think our secondary can hang man to man with there recivers just need to get more pressure on him and not give him time to read the play. And mix up the formations before the play.
But back to collinsworth. He was all Pitt. I think whole game he made one positive comment on the Titans and that was CJ speed and that was it. He was all over Troy P thats why im really glad he got taken out cause then he could start spending more time talking about the game. Michaels did a good job. And when they showed them in the booth collinsworth allways had this huge s@&t eating grin on his face.
by Dont worry bout it on Sep 11, 2009 5:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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