Afc south reports regular season

COLTS

The Houston Texans spent the preseason talking about making some noise in the AFC South this season. They began Sunday afternoon at Reliant Stadium, where they made the Indianapolis Colts go "clunk."

The Texans dominated the line of scrimmage, rushed for 257 yards and battered their old nemesis 34-24. It was a big day for a club that had gone 1-15 against the Colts since expansion brought it into the NFL in 2002.

The largest opening-day crowd in team history, 70,974, danced in the aisles.

"It's a test of wills," Houston running back Arian Foster said. "Running the football is old-fashioned. It's mano-a-mano."

Foster rushed 33 times for 231 yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for more yards than any opponent in the Colts' 58-year history. Barry Sanders had 216 yards at Detroit in 1997. Sanders is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Foster is a second-year pro who spent the first 10 weeks of last season on the Texans' practice squad.

The Texans ran four times for 91 yards on one touchdown drive. The Colts defense sagged. The crowd screamed.

"Embarrassing," Colts defensive tackle Daniel Muir said.

"Running is like stabbing you in the heart," linebacker Clint Session echoed.

The defensive front seven wasn't the Colts' only issue. They struggled to protect quarterback Peyton Manning. They dropped passes. They committed five penalties for 73 yards, one of which nullified Devin Moore's 103-yard kickoff return.

They were beaten to the punch. They were outpunched. They suffered a comprehensive beating, and they lost safety Bob Sanders (elbow) and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez (ankle) to injuries of undetermined severity.

"I don't think the offense picked up the defense," Manning said. "The defense didn't pick up the special teams. The special teams didn't pick up the offense."

Manning completed 40-of-57 passes for 433 yards and three touchdowns. His attempts and completions were career highs. Houston sat back in a zone, gave up the short pass and tackled well.

Texans quarterback Matt Schaub led the NFL in passing last season at 298 yards a game. He completed only 9-of-17 for 107 yards Sunday, and nothing more was required. He threw only five passes in the second half.

Houston used big plays to charge into a 13-0 lead.

Jacoby Jones' 39-yard punt return and Colts cornerback Kelvin Hayden's 53-yard pass interference penalty set up a pair of Neil Rackers field goals. Then Schaub hit consecutive passes for 23, 22 and 22 yards, the last to wide receiver Kevin Walter for a touchdown.

There was no panic. The Colts had overcome 17-point deficits to win their past two visits to Houston. Not this time. Manning brought them back, but paid a price. He was sacked only twice but took a beating.

"You never like to see that; he did take some hits out there," right tackle Ryan Diem said. "That's stuff we have to clean up."

It didn't help that center Jeff Saturday and left tackle Charlie Johnson practiced last week for the first time since early August. Saturday was recuperating from arthroscopic knee surgery. Johnson was recovering from a sprained foot.

The Colts were down 20-10 when wide receiver Austin Collie caught a 32-yard pass that would have provided a first down and a grand opportunity to get back into the game at the Houston 9. Texans safety Eugene Wilson intervened. His big hit knocked loose the football. Cornerback Glover Quin recovered.

Houston ran for 42, 13, 11 and 25 yards on the next four plays to make it 27-10. They were in charge the rest of the way.

The Colts have won the AFC South six of the past seven years and been to the playoffs a league-best eight consecutive seasons. The Texans had their first winning season last year, when they went 9-7. They never have played in the postseason but feel they have the talent to unseat the Colts.

The Colts conceded nothing, other than the fact they were outplayed.

"It's a long road," said safety Antoine Bethea, whose 13 tackles led the Colts. "This is just the first game. We've got 15 more. This isn't the end of the world."

Nope. It was only the end of a run. The Texans have a one-game winning streak against their nemesis.
No defense

The Colts defense had few answers for Houston's run-heavy offense. A drive-by-drive recap:

No. Plays Yards First downs Result
1 9 19 2 Rackers 30 FG
2 4 53 1 Rackers 49 FG
3 7 80 4 Schaub 22 TD pass to Walters
4 3 17 1 Bullitt intercepted Schaub pass
5 3 minus-4 0 Punt
6 1 minus-1 0 End of half
7 15 66 5 Foster 1 TD run
8 8 38 3 Punt
9 4 91 4 Foster 25 TD run
10 7 41 3 Foster 1 TD run
11 2 minus-2 0 End of game

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100913/SPORTS03/9130333/1100/<B>Rare-win-<-B>-2nd-in-17-tries

The only thing more embarrassing for Jim Caldwell and Bill Polian on Sunday than seeing their run defense get absolutely blasted by last year's 30th ranked rushing offense was the news that Bob Sanders and Anthony Gonzalez got hurt... again.

Today, according to Phil Wilson of the Indianapolis Star, the Colts are waiting on MRI results for both Sanders and Gonzo. Sanders has an apparent elbow injury while Gonzo has an ankle injury. Both men have a long and detailed history of spending as much time in the training room as they do on the field.

2010 is a big year for both players. If they find themselves on the injured reserve list for these injuries, their careers as members of the Indianapolis Colts are likely over.

Quick side note: Remember when Mike Lombardi wrote this back in August:

There is some concern Colts safety Bob Sanders might never be able to play football again, with his shoulder and bicep issues. He reduced his contract, but his rehab has been slow.

While the details of his contract were denied by the Colts and Sanders' agent, it seems the 'concern' people had about his ability to truly play football again was well-founded. Barely one quarter into playing his first real football game in almost a year, Bob got hurt. He did not return after sustaining the injury.

If Sanders lands on IR, as PFT is suggesting, what are the chances Bill Polian apologies to Mike Lombardi for saying his report was 'unsubstantiated?' Probably somewhere between zilch and none. However, if Sanders does land on IR, Lombardi's claim looks more solid, and another chapter in "Bill Polian acting like an *** to the media" is written. Clearly, if Bob was not tough enough to get through one friggin quarter of real football, and he is spending Monday getting a MRI that will likely decide his fate for the 2010 season, he was most certainly not ready to play.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/9/13/1686105/colts-awaiting-mri-results-for-bob

veryone has (hopefully) calmed a bit after the 34-24 beating the Colts took Sunday afternoon in Houston. It was very obvious to see how the Colts lost, which, if you've been around here long enough, you know is completely opposite what we preach: Passing the ball and stopping the pass are more important than running the ball and stopping the run. The Texans thoroughly dominated the Colts defensive line and linebackers, and Arian Foster has now become a household name. (Confession: I drafted him in the SB A Fantasy League. He had 42.8 points.) While everyone will now point to this game to prove their point; it is, in fact, an exception to the rule. We have 9 years worth of data to prove it.

Some notes from the game:

* Foster's 231 yards rushing was second all time on opening weekend to O.J. Simpson's 250 yards in 1973. It also is the most rushing yards allowed by the Colts all-time, topping the 216 yards given up to Barry Sanders in 1997. Ugh.
* This was the first time the Colts had lost a September road game since 2004, when they lost on Opening Weekend to the Patriots. They had won 8 straight, one short of the NFL record. Pretty amazing if you think about it.
* The 433 yards Peyton Manning threw for on Sunday were easily the most he has thrown on Opening Weekend, and third most in his career. His previous high on Opening Weekend was his first game in the NFL, when he threw for 302 against the Dolphins.

After the jump we'll see how the Colts did in all aspects of the game, with the Winning Stats:

Star-divide

Some thoughts:

* The Offense, while only scoring 24 points, played quite well, ranking 3rd in the league. Now, this doesn't account for the defense faced, so that'll move as we get more data from the season. Particularly good were Yards/Play (helped by the 73 yard TD to Collie), 3 and Outs (only 1), and Drive Success Rate.
* If the Colts moved the ball so well, then how did they only have 10 points in the first 3 and a half quarters? Check out 3rd/4th Down Conversions at 38.5%. This is well below the standard the Colts have set for themselves over the years. Several key drops and offensive line lapses led to these struggles. Definitely something to work on.
* The defense stopped the pass, when the Texans actually passed, which was the only bright spot for the defense. There really is nothing to point at and say "They did ok there." Much like the Miami game last year, they just got beat down physically.
* The Colts weren't the worst defense this weekend. That belongs to the Cincinnati Bengals, who were destroyed by the Patriots. Only one way to go from here, and that's up. Hopefully they can turn it around like they did last year after Week 2.
* Overall, according to the Winning Stats, this was the most even game of the weekend. At least the Colts weren't like the Cowboys and Chargers, who both really outplayed their opponent, but lost. Look for these things to even out over the course of the season. While the way the Colts lost looked extremely bad, things could be a lot worse.

In later weeks, I'll also be including Season Totals, which will list the best team in the NFL in that category. Also, each week I'll have a separate post with a Power Ranking, Strength of Schedule, Future Schedule Strength, and a Consistency ranking. I'll start these rankings around Week 4, once we have a little more data.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/9/14/1687904/2010-week-one-inside-the-colts

 

TEXANS

Is everyone still basking in the goodness that is a season-opening win? It's definitely a different feeling around here compared to this time last year. The hope is these "different feelings" continue to happen over the course of the 2010 season among the Houston fanbase.

This season is supposed to be different. No more original Texans on the team. No more embarrassing losses. No more shooting yourself in the foot. No more slow starts. No more talk of "no playoffs." This season is supposed to mark a new era in Houston Texans football.

Yesterday's win, the first season-opening win since 20073 if you can believe it, was a good start to back up these claims. No one here will know if this season is different until we look back in February at what transpires over the next few months. However, the changes may already be beginning to show themselves.

A mere 24 hours ago, this Superior Aerial Onslaught became a Steamrolling Juggernaut that could not be stopped. The finesse Texans played a physical brand of football. As I read through the post-game thread, one key fact remains somewhat under-appreciated. It's a key fact that could be another sign that this year truly is different. Yesterday, Gary Kubiak, Rick Dennison, and even Frank Bush were able to make adjustments to stay ahead of the game.

Star-divide

During the game threads, the feeling was of growing worry. The Texans had settled for two field goals, Matt Schaub had thrown an interception, Peyton Manning had led a touchdown drive, and the Colts had begun their comeback early as they headed to the locker room with 10 unanswered points to cut the Houston lead down to 3.

Last season, or rather any previous Texans season, the Texans would've continued this loss of momentum after the half. You know that story, right? The one-half wonders. The Peyton Manning comeback. Houston can't finish a game. Matt Schaub is overrated. All of this was re-visited in the thread, but the coaching staff made sure that talk stopped real soon.

The offensive game plan went from balanced (14 passes, 10 rushes in the first half) to run heavy (three passes, 29 rushes in the second half). As opposed to forcing passes, the Texans buckled down and came out with a dominant 15 play drive. This opening second half drive included 10 straight runs where the Texans simply overpowered and wore down the Indianapolis defense.

The Frank Bush defense also got in on the party and avoided being out-adjusted by the always brilliant Indianapolis offense. Peyton's offense is known to out-adjust you. That's what they do: Analyze and dissect with surgical precision. Imagine my surprise when their first two second half drives resulted in a punt and turnover. While the Colts managed 118 yards on these two drives, Frank and the defense were able to make the right calls and plays to get the Colts off the field.

On a post-game day where the praise is flying, the coaching staff shouldn't be forgotten by the fan base. In years past where they would've completely lost the game in the locker room, Kubiak & Co. came out with an adjusted plan and re-took the momentum.

In a few months, we'll know if the Texans have truly changed or have found a new way to hook fans with false hope. In either case, the Texans are off to a different start as Gary Kubiak and staff made the necessary adjustments and held on to win their first season opener in a few years.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/13/1686002/unsung-heroes-gary-kubiak-and-the



A day and a half later, I'm still stunned. Your Houston Texans were in the driver's seat for nearly the entirety of their season opener against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts, man! The team that had won 15 of the 16 games played! The team that features Peyton Manning at QB! The team coming off a Super Bowl appearance! And now, the team that's sitting in the cellar of the AFC South, complete with a loss to a divisional foe. Who'd have thunk it?

This in no way means Texans fans should start blocking off the second weekend of January. Just as a loss wouldn't have been the end of the world, a win doesn't stamp the Texans as anything except a home team that held serve in an intradivision matchup. Nonetheless, it is exciting, and we should enjoy it. Wins, much less wins against the Colts, have been all too rare around these parts. I have to remind myself, however, that they don't determine the postseason participants based on Week One records. Fifteen more games to play, and if they are anything like what we saw in Week One, we're in for a treat. Some specific thoughts after the jump...

Star-divide

1. Arian Foster...there are no words. How weird is it to see "33" in front of "rushing attempts?" Oh, and the small matter of 231 FREAKING YARDS AND 3 TDs. I hate to fall into the "best ever" trap. Really, I do. Yet watch me do it. Best game by a Texans running back ever.

2. Underrated aspect of Arian Foster's historic afternoon--maybe people will stop calling him "Adrian."

3. As amazing as Foster was--and he was a revelation on par with sliced bread and/or cold-activated aluminum cans--the offensive line was opening up monstrous holes for him. I can't remember the last time a Texans RB had that kind of space in which to operate. Maybe during Steve Slaton's glorious 2008 campaign? Regardless, the offensive line's run-blocking (and that necessarily includes Vonta Leach, who was as good as I've ever seen him) was phenomenal. It'll be very interesting to see whether that domination will still be in effect against the Redskins on Sunday. In other words, was Sunday's awesomeness just as much an indictment of the Colts' front seven?

4. He only had six carries, but Steve Slaton looked good running the ball. We didn't even get to see him where he should really shine--catching the ball out of the backfield. But hey...six carries, 29 yards, no fumbles. I'll take it.

5. Matt Schaub went 9-17 for 107 yards, with a TD and a patented whatthehellishedoing interception. As many have observed, if you had told me he'd post that line before the game, I would have thought the Texans lost by 21 points. Instead, they won by 10. Black is white, up is down, and the Texans are winning by running the ball. Insane.

6. Andre Johnson had only 3 catches for 33 yards. The Texans still won by 10 points.

7. Perhaps the best part of such a quiet opener for the Texans' passing game? Giving the Redskins, who figure to know the Texans offense better than anyone thanks to Mike and Kyle Shanahan, what should be a very uneasy feeling about Sunday's tilt. You can't just expect the Texans to air it out like they did last year. Small sample size and all, but the Texans have shown they have the means to be much more than a one-trick pony on offense.

