Mike Munchak on Why The Titans Run Game is Struggling

Mike Munchak was asked after the game why he thinks the Titans run game is having so much trouble getting going. Here is what he had to say:

It’s hard to tell, you know, from the sidelines watching it. We had opportunities there. It’s hard to see exactly. I’m not involved in watching the pictures as much or looking at them, studying them after a game but give them credit. I’ll start by giving the defense credit. They did a nice job tackling, closing lanes. They had eight guys up but that was nothing new. He had eight guys up when you have 2,000 yards. Is it mixed in? Is it harder to run when that’s going on? Yes. The problem is again we had some penalties early in the game. He (Johnson) had a 10-12 yard run that we lost on a penalty. Another nice eight or nine yard run that was lost on a penalty early and then all of a sudden it takes you out of your flow as a running back. From there it’s more for us, for me, to watch the film and see exactly what may have went on with some of the other plays. It’s just frustrating for him. He popped off that 12 yard run and then I think they called (Craig) Stevens for a hold. He had another nice run another time early in the game and then there was another penalty. That’s really been hurting us as an offense in the first quarter -too many penalties in the first quarter. That kind of hurts our opening drives.

There is no doubt in my mind that there are a number of things that are contributing to the struggles, but the bottom line is they better find a way to get it fixed if this team is going to win many games this year.