Chris Johnson had another great game on Sunday, and it's even more impressive considering that he was sick all week. He was still a little sick, and the related fatigue is probably why we saw him ask out of the game more times than usual. After a horrid start to the season, CJ has now eclipsed 130 yards in three of the last four week. I don't care if they have been against bad run defenses, that's still a huge improvement from where he started. Now we just need to see if he can do that against stouter defenses.
The ESPN NFL playoff standings page has a pretty good breakdown of where everyone is in the wild card standings. Right now we're one spot out of the Wild Card due to losing tiebreaker with the Bengals because they're one game better in AFC win percentage. Overall the Titans are in a four-way tie with the Bengals, Raiders and Jets.
Nate Washington's ankle injury is the story to watch this week. It was pretty clear to me that he went down due to the pain after that first down catch, which isn't a good sign. If he's hurt, then this passing game is in serious, serious trouble... especially since Hasselbeck seems to have zero interest in feeding the Cookie monster like he should.
Jason McCourty was knocked out of the game with a concussion after he collided with Akeem Ayers. There's no word yet on how severe it was, or if he will be ready to go on Sunday when Drew Brees and crew come to town.
Colin McCarthy was very Colin McCarthy-esque on Sunday. He totaled 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 9 solo tackles and a pass defensed.
Chris Hope saw a big increase in playing time on Sunday.
One of the worrisome parts coming out of yesterdays win was our struggles on third down. We went 2 of 11 overall, though both teams finished with 18 first downs.
The defensive line did a great job playing the passing lanes and batting down passes at the line.
Paul K wraps-up the win.
I'm still not sold on the likelihood of long-term success, but I'll admit at this point that Tebow is already better than I ever thought he could be in this league. Also, the Titans sneak back in to PK's Fine Fifteen.
If you aren't reading Audibles at the Line each Monday, you're missing some of the best tidbits of analysis of the games you probably only see through highlights.
SITE NOTE: Over the last few weeks, we have noticed an obscene amount of hate directed toward a certain player (Barrett Ruud). It is management's opinion that Ruud has not done anything to us as fans or our team (i.e. curse the locker room and quit or hold out of training camp and not get into shape until week 10) to deserve the kind of lashing out that MCMers have directed his way. Maybe I have a higher opinion of our blog and what kind of fans I think we should be, but having a fanpost entitled "Barrett Ruud Sucks" and comments in every post that are nothing more than "F&^% Barrett Ruud" are not going to be acceptable. No, he has not had a good season, but let's focus our energy on celebrating the badassedness that is Colin McCarthy and continuing to keep our conversations above those of Bleacher Report. Thank you for understanding and continuing to make Music City Miracles the best blog on SB Nation! Go Titans! --gramsey712