8. Jacoby Jones continues to frustrate. His opening punt return was a thing of beauty, but he dropped a very catchable ball in the end zone. In fairness to Jakespeare, he didn't have much of a chance to atone in the receiving game, what with the OL and Arian Foster laying waste to everything in their path.

9. Only one catch for Owen Daniels in his return from a torn ACL. This would be fine by me even if the passing game had been humming along at its normal pace. Easing OD back into the offense, considering he had no live preseason game snaps, makes all the sense in the world.

10. Have to make special mention of Kevin Walter. The box score shows his first half TD catch, and it was tremendous. But his recovery of the Colts' first onside kick in the fourth quarter was perfection. He timed his jump flawlessly, grabbed the ball at the height of his jump, and managed to hang onto the ball despite slamming into the turf from a significant height. HUGE play.

11. Neil Rackers didn't miss any FGs, which was good. He also threw in a stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which was bad. Then again, he didn't miss any FGs, so no "WE CUT THE WRONG GUY!" lamentations yet.

12. I almost felt bad for the Colts offensive line. Almost. I look forward to Bill Polian petitioning the Rules Committee to pass an edict permitting opposing teams to tackle defensive linemen whose first name rhymes with "Nario."

13. If Mario Williams is 75% as effective all season as he was on Sunday, my calculations indicate that he will finish the 2010 campaign with 158 sacks and 1,298 QB hurries.

14. Antonio Smith was solid, which was not unexpected. So was Amobi Okoye, which was completely unexpected. I'm anxious to see what Rivers' tape study reveals. I don't think Amobi's looked as good as he did Sunday since his rookie year.

15. Keep a good thought for Connor Barwin. His injury was about as nasty as anything you'll see this side of Willis McGahee's leg reversing anatomical structure on the fly.

16. Pressuring Peyton Manning is generally a futile proposition. He's so smart and so quick getting rid of the ball that he can almost always beat the rush. The fact that he was consistently hit and frustrated by the Texans speaks volumes and is a great testament to the players and Frank Bush.

17. The Houston secondary was by far the most glaring weakness of the afternoon. Of course, they did have to deal with an abnormal number of pass attempts (57) from the Colts. And they did manage to keep the Indy receivers in front of them for the vast majority of the game. It's nitpicking right now, sure. Yet it was the area Texans fans were, on balance, the most concerned with, and it remains the primary concern after the first game of the season.

18. Anybody else screaming, "NOOOOOOO!!!" when Kubes elected to go for it on 4th and 1 from the IND 20 early in the third quarter, with the Colts only trailing by 3 points? That was the play of the game in what was the back-breaking drive of the game. You don't often see the Houston Texans impose their will on another team. Especially not the Colts. But that's precisely what happened there.

19. Fake Game Balls: Offense--Arian Foster; Defense--Mario Williams; Special Teams--Neil Rackers. And I'd give Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison a weepy hug if I saw them. Tremendous game plan and even more importantly, halftime adjustments the likes of which we've rarely seen in Houston.

I don't want to say the Texans stole a victory, because they're a legitimately talented team that was fortunate enough to open at home. Against the Colts, though? Without Brian Cushing? It's something, man. Here's to keeping that indescribable feeling going on Sunday in our nation's capital.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/14/1687283/post-game-breakdown-texans-dare-i

Veteran defensive ends Adewale Ogunleye and Ryan Denney signed with the Texans on Tuesday.

Ogunleye (10 years) and Denney (nine) have a combined 19 years of experience. They will replace Connor Barwin, who suffered a season-ending dislocated ankle in the 34-24 victory over Indianapolis, and Tim Jamison, who was placed on waivers Tuesday.

Barwin, who came off the bench in passing situations and primarily played the left side, will undergo surgery today and be placed on injured reserve.

Against the Colts, Barwin was replaced by Jesse Nading, a two-year veteran. Nading and the new additions will compete for playing time off the bench behind starters Mario Williams and Antonio Smith.

Ogunleye, 33, signed a one-year contract for $800,000. He played his first four years with Miami and the last six with Chicago. Last season, he played in 14 games and had 38 tackles and 6 1/2 sacks before suffering a fractured fibula in December.

Ogunleye (6-4, 260) came to the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Miami in 2000.

Denney, 33, signed a one-year deal for $755,000. He was Buffalo’s first-round pick in 2002. He played nine years with Buffalo and was waived in the offseason. Last season, Denney (6-7, 264) played in 15 games, recording 27 tackles and two sacks.
.

Original story:

The Texans are bringing in three former NFL defensive ends — Ryan Denney, Adewale Ogunleye and Bobby McCray — as possible replacements for Connor Barwin, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Barwin suffered a season-ending dislocated ankle in Sunday's victory over Indianapolis. He will undergo surgery Wednesday and be placed on injured reserve.

The Texans want to sign a veteran to replace him and become part of the rotation at end.

Denney, 33, played the last nine years with Buffalo and was waived in the offseason. He played in 15 games last season and recorded 27 tackles and two sacks.

Ogunleye, 33, was in the league for 10 years, including last season with the Bears. He started 14 games and had 38 tackles and 6½ sacks before suffering a fractured fibula in December.

McCray, 29, has been in the NFL for six years, including the last two. He won a Super Bowl ring with New Orleans. He played in 16 games last season and recorded 1½ sacks.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/7200014.html

 

JAGUARS

In the hours and days following Sunday's victory over the Denver Broncos many have been singled out as major contributors to the win. The performances of David Garrard, Mike Thomas, Aaron Kampman, Kassim Osgood, Marcedes Lewis, Tiquan Underwood and Tyson Alualu have been singled out and praised by many, but one unit hasn't been lauded for their tremendous performance on Sunday and that was the offensive line.



Star-divide
The young pair of tackles that struggled in pass protection last year looked like the strong combo that Gene Smith envisioned when he drafted the two with consecutive picks in 2009. Pro Football Focus ranked the Jaguars line as 30th in the NFL in pass blocking while previewing the 2010 season and they were just one of many to feel as such. One week into the season it would appear that the Jaguars have a line that is certainly better than more than 2 lines.

Do the Broncos have one of the league's best pass rushs? Not even close. Maybe they did before Elvis Dumervil got hurt, but now they're definitely a front seven that ranks in the back half of the NFL. Nevertheless, the pass blocking was impressive. Eugene Monroe was completely dominant on Garrard's blind side and as soon as he made contact with his man it was all over.

The only sack of the day from the Broncos came from the other side when Kevin Haslam was lined up beside Eben Britton as a tight end (H/T to Ewdtrey). As Alfie said it wasn't really the line's fault though, "the lone sack came from a play where Garrard was trying to hit the defense on a double move with a pump fake and just had to eat a sack."

Run blocking looked strong, as has become expected of a Jaguars team. The Jaguar running backs accumulated 124 yards on 27 carries for a 4.6 yards per carry average.

This is only one week and there will certainly be bigger challenges ahead for the likes of Monroe, Smiley, Meester, Nwaneri and Monroe, but they're off to a good start. The Chargers' pass rush looked very unimpressive against the Chiefs' offensive line and recorded only one sack when Shaun Phillips beat a mismatched tight end off the edge. Another strong performance by the Jaguars line could give the offense the firepower it needs to beat the likes of Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates in San Diego.

http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2010/9/14/1689161/offensive-line-the-unsung-heroes

The signing of free agent defensive end Aaron Kampman was one of the most criticized signings of the off-season, nationally. Some pundits even dubbed it as one of the dumbest moves of the off-season.

This move would have been great a year ago. Unfortunately, Aaron Kampman tore his ACL in November, which means there's a very small chance he'll be anywhere close to 100 percent by the season opener.

With that in mind, why would the financially strapped Jaguars just burn away $11 million like this? I don't get it, but I guess there's a reason wise teams like the Colts and Steelers are in Super Bowl contention every year - they're smart enough to realize that you don't win by acquiring overpriced free agents.

I won't name who said that, it should be pretty easy to figure out.



Star-divide
So far, the $11 million looks like money well spent. Aaron Kampman is making a new word resonate through Jacksonville Jaguars fans.

Relentless.

re·lent·less adj \-ləs\ : showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace

This is what Aaron Kampman brings to the defensive line, as a whole. The man does not stop and it rubs off on the rest of the players. I think it's hard-wired in rookie defensive tackle Tyson Alualu as well, and you can see the ripple effect it has. Guys on the defensive line want to match that. The young guys on the defensive line want to match that intensity by Kampman. He's stepped right in and is that leader the team needed on the defense.

"The key to everything in the organization is to be relentless, that’s the kind of mentality we wanted in this game. We just wanted to be relentless and come out victorious," said rookie Tyson Alualu.

"Kampman is a proven player with incredible awareness and determination. He’s a guy that the motor never stops, that’s what Joe Cullen talks about all the time is motor, and being in pursuit of the quarterback. He hit the QB and was real close on a couple others where when our coverage gets a little better, and it will, he’s going to have additional sacks. It was a huge day for him, he was very dominant out there," said Jack Del Rio after the game.

While it's silly to project after only one game, Kampman is on pace to shatter the over under set by Las Vegas.

I don't think double digit sacks for Kampman are out of the question, but the big deal will be the effect on the rest of the line. Even Derrick Harvey, who's been heavily criticized by fans, had an excellent game that will go largely unnoticed because of the play of Alualu and Kampman. The defensive line should get better as the season goes on, especially Kampman.

Remember, Kampman's "no where near" 100%.

http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2010/9/14/1686430/was-kampman-the-missing-piece-to

Jaguars veteran Rashean Mathis had some advice for second-year cornerback Derek Cox, who was benched in the second half Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

"He had a bad game," Mathis said. "We all have them. I let him know I have had some as well. It's how you bounce back. It's how you react to those games, so I expect him to bounce back. He's a good kid who has a good head on his shoulders. It's how you respond to it is what makes you a good player."

Cox is apparently going to get a chance to respond because coach Jack Del Rio said Monday that Cox will remain the starter, "until I say otherwise."

Players usually improve in their second season, but Cox, who started all 16 games as a rookie last year, played with a foot injury during training camp and that might be a reason why he was slow getting in a groove this year.

Del Rio, though, said it's a simple matter of a loss of confidence.

"We just felt his confidence had slipped a little bit in the game and we needed to go to David Jones, who came right in and made an immediate contribution," Del Rio said.

Del Rio said that Cox will "work back at it in practice," but added, "We felt like we had to get another guy there [against the Broncos]."

Cox was beaten on two long passes, a short touchdown pass and was called for pass interference before he got the hook.

Cox conceded he didn't play well.

"Yeah, tough game for me. Some days you're on and today I wasn't. The way I played, I definitely have to be better," he said.

Cox said he didn't get down because he still played on passing downs.

"I couldn't get thrown off," he said. "I didn't have time to do that, which is good."

The consolation for Cox is that the Jaguars still won the game.

"No harm, no foul," Cox said. "When you win, it's good."

Even though Cox will likely start, he has to step it against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday. Chargers coach Norv Turner and quarterback Philip Rivers figure to target him early to see if he can bounce back. Jones could get the call again if Cox struggles.

Photo Gallery: Were you spotted at the Jaguars-Broncos game?

Jones didn't expect to get so much playing time after being dealt to the Jaguars 10 days ago by the Bengals in the Reggie Nelson deal.

"I definitely was surprised," he said. "But when your number is called, you've got to show up."

Jones said he was surprised by the trade, and most of his belongings are still in Cincinnati.

"I didn't see it coming," he said. "... I don't have a wife, girlfriend or kids. I have only me to worry about. Just my clothes," he said. "Everything I own is in Cincinnati."

Jones credited the Jaguars' coaches on getting him up to speed on their system. It is similar to the one the Bengals run — Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and Del Rio were once assistant coaches together in Baltimore.

Related: Jaguars Notebook: Jack Del Rio flags call on Kassim Osgood's celebration

But Jones said football isn't that complicated for a cornerback.

"Football is football," he said. "For a corner, what it comes down to is cover your man. You try to make it as simple as possible."

Jones said the kind of game Cox had happens to cornerbacks.

"Especially for a defensive back, you learn from Pop Warner to have a short memory. It happens to the best of us. Those guys [on the opposing team] are paid just like we are. They're going to get some plays. We're going to make some plays. It's all about how you handle those bad plays," Jones said.

Or, as Mathis pointed out, "Hopefully, he'll respond next week with a couple of picks and nobody will remember what happened Sunday. A corner is on that island, and sometimes it rains on that island. It's not always sunshine."

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot.../story/jaguars-derek-cox-will-try-turn-corner

 

TITANS

Coming into this season, most of the questions about the Titans centered on the defense and how it would fare without veteran stars Keith Bulluck and Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil had endured a difficult debut in 2009, when the Titans ranked 28th in the NFL in total defense, giving up 365.6 yards a game.

It wasn't pretty, and no one could forecast what this season would bring. So unknown were the unit's prospects, it was tagged a no-name defense.

"I think we feed off of it,'' safety Michael Griffin said. "Chuck Cecil tells us no one knows us, and I'm pretty sure no one knows us. When I go into stores in Texas, I see jerseys of Vince Young and Chris Johnson, but those are the only Titans jerseys you ever see.''

Against the Raiders, the defense came out swarming, its sights trained on quarterback Jason Campbell. The Titans sacked him four times, intercepted him once and forced the Raiders to change to maximum protection. He threw for a quiet 180 yards and posted a 69.7 quarterback rating.

"We like to set a tone right off the jump, at home with all the fans behind us. We just put our defense out there and start to rock and roll,'' cornerback Cortland Finnegan said of the buzzsaw start.

Defensive end Jason Babin, in his first season with the Titans, said rotating the linemen paid off: "We were throwing fastballs. We were throwing sliders. We just kept coming.''

The Titans held the Raiders to one touchdown, a meaningless fourth-quarter score that cut it to 38-13.

"We don't want to give up a touchdown to anybody,'' Finnegan said. "This is our house, and we don't want to let the fans down. We owe it to each other not to do that.''

As for the linebackers, there were two new faces out there with Stephen Tulloch. Will Witherspoon, who did not return from attending his mother's funeral until 10 p.m. Saturday night, had six tackles and a sack. Veteran Jamie Winborn stepped in as a starter and made four tackles. Tulloch had seven.

"It's a new group, new leadership,'' linebackers coach Dave McGinnis said. "(Tulloch) was outstanding, and what Will Witherspoon did is the height of professionalism. It's a no-name group to everybody else, but they are very important names to us.''

The absence of big names strengthened bonds between the defensive players, Winborn said. They know they have to stick together.

