Titans vs Steelers: Man blocking vs Zone blocking

There has been some talk this week about why the Titans ran as many zone blocking runs as they did. In preseason the Titans were more productive using a man blocking scheme. Well I mapped out Sunday's runs and here is what I found.

*Stick with me, I know the layout is sort of boring but there is good information there.

Man

- 5-yard run for Locker Q1 7:10

- 5-yard run for CJ Q1 5:07

- 3-yard run for CJ Q2 15:00

- 7-yard run for CJ Q2 9:16

- -2 yard run for CJ Q2 8:45

- 5-yard run for Greene Q2 6:47

- 4-yard run for Greene Q2 5:36

- 0-yard run for Battle Q2 4:56

- 1-yard run for Battle Q2 4:15

- 3-yard run for CJ Q2 2:21

- 6-yard run for CJ Q2 2:00

- 5-yard run for CJ Q2 1:23

- 3-yard TD run for Battle Q2 :48

- 4-yard run for CJ Q3 13:45

- 0-yard run for CJ Q3 13:14

- 4-yard run for CJ Q3 9:52

- 1-yard run for CJ Q3 6:00

- 0-yard run for Battle Q3 3:23

- 2-yard run for Battle Q4 11:04

- 2-yard run for Battle Q4 7:38

- 5-yard run for CJ Q4 4:41

Total: 21 plays, 63 yards, 1 TD.

4 negative or neutral plays. CJ:2, Battle: 2

CJ: 12 runs, 41 yards. 3.4 YPC

Battle: 6 runs, 8 yards. 1.3 YPC

Greene: 2 runs, 9 yards. 4.5 YPC

Locker: 1 run, 5 yards. 5 YPC.

Zone

- 4-yard run for Greene Q1 6:32

- 1-yard run for CJ Q1 4:28

- 4-yard run for CJ Q2 7:32

- 5-yard run for Greene Q2 6:15

- 0-yard run for CJ Q2 3:40

- 0-yard run for CJ Q3 7:59

- 1-yard run for CJ Q3 6:38

- 5-yard run for Battle Q3 1:10

- 8-yard run for Battle Q3 :34

- -1 yard run for CJ Q4 12:20

- 11-yard run for CJ Q4 9:57

- 3-yard run for CJ Q4 9:18

- 8-yard run for CJ Q4 8:48

- -2 yard run for CJ Q4 8:01

- 2-yard run for CJ Q4 4:53

- 1-yard run for CJ Q4 4:47

Total: 16 plays, 50 yards

4 negative or neutral plays. CJ:4

CJ: 12 runs, 28 yards. 2.3 YPC

Battle: 2 runs, 13 yards. 6.5 YPC

Greene: 2 runs, 9 yards. 4.5 YPC

What this tells us:

-From my perspective, this tells us that the Titans want to use CJ mainly in a man-blocking scheme but they also don't want to become easy to defend. CJ is clearly more productive in the man-blocking scheme, and that is what fans should come to expect in the future.

Other notes:

-Shonn Greene was the most productive back with 4.5 YPC regardless of scheme.

-Jackie Battle scored the Titans only touchdown plunging up the middle in a man-blocking scheme, but he was more effective as a zone-runner.

-CJ had the day's only 10+ yard run and it came (surprisingly) from a zone-blocking play.