Tennessee Titans Daily Links: Titans Remind The Texans They're Still The Same Old Texans Edition

This is Kenny Britt's passing game. After seeing the difference he's made since he got back, I'm pretty certain that there's no way the losing streak would have lasted as long with a healthy Britt. Kenny caught big 3rd down passes, made plays at every level of the field and drew enough attention from the Texans' defense that Chris Johnson and the other WRs had room to work. If he still had a QB who could get the ball downfield without viciously under-throwing it he'd be getting three times the attention he is.

Kevin Mawae made numerous media last week, but none were more direct and revealing than what he told Peter King for this week's MMQB:

5. I think more ominous clouds over the future of Jeff Fisher in Tennessee formed the other day when I spoke with recently retired Titans center Kevin Mawae on Sirius NFL Radio. He said he thinks, as I do, that the Fisher/Vince Young relationship "is headed for a divorce,'' with Fisher likely the one who will be leaving. "If I'm a player in that locker room,'' Mawae said, "I know how much [owner] Bud Adams loves Vince Young. I hate to say it, but I think Bud Adams would side with Vince Young.''

Regarldess of what your opinion is over what's happened with our 'franchise QB', we all have to give some props to Kerry Collins for how well he's played over the past two games. He's put together the first legitimate back-to-back 100+ passer rating games by a Titans QB in over 5 years. He's limited the mistakes (even the INT this week probably gets broken up by Britt if he doesn't fall down coming out of his break) and taken advantage of what he's been presented with by the defense. He's completely lost his long-ball, but his steady play has been a big boost. Since it's Kerry Collins we have no idea how long it'll be until he puts up another stinker like the Jaguars game, but lets hope the hot streak keeps rolling for a few more weeks.

Was Bo Scaife benched because of his comments to the local media last week about a possible divide in the locker room, or because the team really wanted to see more out of Jared Cook and needed the extra active spot for depth along the heavily-wounded defensive line (as Fisher stated after the game)? Quite frankly I don't care, because the end result was a more potent offense and a good day from both Cook and CJ. The Bo Sacife era has passed in Nashville, and it's Jared Cook time from here on out. Besides, you can get someone to do what Alge Crumpler did in 2009 for cheap in free agency any year. That person splitting the 2nd TE spot with Stevens, and Cook as the primary TE spot are what I expect to see in 2011.

Jump!

Paul K breaks down the remaining paths to the playoffs for the Titans, Colts and Jaguars.

Cortland Finnegan had a damned good game against Andre Johnson, holding the all-world receiver to 6 catches for 58 yards (nearly 5 yards below Johnson's 2010 YPC average), and allowing a 1-yard TD pass where Finnegan fell down after making contract with Johnson. Finnegan was able to keep AJ well under control without getting dinged for any 15 yard penalties.

Fernando Velasco held up well against a Texans D-line that sorely missed Mario Williams, but if he can play at that same level through the end of the season the Titans are going to have to seriously consider playing Velasco there moving forward and sliding Amano back to the guard spot he played so well last year. The best option, however, is to improve the talent at one of the spots through free agency or the draft, then let Amano, Velasco and Harris battle it out for the remaining spot.

Jason Babin had a MONSTER game in what has been a monster season for the DE. He wisely thanked the offense after the game, saying that getting the early lead let the D-line do what it does best: forget the run and punish the passer. The shame of it is that we signed Babin for a one-year, $1 million deal, and he may be playing his way out of our price range.

The Titans' win yesterday didn't just end the Texans' hopes of sneaking into the playoffs, it may have sealed the coffin on Gary Kubiak's tenure with the team. If that's true, someone is going to get one hell of an offensive coordinator next year... provided he doesn't get the head job back in Denver, where he was Shanahan's right-hand man for so many years.

David Climer discusses the side-line appearance of a certain QB.

Sportsinthe615 declares that Chris Johnson 'no longer has a fifth gear'.

Not so long ago it came out that the Titans defenders were calling out damned near every play at the line against the Jaguars, and now it appears that the same thing happened against the Dolphins:

The Miami Dolphins managed to beat the Tennessee Titans despite the fact that Courtland Finnegan told Brandon Marshall what plays were going to be run before they ran them.

Thought this was a funny line from riversmccown at BRB (no need to click on the link, this is the only part worth reading):

This Titans passing game, while it looked better in the second half last week, had looked abysmal since Vince Young was placed on injured reserve with shattered pride. Instead, Kerry Collins decimated the Texans, raising questions about Rusty Smith's ability to perform the ABC's while playing hopscotch.

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