Check out the Yahoo! top performer for the Browns.  That is a sign of total domination.  (Actually it appears that Yahoo just didn't care because there were other people that actually contributed they could have chosen.)

The Titans looked really sloppy to open the game.  They gave up a 25 yard pass to Braylon Edwards on the first drive that set up the first Cleveland field goal.  I know the Browns' fans are down on Braylon, but I would take him on the Titans in a heartbeat.  He made a nice play on the pass from Cribbs that was ruled incomplete.  I still have no idea why Romeo decided not to challenge that.

The Titans first offensive drive stalled just inside Cleveland territory after two incomplete passes from Kerry Collins, and the second offensive drive lasted one play because Collins threw an interception.  That pick gave the Browns the ball at the Titans' 20 yard line, but they were only able to get a field goal from it after losing 3 yards on 3 plays.  I love the Titans defense.

The Titans offense decided to wake up on the next drive and took the ball 68 yards on 11 plays.  The touchdown came on a 4th and 1 pass to Ahmard Hall, which is one of those calls that was genius since it worked but had me screaming WHY ARE THEY THROWING?!? when it happened.  Hall does a lot of great work for this running game, so it is awesome to see him get a touchdown.

The next 8 minutes of the game saw a lot of short runs and incomplete passes.  The Titans got their second touchdown of the game on a LenDale White 3 yard plunge.  That drive saw two 20 yard completions, one to Justin McCareins and one to Alge Crumpler, and seemed to be the drive that snapped Collins out of his early game funk.

The Titans third TD was set up by a Michael Griffin interception and 36 yard return.  Collins did a great job on that TD pass to Justin Gage of keeping the play alive.  It is amazing how much closer to mobile he is this season.

Smash fumbled, his first of the year, on the second play of the Titans' next drive to give the Browns great field position at the 26.  Once again the Titans defense was up to the challenge and did not allow the Browns to gain a yard beofre Phil Dawson missed the field goal attempt.

D'Qwell Jackson made a great interception on the ensuing Titans' drive that once again gave the Browns good field position, and once again the defense was able to hold them to a field goal.  It is nice to see the other team being that one that settles for field goals.

The fourth quarter of this game was about the most boring quarter of a Titans' game so far this season.  The only exciting play was the Chris Johnson 25 yard touchdown run.  I said it in the game thread, but Crazy Legs better lose the habit of holding the ball out like he did yesterday.  That will come back to burn him at some point if the doesn't.

Interesting Stats:

• Total Yards: Titans 390 Browns 178
• Rushing Yards: Titans 235 Browns 35
• 3rd Down Efficiency: Titans 54% Browns 25%
• Penalties: Titans 13 for 131 Browns 8 for 68

The penalties need to be addressed.  They didn't matter yesterday because it was an inferior opponent, but they can't afford those numbers against any of the 3 remaining teams or in the playoffs.  That was the last week that sloppy play will get a win.

That is all of the complaining I have though.  12-1 is awesome.

That game puts my mind at ease a little bit.  I was worried about what would happen if an opposing team was able to completely take away the Titans running attack.  The Bears held the Titans to 20 net yards on the ground.  If you would have told me that number Saturday night I would have said there was no way the Titans would win that game.  Kerry Collins bounced back from his worst game of the season last week against the Packers to have his best game of the season going 30 of 41 for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He proved yesterday that he can do more than manage the game when he is called to do so.

The start of the game felt a little like bizzaro world yesterday.  The offense usually comes out and marches right down the field because Dinger is so good at scripting plays to start the game.  Yesterday they went 3 and out on the first drive.  The Titans defense usually comes out strong, but Rex Grossman marched the Bears right down the field for 7 points.

The offense didn't really get going until the third possession.  That drive included 2 catches by Alge Crumpler, one of which was a 20 yard reception of 2nd and long.  I think we are going to see some big things from Alge down the stretch.  That drive ended with the Ahmard Hall fumble on the goal line.  (Sarge didn't have his best game of the season yesterday, but he is still loved here at MCM.)  That play would have been an easy TD if not for the fumble, and I understand they were going for the element of surprise there, but I still would have liked to have seen that play go to The Touchdown Machine, LenDale White.

The Titans defense came up huge following the fumble by not allowing the Bears to convert a first down.   Chris Carr, who has been an unsung hero in this 9-0 start, returned the ensuing punt 29 yards to give the Titans great field position at the Chicago 25.  Four plays later Bo Scaife caught a TD pass from Collins to put the Titans on the board and tie the game. 

That was it for the scoring in the first half.  The only other play of significance was the David Stewart personal foul call that knocked the Titans out of field goal range on the next drive.  The Titans did get lined up for a 49-yard field goal at the end of the half, but Rob Bironas came up well short kicking into the Chicago wind.

