... in reference to this morning's article, titled "Titans shouldn't turn to Young unless necessary."

Mr. Climer:

I don't understand why you think Collins is playing better than VY would have in the same spots. I grant you that he was better in the first half of the season than Young was for most of last season, but the numbers since the second Jags game tell a completely different story:

Collins since the 2nd Jaguars game: 61 of 113 (54%) for 706 yards with 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions and 2 fumbles

Vince Young in weeks 12-15 last season: 69 of 109 (63%) for 806 yards with 4 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 2 fumbles

And that's with Norm Chow calling the plays and the mighty Chris Brown in the backfield. And against MUCH tougher competition. And more to the point, I think Collins is about 6-for-60 on third down conversions in the last month and a half against any team that is not the Detroit Lions. More than anything, that's what has killed the Offense.

Look, seriously, I would ask that you consider the following: VY was successful until teams got enough tape to study. Then they developed a way to defend against him, and he struggled. And then Kerry Collins was successful--right up until teams, even bad defensive teams like the Texans--got enough tape to study him. And now he's struggling. So the problem isn't the quarterback. In fact, they are nearly identical in effectiveness. The problem is that the Offense is predictable to a ridiculous degree. But that is exacerbated by the fact that the QBs are both highly mediocre, and the wide receivers either cannot or will not get separation.

I personally think that the Titans won't win another game this season, but the idea that they shouldn't make some changes to at least TRY is not sound in any way.

Thanks to Jimmy for what passes for stats in this note.

My $.02 is that Climer is a uselessly negative guy whose negativity unfortunately infects the entire Tennessean staff, and I'm happy that I finally got a chance to take a shot at him.  And while I applaud his willingness to not cheer mindlessly for the home team, his inability to back his assertions with anything that even closely resembles research not only takes away from his talking points, it makes a mockery of his entire staff.  In short, he is my least favorite sports writer; I think he's the Justin McCariens of Southern sports coverage. 

It's the first Saturday in December, and that means that today is the Army/Navy Game.  The Middies have won six straight, but this year i think Army's gonna do it.  We've won three games (3-8, vs. Navy who is 7-4), so who knows?  I believe.

'Course Army's problem is at least in part in recruiting, and judging by those ugly-ass camouflage uniforms, they're gonna keep struggling there.  Argh.  With over 200 years of tradition, there's never, ever a need to try to keep up with styles.  Still, that's my team.

Go Army!  Beat Navy!

Hey 9'ers fans,

We're having a discussion over at Music City Miracles about Titans' Offensive Coordinator Mike Heimerdinger's offensive roots, and I made the argument that Heimerdinger, through Jeff Fisher, is essentially a disciple of the Ditka/Ryan school of thought, as perfected in the 1985 Bears.

Now obviously Mike Singletary was also on the 1985 team and is also now an NFL head coach.  So in looking for trends in this particular school of thought, I'm wondering what your observations have been since Singeltary has taken over?  Specifically, how has he forced Mike Martz to change the Offense?  It's a critical piece of the argument because Martz is a known quantity.  Any changes are therefore more than likely a direct reflection on the base offensivphilosophy.

Just FYI, I may well turn this information into an article somewhere down the line.  If I do, I'll let you know when and if it gets published.

 Here's the link if you want to see the original discussion: http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2008/11/13/660320/the-heimerdinger-offense

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. 

Wild Card Round - Wild Card Rnd: Predicted Winners listed first.

Baltimore (6) @ San Diego

New England (5) @ NY Jets

Philly (5) @ Chicago

AZ Cardinals vs. Tampa Bay

Divisional Round:

Titans vs. Patriots

Ravens @ Steelers

NY Giants vs. Cardinals

Panthers vs. Eagles

Championship Round:

Titans vs. Ravens

NY Giants vs. Panthers

I've been known to criticize FO's rankings, mostly because I feel like sometimes their statistics miss the bigger, more obvious picture.  This is a simpler analysis, using P(Wins), which is a formula that I've no doubt many of you have seen.  That said, I went away from straight P(Wins) predictions for the playoffs to reflect the fact that there will be more drama if the Ravens come to Nashville for the AFC Championship as well as for the considerable home-field advantage that AZ possesses in their stadium.  Finally, I cannot bring myself to believe that the Jets can beat the Pats in the playoffs under any circumstances.