"This is a bunch of guys that work hard. … We have a lot of guys that are hungry,'' the former Vanderbilt star said. "They have something to prove and we don't really care about getting all the notoriety. We're just concerned with putting up wins.''

It's difficult to predict just how potent this defense will be over the length of the season. The Raiders, who don't look much improved from their 5-11 record of '09, may not be an accurate barometer.

Safety Chris Hope insisted if the defense keeps playing this way, the reputation will follow: "At the end of the day, if you go out and play good on tape, someone is going to see you and learn your name soon enough.''

Until then, no-name defense will suffice.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100913/COLUMNIST0201/9130325/2162/SPORTS01

If any Titan entered the 2010 season with an identity crisis, it was safety Michael Griffin.

Was he the 2008 Griffin, the one who made his first Pro Bowl after picking off seven passes and knocking away 12 more? Or was he the 2009 Griffin, the player who intercepted just one pass and shouldered his share of the blame for the fifth-worst defense in the league?

Griffin appeared to announce his return to form during the Titans' 38-13 win Sunday — leading the team with 12 tackles, making a critical pass break-up, recovering a fumble and helping hold the Raiders to a single touchdown.

"I definitely feel positive about getting a fresh start and getting a win for the team," Griffin said. "But I can't have no letdowns or off games. I can't have nothing outside the organization bothering me. I just have to come to work and do my job."

Griffin was the dominant defensive player in the first half, when the Titans were rolling to a 24-6 lead. He recorded nine tackles in the first two quarters, more than twice that of any teammate.

One Oakland series near the end of the half was especially telling.

In the span of a handful of plays, Griffin made an excellent open field tackle that limited Raiders wide receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins to a 2-yard gain, broke up a pass intended for Louis Murphy in the end zone and then stopped running Rock Cartwright 1 yard short of a first down — halting a drive and forcing the Raiders to kick a field goal.

"I timed it right," Griffin said of the pass deflection. "It was a great pass, but I just managed to get my left hand on the ball. Chris Hope said he probably would have had an opportunity for an interception or a great big hit, but we have to keep the ball out of the end zone.''

It had looked earlier in the half that Griffin had scored a touchdown, after picking up a Campbell fumble and running 23 yards into the end zone. But after reviewing the play, officials ruled that Griffin had been downed by contact when recovering the ball.

"I guess I heard that maybe last year was not his year, but he's a Pro Bowl player,'' Titans defensive end Dave Ball said. "He's one of the leaders of our defense, and when he's out there, we play a little bit better."

What was behind Griffin's big bounce-back game?

Griffin didn't get into specifics, but both he and defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil indicated that the fourth-year safety is playing with a clearer mind than he did last season.

"It all boils down to preparation," Cecil said. "The other part of that is just your state of mind when you get to the game. I think he's really focused in and it showed today."

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100913/SPORTS01/9130327/2162/SPORTS01

It turned into a chicken-or-the-egg question for the Titans last season:

Was the ineffective pass rush making the secondary look porous or was slack coverage by the corners and safeties limiting the pressure of the front four?

The correct answer can be debated, but the bottom line was that it was a horrible combination, one that produced the second-worst defense in the league against the pass and the 15th-worst sack total.

It's only one game, but the Titans showed in Sunday's 38-13 win over Oakland what better pressure on the passer and tighter coverage in the secondary can do for a team.

The Titans sacked Oakland quarterback Jason Campbell four times. That's as many sacks as they had in any one game last season. They also batted down four of his passes and held the Raiders to just six points in the game's first 50 minutes.

"That's always a big part of the game ... getting good pressure on the quarterback,'' defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil said. "I think we were really good in coverage as well in the back, and it went hand in hand. (Campbell) was holding on to the ball some, and when he did, we had guys getting to him. If you can do that, you have a really good chance to be successful.''

The Titans recorded all four of their sacks in the first half, showing a remarkable ability to get a quick jump. It appeared that something Campbell was doing just before the snap on passing plays — perhaps leaning back a bit — allowed the defensive linemen to get a swift start.

"Yeah, (he was leaning) a little bit," said defensive tackle Jason Jones, who notched a swat and a sack. "But we were watching the ball, too. All week in practice, we were just keying on the ball and working on getting off. I think … it probably threw off on some of their offensive snaps.''

The Titans recorded their first sack on a blitz, as newcomer Will Witherspoon nailed Campbell for a 7-yard loss on a first down. But the Titans didn't blitz on an overwhelming amount of plays, as they managed a good amount of pressure from the front four.

Rookie Derrick Morgan and Jason Babin also recorded sacks.

"When the quarterback is getting pressure from up the middle and from all over, it throws him off his reads,'' Jones said. "I think just getting off the line and getting hands in his face, hitting him and just being around him all the time kind of frustrated him a little bit.''

The Raiders have had a reputation as a team that looked for deep downfield passes, but Campbell's time was so limited that he didn't have many opportunities to go long.

"It's tough,'' Campbell said. "A lot of our plays are designed to go downfield. It makes it a lot harder, those guys getting a good rush the way they did. Sometimes you just check it down.''

The pressure also aided the secondary, which intercepted Campbell once, limited him to 180 passing yards and held him to a quarterback rating of 69.7. The Raiders registered few big plays against a team that allowed scads in 2009.

"It helped us a bunch,'' Titans safety Michael Griffin said. "We've got a healthy Jason Jones out there now, and he's doing a great job. Babin is doing a great job. Tony Brown is healthy. And we've got a bunch of young guys that are buying into what Chuck Cecil is saying.''

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100913/SPORTS01/9130328/2162/SPORTS01

I wouldn't reserve a flight to the Super Bowl just yet, but the Titans' 38-13 assault of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon is a first step in the right direction.

Remember, these guys started last season 0-6 and didn't win a game until November. With that as background, isn't it nice to mark one down in the win column so quickly?

"You want to start out every year with a win, but for those of us who were here for 0-6, it was crucial for us to get this one done," tackle Michael Roos said. "This way, you've definitely got the monkey or gorilla off your back. You can relax and just keep going."

There was a definite feel-good mood in the successful season-opener. Gone were the bad vibes of the first two months of '09, exorcised by the fresh start provided by a dominant performance and easy victory.

"Confidence-wise, it's huge," guard Jake Scott said. "If you're 0-1, you've got to win two games to get over .500. Now we're already there."

The Titans played to rave reviews in front of yet another sellout crowd at LP Field. There's something about the fresh start afforded by a season-opening game that brings out the best in the fans, most of whom were decked out in the team's colors on a Code Blue afternoon.

This one was never really in doubt. After spotting Oakland a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter, the Titans asserted their will with a balanced offense and physical defense. The Raiders, coming off seven consecutive losing seasons, were easy pickings.

"Once we jumped on them, we never let off," said safety Michael Griffin, who led the Titans with 12 tackles and also had a fumble recovery.

As for Oakland, I'm not sure Tommy the Cable Guy is going to make it through the season. Raiders Coach Tom Cable is just 9-20 since succeeding Lane Kiffin after four games of the 2008
season. This looks like a team headed nowhere,
and Raiders boss Al Davis
is not known for his patience.
Heroes at every turn

As for the Titans, there were heroes at every turn, but let's start with quarterback Vince Young. In the opening game two years ago, Young suffered a meltdown against Jacksonville and had to leave the game because of an injury. He didn't reclaim the No. 1 quarterback role until owner Bud Adams ordered him back into the huddle after the 0-6 start of '09.

I wouldn't reserve a flight to the Super Bowl just yet, but the Titans' 38-13 assault of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon is a first step in the right direction.

Remember, these guys started last season 0-6 and didn't win a game until November. With that as background, isn't it nice to mark one down in the win column so quickly?

"You want to start out every year with a win, but for those of us who were here for 0-6, it was crucial for us to get this one done," tackle Michael Roos said. "This way, you've definitely got the monkey or gorilla off your back. You can relax and just keep going."

There was a definite feel-good mood in the successful season-opener. Gone were the bad vibes of the first two months of '09, exorcised by the fresh start provided by a dominant performance and easy victory.
Related

* Tennessee Titans rout Oakland Raiders 38-13
* Defense has no problem
* Tennessee Titans' Will Witherspoon plays not long after mother's funeral
* Pass rush makes big difference
* Tennessee Titans safety Michael Griffin returns to 2008 form
* David Climer's Four Downs
* Titans 38, Raiders 13
* Titans report card

"Confidence-wise, it's huge," guard Jake Scott said. "If you're 0-1, you've got to win two games to get over .500. Now we're already there."

The Titans played to rave reviews in front of yet another sellout crowd at LP Field. There's something about the fresh start afforded by a season-opening game that brings out the best in the fans, most of whom were decked out in the team's colors on a Code Blue afternoon.

This one was never really in doubt. After spotting Oakland a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter, the Titans asserted their will with a balanced offense and physical defense. The Raiders, coming off seven consecutive losing seasons, were easy pickings.

"Once we jumped on them, we never let off," said safety Michael Griffin, who led the Titans with 12 tackles and also had a fumble recovery.

As for Oakland, I'm not sure Tommy the Cable Guy is going to make it through the season. Raiders Coach Tom Cable is just 9-20 since succeeding Lane Kiffin after four games of the 2008
season. This looks like a team headed nowhere,
and Raiders boss Al Davis
is not known for his patience.
Heroes at every turn

As for the Titans, there were heroes at every turn, but let's start with quarterback Vince Young. In the opening game two years ago, Young suffered a meltdown against Jacksonville and had to leave the game because of an injury. He didn't reclaim the No. 1 quarterback role until owner Bud Adams ordered him back into the huddle after the 0-6 start of '09.

On Sunday, Young was in complete control. Even a fumble on the Titans' first offensive series did not seem to affect him. He shrugged it off and got back down to business.

"You can't let that play go on to the next series — just put it in the past and get ready for the next series," he said. "That's pretty much what happened."

And what about Chris Johnson? It says something when a 142-yard rushing performance that includes a 76-yard touchdown sprint is just another day at the office.

"I'm just going in and focusing on trying to get wins and doing my job," Johnson said.

For those keeping score, Johnson now needs to average 157.2 rushing yards in the remaining 15 games to reach his stated target of 2,500 yards this season.

With Houston's home victory over Indianapolis, Jacksonville's win against Denver and the Titans' triumph, the NFL standings show the Colts in the AFC South cellar.

OK, OK. It's just Week 1. Like Titans tight end Bo Scaife said: "We've seen Indianapolis lose one and win 19 in a row. It's just the first game. It's a long season."

But the landscape of the division has to change sometime, doesn't it?

"It's anybody's division," said linebacker Stephen Tulloch. "The Colts have been a powerhouse for years, but Houston's gotten better. They've been creeping up our division. And you can't take Jacksonville for granted. We've all got to be on our toes."

Yes, it's early. But where the Titans are concerned, this season already bears little resemblance to '09.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100913/COLUMNIST0202/9130336/2162/SPORTS01

 

TEXANS

Now the signing of Ephraim Salaam makes more sense...

Like MDC posted earlier, Texans LT Duane Brown has been suspended by the league for four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

This comes as quite a blow, with the team going up against one of the league's premier edge rushers this Sunday. And no matter your feelings on Brown, I would much rather he match up against DeMarcus Ware than Rashad Butler. Nothing against Butler, but the guy is a backup for a reason.

Another thing that really hurts about this is the PR implications. Many say they don't care about the team's image as long as they're winning. But the bottom line is that Texans owner Bob McNair does care, and now with a second first round draft pick getting busted for performance enhancers in the past five months, the team is going to take a PR hit. I'm already seeing tweets saying stuff like "No wonder Houston is 2-0...bunch of cheaters!" And "There is more juice in that team than Jack LaLanne." You get the point. So as much as we don't care, you know it has to bother Uncle Bob.

Some more thoughts and quotes from Duane Brown after the jump...

Star-divide

Unlike another certain suspended player, Brown is ready to take his lumps. Yes, he may have deleted his Twitter account to evade getting tweet-bombed, but he didn't duck the media and spoke with them immediately after the announcement:

"First off, I want to personally apologize to Bob McNair, coach Kubiak and the rest of the coaching staff, my teammates, family and to all the great and loyal Texans fans. I take full responsibility for putting myself in this situation. I unknowingly took a supplement tainted with a banned substance and now have to deal with the consequences."

Brown also stated that he would not be appealing the decision.

One more thing I want to bring up is something that Big Ron asked on Twitter. He said, "What's going on with the conditioning program? Didn't have this crap under Dan Riley." Think that is a fair judgment? I won't lie that the thought occurred to me as well. Those guys are there to approve or disapprove any supplements that come through the locker room. No excuse for that, really. Unless this is just another case of an athlete just saying they had no idea what they were taking. Which wouldn't be surprising.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/21/1702626/duane-brown-joins-cushing-on-the

Texans rewind: Time to rewatch the Texans/Redskins game

1st quarter

Redskins' ball
(15:00) 1st and 10 at own 20: First play of the game and the Texans are in man-to-man defense with eight men in the box. This is important because it is the worst-case scenario for the Texans. The Redskins run a play-action pass toward Zach Diles' side. Mike Sellers comes out of the backfield and runs into the flat, and before Diles can get out there and cover him, he is picked by Santana Moss, whose route from the slot basically consisted of running right for Diles. If the Texans had been in a zone, the play gains maybe 5, but instead it goes for 22.

(12:21) 1st and 10 at Texans 34: The Redskins run the exact same play as the first play of the game, but the Texans are in a different alignment and Pollard has the responsibility on Sellers, but Sellers still gains 10. Watch as Moss doesn't go out of his way to pick this time as he doesn't have an obvious target and doesn't want to alert officials to the pick if he were to go out searching for one.

(10:23) 3rd and 9 at Texans 23: The Redskins run a wide receiver screen that gets snuffed out, but let's look at two things here. The Texans are running what is called a "T/E," which has the DT occupying the outside lane while the DE loops underneath. You'll notice that Jesse Nading (72) realizes something is up and never loops underneath. Instead, Nading follows the play and comes closing down on the WR. The player who made the tackle was Kareem Jackson, who avoids the block by the slot WR and comes underneath to make a one-on-one tackle. Good defensive awareness by both Nading and Kareem.