The second half opened like the first half usually opens for the Titans.  After the defense forced the Bears to go 3 and out, Collins marched the offense right down the field for the go ahead touchdown.  Collins had completions of 11 (Brandon Jones who should be #1 on the depth chart now), 16 (Justin Gage who suddenly remembered he is supposed to catch it when it is thrown to him), 10 (Scaife), 5 (Scaife) and the 12 yard TD strike on a slant (Gage).  Adam at WCG mentions that the slant call there was probably a result of something the Titans saw when watching film of the Bears.

There wasn't much action after that until the Titans put together a 11 play 52 yard drive that ended with a 2 yard TD plunge from Smash.  The ensuing kickoff was returned 41 yards by Devin Hester.  The Titans kicked to Hester all day and did a really good job of not letting him hurt them.

The Bears would end up attempting a field goal coming off of that kickoff return by Hester.  Jason Jones blocked the kick which prompted an Elaine Benes type celebration from Jeff Fisher (Full disclosure: I stole that from a guy on the radio).

Grossman would get a 1 yard TD run that came from the Titans lovely prevent defense, but that would be the end of it.  The Titans emerged from snowy Chicago 9-0.

At 7-0 we looked at the Packers/Bears/Jaguars stretch and said we needed to win at least 2 of 3.  Done.  Now we look at Jaguars/Jets/Lions and need 2 out of 3.  That seems even more doable.  Here's to hoping we win all 3.

Brandon Jones

Jones has been the most pleasant surprise of the season so far. He, unlike Gage, has been catching everything that is thrown to him. He had a couple of huge catches on the final drive at Baltimore and made some plays against Green Bay. I never thought I would say this, but he has been the Titans most consistent receiver in 2008. He gets a B.

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 My new favorite NFL writer, Clark Judge, comes through with a truly awesome statistical find (a 10 gallon hat tip to TheBlindRef!!!):

And what I found was that, since the merger, there have been 14 clubs -- other than Tennessee, of course -- that won their first eight games. Of that 14, seven -- or exactly half -- won Super Bowls, while another three lost them.

There is nothing discouraging about those numbers. In fact, if you're a Titans fan it means you have a 71 percent chance of spending February in Tampa with your favorite pro football team, which means you can start booking flights to Super Bowl XLIII now.

 The Titans are still on the perfect train to Perfectville, and it's because they continue to focus on just one thing: the opponent that is in front of them and not the past or the future.

 Jim Wyatt comes through with 5 things we know about the Titans, including a forewarning about the dangers of kicking to Devin Hester... no matter how bad he's been this year.

 The Colts signed defensive tackle Antonio 'Mookie' Johnson off of the Titans' practice squad. This is a great signing for Indy, because I was seriously surprised the coaching staff didn't keep the massive Mookie on the 53-man roster coming out of camp.  He was, at best, only our best 4th DT though.

 Crazy Legs is the subject of a great story from Steve Wyche at nfl.com.

 Vote Crazy Legs rookie of the week and Chris Hope Defensive player of the week!!!

 Paul Kuharsky breaks down the remaining opponents on the AFC South's schedule, and it looks like the Colts will get to face the march of the cupcakes.

 Only the Titans and the Giants got an A+ in this Fox Sports midseason grade.

 Mike Silver recasts some of the NFL's myths with special mention of our Titans.

 This ran yesterday before the Presidential election... Titans talk taxes, and not the brass kind:

It is hardly surprising that many players cite taxes as a key issue. Tennessee Titans tight end Alge Crumpler, despite his wealth, isn't sold on the merits of tax credits that Bush instituted three years ago and McCain has pledged to continue.

"The overwhelming majority of the American people aren't doing as well as they were three years ago before those tax credits," said Crumpler, an Obama supporter. "I believe in a bottom-line philosophy."

Crumpler's teammate, defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, has a different perspective. He says he views the decision selfishly, and that "A lot of guys should all be for McCain if they like their money.

"I only have a small window to make as much money as I possibly can and if we get somebody in office who's going to raise taxes 50%, that's going to hurt," Haynesworth said. "What am I supposed to live on when I'm 60, 70 years old?"

There's a whole lot of internet out there, so if you have a link you'd like to submit for tomorrow's Morning Links, email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com!  (Be sure to include your commenting handle so I can give you semi-anonymous credit.)

As I said yesterday in the game thread, I feel bad for the fans of the Kansas City Chiefs.  They seem to be a likeable bunch of people and have some of the classiest bloggers on SB Nation, but their football team is really, really bad.  A lot is still being made of the record of the Titans' opponents, but as I have said a million times this season, you can only play who the schedule makers put in front of you.  Yesterday the schedule makers put the Chiefs in front of the Titans, and the Titans dominated them.

