Tennessee Titans Daily Links: Chris Palmer's Scheme Needs Jake Locker Edition

Munch and Hasselbeck addressed that awful looking first snap of the game, which resulted in a fluky pick, six, and both agree that the Titans were thrown off by the fact that the Seahawks came out blitzing in the first preseason game of the year. It was a running theme over the first half, and our offense certainly wasn't prepared for it. The series that proved it to me was Locker's first series, where we called a stretch run, reverse and a screen pass; all of which were designed to take advantage of the aggressive Seahawks defense and give Locker a chance to get comfortable. Too bad they didn't work out that way.

After not getting a chance to drop back in the first series, Locker came in and showed exactly why he needs to be the starter. What really stood out to me was how Locker's ability to fire the ball downfield forced the defense to respect the deep routes. That opened up the easier plays underneath that the defense had been cheating up on when Hasselbeck was in the game. You have to believe that Palmer is dying for Locker to win this job, because he's been hinting all offseason about how we'll install the Run'N Gun principals that have worked so well for the Giants and Patriots. Hasselbeck is a pure West Coast QB by virtue of his history and declining arm strength, and I can't think of a single time a weak-armed QB who thrives on timing and short-throw accuracy was successful in a Run 'N Gun system.

Taylor Thompson showed us flashes of what he can do by catching three passes in the second half, and one particular example of the struggle to switch from DE to TE with his fumble in the fourth quarter.

Alan Lowry says don't blame rookie LS Beau Brinkley for Will Batson's missed FG, even if the snap came in a little low.

I'm not judging Chris Johnson on five carries, I'm judging him on twelve months now of absolutely refusing to hit the hole with the decisiveness and confidence he used to have. And my judgement is: BOO. CJ's not getting perfect blocking, but he's failing to take advantage of some huge holes because he doesn't trust what's he's seeing in front of him, and that's crippling for any RB.

I completely agree with Paul K's take away that he saw more from our defensive line than many expected. For that first quarter I was sick to my stomach watching them have the same issues we had all last season, but after they got settled in there were nice plays made by almost every guy in that unit. From a scheme point, I also liked it when our nickel package was using Wimbley, Klug and Morgan with their hands on the ground, then Ayers would be standing where the DE usually lines up. If Morgan doesn't pan out, you could still wreak havoc with wither Casey, Clayton, Marks or Martin in that middle.

Outside of getting outmuscled by Braylon Edwards in the endzone, I was very pleased with Tommie Campbell's play on Saturday. Plus, for all of his shortcomings, Edwards has always been very good at those jump ball situations, so it's not like he got beat by a complete scrub.