Titans' Second Half Preview

A few things I'll be looking for during the second half of the season for the Titans:

1. Can Vince keep it up? And will Fisher even give him a chance? He's gone almost 100 passing attempts without an interception, but people still don't seem to believe in his reliability. In my opinion, he can carry this offense. But he's not Peyton Manning, which means he is reliant on the coaches to actually let him throw the ball. They called 31 pass plays for Kerry Collins against the Eagles (actually 34 if you count the three sacks), but Vince hasn't been allowed to break 30 all year. One reason is that Vince is giving the Titans 4th quarter leads, which at least tells you Vince is doing his job and scoring points. But Fisher isn't allowing him to tack on an insurance TD late in the game, instead opting to try to run out the clock with 8 minutes to go and up by 4, which leads me to my next point(s)...

2a. Can we close out a game? I refuse to put all the blame on the defense for not being able to get off the field in the fourth quarter. The coaches need to stop calling in the prevent defense at the end of halves. As Phil Simms said in the fourth quarter of the Colts-Eagles game: "When the game is on the line, you have to let your defense do what it does best." Do you think the Titans are good at the prevent? Is that what we do best? No! Fisher needs to throw the Cover No One in the trash because it never works.

2b. Here's another radical concept. Let's take an idea from baseball: "Insurance Runs." These are runs that a good team scores in the late innings when they are already winning a close game. Adding a few insurance runs makes it easier to close out the other team. Your closer doesn't have to be perfect in order for you to win. In the Titans' case, the closer is our defense. It's pretty clear they are exhausted at the end of the game. Instead of putting the pressure on them by running the ball three times and punting, the Titans should go for an extra "insurance touchdown" to give the defense a little cushion. That's what a good team would do, anyway. I think the extra points would be much more helpful than a three-and-out that keeps the clock running.

3. How will Randy Moss affect the offense? Ideally, he'd haul in a few long balls a game, bring double teams, and clear out that loaded box Chris Johnson and the O-Line have been dealing with. Then, ideally, CJ will start tearing it up like he did in the second half of last season. We have the weapons. We can score from anywhere on the field at any time. Let's make it happen. And it would probably be helpful in Moss decides to block.

4. How will Moss affect the team? It will be interesting to see how he responds to Fisher. From the outside, (i.e. from the perspective of having never actually talked to either one of them) it seems like Fisher is the right type of coach for Moss. Let's hope so.

5. Can we beat Indy? We certainly have the tools to do it. Forget playing keep away from Manning, because we're no good at time of possession anyway. Just score a lot of points. If it's a low-scoring game, I'm afraid we don't have much of a chance, because Peyton is going to beat our defense eventually. If the Colts' D is stopping us, Peyton won't feel as much pressure to score, because he knows he'll do it eventually and that will be enough. But if it's a high-scoring game, I think that's when we can put the pressure on him. We can play a little more aggressively on defense and make him feel like he has to score every time to win. I think that's the way for us to beat the Colts.

6. It's going to be tough to get into the playoffs in the AFC. Here's a look at the teams we're dealing with:

Indy (5-3): They have to play @NE and home against SD in back-to-back weeks, plus two games against us. It's going to be tough for them to win 12 games again this year.

Jets (6-2): They've got @NE and @PIT with a tough home game against Miami in between. I feel like this team also has the potential to be upset by a team like Cleveland, Houston, or Cincy. I don't think the Jets can do better than 11-5.

Baltimore (6-2): Another game against the Steelers, and tough game in Atlanta on Thursday, but other than that, I don't see any reason why this team can't go 13-3. Unless Nola, Cincy, Houston, Tampa, or Cleveland can take them down.

Pittsburgh (6-2): They've got NE, @BAL, and the Jets. Until some offensive coordinator figures out the weakness in their defense, this team is in good shape. I'm thinking 12 or 13 wins.

Patriots (6-2): @PIT, Indy, NYJ, and GB. That's tough. They've also got Miami in the season finale. If this team can't figure out how to stop the run (and if their offense can't put up more than 14 points against the Browns), they're in trouble. I'm thinking 10-6 type trouble.

I'm leaving our KC, OAK, and SD because I think it's pretty clear the Chargers are going to run the table and win the division at 11-5. Oakland and KC are going to finish 9-7 at best.

Unfortunately eliminated: Houston, Miami, Jacksonville.
Don't deserve to be considered: Cincy, Cleveland, Denver.
Are you serious? Buffalo.

(Hopeful) Prediction: Titans win the division.