Finally, we get some details on why Fisher had such a quick hook with Vince last week from Jim Wyatt:
Sources familiar with the situation said Young missed or arrived late for at least two meetings leading up to the Pittsburgh game, including one Friday. While he was excused for one meeting, sources said Young's overall approach lacked the seriousness it needed.
Now, Fisher excused Vince from the Wednesday meeting, so if you're going to get mad at that blame the coach. What isn't clear at all is if that counts as one of the two meetings mentioned above. If it is, then he basically was just late to a Friday meeting. While it's certainly disappointing, I don't really see how it's much to make crow about unless you already want the guy to fail... coughpaulkuharskycough. Of course, Paul K also thought the offensive line played a really good game blocking for CJ2K on Sunday, which is absurd. If any one play really turned the tide and pushed the Titans over the top it was the chop block call that turned into a safety against the Giants, which also negated a big pass by Eli Manning. I'm sure Giants fans didn't love that call, but it was definitely a legitimate call on a play that was an inch or so from being very dangerous for Tony Brown.
Big, big game by Kenny Britt despite only having two catches. The touchdown catch was a thing of beauty, and Britt didn't show a spec of the confidence problems that plagued him during the preseason. Britt getting back to where he was last year is a very important part of the Titans making a serious run at winning the wide-open AFC South.
Might as well jump...
Jason McCourty is injured and looks to be out for a few weeks, which means MCM contributor Alterraun Verner will be starting for the next little bit! Verner had a good game coming in for relief of McCourty, and I'm excited to see what he can do with more snaps.
CJ2K says he's frustrated because it took him 32 runs to get 125 yards against the Giants, and there are a lot of fans who feel the same way. Of course, all but 3 or 4 running backs in the NFL would be thrilled with 125 yards and two touchdowns if it took 50 carries. Chris Johnson is going to be just fine, especially as we start to play some softer defenses, and if the middle of the O-line can improve at all, he'll vault back from 5th to 1st in the total yards rushing category. I mean, look at the guys who are ahead of them and think about what CJ would do against defenses like Tampa, St. Louis, Arizona, Detroit, Miami and the 2010 Colts. Look for Johnson to have a big week at home against a Denver defense giving up 3.7 YPC against Jacksonville, Seattle and Indy.
The Titans did a lot to bait and provoke some very dumb penalties from the Giants, and Peter King says they should have reacted better because they'd been warned it was coming:
What peeved Coughlin is that he told his players during the week that Jeff Fisher teams were famous for provoking and needling the opposition, and you can't take the bait; you've got to just walk away. Coughlin should know. Sunday was the 19th time he faced Fisher head-to-head in an NFL game.
This defense is legit. Period.
Will at Titans Tracker agrees that much of the complaining about coaching last week was warranted.
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