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Don't look now Titans fans, but Chris Johnson is currently 4th in the NFL in total rushing, and second in YPC for all running backs with 140 carries or more. That's a testament to how well he's run for the majority of the season, but it's not the only area in which CJ has picked it up: did anyone else notice that monster block on Cook's TD play? That's at least two weeks in a row CJ came through with a block so textbook that McGraw-Hill already bought the rights to it. I outright LOVE watching this guy when he's in the zone like he is now.
Nobody has been 100% what's changed with CJ and the offensive line that's sparked a total turn-around, but Paul K thinks he may have cracked the code:
Watch how Johnson's offensive linemen try to sustain their initial blocks while allowing either fullback Quinn Johnson or tight end Craig Stevens to lead Johnson and make the key initial block at the second level. That approach has been making a big difference.
After what seems like 9 weeks of painfully slow starts and early deficits, the Titans came out of the gate at a full sprint and quickly established a lead so big it was never in doubt. That's what we need to do on a more consistent basis if we want to salvage anything out of this husk of a season.
Jason McCourty did what a mature and intelligent defender in the NFL should do after watching Charles Tillman devastate the Titans with forced turnovers last week: he took notes and did the same to the Dolphins. The result was a strip of Reggie Bush that lead to a Titans TD just four play later.
Zach Brown showed off his incredible speed while returning a ball that Ayers' tipped up and Brown intercepted, but the speedy LB was tracked down by QB Ryan Tannehill. You'd expect him to get ribbed by his teammates after that, but let us not forget that Tannehill was a converted WR who posted a blistering sub-4.6 second 40 at the combine.
That game was Jared Cook in a nutshell: an ugly drop on 3rd down, not enough targets over the rest of the game and a circus catch for a crucial TD later in the game.
How much Karma-style payback was that non-reviewable call on the Jamie Harper fumble in the 3rd quarter, in light of us getting royally screwed against the Colts the exact same way? Sure, that one cost us an excellent chance to win the game, but this one was really the nail in the coffin of the Miami Dolphins.
If you want to find the last time the Titans beatdown an opponent by that much, you have to go all the way back to Thanksgiving of 2008, when the Titans got to 11-1 by dismantling the Lions 47-10.