332 yards rushing.  8.3 yards per carry.  Let those numbers sink in for a moment.  I don't care who you are playing, that is an impressive number.  The Titans offensive line was dominant just as it has been all season long.  It was good to see the Titans get back to the balance of carries between Bongo (18) and The Round Mound (17).  They are going to need both of those guys to be involved to continue to win football games.  Watching TRM rip off an 80-yard TD run was awesome.

We have been talking about the lack of a passing game here, but who needs a passing game when you are getting 8.3 yards per pop on the ground?  The Titans proved against the Ravens they can make some plays to come from behind in the passing game.  I am not worried about that at all.  The best thing about the passing game yesterday was Bo Scaife and Alge Crumpler making big plays.  Crumpler is looking better and better each week, and he is going to be a huge part of this offense down the stretch.  Scaife just keeps making plays.

The Titans defense was dominant again allowing the Chiefs only 58 yards on the ground.  Again, I know we aren't talking about shutting down the 2007 Patriots here, but they came in and took care of business without half of their starting defensive line.  Kyle Vanden Bosch gave it a go but wasn't able to play much.  Hopefully he will be closer to 100% this week because the Titans will need him against the Colts.  We will keep an eye on KVB and Tony Brown as the week goes along.

There isn't a whole lot to say about this game because of how one-sided it was.  The Titans have gotten through the first 6 games without a let down.  That says a lot when you look at what has gone on around the NFL this season.  The Titans could play .500 football the rest of the season and make the playoffs.  Of course that is not what any of us want to see happen, but it is good to have that safety net for injuries and such.

Now we move forward to the Colts.  One of the reasons I love this blog so much is because we have, for the most part, been able to keep to talk about the Titans and not ripping of the teams they play.  Let's try and keep it that way this week.  We have no reason to be drawn into anything with Colts' fans.  The Titans are 6-0.  The 12-24, or whatever it is, combined records of the opponents doesn't really mean squat.  Colts' fans may not believe now, but they will.

This game scares me a little.  The Titans are easily the better team, but as we have talked about all week long, there are a lot of other things the Titans could be thinking about besides beating the Chiefs.  Here are the 4 letter "expert" picks:

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There's only one NFL team still undefeated: our Tennessee Titans!  Just remember this moving forward as people come out of the woodworks to demean what our boys have accomplished: they only hate on you when you shinnin'!

 The Titans top the NFL in record, and in articles written decrying their WRs.  Expect this trend to pick-up now that we're on top. 

 Better late than never: the immensely respectable ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber dissects the WWL's coverage of the Vince Young 'freak-out' affair, and chides their highly paid gossipers for passing whispers off as news.  Mind you that this was a story which ESPN got killed on by the likes of Jay Glazer, Peter King and Adam Schefter.  If you are ever annoyed with ESPN's hilarious attempts at journalism, bookmark Mrs. Schreiber and make a point to read her regular reports.

 Had there been a game last Sunday, Boom King and Tony Brown probably would have missed the start.  But there wasn't so they didn't, and it looks like they'll be ready to roll this week.

 Jevon Kearse has stayed healthy and rested so far this year, and that's leading to a sharp increase in effectiveness over his disappointing time with the Eagles.  Next job for Jevon: come up with a better sack dance.

 Paul Kuharsky notes that the Titans' leading receiver, TE Bo Scaife, was left off of the Pro Bowl ballot in favor of Alge Crumpler.  That's a little beat-up if you ask me, but then again so is the idea that anyone would cast a Pro Bowl ballot on the heels of week 6.

 Chiefs fans so expect that the Titans will crush Brodie Croyle that 52% of them predicted in a recent poll that he will not finish the game... ever since the news of his start against us came out I'v been saying the Chiefs just don't want to risk losing a QB who may actually be capable of winning games this year.

 Awesome-o reader jasonkylebates sends along a great find: when the New York Times decided to cover the 'Wildcat formation' that everyone is in love with now-a-days, they turned to Titans defensive czar Jim Schwartz for comment on why NFL defenders have struggled with it so far:

The traditional things you do — like an eight-man front — don’t work because now you have nine gaps if the quarterback is running the ball,” Jim Schwartz, the defensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, said. “You almost have to make it a nine-man front.

On a side note, I don't think this formation is going away overnight because there are simply so many things that can happen out of that line-up. 

 Tons of good info in this Titans Team Report from Yahoo!... if we poop the bed against the Chiefs like the Broncos did I'm going to be a very unhappy camper.