Texans' ball
(8:54) 1st and 10 on own 24: Texans are in a five-wide set with OLB Andre Carter on David Anderson and the free safety lining up over Andre Johnson. Safety Laron Landry is on Owen Daniels, who is also in the slot. Matt Schaub sees that Anderson is in a one-on-one matchup and goes to Anderson on a quick out route that is stopped for a gain of two. The Redskins actually blitzed off the edge with their free safety and a middle linebacker ended up on Andre Johnson, but Schaub already had determined he was going to go after Carter.

Redskins' ball
(7:59) 1st and 10 on Texans 48: The Redskins hit the Texans with a play-action pass that is similar to a play that Kyle Shanahan ran with the Texans. The play action freezes any coverage from the play side as Cooley runs a route toward the middle of the field and then double moves Pollard back out to the unoccupied spot of the field for a long gain. The free safety is kept occupied by the outside WR on the other side of the field running a go route. The Texans utilize this same concept with Owen Daniels lined up on the strong or weak side.

Texans' ball
(3:32) 3rd and 2 on Redskins 47: Outside zone play to the left that Arian Foster cuts back inside for a first down. Two things to look at. Watch Brian Orakpo jar Joel Dreesen at the line of scrimmage and cut off the outside lane, which forces Foster inside. Also, watch the GREAT job that Antoine Caldwell does driving his player off the line of scrimmage, which helps open up that backside running lane.

(0:57) 2nd and 1 on Redskins 16: This is an inside zone that is run at the left guard with potential cutback lanes over the right guard or tackle. Watch Arian Foster recognize the cutback lane created by a great wash-down block by Winston and kick-out block by Dreesen.

2nd quarter

Texans' ball
(15:00) 2nd and goal on Redskins 5: This is the touchdown pass from Schaub to Jacoby Jones. Jacoby is lined up in the slot with Kevin Walter on the outside. The Redskins are in zone coverage, which is perfect for this play. Watch Walter run his "route," which is actually driving the corner to the middle of the end zone and then making contact with him before cutting inside. This is nothing more than a pick play where Jacoby is faking an in and then pivoting and cutting back outside to the open space created by the contact between Walter and the cornerback who is responsible for that area.

Redskins' ball
(9:46) 1st and 10 on Redskins 31: Lead play for Portis that opens wide up because Xavier Adibi basically goes brain dead. DeMeco Ryans flows to the outside lane and takes on the fullback, but for some odd reason, so does Adibi, which was clearly not his run fit.

Texans' ball
(8:15) 1st and 10 on own 20: This is a very well-blocked outside zone run to the left. Watch the footwork of Duane Brown as he is able to get out on the outside linebacker and turn him back inside. This is not an easy block, but Brown pulled it off. Also keep an eye on how the Texans handle the NT. Myers doesn't touch him an instead gets immediately to the second level on an angle as he tries to cut off the inside LB and keep him from making the play. RG Mike Brisiel is known for being maybe the best cut blocker on the offensive line and he does a great job of getting his head across the NT as he cuts him to the ground. Foster gains 11 on the play.

(5:02) 1st and 10 on the Redskins 39: This is a play-action bootleg starting left and heading back to the right, but watch Leach's cut block on Carriker as he heads down the line of scrimmage. This is done to create additional time to pass for Schaub in case Carriker isn't fooled by the play action. What is crazy is that Carriker doesn't seem to have any awareness of where the ball is as he gets up and continues to chase the running back. The pass is completed for a first down to Owen Daniels thanks to plenty of time to throw for Schaub.

Redskins' ball
(2:13) 2nd and 10 on the Redskins 37: This is the long pass play to Davis that got down to the 1-yard line. This is a very tricky play for the Texans to cover. Davis acts like he is blocking down on the strong side and then is able to get through the trash and into the open space on the weak side of the field that has opened up thanks to McNabb rolling the opposite way and having the WRs headed that way as well. Simply a misdirection play, which was a forte of the Texans offense when Kubiak teamed with Kyle Shanahan. Nice call and play design, kid.

3rd quarter

Texans' ball
(13:50) 1st and 10 on the Texans 37: Just highlighting this toss play to the right because Jacoby Jones does a terrific job of blocking Laron Landry and keeping him off the play.

(10:55) 1st and 10 on the Redskins 32: This is an outside zone play run to the right, but watch the adjustment by the Redskins, or maybe just DeAngelo Hall, on this one. As soon as he diagnosis run, he cuts right inside of Andre Johnson's block attempt and submarines Vontae Leach's block attempt, which blows up the play. I wonder if this is an adjustment by the team or just a CB trying to make a play.

Redskins' ball
(8:12) 3rd and 8 on the Redskins 10 yard line: This is a huge play because if the Texans can stop them, it forces the Redskins to punt and give the Texans good field position. Okoye will ride the outside track, which opens up the inside loop by Mario Williams, but the Redskins pick it up and stone it. Antonio Smith comes with a straight inside rush, while Jesse Nading fakes the pass rush and drops back into the middle of the field in a zone. If the "T/E" had worked and Mario had come free after McNabb, he would have had to get rid of the ball quickly and it wouldn't have been a first down. Instead, McNabb buys himself time until S. Moss is able to find a soft spot in the zone and makes the catch and runs for the first down.

(7:28) 1st and 10 on the Redskins 21: This is a sack by Mario Williams, but watch his hands on this one. You might hear my talk about defensive linemen who use their hands well and this is a great example. The battle between offensive and defensive linemen is usually one by the guy who uses his hands well. J. Brown wants to get his hands on Mario first, but he doesn't want to reach and punch too quickly because if he misses, Mario can clear his punch and get around him for the sack. This is exactly what happens. Brown is never able to get his hands on Mario and Mario chops the hands of Brown and is able to get around him for the sack.

(4:01) 1st and 10 on the Texans 22: This is the TD pass from McNabb to Cooley. On the previous play, Xavier Adibi wasn't able to make a play while in his zone on a completed pass to Roydell Williams. This time, Adibi can't stick with Cooley in man-to-man coverage and Cooley goes for a TD. To be fair, I expect Cooley to be a beast with McNabb throwing to him this year.

Texans' ball
(1:24) 2nd and 12 on the Texans 47: Brian Orakpo gets the sack here, but Duane Brown does his job and locks up the speed rush by Orakpo and rides him past the pocket. The pocket isn't necessarily breaking down for Schaub, but he tries to run to the free spot on the right side of the field, which allows Orakpo to sprint after him and make the sack. I don't think that one will be on Duane Brown when they watch the film. Schaub could have stayed in the pocket.

(0:02) 1st and goal on the Redskins 6: You hear people fuss and complain about play calling all the time, but this game has featured some very good play calling, and this play is another example. These two teams work off of running successful plays and then countering off of those plays. They have also called a ton of plays that are based on misdirection. The Texans have Jacoby lined up at wide receiver on the right side of the field and bring Walter in motion to the left. Walter literally makes himself small as he sneaks back across the line and catches the pass from Schaub on the play-action for the TD. Of course, the DE could have blown that play up if he had more awareness and had blasted Walter as he tried to release out into his pattern.

4th quarter

Texans' ball
(13:16) 1st and 10 on the Texans 34: Play-action pass to Walter deep down the field works thanks to Laron Landry's concern over Owen Daniels. Daniels releases off the line from the same side of the formation as Walter and cuts right at about 10 yards. Landry sees this and follows Daniels rather than staying deep to give Carlos Rogers help with Kevin Walter. That was on Laron Landry and was a great read by Schaub.

Redskins' ball
(10:26) 1st and 10 at Texans 47: Cooley will come in motion to the side where Moss is on the inside and Galloway is outside. Moss will head up the field and then make a move toward the middle of the field to occupy the safety, while Cooley heads out to the sideline and goes down the field. Basically, the Redskins are flooding that side of the field and are trying to stretch the defenders as wide as they can on that side of the field so that Galloway can split the difference on a comeback route in the middle of that area. As you see, he is wide open for a 20-yard gain.

(8:59) 2nd and 8 at the Texans 26: Outside zone play to the left, but keep an eye on Santana Moss, who heads out to block Zach Diles. While Diles meets his block and sheds him fairly quickly, he tosses Moss to the outside rather than inside, and that allows Portis enough room to get to the outside as the containment between McCain and Diles isn't there. The result is a first down.

Redskins' ball
(4:22) 2nd and 5 at Texans 46: Right before the snap, Bernard Pollard comes charging in from the box all the way down to the line of scrimmage and is in the backfield to make a tackle for a loss on the end around by Moss. I highly doubt that Pollard freelances to this extent, so it is probably a called blitz to the week side in order to counter a play-action pass or a running play.

(2:11) 4th and 10 on the Redskins 34: We all know what a great play that Andre Johnson makes to tie the game on the TD pass from Schaub, but here are two things to pay attention to. Watch what a nice job that Schaub does to maneuver around the pocket to buy a little extra time, and watch Wade Smith's block on Orakpo as he's getting ready to get to Schaub. Secondly, look at how unaware Phillip Buchanon is as the ball is in the air to Andre. There was NOBODY ELSE even in the area for him to cover, so why wouldn't he have been helping his safety to double team the most dangerous WR in football? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Overtime

(13:55) 2nd and 3 at the Texans 35: This is an outside zone left, but I want to point out just how good the vision of Arian Foster is. We've seen him take run outside the the left tackle's block plenty against the Colts and we've seen him cut back inside, but watch how he reacts to what is a good-size hole that opens up between the left guard and center. Foster reads and reacts immediately and then cuts it all the way back to the right after he gets past the line of scrimmage. Foster has very good vision, but he also has the discipline you want at the RB position in this offense as well.

(12:07) 1st and 10 at Redskins 40: Just as I type that last paragraph, the Texans run an outside zone to the left and Brisiel and Dreesen do a beautiful job of opening up a cutback lane on the backside, but Foster doesn't see it and gets stopped for a gain of one.

Everything else will speak for itself, including Dreesen's terrific catch to set up the game-winning field goal.

It was very obvious that the Texans defensive line was conditioned to be able to play at a higher level later in the game, while the Redskins offensive line looked gassed.

http://blogs.chron.com/fantasyfootball/2010/09/texans_rewind_time_to_rewatch.html

 

COLTS

Last week, we speculated that, based on reports as to the nature of Anthony Gonzalez's injury (high ankle sprain) and the well-documented knowledge that Gonzo is a notoriously slow healer, we Colts fans should not expect the team's fourth wide receiver back and practicing until after the bye week (Oct. 24th).

Today, courtesy of the Indy Star, our speculation was confirmed:

Wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez hasn't had an ankle injury since he was a high school freshman, so he's flying somewhat blind with the high, right ankle sprain suffered when he was tackled during the Sept. 12 season opener at Houston.

"They're saying four to six (weeks)," Gonzalez said. "I obviously hope to be on the short end of that. Everything I'm doing is designed to get back as soon as possible.

"The doctors and trainers tell me I'm ahead of schedule."

If he's out four weeks, he could return for the Oct. 17 game at Washington. The Colts' bye week is Oct. 24.

Based on last year's song and dance relating to Gonzo and his knee, if the Colts get him back at all for the 2010 season, I'll be shocked. Even if they do, it's doubtful he will see much playing time. Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie are cemented in their respective receiving roles. The Colts also have pass catching tight ends Dallas Clark and Jacob Tamme.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/9/21/1701678/colts-wide-receiver-anthony

Now that was something to behold Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Manning Bowl II? Please.

The oddity in the 38-14 demolition of the New York Giants was the pass-happy Indianapolis Colts using their oft-criticized running game as a blunt-force instrument, early and often.

At game's end, Peyton Manning, who matched a career high with 57 pass attempts in the season-opening loss at Houston, had delivered a paltry 26 against the Giants. Turns out he was too busy handing off to his running backs, who combined for 43 rushes.

"Forty-three?" offensive tackle Charlie Johnson said Monday afternoon, allowing the number to bounce around in his head. "Wow, that's a lot. Maybe the most since I've been here."

No maybe to it. The 43 rushes were the most by the Colts in the Manning era, the most since they ran 46 times against the New York Jets on Dec. 7, 1997.

The Colts' ground attack ranked No. 31 in '08 and No. 32 last season. Last week at Houston, the lopsided nature of the game led to just 10 rushes, lowest in franchise history.

But as much as the team wanted to show its ground game had a detectable pulse, it was the logical approach. The Giants chose to attack Manning and the Colts' passing game with nickel or dime packages. That meant fewer linebackers and additional defensive backs.

"There were a lot of DBs in there that aren't used to being involved in the running game, so it was important to establish that," Manning said after the game. "The line, tight ends and receivers all did a great job.

"I thought Donald (Brown) and Joe (Addai) really ran smart and ran really hard."

Addai finished with 92 yards on 20 carries. Brown set career bests with 16 carries and 69 yards.

"We took advantage of what they gave us," Addai said. "That was the biggest thing, just taking advantage. They came out in nickel and dime a lot of times, so coach trusted us to run the ball and we were able to do it."

An ability to adapt is one of the strengths of the Colts offense. That, and Manning. If a team brings a safety close to the line of scrimmage to help against the run, it leaves itself more vulnerable to Manning. If it brings in an extra cornerback or two to deal with Manning's various receiving options, it potentially exposes itself to a determined ground attack.

"You have to adjust as you go," coach Jim Caldwell said.

Sunday's tone was set early.

The Colts opened with a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive. They ran seven times for 33 yards, capped by Brown's 7-yard touchdown when he scooted through a wide lane created by Johnson, tight end Brody Eldridge and guard Jamey Richard.

On an eight-play, 98-yard drive to open the second quarter, six of the first seven plays were rushes. The eighth was a dagger -- Manning's 50-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Clark -- that was set up by the running game. Manning carried out a nifty play-fake to Brown that convinced safety Michael Johnson to vacate his deep half of the field and pursue Brown.

Clark got behind cornerback Aaron Ross, cradled Manning's perfectly thrown pass and outran Ross to the end zone.

"That safety flew by me as fast as he could trying to suck up on that run and left the middle of the field wide open," Clark said.

As effective as the running game was, it's just a step in the right direction.

"We know to be successful we've got to have that balance," Johnson said.

"We can't just rely on Peyton throwing it 50-some-odd times. We may get away with it once in a while, but to really get where we want to be, we've got to run it.

