Last night should have made everyone feel better about this team. Vince Young played well, LenDale White ran the ball well, and the defense shut down a pretty good back. Obviously there is still room for improvement, but this game sits a whole lot better than last week's did.
The offense came out with a purpose. They moved the ball well all night long. I think last night pretty much locks up LenDale as the starter in week 1. He had 11 rushes for 51 yards. He showed good burst and even looked good on a couple of run plays. Chris Brown looked good as well on the few plays he spelled LenDale on in the first half.
Vince Young made up for his bad performance last week with a 13-19 performance for 162 yards and 1 TD passing and 1 TD rushing. He looked to be on the same page with his receivers for most of the night. He threw a lot more accurately than he did last week. I was not worried about him after last week. Last night proves that no one else should be either.
The biggest offensive question from last night's game is will Roydell Williams end up being a starter? He had 4 catches for 68 yards. Two of those catches were in heavy traffic. I have assumed all along that it will be Moulds and Jones as the starters. Neither Moulds nor Jones have done much to prove themselves worthy of starting to this point in the preseason. I think those spots are still wide open. It would be nice if the Titans could keep Biren Ealy, but I think he will fall victim to the numbers. He had a nice night with 2 catchs for 67 yards and a TD.
The defense continued to look good last night as well. They finally faced a RB who is the #1 back on his team, and they contained him. Marshwan Lynch had 9 carries for 9 yards. It was good to see them hold up against a #1 guy.
The secondary looked good minus two plays. They gave up a 56 yard play to Pierless Price and a 64 yard TD to Lee Evans. The pass to Price just seemed like a missed assignment in the zone. The play to Evans was against Michael Griffin in man coverage. As I mentioned in the game thread comments, Evans just put a move on Griffin that he fell for. Griffin had great position but stopped to try and find the ball when Evans hesitated. It was just a rookie mistake. He will learn from it and get better. Griffin played great otherwise and is a sure tackler. That is really important at the corner position.
I never thought I would type what I am about to type, but it is true. Lamont Thompson should be the starting free safety. I know many of you are cursing me right now, but the fact is he has played really well this preseason. He had another INT last night which gives him 3 for the preseason. Lowry hasn't done anything to prove himself worthy of the position. I know that many of you think Griffin should be the starter, and I would agree, but the coaches have made him a corner. We just have to accept that and move on.
It is said that in the preseason things are never as good or as bad as they seem. That is why I won't say that this team is there yet. They played well last night. It gives them something positive to build on going into the final preaseaon game. That is really all you can ask for.