There's a whole lot of internet out there, so if you have a great link you'd like to submit for tomorrow's Morning Links email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com! (Be sure to include your commenting handle so I can give you semi-anonymous credit.)

Astute commenter thelogic snagged this article in the sidebar: The Hawk is learning how to fly, but needs to cut down on the simple mistakes.

 gramsey712 sends along this awesome read on the fire that drives Cortland Finnegan to infuriate anyone who lines up against him (which may be his best weapon):

While in high school, Finnegan would go play pickup basketball at the nearby naval station with Sue Simpson, one of his guardians. At one point, one of the fellow competitors told Simpson that they had enough of Finnegan.

"He said if Cortland didn’t calm down, they were going to wring his neck," Simpson said with a laugh. "Here’s this 17-year-old driving all these 30-year-olds crazy in a pickup game. I told him he couldn’t go back there for six months, and he was OK after that."

 Big props to Joykat for pointing us towards this Teresa M. Walker article about the Titans not being satisfied by being 5-0 or holding our competition to the fewest points allowed through 5 games in the league.

 If you want inane but ultimately interesting facts, there's no better place to turn than the Elias Sports bureau:

Kerry Collins threw an 11-yard TD pass to Alge Crumpler on the first play after the 2-minute warning to give the Titans a 13-10 victory at Baltimore. Collins threw game-winning TD passes in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter in consecutive games for the Giants in December 2001, but this was only his second game-winner inside the 2-minute warning since then.

 We may have brought in Alge Crumpler to replace him as the top dog, but Bo Scaife is the 2nd best receiving TE in the league, according to Football Outsiders.

 Perhaps the funniest blog title on the web: What Would Kerry Collins Do? Because Kerry Collins is the new Jesus.

 And finally, in a sign the Titans still aren't getting the respect they're due, I couldn't find a single person who picked us to win this weekend.

Boom King's streak of 53 straight starts may be in jeopardy because of the groin injury he suffered playing against the Ravens.  He won't practice this week, but expects to be ready to role against the atrocious offensive line of the Chiefs.  For a defensive lineman, that game is a money maker.

 Justin Gage is also confident he'll be ready to go for the Chiefs game, but was very dodgy abut what exactly his knee injury is.

 Gary Estwick notes that what the Titans may lack in premier talent, they make up for with depth.  It's hard to overstate how important this is as we look around the league and see a lot of guys who expected to make the Pro Bowl before the season instead focusing on claiming the most comfy spot on the bench.

 There are a variety of reasons why Alge Crumpler hasn't been lighting the world on fire so far this year (7 catches in 5 games), but the Titans are very pleased with what he's brought to the table so far:

Jeff Fisher has said that the coverages the Titans have been seeing simply dictate more throws outside. With an eighth defender in the box, the middle is more crowded and the better matchups are on the perimeter with receivers.

"A lot of what we're facing offensively is a three-deep contour on defense because of our ability to run, so the first read ends up going outside to the wide receivers," Fisher said. "Kerry is making quicker decisions and getting rid of it. But it will come. It comes. (Crumpler's) numbers will come. He's a very unselfish player, he's blocking very well, he's a big part of our offense."

Two scouts I spoke with recently both said they think Crumpler can still be an effective pass catcher like he was for so long in Atlanta.

Crumpler has been a consummate team guy, not complaining one bit, very happy to be part of a healthy, winning atmosphere after the circus he endured last year in Atlanta because of big stories involving Michael Vick and Bobby Petrino.

"At some point, the cracks are going to come," Crumpler said. "I have no doubts I'm going to get my chances."

 In news that should make centers and guards across the league weep, Fisher says Big Albert is just now getting into form after skipping the off-season conditioning program.

 Jeffri Chadiha rates the Titans as the season's no. 1 surprise.  I guess someone didn't follow the MCM preseason predictions did they?  Tisk, tisk.

 It's never too soon to take a peek at future Titans.  Lots of great  conference match-ups this weekend, so make sure you try to find a wide receiver not named Crabtree (he'll be drafted before we wake-up on Draft Day, believe me) for us to salivate over all off-season.

 Since Halloween is coming up soon: How to carve a perfect Jack-O-Latern.

There's a whole lot of internet out there, so if you have a great link you'd like to submit for tomorrow's Morning Links email me at mcmaugustwest@gmail.com!  (Be sure to include your commenting handle so I can give you semi-anonymous credit.)

First off, I need to apologize again to Alge for what I said about him in the game thread about looking like the high school kid that didn't belong on the football team.  He came up big when it mattered the most yesterday.  

Also, I love the fact that Kerry Collins faked Ray Lewis out of his jock on the game winning touchdown pass.

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