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Joyner: Give Up on Chris Johnson

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 25: Chris Johnson #28 of the Tennessee Titans is stopped by the Denver Broncos defense at LP Field on September 25, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 17-14. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 25: Chris Johnson #28 of the Tennessee Titans is stopped by the Denver Broncos defense at LP Field on September 25, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 17-14. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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The biggest concern the Titans have going forward is how to get Chris Johnson back on track. We have spent a lot of time trying to decide who is at fault, and the consensus seems to be that it is both Chris Johnson and the offensive line. KC Joyner of ESPN.com (In$ider) points the blame mostly on the offensive line:

Johnson's statistical woes are mostly a matter of his running behind one of the worst sets of run-blockers in the NFL.

The Titans' run-blockers have given their ball carriers a favorable blocking situation on 29 percent of their rushing attempts this season (a favorable blocking situation being loosely defined as when the blockers don't allow the defenders to do anything to disrupt the rush attempt).

To get an idea of how bad that total is, consider that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ranked dead last in the league in that metric in 2010 and they managed to post a 33.6 percent rate in this category.

Joyner also points out that the run calls have not been as creative under Chris Palmer as they were under Mike Heimerdinger.

The conclusion Joyner draws is that things are not going to get fixed this season. That makes me a little sick to my stomach.