Monday, October 19, 2009
Barry / Media / Sports At the Risk of Piling On...
Posted by Bruce Barry on Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 1:34 PM
Boston's other paper, the Herald, tagged it the "Bash of the Titans." NBC's ProFootballTalk.com framed it this way:
"The Tennessee Titans had been called the best 0-2 team in league history. And the best 0-3 team in league history. And the best 0-4 team in league history. And the best 0-5 team in league history. They're now simply a crappy 0-6 team."Blogger Jeff Sack at NFL Gridiron Gab sums it up in a sentence: "This was not a football game, it was a mugging as the New England Patriots stole the pride, dignity and most likely lunch money of the hapless Tennessee Titans."
How thin is the ice upon which Jeff Fisher skates? Discuss.
Update: Fisher at his news conference this afternoon: "I'm gonna get this football team better this week."
(*What the Globe online sports page looked like this morning; has since changed.)
Comments (11)
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Something is wrong and needs fixen' but you insights are needed on other issues, BB.
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sueyyy apparently fails to see the Titans situation as merely an allegory for the dilemma of whether to go with the Baucus bill and its concessions to Senate bipartisanship (stick with K. Collins at QB) or instead to take a chance on the House's more progressive instincts and throw in a public option (the V. Young alternative).
Fisher needs to go, and so does everybody else over there, including the owner. They all have taken us fans for granted far too long, refusing to go after any desperately needed free agents year after year and screwing up the draft too.
Perhaps BB ought to put the blame where it belongs. Clearly global warming was responsible for Tom Brady's hot hand. We need Al Gore to put caps on the Patriots' receivers carbon footprints.
Several random comments:
1. To put this drubbing in perspective, only three times since the 1920s has a team been shut out by such a margin as this. The most recent was in 1976. Before that, you have to go back to the famous 1940 destruction that the Chicago Bears put on the Washington Redskins (73-0) in the NFL championship game.
2. When was the last time you saw an NFL team pass for negative yardage?
3. I doubt that anyone forecasted an 0-6 start, but it was easy to imagine that the Titans could be 2-4 at this point, considering that three of the first six games involved Indianapolis and road trips to Pittsburgh and New England and the others involved teams (Jaguars, Texans, Jets) who had shown in the past they could beat the Titans. Was it hubris to suggest, as did fans and media alike, that Haynesworth wouldn't be that much of a loss, considering the Titans' depth at that position? Or that new defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil could pick up right where Jim Schwartz left off? Or that Kerry Collins would be just as effective this year as he was last season, especially with alleged upgrades at WR? A lot of Kool-Aid was drunk over these questions.
4. It's easy to point to injuries at the moment, but this defense was getting shredded even before Nick Harper and Courtland Finnegan went down. There's no pass rush to speak of; who knew that Haynesworth, by departing, had the power to render Kyle Vanden Bosch invisible? They're getting gashed on the run, too. They look disorganized and incompetent on defense. Jim Schwartz's defense struggled a little in his first season as coordinator, but you have to wonder how much longer they can afford to let things go on like this before Cecil gets severed.
5. It seems inconceivable that anyone would think about firing Fisher, and yet this team is so bad it makes you wonder whether they've quit on him and whether he can regain his effectiveness. I think they're dumb to fire him even if they run the table for a perfect 0-16.
6. But I will at least bring up my perennial knock against Fisher: His teams are built to play one style and one style only. They like to grind it out on offense, with a passing game designed to keep possession and drive the field. They are not built around big plays and quick scores, as are, say, the Colts and Patriots (or the upstart Saints and Texans). They like to wear defenses down so they run the ball down their throat in the fourth quarter. It takes a consistently good defense to make this approach successful. If they get behind by more than a touchdown after the first quarter, they're in real trouble. So what would it hurt to have an offense that can consistently put more points on the board, and win offensive shootouts as well as defensive struggles? Seems to work for New England and Indianapolis.
7. Continuing the point above, I think Steve McNair was only about 60% of the QB he could have been, had be played in a system that fully utilized his talents. I always thought he was too constrained by Fisher's offensive philosophy with its heavy doses of "first and Eddie" and "2nd and Eddie." The one year they turned McNair loose — when injuries to George really left them no choice but to run a spread with an empty backfield — was the year McNair tied for the MVP. Coincidence?
8. And on that note, looks to me like whatever potential Vince Young may have had remaining is being poured away. Why this is happening remains a mystery. He took a step backward after his initial success -- not uncommon at all among second-year QBs -- than took an even bigger step back just before losing his job to Kerry Collins. From that point, and especially this year, it looks like the object is to punish and humiliate Young rather than to give him a meaningful shot at becoming a better player. Because of his age, Collins is obviously not the QB of the future. So if Vince remains even a prospect as the future at this position, you'd think they'd use this opportunity to give him more playing time, instead of waiting until the final 7 minutes of a blowout against the Colts. And even if they have given up completely on Vince as having a future here, you'd think they'd let him play a little more for the chance to improve his value in a potential trade. Personally, I'd like to see if Vince can regain some of the form that made him rookie of the year. Right now, it looks as if the Titans have resigned themselves to start from scratch at QB after this season or the next, when Collins decides to go back to his farm. I agree with Fisher that Collins has not been the problem (or at least not the primary problem). But his play seems to be diminishing week by week. Meanwhile, it would be nice to see Vince do well, if only so he'd have the opportunity to say piss off to all the Titans' lemmings, er fans, who started dogging him as some suicidal flake.
9. Speaking of which: Wondering if the Titans' now wish they had shown a little Vanderbilt love four years ago and taken Jay Cutler over Vince (Bud's choice) or Matt Leinart (Fisher/Chow's choice). Perhaps the same question is being asked by many Titan fans, who are used to looking down upon all things Vanderbilt as the little engine that couldn't.
10. Which segues to: Who should the Titans take with the No. 1 pick, provided they can stay ahead of the Raiders, Browns, Buccaneers and Lions? Tebow? Jevon Snead, if he comes out? Sam Bradford? Colt McCoy? It's not too early to start thinking about April!
A new, all-knowing progressive party has emerged with two obvious candidates for Pres and VP: BB and BBB. Just think of the buzz potential!
I'm still trying to arrange that Cuddle Party with the Titans cheerleaders. Why won't they reply to my emails?
I must confess embarrassment on behalf of our hapless Titans.
Had the experience once sitting at the airport watching a late night arrival of the 'Oilers' during their first year here, following a grim thrashing by Portland. Their collective dark 'karma' could have been ladled. Nobody even needed to get close. I can just imagine how the Titans arrival home this past weekend must have seemed.
It would seem, at this point, the phrase uttered by Sean Connery in Rising Sun might be apropos for Titans' decision makers in the near future. Went something like this: "The Japanese don't bother with who fucked up. Rather, they find out what's fucked up and fix it." Yes indeedy.
Um, Portland has never had an NFL team. That's fucked up and you need to fix it.