"We did a good job of it (Sunday). Hopefully we can keep doing it."
Running to victory

The Colts' 43 rushing attempts in Sunday's win over the New York Giants were their most during the Peyton Manning era, the most since 46 rushes at the New York Jets in 1997. The most rushing attempts since '98:

http://www.indystar.com/article/201...can-run-smart-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Colts

RUN OFFENSE: A

And now, we commence with the easiest Dopey Report Card of all time. Not to give away the plot or anything, but we're talking more A's than a two-hour Canadian conversation. (That'll make sense in a minute.) The run game was the tonic for the troops. The Giants dared the Colts to run, employing five and six defensive Smurfs, and the Colts adjusted. Joseph Addai dropped some violent jump cuts at defenders while Donald Brown, who didn't even get a carry in Houston, had one of the best games of his short career. When the play-action worked to Dallas Clark, I thought I was having an Edgerrin James/Marvin Harrison flashback.
PASS OFFENSE: A

Twenty-six passes? Peyton Manning had more in the first half last week. Balance is a rare and beautiful thing, especially around here. It allowed the offensive linemen to plow open holes, and it kept the Giants' front-four pass rushers at bay. I'm still not completely comfortable with this team's ability to protect the passer; show me again a few more times and I'll be sold. But this was a definite confidence builder. Manning was flawless, Reggie Wayne had a big night (except for an early drop) and tight end Clark managed to outrun a cornerback for a 50-yard touchdown over the middle.
RUN DEFENSE: A

Yeah, the Giants got their yards, but most were in the second half, when it stopped mattering. When it was still a game in the first half, the Colts stuffed New York. Running back Brandon Jacobs, who likely will be fined this week, was moved to throw his helmet into the stands in a fit of pique. This was the defense many of us thought could be a top-10 group, or even better. Even without Clint Session -- and Kavell Conner had a nice game in his place -- the Colts dominated the line of scrimmage and flew to the ball like their pants were on fire.
PASS DEFENSE: B+

OK, maybe not all A's. They got beat twice over the top, but both came after the outcome had been settled. The big news on the pass defense side was the pass rush. During the game, NBC timed how long it took before Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis got to Eli Manning. Once, it took 2.6 seconds. "Really?" Mathis said after the game. "We consider 3.5 pretty good." Mathis said both he and Freeney got chipped by a second blocker occasionally, but you could hardly tell. It was a jailbreak, and it was incessant. Eli never had a chance.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

Remember the days when Colts fans gave kickoff specialists a standing ovation for touchbacks? Now, Pat McAfee is good for two and three a game. He also had a strong punting night, except for one 30-yarder that looked like a chunked sand wedge. Everything went right, and yes, Jerraud Powers looks very good as a punt returner -- even if his presence leaves you with a lump in your throat.
COACHING: A

There was some question how Jim Caldwell and his staff would handle the first meaningful regular-season loss of his Colts head coaching career. The answer: Just fine. This is what the Colts do, who they are: They show up the next week, go to work, regroup and play with a purpose. I go back to 2008, when Peyton was hurt and the Colts were starting 3-4, to recall the last time they lost two straight meaningful regular-season games. (I'm not counting last year's giveaways at the end.) This was utterly predictable, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And that's good to see.
INTANGIBLES: A

The great intangible in any sport is effort. Last week, the Colts showed up in Houston but didn't come to play. This week, they came to play and they came to dominate. It was incredibly obvious from the very first defensive snap, when Antoine Bethea blew up New York's Mario Manningham. They simply played at a different speed in Week 2. I can't recall a recent game when the two defensive ends, Freeney and Mathis, were more overwhelming.

http://www.indystar.com/article/201...-s-report-card?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Colts

As it turns out, the Indianapolis Colts haven't forgotten how to play decent defense.

They heard the doubts and skepticism. They responded with the kind of play most have come to expect in recent years.

And making Sunday's 38-14 prime-time rout of the New York Giants even more impressive was the fact the Colts dominated without one of their thumpers, injured weak side linebacker Clint Session.

After getting run over for 257 yards rushing in a 34-24 loss at Houston in Week 1, the Colts defense turned it completely around with four three-and-out stops, four sacks and three turnovers.

By halftime, the visiting G-men had a doughnut on the scoreboard. The Colts led by 24.

"If we can get off the field on third downs," said cornerback Jerraud Powers, who had a second-quarter interception, "I'll take our chances on winning that night."

The Giants converted just 3-of-11 third downs.

Colts safety Antoine Bethea was everywhere. When he wasn't running down 264-pound Brandon Jacobs from behind and slamming the bigger guy to the FieldTurf, the defender was blitzing to plant Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

"Most definitely, you hear that," Bethea said of criticism. "We responded well to it.

"In the Colts' facility, we stick behind each other, we know what type of players we are, we know what style of ball we're capable of playing and we showed that tonight."

Bethea was credited with six tackles. It seemed to be more.

"That's the type of player he is," Powers said. "He's starting to become one of those elite guys that people really need to put their eye on and put him in that category as one of the top safeties in the league.

"He brings it every night."

He had a lot of help this night.

Session was scratched due to a sore hamstring. His replacement, rookie Kavell Conner, contributed five tackles. Not too shabby for the seventh-round pick out of Clemson.

"I wouldn't say I was nervous, maybe a little anxious," said Conner, who learned earlier in the week that he would start.

The Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw had some decent ground gains, but his 89 yards on 17 carries didn't have much weight with the game out of hand early. The visitors finished with 120 yards rushing on 25 carries

"Last week wasn't our style of ball," Bethea said.

For a second consecutive week, the Colts' bookend pass rushers notched sacks. Robert Mathis tackled Eli Manning first. Dwight Freeney broke through on a speed rush in the third quarter -- the ensuing fumble off the blind-side hit was recovered by defensive tackle Fili Moala for a touchdown to build a 31-7 lead. Then both got Peyton's kid brother again in the fourth quarter.

Powers had the game's first turnover with an interception in the second quarter. Eli Manning threw into triple coverage and almost completed it to Steve Smith, but the ball somehow squirted out and directly to Powers.

"Today was Colts football," Powers said. "We wanted to start off fast."

That the home team did. The offense put up a quick seven. The Giants started with three-and-outs on their initial two possessions. They managed to gain two first downs before punting the third time they had the ball.

Before halftime, the Giants had already punted one more time than the Texans last week. The Colts were ahead 24-0 at intermission. Eli Manning had a passer rating of 6.2.

"Oh man, I feel great," Bethea said. "We've just got to keep it going. It's only one game. We've got to keep it going."

http://www.indystar.com/article/201...03/Colts-defense-answers-skeptics-from-Week-1

 

JAGUARS

There are times when you just need to get it off your chest so you can move on. This is one of those moments. Analysis may come later, but for right now I feel like yelling into the canyon.

A week after jumping over the moon we have finally come back down to earth, and man did the landing hurt. While the Houston Texans were staging a comeback in Washington, D.C., one which would continue the good vibrations deep in the heart of Texas, the Jaguars were revisiting the ghosts of west coast trips past: And once again it wasn't just a loss, it was a humiliating loss.

The stellar play of David Garrard, the Defensive Player of the Week honor to Daryl Smith and Tyson Alualu being mentioned as rookie of the week, only served to stake claim that this was a new Jaguar team and we, the fans, refused to be targets.

Now, after assuming a defensive posture and demanding a level of respect from anyone who dared darken the sunlight fields of our optimism, I strongly suggest you brace for impact because it is about to get ugly. It doesn't matter that the criticisms will not feature questions of fan support or actual attendance numbers. Those who we called out will use this opportunity to strike by pointing out every flaw in the Jaguars ugly execution in beautiful San Diego.

And every word will be justly deserved.

Star-divide

This is the price you pay for fielding an NFL football team and these are the blows you must withstand as a fan. If you didn't check out Wind Sprints, I basically assured a victory. I was completely convinced the Denver game symbolized a new era and that the pacific time zone was nothing to fear. Foolish, foolish man.

It is tough when you put it out there, knowing that you may have to eat those words.

Thankfully I had Twitter during the game, my cathartic outlet for all things that frustrated me. While the Jaguars were giving away the ball, points and yards like business cards at a convention, I had my Jaguar family to vent with. We oscillated between blaming the coaches to blaming the players, anything to help get us through the catastrophe. Each comment made with the back story of faith put in a team who would do us proud.

When the dust cleared all that was left was an evaluation of the event itself and the cold reality that there is still much work to do. Where would you like to start?

* What happened to the Terrence Knighton and Tyson Alualu?
* Where did the linebackers go on passing downs?
* Why was Maurice Jones-Drew too often seen on the sidelines?
* Was it play calling or execution?
* What happened to Mike Thomas?
* Is Derek Cox injured or benched?
* Did David Garrard look tentative and confused?
* Where the wide receivers able to get open?
* How did Rashad Jennings have more receiving and rushing yards than Jones-Drew?
* What now to do now that Luke McCown is injured?

I share David's sentiment when he said, "Honestly if I could erase my memory from today, I would."

We must take a step back and asses the situation. There is no true veteran playmaker at wide receiver and the rest are unproven second year players. The defensive line consists of young talent and is relatively thin. The line backing corps was patched with Kirk Morrison and contains only one standout in Darryl Smith. Apart from Rashean Mathis the defensive backs are the next piece to be modified.

Add to that an offense line being built from the outside in, a middle of the road quarterback trying to mange it all, and you have nothing more than a team in transition.

Let that sink in and try not to read it as an insult because it is a thickness we'll need for the rest of the year. The schedule doesn't get any easier and the team will not be adding any magical player which will make it all go away. At best there is the hope Aaron Kampmann will continue to stay healthy and be a bright spot on the defense, along with the continued growth of the second and first year players.

As I noted in the Perspective article, it will become a matter of how you choose to see the team. If after game two you're ready to ditch the quarterback and the entire coaching staff then you probably had hopes a bit higher than your reach. Might I suggest you make sure the only thing that can be written or said about this team is how they perform and not how their supported.

Next week the Eagles come to town and historically Jacksonville has done well against them. Also consider this: after both loses on the west coast the Jaguars came home and won the following weekend. It is a 16 game season so you'd better dress for it.

http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2010/9/19/1698811/jaguar-fans-put-on-your-thick-skin

SAN DIEGO —The Jaguars’ West Coast foibles continued on Sunday.

It wasn’t the fault of an unfamiliar time zone or some sort of Pacific coast voodoo, not this time around.

It wasn’t that they spent too many days and had too long to lose focus on the opposite coast. The Jaguars arrived in San Diego Saturday evening, less than 24 hours before their road opener. The quick, crisp business trip became sloppy, quickly.

At Qualcomm Stadium on a mild, sunny day, Jacksonville (1-1) stumbled, losing to the San Diego Chargers, 38-13. Both teams turned over the ball at near-record rates — they combined for seven at halftime — and the Jaguars suffered their third consecutive lopsided loss on the West Coast after last season’s routs at Seattle and San Francisco.

Turnovers doomed the Jaguars.

“Honestly, if I could erase my memory from today, I would,” Jaguars quarterback David Garrard said.

Said coach Jack Del Rio: “They took advantage of the turnovers. We had six turnovers today. We didn’t get it done.”

Garrard finished the game with four interceptions and a touchdown near the end of the game. He completed 15 of 23 passes and had a QB rating of 62.7, one week after posting a career-high rating of 138.9.

Photo Gallery: Jaguars at Chargers

Though Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers threw two interceptions of his own, San Diego’s offense took advantage of breakdowns in the Jaguars’ coverage and Rivers also threw three touchdown passes. He finished with 334 yards, completing 22 of 29 passes.

The way the game opened turned out to be a harbinger of things to come.

San Diego put together a six-play drive that included passes of 14 and 34 yards and a 15-yard Ryan Mathews run. It ended in a quick 2-yard touchdown run by Mike Tolbert.

On the Jaguars’ ensuing possession, Jacksonville picked up one first down, then committed the first of six turnovers. On a first-and-10 from his own 43, Garrard launched a pass deep to the left just a few yards short of receiver Tiquan Underwood. Cornerback Antoine Cason leaped to snatch the ball away for his first of two interceptions.

“That is one of those things that I dream of, jumping over somebody and making the catch, just as a kid doing that,” Cason said.

By halftime, the Jaguars and Chargers had already accomplished something no other pair of NFL teams had in five years. Sunday’s was the first NFL game since Dec. 11, 2005, that both teams combined for seven turnovers in the first half.

By the end of the game the Jaguars and their quarterback had both tied dubious turnover records with six for the team and four interceptions by Garrard. Maurice Jones-Drew and Mike Sims-Walker also had a fumble each.

“It seemed like we kept bailing them out,” Sims-Walker said. “We were moving the ball with ease. I don’t think that’s the question, whether our offense was going, executing right. Just turnovers. Any time you have six turnovers, four in the first half, your chance of winning is very small.”

The drive that started with Cason’s first interception, ended with a Chargers fumble.

Cason’s second interception came in the second quarter after linebacker Shaun Phillips tipped the ball near the line of scrimmage. That led to a 9-yard touchdown catch by Antonio Gates.

After that a bizarre back-and-forth ensued.

“Every time we had a negative situation, defensively we stepped up and created a negative situation for them,” Norv Turner said. “Normally, you wouldn’t be in that situation, but we caused six turnovers.”

Sims-Walker fumbled on the next drive, and Rivers threw an interception to safety Courtney Greene on the drive after that. Two plays later, Garrard returned possession to the Chargers with an interception to linebacker Brandon Siler.

“If I don’t like it because someone dropped deep [in coverage], then check it down to the backs,” Garrard said. “Those are situations I’ve gotta get better at.”

The Chargers didn’t do anything with that turnover either. After a defensive stop, Jaguars running back Rashad Jennings blocked a San Diego punt.

But as the game wore on, San Diego’s offense grew stronger. The Chargers led 21-6 at halftime after a smooth touchdown drive within the final two minutes of the first half.

The Jaguars stressed keeping Sunday’s loss in perspective after the game. With home games against the Eagles and Colts in the next two weeks, they’ll have chances to redeem themselves. It is only one loss, the veterans stressed.

Defensive end Aaron Kampman was asked if the team would be discouraged.

“No,” Kampman said. “If it does, then we’re not the type of men that I think we are.

“I haven’t been here long, but I’m a pretty good judge of character. I think these guys, all of us will look ourselves in the mirror, say this is how we need to get better and we will.”

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...-defense-lead-chargers-38-13-win-over-jaguars

JAGUARS REPORT CARD

Rushing Offense

F: It’s hard to establish a running attack when you fall behind early, keep turning the ball over, and never get into any offensive flow. Maurice Jones-Drew was rendered a non-factor. He didn’t help the cause by allowing linebacker Antwan Applewhite to strip him of the ball on third-and-1, killing the opening second-half drive.