Comments are more than welcome.  Criticisms will be taken with a grain of salt.

The most amazing news I've ever heard is that QB Chris Simms got cut this afternoon to make room for an extra punter.

That sound you hear is me slapping my forehead repeatedly.

I guess this means that VY is healthy enough to play backup, which presumably means that he's also healthy enough to start.  Which is fine.  I mean, I'm on board with playing VY as the back-up for the rest of the year, and indeed, if Collins were to get injured, then I'd think having VY start would be better than having Simms try to start with a less-than-complete understanding of the playbook. 

But... I think a lot of us thought that the Titans' best move this off-season would be to let Collins go elsewhere in pursuit of another starting gig while hoping that VY can get his head and ass wired together again.  In which case, having a backup with some talent would seem to be a pretty good plan.  Indeed, Simms seemed ideal given everything we've seen this year.  But now, if VY implodes again, we're looking at hard times next year.

Anybody got a thought about this? 

I (obviously) more than a little disappointed.  I mean, my faith is VY is in the gutter.  I simply do not believe in him anymore.  And while I'll be more than happy to be proven wrong on this point, until that happens, I was pretty damned happy to have Chris Simms hanging around on the roster.  No?

Hey guys,

Okay, let me admit this up front: I am new to the sport of cycling in every way.  Last year I started biking to work (well, to the train station, which is about a mile from my house), and it quickly blew up into a whole full-blown thing.

So here's my problem: I did two triathlons this year (a sprint and a mini), which was great, but since I come from a swimming background, I was basically one of the first guys out of the water and then promptly spent the next hour-plus getting passed by, well, everyone.  I mean, I know I'm never gonna be Greg LeMonde or anything, but I would like to at least get in the neighborhood of my potential.  In my last race, my bike split averaged 19.4 mph.  That's probably not terrible, but that said, I'd bet everyone on this board can go faster than that for a comparable 14-mile jaunt.

Bottom line: how do I get faster without sacrificing the time I need for training in the other disciplines?  Should I just be riding longer at every pop, or should I do some kind of intervals?  Is there some really basic, basic guideline of which I'm just ignorant?

I'm a husband and father of two, so training time is at a premium, but I can make time for anything within reason, especially on weekends.

Thanks!

Hey guys,

First off, it is AWESOME to finally have a Chargers SBN Blog.  HUZZAH!

For the curious, I was born in San Diego and have been a Bolts fan for a VERY long time.  I still wear my #14 Dan Fouts jersey with extreme regularity.  It's a bit tattered now, but I'll die before I give that bastard up.  I remember crying after the Chargers lost to the Bengals in that sub-zero AFC Championship Game, and I remember being the ONLY guy in a Hoboken bar rooting for a very bad San Diego team to try to eke out some kind of respectability.  And I remember thinking, "Hey!  This guy Tomlinson can PLAY!"

With all of that said, am I the only one to think Merriman needed to have surgery this year?  I mean, yeah, he's a good player and all, but this particular decision on this particular season seems poorly thought out, both byhim and by the coaching staff.  The guys has too many years still in front of him IMHO to risk what he's risking, no?

So Brady's out, and it looks like VY may be out for a long time--for a variety of reasons.  Let's say you're Chris Simms or maybe D. Culpepper.  Where would you rather play, TN or NE?

Now, I think NE is the obvious answer, but let's face it: Brady will definitely get his job back... eventually.  However, if somebody comes in and literally saves the Offense, the Titans could very easily go in another direction at QB at this point.  And you know that both Culpepper and Simms think they can get the job done.

So... if you are one of these two guys, odds are that your agent is on the phone with M. Reinfield right now.  Where do you want to go?