Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Young takes streak back home

The resurgent Tennessee Titans take their three game win streak to Reliant Stadium when they face the Texans on Monday night. Vince Young takes his road to redemption tour to his home town of Houston, with the national spotlight as his back drop. The Titans have played extremely well with Young in the lineup, but the 0-6 start kept it back page news. Monday Night Football will change that, for better or for worse. There will be plenty of people watching and waiting. Waiting to see a comeback, a train wreck, or another meltdown. This is not just another game if you're Vince Young. You have an opportunity to show that you're back and better than ever. You also have the opportunity to be the next big bust. Pressure brought by the nature of the quarterback position lead to Young's meltdown. We'll soon see if he has learned anything from his humbling time away. Young and the Titans are both looking to repair their images. A win and 4-0 record as a starter would certainly help.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Romo friendly approach working

When Cowboys owner Jerry Jones coined the phrase "Romo friendly", two reactions immediately came to mind. My first reaction was of course, here we (T.O.) again. Owen's public criticism of the offensive play calling lead to a divided locker room last season. The outcome was another disastrous December in Dallas, missing the playoffs after being a pre season Super Bowl favorite. My second reaction was...wow, what has Tony Romo done to deserve such coddling? Romo has won as many playoff games as Ryan Leaf...zero. At least Owens was a machine from a production standpoint in or out of the playoffs.

Give credit to Jerry Jones, he was on to something. The Cowboys, and Romo specifically, have flourished under this new philosophy. And not in the way I originally imagined. The Cowboys are playing like a team now. No super stars, no drama, just football. Team football, The best friend to any quarterback is a sound running game and opportunistic defense. The Cowboys have supplied Romo with both recently. Throw in a couple of special teams touchdowns and the emergence of wide receiver Miles Austin, and you have more than a few bff's at Romo's disposal.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Tennessee Titans looked different Sunday. They ran and passed the ball effectively. They did not shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers. They remained poised when the Jaguars tied the game in the third quarter. Actually, they resembled the play of their quarterback Vince Young. Tennessee notched their first win of the year in large part to Chris Johnson's franchise record 228 yards on the ground, but quarterback Vince Young executed the Jeff Fisher philosophy with near perfection. Move the chains, control time of possession, and win the turn over battle. Something that did not happened on the way to 0-6. Young had his first turnover free start as a pro, and extended drives with timely plays with his legs. The Titans looked like...well...the Titans. Vince Young's opening day "meltdown" last year seems so fresh in our memory that we forget he lead the Titans to the playoffs in 07 and has just as many playoff wins as a Titan as Kerry Collins....zero. The Titans had lost their last 8 games dating back to last year with Kerry Collins under center. Maybe owner Bud Adams was right all along. The proof is in the win column.