De ja vu for Young, Collins, Titans

In 2006, rookie quarter back Vince Young watched the Tennessee Titans stumble out of the gate to an 0-5 start. Veteran starter Kerry Collins was ineffective, throwing six interceptions to only one touchdown. Owner Bud Adams, a vocal Young supporter, more than whispered that he would like to see his prized first round quarter back on the field. Head coach Jeff Fisher yielded, and named Young the starter in week 6. The Titans went on to win eight of their last eleven and finished within a game of the playoffs. Young went on to the cover of NFL Madden as rookie of the year.
Fast forward to 2009, a cold and miserable day in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The New England Patriots just put the finishing touches on a 59-0 beat down of Tennessee. Vince Young watches the Titans stumble to an 0-6 start from the bench...again. Veteran starter Kerry Collins was ineffective, throwing eight interceptions to only 5 touchdowns. Owner Bud Adams voiced his "opinion" that Young should be on the field. Jeff Fisher yielded...again. The result? A five game win streak and an Offensive Player of the Week award for Young. The Titans have dug themselves quite a whole again, but remain in the playoff hunt. Titans players are hoping that history will exceed itself.

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.

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.

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.

Titan's Fisher needs a make over

As a born and raised Tennessean, it's hard to believe the Music City Miracle is already a decade old. The Titans have since been one of the most consistent franchises in football, but no closer to a championship than Kevin Dyson's failed lunge in Super Bowl XXXIV. The NFL has changed since then. Head coach Jeff Fisher has not. While his play it safe, three yards and a cloud of dust mentality will win more games than lose. The obvious fact of the matter is that it is not conducive to winning a championship in today's game. Rule changes and better athletes have turned the NFL into a more wide open game. It is a scoring friendly league now. Jeff Fisher's obsession with the 99 team's philosophy is now rearing it's ugly head in an embarrassing start to the season.

Smash mouth football plays into the opposing team's defense in today's game. Rarely do you find a team now with enough quality corner backs to slow down these multiple wide receiver sets. Even traditional smash mouth fraternity brothers Pittsburgh and Baltimore are starting to open up their offense and let their young quarterbacks (no pun intended) make plays with their weapons on the outside. Tennessee, if nothing else, has a young athletic quarterback that can be used in more creative packages. Maybe in spot duty, he can help spark some energy into a season that has an alarmingly decreasing pulse. Forget what you did last year, last week, or yesterday. Your team is 0-4 and starring down the barrel of a loaded and undefeated Colts team. Change is the only think we can predict about the future. For Jeff Fisher and the Titans, there's no time like the present.

Titans are still in denial

The Tennessee Titans walked out of LP Field in last year's home playoff loss to Baltimore feeling like the best team didn't win. Defeat was blamed on a missed delay of game call on rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. That critical third down conversion late in the game lead to a winning field goal for the Ravens. Coaches, players, and fans alike dismissed it as such, eagerly awaiting a 2009 season full of promise and unfinished business for the Titans. No one would have predicted a league worst pass defense and 0-2 start.

Even more alarming than the 0-2 start for Tennessee is the cavalier attitude they have about losing. After their week one overtime loss to Pittsburgh, several Titans players were quoted as saying the Steelers got lucky and would lose that game nine out of ten times. Fans bought their story, after all, Tennessee did beat the Steelers convincingly last season. That's...last season. Everyone (including me) thought the Titans would bounce back and crush the Houston Texans in week two. After all, Tennessee was 13-3 last year. Houston laying a Texas sized egg in a week one fiasco against the New York Jets only helped that feeling. The Texans erased a 14 point deficient and all world performance from Chris Johnson to win the game late. How did the Titans respond? Deny, deny, deny. Corner back Chris Hope went as far as to say that the coaches were unable or unwilling to make adjustments when Matt Shaub and Andre Johnson torched the Titans secondary all game long. It was the scheme. It was the weather. The dog ate my homework. Hey Tennessee, no one is buying it anymore. You've lost your last four games dating back to last year. The best team is not winning.

Ground Hog Day for Titans

The Tennessee Titans lost 13 - 10...again. The Titans turned the ball over and beat themselves...again. Head coach Jeff Fisher is crying about a game changing blown call after the game....you guessed it, again. Didn't we see this the last time the Titans played a meaningful game? You know, that divisional round debacle against Baltimore. The ghost of the Ravens continue to hover over this team. It's something about the style of play of Baltimore, a psyche if you will. Whatever it is, it gives the Titans fits. Not many teams are equipped to punch the Titans back in the mouth. The few that do and Baltimore specifically, seem to have Tennessee's number. Pittsburgh is a team that can punch back. For a minute, I forgot it was the Steelers. Tight end Bo Scaife fumbled the ball in a crucial part of the game last night. The same way fellow tight end Alge Crumpler did in last year's playoff loss to Baltimore. The defense could not get off the field on third down late in the Baltimore game, the same as last night. It's one thing to be physically outclassed. It's another thing to "give away" games to the same types of teams. I had the same sickening feeling about Tennessee's chances as the game wore on last night. I couldn't put my finger on it, I just felt it. I just knew it. Everything in the Titans body language said "we can't beat Baltimore" last night. They have 10 days to understand that Houston is the opponent next week.