That was pretty much what we expected.  The Titans defense was awesome only allowing the Jaguars to rush for 33 yards.   Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew carried 14 times for 31 yards.  The defense sacked David Garrard 7 times, and Cortland Finnegan picked him off twice.  The only TD they allowed came off of a Vince Young interception that gave the Jags the ball at the Titans 5 yard line.

The offense was pretty much what we expected as well.  Chris Johnson proved he is going to be a special player with 15 carries for 93 yards and 3 catches for 34 yards and a touchdown. 

Vince Young ended the day 12 of 22 for 110 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs.  He threw the ball better than 12 for 22, but the receivers were terrible once again.

Bo Scaife had a huge day with 6 catches for 105 yards including a 44 yard catch and run on a screen that set up LenDale White's TD run.

VY did leave the game wtih a knee injury that we will have to wait and see how bad it is.  Kerry Collins came off the bench and did what he was paid to do.  It is very valuable to have a guy like Collins on the roster for just that situation.  He is a quality BACKUP quarterback.

Enjoy the win.  We will have a whole lot more to come about this game in the coming days.

GO TITANS!!

     VS.    

NUTS AND BOLTS

Date: September 7th, 2008
Time: 12:00 p.m. Central
Location: LP Field, Nashville, TN
Records: Jaguars (0-0) Titans (0-0)
Weather: 80 degrees, 0% chance of rain, Wind WNW 5 mph
TV: CBS
Radio: 103.3 WKDF
Falcons Coverage: Big Cat Country and The Florida Times Union
Titans Gameday Central

Here it is.  Be sure and be here during the game for some good conversation. 

Also check back after the game for a quick recap.

GO TITANS!!

The Jaguars and the Titans meet in week 1 for the second straight season.  You can expect a slugfest every time these two teams get together, and there is no reason to think this time will be any different. 

These two teams, at least on paper, appear to be pretty evenly matched.  Most of the national media is in love with the Jaguars for about the 5th straight year.  It seems like every year they are the hot pick to knock off the Colts in the division, but they never seem to be able to do it.  What I can't understand is why people think the Jags are so much better than the Titans.  Take a look at the "expert" picks from the four letter network:

 
I know it is shocking that Hoge didn't pick the Titans.  Try to move on from that.

These two teams play the exact same brand of football.  Both teams want to run the ball and stop the run.  Both teams were in the top 5 in rushing offense and the top 11 in rushing defense last season.  This season will be no different.

They have split the season series the past 2 years.  The Titans piled up 282 yards rushing in the week 1 meeting last season and only allowed the Jags to rush for 75 in a 13-10 win.  When they met again in week 10 the Titans allowed the Jags to rush for 166 yards (w/o Fat Albert) and only rushed for 62 yards in a 28-13 loss.  Like I said, run the ball and stop the run are the keys for these teams.

This game will more than likely turn on some type of big play.  The most important thing for the Titans in this game is to take care of the ball. 

Vince Young has struggled big time against the Jags in his career.  In his 4 starts he is 58 of 110 (53%) for 583 yards with 2 TDs and 6 INTs.

VY will not be asked to win this game.  He will be asked to take care of the ball and make enough plays to set up some scoring opportunities.  Jaguars' new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams loves to blitz.  He will be bringing people from everywhere to try and confuse VY and force him into making a mistake.

The majority of the load will fall on running backs LenDale White and Chris Johnson.  Heimerdinger will be drawing up a game plan for CJ for the first time tomorrow.  I cannot wait to see that.  Look for a lot of screen plays, some plays where CJ lines up wide, some plays where he lines up in the backfield and motions out wide, and some sets where The Round Mound and CJ are on the field together.

On defense the Titans will need to stop Jacksonville's two headed running attack of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew.  If the Titans can limit their yards on first and second down, it will force the Jags into obvious passing situations and that will free up the Titans defensive line to get after David Garrard.

Garrard took a huge step forward last season.  Granted he isn't asked to do all that much in the offense, but he takes care of the football.  He only threw 3 INTs in over 300 passing attempts last season.  The Titans will need to force him to make a mistake to set up a short field for their offense.

I have already picked the Titans to win this game here and here, and I don't plan on going back on that now.  It will be an extremely physical game that will probably come down to the closing seconds, but I expect the Titans to come out victorious.