Tennessee Titans Daily Links: Frustration, Thy Color Is Columbia Blue Edition

Chris Johnson piped up again about his displeasure with the lack of carries he got in a game that quickly got out of hand (in feeling, if not on the scoreboard), though he acknowledged that the O-line injuries and struggles played a significant role in the coaches' tendency to rely on Locker's improv skills over the running game. My take: CJ's comments didn't upset me nearly as much as his inability to establish himself as an explosive short-area receiving threat by this point in his career. That hole in his game is the reason he's easier to neutralize than Arian Foster, Ray Rice, Matt Forte and Darren Sproles. CJ gets very frustrated when we lose, and he gets even more upset when he gets little action when we lose. I can deal with that, but he has to acknowledge that his shortcomings have an effect as well.

While panic, resentment and disappointment are the emotions of the day for many Titans fans, you have to keep in perspective that even if we'd beaten the Texans on Sunday, we weren't making the playoffs with Michael Roos left as the only starter playing in his natural position for the rest of the year. Bad play and coaching put is on the shopping block, and injuries have dropped the blade on our 2012 season.

Darius Reynaud talked to the media about his struggles making good decisions on fielding punts against the Texans. Those decisions might be more forgivable if Reynaud was a young pup, but it's a really bad sign for a guy who has the experience of playing that role for two other NFL teams.

Jim Wyatt says performance in the clutch is one spot where Andrew Luck is far ahead of Locker, and at this point you can't dispute that too much. Not saying that will never change, but Locker has come up short in those chances more often than not in his very-short NFL career.

Among the many areas in which the Titans' defense has suddenly improved, points against and 3rd down are the two that are making the biggest impact over the last three games.

Another piece of good news for the Titans' defense: Kamerion Wimbley's injured toe wasn't as bad as the doctors feared it might be, and he's got a solid chance to play at full speed on Sunday.

Chris Scott was signed to the Titans' practice squad just a few days ago, but he's already headed to Buffalo as a member of their active roster.

To help make-up for the loss of Hutchinson and Scott, the Titans signed recently cut Patriots guard Mitch Petrus.

As if sitting the entire season on the IR wasn't bad enough for Marc Mariani, now he's got to read about the very real possibility that the NFL may abandon kick-offs all together. At first it's a shocking idea for many, but does it even really matter since so damned many kick-offs are easy touchbacks these days? Consider that the number of touchbacks would be even hire if guys like Reynaud weren't so quick to run it out of the back of the end zone, despite the lack of success it brings.