You hear it said in baseball a lot that the true test of a pitcher is whether or not he can win on a day where he doesn't have his best stuff. I think the same is true for a football team. The Titans proved today they can win when the don't have their best stuff.
The Jaguars dominated the game in almost every phase. If you watched the CBS broadcast I am sure you know that. If I had a nickle for every time the announcers said something about the Jags dominating the game I would be a rich, rich man. It is the truth though. The Jags rushed for 202 yards while the Titans rushed for 41. The Jags had 194 yards passing while the Titans had 57. The Jags were 10-19 on 3rd down while the Titans were 0-8. They only had 8 3rd downs in the entire game. The Jags had the ball for 44:22. If you didn't see the game and I told you all of that you would think the Titans lost 37-7 again, but they didn't. They found a way to win even with dreadful numbers.
Hopefully that was the only jinx VY will suffer from being on the cover of SI. His #'s ended up being 8-15 (53%) for 85 yards and 4 carries for 4 yards. The fact of the matter is the offense was really never on the field long enough to get in any kind of rhythm. VY did take a couple of long sacks that he has to learn he cannot take. In college he could keep reversing field until he found an opening because he was faster than everyone else. In the NFL those types of plays end up being big losses. This is just another lesson he will learn. He has played so well over the last month that sometimes we forget he is a rookie.
I don't blame him for the throw on 3rd down with a minute left in the game. It is beyond me why the coaches even give him an option to pass there. If the Titans turn around and give the ball to Henry they punt the ball to the Jags with about 20 seconds left and no timeouts. Why you wouldn't even drop back at all doesn't make sense. I guess you can't get mad at Fisher for being conservative. The CBS announcers were all over him for that call. They kept talking about how it was going to come back to bite the Titans. The fact of the matter is the Jags still had to go about 80 yards in a minute with no timeouts. It ended up not being a non-factor so all's well that ends well.
The defense made plays when it truly mattered. Adam Jones started it off with a 83 yard pick 6. Cortland Finnegan got in on the action with a 92 yard fumble return for a TD. I had no idea Finnegan was that fast. He shot through the Jags players like it was nothing and what about that stiff arm he gave Jones-Drew that put him on his butt? That was awesome. Chris Hope had the dagger with a 61 yard INT return that put the icing on the cake. This team still has some holes to fill but they are really starting to come together as a team. That was very apparent today.
You can say what you want about Adam Jones but the kid is a playmaker. I know we could all do without his off the field antics but between the lines you cannot question his ability. He started off the scoring with the INT return and he had the long kickoff return to start the second half to set up a drive that ended with a Titans field goal. He also chipped in with 1 catch for 14 yards. If he can ever clean his act up he will be the second most popular Titan.
Enjoy the win. It is good to keep the playoff hopes alive for another week. As much as it pains me to say it, we need to cheer for the Colts on Monday night. Odds are Cinncinnati is going to need to lose all 3 of their remaining games for the Titans to get in. Hopefully that will start tomorrow night.
Don't forget, FREE COFFEE!! at Exxon on Monday.