Tennessee Titans Daily Links: Some Well-Deserved Praise For The Offensive Line Edition

 This is the article of the day, by far: Ben Muth at FO posted a 1,300 word ode to the glory of the offensive line's pass blocking last Sunday. He doesn't say peep about the run blocking issues, but focuses on the technique and performance that paved the way for Hasselbeck to decimate one of the league's better defenses. We said several of the same things on MCM Radio and on the site, but Muth dives in on a much deeper level of O-line play than Jimmy or I are qualified to analyze properly. Here's a sample to give you an idea of how in-depth and awesome this is:

As soon as Tennessee lined up, Baltimore walked one of their inside linebackers up into the left B gap. Both Eugene Amano and Harris pointed him out -- identifying the Mike linebacker to their colleagues. Oftentimes, offenses change the Mike on a man protection scheme to the most likely rusher. This means that there is less chance of the backs having to block, which is something we can all agree is a good idea. Here, rather than identify Ray Lewis as the Mike, like they normally would, they pick Brendon Ayanbadejo since he looks like he's blitzing. On the snap, Ayenbadejo does blitz and Harris picks him up easily. Ray Lewis also blitzes, but he doesn't come free. Because Amano and Harris made sure to point out the new Mike visibly, the backs behind them know that they are now responsible for him. Cook stepped up to block him, and the result of all that time is a 47-yard completion. Which I guess was pretty. Whatever.

 Breaking news: the offseason changes to the kick-offs have hurt the Titans. The one notable stat in here is that, despite what Titans fans have seen in the first two weeks, 48.3% of all kick-offs are being returned. That's much lower than the 75% that were returnable last season, but much better than the 0% percent Mariani has gotten the chance to return so far.

 Jerry Gray says he doesn't expect the LB corps to make game changing plays,  just be consistent and make tackles. Way to set the bar low, Jerry.

 OK I can get that maybe some of the young guys don't know that Munchak played a long, Hall of Fame career with the Oilers; the O-line is a very anonymous group who don't get remembered as much as the glamour positions. However, not knowing who Eddie George and Frank Wycheck are, and the stature they have here, is just retarded. THere are 3 story tall pictures of those guys on the sides of the stadium. Eddie George was one of the first players on the Madden Cover, and could be mayor of Nashville if he really wanted it. At least Munch is doing his part to educate these young guys on the history of the franchise and the league, so they're more likely to appreciate the fleeting awesomeness of an NFL career.

 Chris Johnson and Kenny Britt are good to go for Sunday after both ran through the full practice yesterday.

 Jordan Babineaux is also slated to start this Sunday, as Hope is still trying to rehab his dislocated shoulder.

 Damian Williams practiced for the full session yesterday, but there's no word if he'll step right back into the third WR spot.

Boclair says that CJ has been trying not to let his slow start to the season go to his head, and his coaches and teammates are working to help CJ keep his head up. For his part, Johnson sounds like he's not upset as long as the team is winning. That's what I like to hear. However we won't keep winning if the run game doesn't get back on track.

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