Passing Offense

F: The raging inconsistency that has defined David Garrard surfaced again. One week after posting the best passer rating (138.9) of his career, he posted an abysmal 62.7. Garrard threw three first-half interceptions, including an underthrown deep ball to an open Tiquan Underwood in which he was well-protected. On another pick, he forced a ball to Mike Thomas in which linebacker Brandon Siler was right in Garrard’s sight line. Just inexcusable.

Run defense

D+: It didn’t seem to matter whether Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles or Mike Tolbert carried the ball. The Chargers just methodically wore down a fatigued Jaguars defense in the second half. By the way, who in the world is Mike Tolbert? Actually, he’s an undrafted free agent from Coastal Carolina who gashed the Jaguars for 82 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Just another thing that went wrong on a day when everything did.

Pass defense

D-: On the plus side, two replacement starters, safety Courtney Greene and cornerback David Jones, came up with interceptions while the outcome was still somewhat in doubt. But overall, Philip Rivers (22 for 29, 334 yards, 3 TDs) averaged 10.0 yards per attempt, many on short passes that resulted in major yards after the catch. Sproles’ 43-yard reception, in which he broke three tackles, set up San Diego’s third TD and was a microcosm of a very bad day.

Special teams

B: The Jaguars’ most dependable unit didn’t have its usual productive return day, though one Tiquan Underwood kick return across midfield was nullified by a penalty. But Rashad Jennings came up with a blocked punt that set up a field that cut the Chargers’ lead to 14-6. That could have been a momentum-turner if the offense and defense had shown up. Kicker Josh Scobee hit field goals of 44 and 48 yards to stay perfect on the season.

Coaching

F: There’s no point in debating Jack Del Rio’s decision to deactivate Derek Cox in favor of David Jones because the team’s performance was too much of a debacle. Another West Coast flameout. This wasn’t about questionable play-calling, but poor execution, bad quarterback play and a fundamentally flawed defense. This horror show was the ninth time in their last 12 road games in which the Jaguars were out of the game before the fourth quarter.

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...-defense-lead-chargers-38-13-win-over-jaguars

 

TITANS

1. Protect. The. Football. ✗ Wow. What can I say? This really was the key to the game. 7 fumbles and 3 interceptions, resulting in 7 turnovers. Words can't describe how bad that is.

2. Get to Dennis Dixon early and often. ✓Dennis Dixon was sacked twice by halftime, and two more sacks came after halftime. The Titans are currently third in the league in sacks. The defensive line's pressure eventually got to him and he was injured out of the game. The defense was obviously not why we lost the game.

3. Get more receivers involved. ✓Justin Gage and Kenny Britt caught their first passes of the season, and eight different Titans received a catch. Nate Washington caught a touchdown pass,and almost had another one late.

4. Stop the run. ✓The Titans allowed 108 rushing yards and kept the Steelers to 3.2 yards per carry. Again, defense was not the reason we lost, so that is okay. 8 rushing plays were stopped behind the line of scrimmage. The Titans were caught on a 21 yard rush by Dennis Dixon and a 20 yard run by Rashard Mendenhall, but other than that, pretty good.

5. Win the special teams battle. ✗ This key, along with the first one is the reason we lost the game. On the opening kickoff, Antonio Brown scored a touchdown on a reverse on the first play of the game. At that point, I reasoned that the Steelers were going to score eventually, so might as well get it over with so the offense can get on the field. But no, Marc Mariani fumbles the kickoff and gives the ball right back to the Steelers. Mariani did come back with a nice return later, but the damage had been done. Bironas made his only field goal attempt, and Kern did fine.

http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2010/9/20/1700529/steelers-titans-5-keys-to-victory



There's a lot of stuff flying around about last weeks loss and I feel like putting my thoughts into a few comments here and there just wouldn't do the job this time, so here we go.

Issue #1: The Quarterback "Situation".

Notice it's in quotes. There's no situation at all to speak of if we're talking about who's going to start. Vince is the starter next week, he'll probably be the starter the week after that and the week after that too. Yeah, the benching pissed me off and pissed off a lot of other people too, but that isn't to say he won't be the starter unless this totally screws up his psyche which I don't see happening, as much as I hate to say it, it seems like he's motivated (via Twitter!) There are tons of reasons he shouldn't have been benched. To name a few:



* It's a 10 point game at the end of the third quarter. One good drive puts you right back in it if you even consider 10 points a deficit.
* Vince has been clutch as hell in the past. Music City March, Natl. Championship, etc.
* Kerry Collins is bad
* It gives *******s like Denton Ramsey (article #4 in the Morning Links) an excuse to put pen to paper
* It creates another quarterback "controversy"
* The Steelers D might just be the best in the league this year; Vince Young threw THREE (count 'em!) THREE incomplete passes all day. It was only ten attempts, but where does three incomplete passes and getting stripped by an unblocked James Harrison deserve a benching? Call it what you want, rattled, frustrated, whatever, you've got to let the captain go down with the ship and let him come out more experienced after it.
* Kerry Collins is bad
* The O-line had it's hands full all day with the Pittsburgh front seven. The LB corp is extremely deep and talented, the line has some studs on it, and all of this combined with a dehydrated Mike Otto and a questionable Michael Roos and you have a recipe for disaster for any quarterback, even one as mobile as Vince Young.
* We all know this by now, but there were plenty of quarterbacks playing worse football on Sunday, September 19, at around 3 PM Central Time.
* He clearly doesn't react well to this kind of thing...what, too soon?
* Oh, and did I mention, KERRY COLLINS SUCKS!

So there's that, agree, disagree, I don't care, all I'm saying is that Vince didn't need to be benched.

Issue #2: The Defense.

Something positive to take away however was the incredible defense that we're playing right now. With all the turnovers that we gave up in that game they could have just mailed it in and been content to simmer but they fought hard until the end and because of it, we almost came out with a chance to send it to overtime in the end there. Oh and as a small detail, WE HAVE THE NUMBER ONE DEFENSE IN THE LEAGUE in terms of yards allowed. I couldn't be happier with the way that Griff has stepped it back up to 2008 level, the D-line is penetrating and punishing, Derrick Morgan looks great, and the LB corp does what a Titans LB corp does best; be anonymously good.

Issue (and boy do I mean ISSUE) #3: The Offense.

In short, it was offensive.

CJ2K had a good game if you add that touchdown that was called back for "holding" on Amano halfway across the field. A 110 yard game against the Steelers is no joke. Too bad it was called back and the pursuit of Barry Sanders' record is over for now. It was still a hell of a run CJ. Even though there were a few chances that he had to break runs, he was totally worn out by the third quarter, Pittsburgh's defense was punishing yesterday, the heat was clearly affecting everyone on the field, and after taking that kind of beating, he looked exhausted out there. Ringer was non-existent after a solid first week scoring a touchdown against the Raiders to open up the year. The passing game, well it was decidedly average. Had VY been able to hang onto the ball better he probably would have stayed in. His pick in the end zone ended up being huge for Pittsburgh. I actually thought that Collins looked pretty good out there until I realized Pittsburgh wasn't bringing nearly as much pressure and he still threw a pick and fumbled. He threw a touchdown and lead a nice drive against the soft prevent D. Nate Washington still looks like our best receiver this year which is both a good and a bad thing. He caught the only touchdown of the day but Justin Gage actually lead the team in receiving yards and Britt was again a non-factor aside from the 2-point conversion.

Issue #4: TURNOVERS: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SO MANY TURNOVERS

Self-explanatory. Seven. Turnovers. The good news is that we only lost by eight points (hats off to the defense yet again) and won't have to see this team again for awhile if at all. The bad news is we play another team that really likes to rush the passer and isn't half bad at doing it next week. Picks weren't as much of an issue as fumbles. It's suddenly like we've got a whole team of Adrian Peterson's. If K-Bull forces a fumble I may just cry and with the way our line has played, I may be in need of more tissues.

Issue #5: The Play Calling.

Dick LeBeau is a genius. Mike Heimerdinger is not. That is all.

Just kidding there's more. If you watched it, you know that the play-calling was just abysmal. It's like the 'Dinger forgot that he's coaching a bunch of guys who do this for a living, not the St. Louis Rams.

This about wraps it up, I have some more stuff that I think I'm probably forgetting about, but if I remember it I'll just edit it in. So go to it, tell me what you think.

http://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2010/9/20/1700681/all-of-my-feelings-about-week-2

With seven turnovers — four lost fumbles and three interceptions — as well as the disarming of star running back Chris Johnson (just 34 yards on 16 carries) by Pittsburgh's defense, the Titans find themselves at a September crossroads.

"We don't write a loss like this off," linebacker Stephen Tulloch said. "We're a better team than that. We've got to find a way to get the job done."

Look, the Titans lost to a Steelers team that was down to essentially its fourth-string quarterback. Starter Ben Roethlisberger is serving a league-mandated suspension. No. 2 Byron Leftwich, who has been fighting a knee injury, was cut Friday to clear roster room for a defensive lineman. Third-teamer Dennis Dixon was injured on the first play of the second quarter.

That brought in 35-year-old Charlie Batch, a 13-year pro who last played against the Titans in 2001 when he was a fourth-year pro with Detroit.

Batch was more caretaker than playmaker. Spotted to a 10-3 lead, he attempted only 11 passes as the Steelers were content to run the ball, punt it away and watch their defense rattle the Titans into turnover after turnover.

It was ugly from the outset. With hundreds of Terrible Towel-waving Steelers fans infiltrating LP Field, the Steelers used a reverse to return the opening kickoff for what proved to be their only touchdown. Then Titans rookie Marc Mariani fumbled the ensuing kickoff.

"We should have overcome it," Titans Coach Jeff Fisher said. "But with seven turnovers — come on."
Quarterbacks struggle

Amid the grumbling and grousing about the horrible offensive performance, you could make out the whisper of a quarterback controversy.

With Vince Young struggling badly — two interceptions and a lost fumble while exhibiting an undeniable look of uncertainty — Fisher brought in old pro Kerry Collins early in the fourth quarter with the Titans down 16-3.

Collins had big problems of his own, but he managed to get the Titans into the end zone and complete a two-point conversion pass in the last minute. After a successful onside kick, Collins and the Titans had a couple of parting shots before Pittsburgh sealed things.

Now everything is fair game for radio talk shows, Internet message boards, bloggers and, OK, columnists. There's nothing like a quarterback controversy to turn idle minds into the devil's workshop just two weeks into the NFL season.

But there is no quarterback controversy. Nor should there be. Based on what he did in the final 10 games of '09 and how he handled business in the offseason and training camp, Young is the No. 1 quarterback.

"He's our starting quarterback and he will start this week, OK?" Fisher said.

The events of Sunday afternoon do create the shadow of a doubt, however. Everybody remembers what happened in the 2008 season opener against Jacksonville when Young initially declined to re-enter the game after a change of possession in the fourth quarter.

Later in that game, Young suffered a knee injury. Collins started the rest of the season.

Two years later, this should be an older, wiser, much more mature Young who arrives for work Monday. He should be able to put this behind him and move on.

The simple fact that Young readily entered the interview room and spoke with the media after the loss was a step in the right direction.

"Back in the day, you all probably wouldn't even see me talking to you all right now if I lost," he told reporters. "But right now, I'm more mature about the situation. I understand that things like this happen."

But don't think for a moment that Young's coaches and teammates won't be watching to see how he responds. It is an intriguing sidebar to a week of practice leading up to the Titans' first road game of the season, in New York against the Giants.

For his part, Collins said Young should remain the starter.

"As a starter, we all have games like Vince had," Collins said. "I've had 'em. Everybody that's played has had 'em. You go back to the guy that's your starter. I think Vince will be fine and learn from it and move on."

Other teammates said it's time to stay the course and stick with Young.

"He's worked hard to put himself in the position to be the starting quarterback," said tight end Bo Scaife. "They gave him the job so he deserves to come back and start. But you never know what the coaches feel and what the front office feels. We'll see how it turns out.

"For his sake, I hope he gets to come back because I know we need him to win."
Running game stopped

The quarterback two-step is just one of the Titans' problems. On Sunday, the Steelers showed the rest of the NFL what happens when Johnson is neutralized.

The only time he found any real daylight — an 85-yard touchdown sprint in the second quarter — it was negated by a holding call. And his string of consecutive 100-yard games was snapped at 12. Hall of Famer Barry Sanders holds the NFL record for consecutive 100-yard games with 14.

With Johnson rendered null and void, the Titans offense slipped out of its comfort zone. Throwing that many passes against a physical, blitz-happy defense like Pittsburgh is a recipe for disaster.

"Our plan coming in was to try to keep Chris Johnson contained and if we got beat, it was going to be by the quarterback position," Steelers linebacker James Harrison said.

Somewhere along the line, the Titans threw in the Terrible Towel.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...imer++Titans+take+big+step+in+wrong+direction

 

TEXANS

After wins, I usually have done a write-up for the game's unsung hero, but this is not a glorious Monday morning. It's hard to immediately look at a loss rationally after your team completely lays an egg. The morning after? Well, that's the time to begin looking at the flaming pile of wreckage behind us and begin our turn towards the next Sunday.

Firstly, the Texans did what fans asked of them - they had a winning September. They won two out of three September games so there will be no scrambling to make up for a bad start. Yes, they completely sucked yesterday, but at least the loss came in a non-conference, non-division game. The Texans are 2-1 with Oakland next. Houston is where we had hoped thought it would be, so the sky is not falling right now.

Also, starting left tackle Duane Brown missing the game didn't hurt the offensive line too badly. Rashad Butler did an admirable job on Dallas OLB DeMarcus Ware. Yes, the stat sheet shows Ware with three sacks, but Texans QB Matt Schaub held onto the ball entirely too long thanks to good Dallas coverage. There's also the fact that the Texans matched TE Joel Dreessen on Ware at times - this led to one of the Ware sacks. Butler made some second level blocks and stuffed a few Ware spin moves. If anything, the Texans should've run more draw plays to the left to slow down Ware's rush, but hindsight is 20-20. All that said, Butler proved to be an adequate left tackle and should be fine through the next three games.

That said, silver linings, however slight, will only go so far when the game was filled with many disappointing performances. The post-game write up has pretty much everything that went wrong, and I think, despite the immediate post-game state of mind, it's still fairly accurate. There were a lot of execution errors, and the team just looked like it didn't care. However, I feel compelled to expand on two contributing factors to the loss. After the jump, the spotlight is on Eugene Wilson and Frank Bush (no, that doesn't mean the defense is solely to blame for the loss, but the offense isn't going to look that bad every week) because there are some things that need to be said.

