Recap: Titans get crushed by the Bears at home

Never in my life have I seen a team look so close, yet so far away from being great from play to play. This game was that dynamic condensed into 60 awful minutes of NFL action. I’m still so shell-shocked from that display that I can’t string together cogent paragraphs, so here are some Larry King style non sequiturs:

• I can’t even find the words to explain mock or analyze the sheer number of turnovers we committed today. 4 fumbles, all by guys who have to be great for us to be good, an interception returned for a pick 6 by perhaps the slowest linebacker in the game right now and a punt blocked for a touchdown. You space those plays out over 3 games and you’ll be lucky to win one of them.
• The way the defense played early was more like what we need to see each game and all game. Derrick Morgan and Kamerion Wembley both got great pressure without the benefit of a blitz, the linebackers swarmed, the CBs were aggressive and disruptive, and the guys in the middle redirected run plays. Outside of a few plays in the second half, the defensive line was stellar.
• Matt Hasselbeck also showed why he’s so respected as a leader when he lowered his should at the end of a long run, then violently horse collared whomever it was who picked up Cook’s fumble. I hope Jake was paying attention to those plays.
• Chris Johnson has never fumbled more than 3 times in a year, and has never had a multiple turnover game, yet today he let the ball hit the ground twice and lost them both. That casts such a black cloud over his game that you can’t even be happy about hard and tough he ran all day or the long-awaited return of his 80 yard homerun play.
• The injury situation has officially gotten out of control. Luckily Verner was able to return, but I don’t think Stevens, Adibi or Wright were so lucky. The injuries to the LB corps and Tommie Campbell are killing us on special teams, in every phase.
• At this point I’m pretty convinced that every section of the NFL playbook dealing with pass interference ends with the phrase "… unless the Titans are involved, in which case the exact opposite applies."
• Now that we’ve squandered a two game homestand, Munch has his work cut out for him to get this team ready to go down to Miami and play a suddenly resurgent Dolphins team.
• If nothing else, at least we only have one more game left before the bye and the return of Locker. There’s no point in worrying about anything other than getting the team and the fans on board with him as the future of this franchise, and letting him reestablish his rhythm with Cook, Washington, Britt and Wright. With CJ running like the best back in the league again, at least the offense will be fun to watch.

We’ll do a recap show latter this evening at 9:00, no matter what BTPOM thinks of it! Now, I’m going to work off this sense of rage and disappointment with a good ole’ fashioned rage nap.

***UPDATE: Here's the link for MCM Radio live tonight at 9:00. It'll be 30 mins, and we will take callers as long as everyone behaves and keeps it clean.