Remember the Titans

[Hawktawk]

The Pats and Ravens sure will Ryan Tannehill is in the conference championship

[RiverDog]

Interesting game, and it brought out what I've been saying about Lamar Jackson: That he is not a very good traditional pocket passer and will need to improve that part of his game if he is to have a 10-15 year career, otherwise he's nothing more than this decade's Michael Vick. He was off target or late on a number of throws. The Titans had an excellent game plan to contain Jackson, even though he ran for well over 100 yards. They controlled the LOS on both sides of the ball. Fun game to watch.

[obiken]

Interesting game, and it brought out what I've been saying about Lamar Jackson: That he is not a very good traditional pocket passer and will need to improve that part of his game if he is to have a 10-15 year career, otherwise he's nothing more than this decade's Michael Vick. He was off target or late on a number of throws. The Titans had an excellent game plan to contain Jackson, even though he ran for well over 100 yards. They controlled the LOS on both sides of the ball. Fun game to watch.

Yeah they kinda figured him out letting him go sideline to sideline, but I am not so sure its a blueprint formula to just shut him down in every game.

[trents]

Yeah, I'm picking the Titans to be the eventual SB victor. They have a great defense, a punishing ground game the likes we maybe haven not seen before, and a QB who is hot and much more than a game manager. The Titans kind of sneaked up on everybody.

When Derek Henry breaks through the line he reminds me of big frigate in a stiff wind with foresail hoisted to the wind; those dreadlocks trailing behind.

[obiken]

I would love to see the Titans win it all Trents but its the 9ers all the way. No way Henry runs for 200+ over their defense.

[RiverDog]

Yeah, I'm picking the Titans to be the eventual SB victor. The have a great defense, a punishing ground game the likes we maybe haven not seen before, and a QB who is hot and much more than a game manager. The Titans kind of sneaked up on everybody.

When Derek Henry breaks through the line he reminds me of big frigate in a stiff wind with foresail hoisted to the wind; those dreadlocks trailing behind.

Agreed. I'm going with the Titans, too. They may make me look like a fool, but I don't have a lot of respect for the Niners even though I think they'll clobber the Packers in the NFCCG.

[trents]

Yeah, niners will put an end to the Packers' season I'm thinking.

[Oly]

Chiefs over 49ers in the Super Bowl. I think the Chiefs have enough firepower to compete with the Titans' D, and Tannehill + a great running game simply can't put up enough points to keep up with the Chiefs.

The 49ers are just better than the Packers. The Hawks' D held the Pack to 28 points, and with the 49ers' D being so much better than ours, I can't see the Pack getting close to 28 next week.

[Hawktawk]

Chiefs over 49ers in the Super Bowl. I think the Chiefs have enough firepower to compete with the Titans' D, and Tannehill + a great running game simply can't put up enough points to keep up with the Chiefs.

The 49ers are just better than the Packers. The Hawks' D held the Pack to 28 points, and with the 49ers' D being so much better than ours, I can't see the Pack getting close to 28 next week.

Time to take the Titans seriously. Is Vrabel out Belichicking Belichick? Hes taken a QB considered a bust and a RB considered an underachiever and created a punishing yet quick strike offense. Tannehill put up some of the best #s in the league after becoming the starter. Although Jackson had eye popping stats he missed at key moments, I have a hard time believing he was stopped on 4th and 1 twice then a fumble and 2 picks. Its the best he's been defended in 13 games. Did 2 weeks off factor into his inaccuracy and their receivers drops?

I will guarantee the 9ers will be in the SB and it wouldn't be any different had we squeaked it out yesterday. They are healthy and their D looks lethal. All the dough has to be on the Chiefs and showtime but I'm fascinated to see if Vrabel can pull another one out of his hat.

[Oly]

Time to take the Titans seriously. Is Vrabel out Belichicking Belichick? Hes taken a QB considered a bust and a RB considered an underachiever and created a punishing yet quick strike offense. Tannehill put up some of the best #s in the league after becoming the starter. Although Jackson had eye popping stats he missed at key moments, I have a hard time believing he was stopped on 4th and 1 twice then a fumble and 2 picks. Its the best he's been defended in 13 games. Did 2 weeks off factor into his inaccuracy and their receivers drops?

This is a good take, and I probably don't take them seriously enough. Even so, picking the Chiefs has more to do with my respect for the Chiefs' offense than any disrespect of the Titans.

[NorthHawk]

When a team gets on a roll and is confident, they can overachieve. I think this is what's happening with
the Titans. They do have a good OL and DL which a team needs, but they are taking the Seahawks formula
of a pounding run game with some explosive plays downfield and a good Defense to grind out a win.
It's going to be fun to see how they do against the Chiefs next week. Can they grind out time consuming
drives and keep the KC Offense off the field? It might be a good match of styles.

[RiverDog]

Time to take the Titans seriously. Is Vrabel out Belichicking Belichick? Hes taken a QB considered a bust and a RB considered an underachiever and created a punishing yet quick strike offense. Tannehill put up some of the best #s in the league after becoming the starter. Although Jackson had eye popping stats he missed at key moments, I have a hard time believing he was stopped on 4th and 1 twice then a fumble and 2 picks. Its the best he's been defended in 13 games. Did 2 weeks off factor into his inaccuracy and their receivers drops?

I will guarantee the 9ers will be in the SB and it wouldn't be any different had we squeaked it out yesterday. They are healthy and their D looks lethal. All the dough has to be on the Chiefs and showtime but I'm fascinated to see if Vrabel can pull another one out of his hat.

The "eye popping stats" were strictly rushing the football, and they have to be offset by the 3 turnovers you mentioned plus the 31.6 QBR and the 4 sacks he took. IMO the time off didn't have anything to do with the dropped passes. Some of those drops shouldn't be classified as such as many were catchable but poorly thrown. I thought it was one of the worst quarterbacking performance in a playoff game in the past several years and certainly the worst by a reigning MVP.

It's pretty hard to second guess Harbaugh's decision to give Jackson a full two weeks off. In retrospect, he probably should have handled it like a preseason game where you want to give him some work, like 3 or 4 series, but not call a lot of RPO's or intentionally put him in harm's way. If Jackson would have gotten injured after they clinched HFA, the jackals would have out in droves and shown no mercy.

[Hawktawk]

Right now Henry is making a farce out of the running back position. Despite the fact teams know its coming hes putting up 180 +. If you can get 180 yards rushing you have a chance every week. If you can get it out of 1 guy leaving the rest of the skill players free to do other things you create massive problems, especially if the QB can also run. I truly dont have a favorite, I love Showtime but I love the Titans as a story.

[NorthHawk]

I suspect KC will try to stack the box and make Tannehill beat them with his arm.
If they can't stop Henry then it might be a long day for them, but with their quick strike
Offense, they will always have a chance. The Titans Defense seems pretty solid, so it
will be a big test for them and we will see how good they really are.