Star-divide
The first area of discussion is our starting FS Eugene Wilson. The fact that Wilson is still starting is a complete joke. After three weeks, it is obvious that there is absolutely no logical reason for Eugene to be starting.

The young secondary needs his veteran presence? Not really. They have given up 1,106 passing yards in three games. It really can't be any worse. Plus, Gary Kubiak, in his reasoning over the release of Jacques Reeves, said that they were going young in the secondary so why is old, injury prone Eugene Wilson starting? It certainly isn't his on-field performance.

If you haven't seen his on-field performance then let's catch you up. Every week, Eugene misses three or four tackles, is late in providing help in the deep zone, drops an interception or two, gets fooled on play action, and gets beat deep because he's zombie slow...when his job is to be the deepest man on the field. Seriously, this is what earns a multi-million dollar contract and starting spot? It's time for a change because the secondary is broken and needs a spark.

The Texans need to truly go young and give the faster, more athletic Troy Nolan a shot against Oakland. After three straight weeks of bad performances, it's time for the stone-handed zombie, otherwise known as Eugene Wilson, to hit the bench and stay there. Honestly, I'd rather cut Wilson because he's been that bad, but I'll settle for him sitting on the bench for the rest of the season. Is Nolan the answer? Who knows, but I know that Eugene Wilson isn't. He deserves to be benched.

Moving away from Wilson as wide receivers tend to do on Sundays, it's past time that defensive coordinator Frank Bush does something to plug the constantly exploited hole in his defense. Let me use a visual aid to show the Cover-2 Zone defense.

C2zdal_medium

You see those two yellow rings on that picture? The hole exists right between the cornerback's flat zone and safety's deep zone. Indianapolis, Washington, and Dallas have all picked on those two holes in the scheme. It's not bad defensive play per se, but it's just a flaw in the scheme which can be exaggerated with smart play design to occupy the safeties and corners. Heck, let's see a play that could exploit that hole if a quarterback has time to throw.

C2zdalpl_medium

The Cover-2 Zone is defeated with the routes (in orange). The outside linebackers are delayed just enough by the go routes, one cornerback is pulled away by the running back to his flat zone, and I can hit the receiver who slips between the distracted safety and cornerback who thinks that safety has the receiver behind him. As long as the quarterback has time to throw, that receiver will be there all day - especially if the safeties and linebackers aren't reading the play or quarterback.

We've now seen three weeks of plays similar to this one. Three weeks of commentators talking about those holes in the zone. However, Frank doesn't change the look or disguise it in anyway. Frank just goes back to the same basic scheme with no adjustment as if the holes were a fluke.

These holes are nothing new as this was written about during the summer. Frank, the questions I ask you are - How can you be surprised that coordinators are finding and exploiting these holes? We know the holes are there and people are attacking them, so why aren't you doing something to exploit what we know about their gameplan? At the very least, why are there no adjustments to fill that hole which will force teams to change their own plan of attack?

Oakland is next, so hopefully the Texans can show up and act like a professional football team. Sound off with your tempered, rational observations from yesterday's game. Or rant and rave. Or rip the team's performance. Frankly, all are warranted after yesterday's game.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9...ational-look-at-yesterday-eugene-wilson-frank

I think there'll be a theme to many of our posts this week, so I thought I'd whip out the fluffiest of the bunch. Ya see, Rivers will stop by with analysis, TDC will post something intelligent, Tim will figure out a way to involve Comcast, Viagra, Prep-H, or whoever else is sponsoring us these days, and MDC and DreKeem will continue to be figments of our collective imagination. So, after the jump, let's look at some unfancily dancily counting stats!

Star-divide

Here are your counting stat leaders after three games with a touch of commentary.

Tackles: Zac Diles - 21 solo tackles. BRB's favorite cost-effective player leads the team in tackles from his WLB spot. Of these 21 tackles, 20 of them were Dallas Clark catching balls in front of him. Or not. Diles has been good to very good in run support, but he's a liability in coverage if he has to turn upfield. Still, he's a pleasant surprise at the top of the list, and it's a testament to what's been a pretty good start. Honorable Mention: Bernard Pollard (19, many of which were either his own blown coverage or cleaning up blown coverage from a CB) and DeMeco Ryans (16).

Assists: Bernard Pollard - 11 assists. Let's be honest for a moment: Pollard's pile-jumping skills are elite, and that's less an insult than you might think (in this case, at least). Pollard wants to make damn sure the ball carrier is down, and that's a good thing, Martha. Honorable Mention: DeMeco Ryans (9) and Zac Diles (6). Obviously, these are your top three in total tackles.

Sacks: Mario Williams - 4 sacks. In his worst game I can remember, Mario failed to register a single counting stat yesterday. Not only that, but his play/rush/etc. was completely uninspired. Dare I say it looked like Mario was simply going through the motions yesterday? Because, here's the problem...Honorable Mention: Antonio Smith and Jesse Nading (.5 sacks each). And that's it. When Mario didn't show up yesterday, nobody else stepped up. And not a single sack by a non-defensive lineman. Plain hot dog FTL!

Interceptions: None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Nil.

Forced Fumbles: Bernard Pollard - 1 forced fumble. So, are you telling me we have created one turnover in three games? Really? Yep, that's it. Just one.

Passes Defensed: Kareem Jackson - 3 passes defensed. This is logical, considering how much teams have been picking on Jackson. It's something for him to hang is hat on, at least. Honorable Mention: Mario Williams, Glover Quin, DeMeco Ryans.

To me, there are two huge factors that stand out. First, our lack of non-Mario sacks. This has been a problem since Mario joined the team, and we've done little to help him out. Yes, Okoye and Smith have been extremely active, but putting the quarterback on the ground means something, too.

Secondly, one turnover forced. One. Sure, it was a big turnover, but most of them are. Between our failure to create turnovers and our horrid kick return game, our offense is often looking at a lot of grass to mow.

Give your grade on the defense to date in the poll!

Edit: I forgot to add one more nugget. Joel Dreessen has tallied 6 tackles so far this season, mostly (if not all) on special teams. He's the Swiss Army Knife of the team, capable of doing just about everything. In fact, he also leads the team in taking out the garbage before his wife yells at him. He's just that good.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/27/1715189/fun-with-defensive-numbers

Last Sunday, Andre Johnson aggravated the right ankle sprain he originally suffered against the Redskins in Week Two. 'Dre says he does not have "any doubts at all" about playing on Sunday in Oakland. While you can't question his toughness, should Kubes (or the medical staff) keep him off the field this week in an effort to let him heal?

Star-divide

First, here's a bit about the injury 'Dre is dealing with (scroll down to the section entitled "High Ankle Sprains"), via the website of an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in treating foot and ankle injuries. In short, and as you probably already knew, high ankle sprains are generally much more serious injuries than the typical ankle sprain. As a result, high ankle sprains take much longer to heal; the link above cites a study that found "the average recovery time for these injuries was more than 40 days" and notes that they are usually treated, at least initially, with a walking boot or cast.

Yet, at least for several hours on Sunday, Andre Johnson wouldn't be in a walking boot or cast. He'd be in cleats. Running. Cutting. Getting tackled. Not exactly the ideal healing process, even for a superhuman like 'Dre. Plus, it's not like this is a playoff game; there's another fourteen (14) games (and hopefully more, if a man can dream) to play after this week.

Thus, what should your Houston Texans do on Sunday? Send Andre Johnson out there on that bad ankle? Force him to sit this contest out for the long-term good of both 'Dre and the team, gambling that the Texans can move the ball on the Raiders without the best wide receiver in the game? Or is there a third option? Namely, running 'Dre out there as a decoy, so Oakland (and presumably Nnamdi Asomugha) has to account for him?

Personally, I'd keep 'Dre tethered to the sidelines, but my livelihood isn't tied to the Texans winning football games. Mental health, yes, but not livelihood. If I was Gary Kubiak, I'd probably employ the third option. What would you do if you were in Kubes' shoes? Express yourself in the poll and the Comments.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/9/29/1719757/should-the-texans-sit-andre-johnson-sunday-in-oakland

 

COLTS

Run Offense: F

Running game? Who needs a running game? After the game, Peyton Manning made a point to say he thinks the Colts running game will become more consistently productive, especially when they're healthy, but they were an utter no-show Sunday. Except for one huge Joseph Addai third-down run in the red zone, it went nowhere. The ugly numbers: 22 carries for 40 yards, a lusty 1.8 average. The Broncos played a lot of nickel coverage, but that didn't seem to make a difference. And, as we're finding out now, the Giants really aren't very good.
Pass Offense: A

Balance? Who needs balance? And why do I keep asking these questions? What is this, "Jeopardy?" The Broncos took away Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne, but Austin Collie had a career game and Blair White caught a touchdown pass. This wasn't one of those days when Indy receivers were running free and easy; there were defenders all over them. But Manning fit passes into the smallest of openings. With any other quarterback except (maybe) Tom Brady, the Colts lose this game. It has reached the point, you're almost numb to the things No. 18 does. It should also be mentioned that Jeff Linkenbach, replacing Charlie Johnson, started his first game at left tackle and held up.
Run Defense: A

The Broncos came into the game averaging a paltry 2.4 yards per rush, and that was with Knowshon Moreno. Sunday, they averaged 2.6 with Moreno out with an injury. Just one man's observation, but Laurence Maroney hasn't looked like the same runner since Bob Sanders blew him up a couple of years ago. The Colts' goal-line stand was a thing of brutish beauty. It's hard to believe Houston pushed this group around two weeks ago. They were ridiculously stout when it mattered.
Pass Defense: F

Who are these guys? First week, they get gashed on the ground. Second week, they're the 1985 Bears. Sunday, they got worked over by Kyle Orton. They did get a Jacob Lacey interception -- and just missed on a few other occasions -- but that was about the only thing that went right. I wouldn't want to be in the defensive meetings these next few days. On a day when the Broncos started two rookies and another lineman getting the first action of his career, the Colts got a negligible-to-nonexistent pass rush. Giving up 476 yards is a little ridiculous. Check that: a LOT ridiculous.
(Page 2 of 2)

Special Teams: A-

There's no truth to the rumor Pat McAfee attempted to smuggle some 5,280-foot altitude onto the team plane. He was a human touchback machine, 6-for-6. After a Denver penalty, he kicked off from the 45 and sent it to Boulder. (Thin air is fun, isn't it? Used to hit my 9-iron 150 yards in this stuff. Didn't help the putting, though.) Beyond that, the Colts recovered a fumbled punt, leading to a field goal. And Adam Vinatieri is quietly having a nice comeback season.
Coaching: A

Jim Caldwell gets an A for two reasons: First, he challenged Maroney's apparent touchdown run on fourth-and-goal at the Indy 1-yard line. And he won. Maroney's knee was definitely down. It could have been 13-7. Instead, it was 13-0. Second, he wasn't Josh McDaniels. The Broncos seem to be a well-coached team that does a lot of interesting things on both sides of the ball, but McDaniels goofed by going for it on fourth-and-3 at the Colts 12 with his team trailing just 20-13. Before the play, in my notes I wrote "DUMB!!!!"

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100927/SPORTS03/9270343

An encouraging bit of injury news last night involved Colts rookie linebacker Kavell Conner. Conner, who fractured his foot in the Colts 27-13 win over the Broncos this past Sunday, had surgery to repair the injury yesterday but has NOT, at present, been placed on Injured Reserve.

Fractured foots, post surgery, take about six-eight weeks to heal. So, we might see Kavell back on the field by mid-late November. If the Colts hold the roster spot for Conner, that must mean they think highly of the kid. He was filling in quite well fro Clint Session, who has been out the last two weeks with a hamstring injury. Session might be back this weekend against the Jaguars.

The loss of Conner is likely to be felt on special teams, though the promotion of Blair White from the practice squad to the active roster could assist in that. White was a fairly decent special teams player in pre-season.

With the news that Tom Brandstater was cut from the practice squad, it seems like White will remain on the active list while the Colts search for, possibly, another player to fill out the practice squad.

[UPDATE]: Paul Kuharsky says Colts hope to have Conner back in eight weeks and will not, at present, IR him.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/9/...vell-conner-has-surgery-on-fractured-foot-not

 

JAGUARS

Explosive plays have been killing the Jaguars' defense in their first three games.

Even in a win against Denver, Jacksonville allowed six plays longer than 20 yards and a 17-yard run.

A lot of teams give up big plays, but few at the rate Jacksonville has.

The Jaguars are tied for last in the league with the Rams by allowing 18 plays of 20 or more yards. They've allowed two runs and 16 passes at that distance.

The Jaguars' defense has been better against the run than the pass.

An explosive run is a run that's longer than 10 yards. The Jaguars are 23rd in the league in defending explosive runs -- they've allowed 11. They rank last in the league in allowing passes of 20 or more yards with 16 of those.

Until this weekend against the Eagles, only one of those big plays resulted in a touchdown. Philip Rivers threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Floyd in San Diego.

Against the Eagles, the ten longest plays the Jaguars allowed included all four of their touchdowns. Three of those were explosive plays. There was that 61-yard pass to DeSean Jackson, the 45-yarder to Jeremy Maclin and Michael Vick's 17-yard run.

It's a problem everybody involved in the Jaguars defense knows needs to be fixed. The reason is pretty obvious.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blo...8/closer-look-explosive-plays-against-jaguars

Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said he is pleased with Derek Cox's progress since the cornerback was benched after a rough season-opener.

Both Cox and Del Rio concurred that the cornerback tended to overthink things, and that was leading to mistakes.

"There was a time early in the year where he had a lot of clutter really going on," Del Rio said. "I mean things that were getting his attention that had nothing to do with playing cornerback for us and helping us win games, and he just needed to settle down."

"He's a young player. He cares a lot. He works hard. ... I think he's done the things that we hoped he would do, and he is settled down, and I think he is ready to play good football for us."

Cox was inactive in San Diego and was active but did not play against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday.

Del Rio declined to say whether Cox would start this Sunday against Peyton Manning and the Colts. The Jaguars could have three starters in their defensive backfield who haven't played the past three weeks in Cox, safety Anthony Smith and safety Gerald Alexander, who was signed on Monday.

Running history vs. Colts

Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney has a pretty good idea what to expect from the Jaguars this Sunday.

"They're definitely not going to go out there and surprise a lot of people," Freeney said. "They're going to run the ball. They're confident in their running game. I would expect it. They have a horse back there. It's our job to stop it."

The Colts haven't done the best job of that lately.

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew has a history of big games against the Colts. He does better against Indianapolis than any other team.

In eight games against the Colts, only three as a starter, Jones-Drew has 139 carries and 778 yards for a 5.6 average.

He has seven rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns against the Colts. He's had four 100-yard rushing games.

His inability to pop one of his signature long runs or score a touchdown yet this season has frustrated the running back.

Despite that, Jones-Drew is still in the top 10 in the NFL in yards rushing with 217.

Ticket update

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Jaguars had 525 general-bowl tickets to sell to avoid a blackout for Sunday's game against the Colts. They have until 4 p.m. today to sell those tickets for the game to be televised locally.

Jacksonville has yet to have a game blacked out this season, a year after nine of 10 home games were blacked out.

Injury update

Justin Durant missed practice oWednesday, continuing his recovery from an ankle sprain he suffered against San Diego. Durant missed last week's practices and did not play against Philadelphia.

Safety Sean Considine missed Wednesday's practice with a hamstring injury.

Defensive tackle Landon Cohen was limited with a knee injury.

The Colts listed 13 players on their injury report, with running back Joseph Addai (knee), linebacker Gary Brackett (back), offensive tackle Charlie Johnson (foot), defensive back Jerraud Powers (foot) and center Jeff Saturday (knee) practicing fully.

Running back Donald Brown (hamstring), linebacker Kavell Conner (foot), Freeney (rest), receiver Pierre Garcon (hamstring), receiver Anthony Gonzalez (ankle), defensive back Brandon King (hamstring), defensive back Bob Sanders (biceps) and linebacker Clint Session (hamstring) all did not practice.

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...ebook-del-rio-not-saying-if-cb-derek-cox-will

After a 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville left knowing exactly what needed to be fixed defensively. It was the same problem the Jaguars had the week before.

Their opponent was converting too many impact plays.

"We definitely have to stop some deep balls," Jaguars cornerback Rashean Mathis said. "We have to stop the deep balls and the deep passes. There's no denying that. We have to be better. ...

"Two plays make the whole thing look terrible. We have to figure out how we're going to stop those plays that's happening every game."

Photo Gallery: Jaguars vs. Eagles: Were you spotted?

The Eagles' first touchdown came by virtue of just such a play. After defensive tackle Terrance Knighton sacked Eagles quarterback Michael Vick 9 yards back, Vick responded with a 61-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson.

Jackson also caught a 42-yard pass in the third quarter. Vick also threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin in the third quarter.

"We knew they had explosive players," Knighton said. "We allowed them to make plays. We gave Vick so much time and he torched us."

Cox sits again

The Jaguars sat cornerback Derek Cox for the second consecutive game.

Against the San Diego Chargers, Cox was inactive after he struggled against the Denver Broncos. Against the Eagles Cox was active but did not play.

David Jones started in place of Cox and fell victim to the Eagles' dynamic playmakers. Jones got beat on the 45-yard touchdown pass to Maclin and a 42-yard pass to Jackson that set up Vick's touchdown run.

Jones-Drew still scoreless

Running back Maurice Jones-Drew has yet to score a touchdown. It is the first time since 2007 Jones-Drew has gone three games in a season without a touchdown.

"It's more than just me," Jones-Drew said. I want to win. I could care less about the personal stats. I know I joke around about fantasy and all that, and that's cool, but my job as an offensive running back is to get the offense going so we can get in the end zone and score and win games."

Photo Gallery: Jaguars lose to Eagles 28-3

Jones-Drew had 88 yards on 22 attempts and broke off three double-digit runs. He had a 17-yard run in the first quarter, a 12-yard run in the second quarter and a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Elsewhere

K Josh Scobee is still perfect this season. Scobee had made three of three field goals and four of four point after attempts in the Jaguars first two games. Scobee was also perfect in the preseason. ... FB Brock Bolen, DE Austen Lane, OL Kevin Haslam and TE Zach Potter were inactive for the game. ... RB Deji Karim (thumb), S Anthony Smith (foot), DT Landon Cohen (leg) and LB Justin Durant (ankle) were inactive with injuries.

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...notebook-deep-trouble-jaguars-torched-defense

The frustration was evident in Jaguars guard Uche Nwaneri’s voice as he sat at his locker folloing the Jaguars’ 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. He spoke politely, but forcefully as he searched for answers to a game that featured the fifth-lowest offensive output in Jaguars history.

It was the third-lowest under coach Jack Del Rio and the first time since Dec. 26, 2004, that the Jaguars had three or fewer points at home. On that day, Jacksonville lost to the Houston Texans 21-0.

“This game was a big disappointment for us,” Nwaneri said. “It’s frustrating because you put in so much hard work. We know what kind of work we put in during the week. Film study and practicing. That’s from the heart.”

History aside, the task at hand for Nwaneri and his fellow offensive linemen was to help fix that.

After two solid outings in which quarterback David Garrard was sacked only three times, the Jaguars allowed six sacks for losses of 51 yards. By contrast, the Eagles, who came into the game as the NFL’s leader in sacks allowed with 11, allowed only three sacks for 24 yards.

Four of the sacks allowed by the Jags came in the second half as they tried to dig out of a 14-3 deficit.

Eben Britton and left tackle Eugene Monroe knew they had tough matchups ahead of them. The second-year players faced two top-tier defensive ends. Monroe faced Pro Bowl end Trent Cole for much of the game and Britton, who has been battling leg injuries since training camp, lined up against first-round draft pick Brandon Graham.

“I’ll just say I didn’t have the best day I could have out there,” Monroe said.

Photo Gallery: Jaguars vs. Eagles: Were you spotted?

Cole finished the game with two sacks, four quarterback hurries and a pass defensed.

“We were determined to come down here and win,” Cole said. “We had one goal in mind.”

Compounding a frustrating afternoon were two personal-foul penalties called on Nwaneri.

The more costly one came in the second quarter.

Facing a second-and-2, Garrard scrambled to pick up the yards, but a personal foul penalty negated the call. Refs called Nwaneri for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Eagles defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley, who lost his helmet on the hit.

Photo Gallery: Jaguars lose to Eagles 28-3

“The ref didn’t say nothing; I asked him a million times, he didn’t say nothing,” Nwaneri said. “They said I aimed for the head of a defenseless player. When he’s looking me dead in the eyes, I don’t think he’s defenseless. He saw me coming. He braced and I went to block him. I wasn’t aiming for his head, I aimed for his chest. The refs are going to call it how they call it. It’s whatever, I guess.”

While the Jaguars’ offense struggled, the Eagles continued to score and the deficit grew. As it did, the offensive line’s task grew tougher.

“Once you get down that far, they just open up the flood gates,” Britton said. “They were just having fun out there, bringing everything they had. That makes it tough on us.”

Said Nwaneri: “The hardest part of being a lineman is when you get in a situation like that. Now you’ve got to defend so many things at one time. We’ve gotta give Dave time back there. It just wasn’t good enough.”

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...gles-carve-beleaguered-jaguars-offensive-line

n a funeral-like atmosphere of the postgame locker room, the Jaguars vowed to repair what might be the biggest mess in franchise history. But those words seem hollow at the moment.

Never in the team’s existence had the Jaguars absorbed back-to-back embarrassing defeats like this, a pair of 25-point debacles on the banks of two different oceans. There was no West Coast curse to explain away Sunday’s team-wide blasé performance at EverBank Field.

This 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles *— featuring a Jaguars offense that made only one lousy entrance into the red zone and a pass defense that made Michael Vick look like Tom Brady on his best day — is undoubtedly the lowest point of the eight-year Jack Del Rio era.

About the only consolation is it’s just the third week of the season. Still, it’s impossible to look as pathetically overmatched as the Jaguars have in the past two weeks without thinking this team is on a dreadful path, and wondering if they can right the ship.

Maurice Jones-Drew made a bold proclamation afterward that makes for a great sound bite when he said: “I promise you, guys, it’ll be fixed. It’ll be fixed tomorrow. Guaranteed.”

There was conviction in his voice. However, you’ll have to pardon the 63,256 spectators that witnessed the Jaguars malfunctioning again at every turn if Jones-Drew’s words don’t seem like a politician’s campaign promise.

It sounds good on tape, but there’s the matter of seeing a team endure breakdown after breakdown on both sides of the ball.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a redemption game following that 38-13 meltdown against the San Diego Chargers? The response was a 60-minute production that will be a greater nightmare for the coaching staff when they turn on the game video.

“Certainly the last two games, not what we’re looking for, not what we had in mind for the Jaguars 2010,” said Del Rio in what might be the day’s biggest understatement.

It was brutal beyond description. We watched David Garrard look more lost than ever as a quarterback, throwing one interception and nearly having four other passes picked off. It didn’t help that his protection, especially from offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton, at times resembled a couple of turnstiles.

“I think we’re all stunned,” center Brad Meester said. “We don’t want anything like that to happen out there. Three points is not acceptable for us. It starts up front. We got to protect David. We got to take a hard look at ourselves and get better this week.”

Sadly, there will be no protecting Garrard from the cascade of criticism that will surely descend upon him now. A lot of players deserve failing marks for the Jaguars not having 100 yards in total offense until late in the third quarter. But in the NFL, a quarterback with a $60 million contract is usually the first to have his feet held to the fire when things go bad, even if he endures six sacks in the process.

“If I didn’t feel mystified, something would be wrong with me,” said Garrard, who completed just 13 of 30 passes for 105 yards. “You can’t come out in the opener [against the Denver Broncos], play as great as we did, then have two games where it’s like, 'What team is this? What offense is this? What passing game is this?’ ”

One thing clearly recognizable was the pass defense. The secondary was the same confused, suspect, big play-allowing unit that permits quarterbacks of varying skill level to upgrade their numbers at the Jaguars’ expense.

Vick, given the controversial start by Andy Reid despite Kevin Kolb no longer having concussion issues, made his head coach look like a genius for using his more mobile quarterback.

Vick was off-target and uncomfortable on a lot of passes, but his highlights of three exquisite touchdown passes and a 17-yard scramble for another score will be the indelible moments from this beat-down.

Opposing Viewpoint: Michael Vick has game Donovan McNabb wanted

“He holds the ball longer than a normal quarterback would and you just have to keep with your second efforts and keep hunting,” defensive tackle Tyson Alualu said. “That’s how you have to play him.”

But Vick’s escapability doesn’t account for how the Jaguars could possibly look this bad for a second consecutive week, especially during a season where the team’s future seemed to brighten with an uptick in ticket sales.

Now those fans who were willing to jump back on the Jaguars’ bandwagon have to be wondering what their team is going to do, with the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning as the next obstacle, to turn things around.

“Man, this is frustrating,” said guard Uche Nwaneri, flagged twice for 15-yard personal foul penalties. “It’s disappointing. You feel angry. You feel sad. You feel cheated. You ask yourself, 'we’ve put in all this work, how come it’s not coming together when it counts?’ ”

This Philadelphia story was so bad, it almost looked like the beginning of the end for the head coach and starting quarterback.

If the Jaguars don’t get this thing turned around fast, it will be.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blo...-frenette-jack-del-rio-era-hits-new-low-after

 

TITANS

He was the surprise star among Titans rookies during the preseason, a fourth-round selection that outshone more highly touted peers with his playmaking ability.

On Sunday, cornerback Alterraun Verner is likely to get the biggest test of his very young career.

He's expected to get his first pro start, and it would be against a Broncos team that piled up almost 500 yards of passing in last week's loss to the Colts.

Welcome to the NFL, kid.

"I'm definitely excited,'' Verner said.

Jason McCourty started the first three games, but the second-year pro is coming off surgery to repair a broken forearm and will be out several weeks.

The Titans have confidence in Verner. He started impressing immediately in offseason practices by picking off passes left and right. He also had an interception in his first preseason game and recovered a fumble in his third.

"He's played at an exceptionally high level from the first day he stepped into the facility,'' secondary coach Marcus Robertson said. "So we've got high expectations for the guy. He's got great instincts, he's got natural ball-skills and even better than that, he's very, very smart.''

But is Verner ready to be a target?

The Broncos rank second in passing yardage and have already set an NFL record this season — they're the first team to have four wide receivers with at least 10 catches, 140 yards and one touchdown through the first three games.

And with former Pro Bowl selection Cortland Finnegan lining up at one corner, Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton is likely to send a lot of action in Verner's direction.

"You certainly know who's out there on both sides and we have a great deal of respect for Finnegan,'' Broncos Coach Josh McDaniel said. "He's been to the Pro Bowl. He's certainly deserving of all the accolades and respect he gets. But … we're going to try to run our offense the best we can without getting caught up and overdoing it in terms of matchups.

"I'm sure we'll have some things called that will test Verner and there are some things that will go the other way, too.''

One plus for Verner is that he spent much of the preseason practicing with the first-team defense because Finnegan was sidelined with an injury. So there's already a degree of comfort.

"It's definitely a benefit,'' Verner said. "It allowed us to have a rapport with each other, so they feel confident with me, and things of that nature. We're still learning, especially me with them. But it's an added advantage.''

If there's any cause for concern, it's that Verner has occasionally been beaten on long balls. Some deep passes in the preseason were overthrown, and a 43-yard completion from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham last Sunday was negated by a penalty.

"Sometimes when you expect the ball to come out quick, you might do some different things on the edge,'' Robertson said. "But for the most part, he does an excellent job of playing the ball in there and keeping the ball in front of him.''

It should come as no surprise that Verner, who was a math whiz at UCLA, tends to play the numbers when it comes to defending deep balls.

"Because the deep ball is such a low-percentage play, even if you get beat on it or if they are successful in getting it off, the timing you have to have a for a deep ball really has to be there,'' Verner said. "You're going to get beat sometimes. You don't want it to happen. You're going to have balls caught on you.

"But just worrying about the deep ball is just going to take you out of the game, and it's only going to be maybe four or five plays in the game.''

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100930/SPORTS01/9300327/2162/Titans+rookie+hopes+to+pass+test

Chris Johnson ran left and right. On occasion during the first half of Sunday's 29-10 win over the Giants, the Titans changed things up a bit and had quarterback Vince Young hand Johnson the ball for a run up the middle.

Through three games, Johnson has more carries (75) than any other running back in the league. Young, meanwhile, has thrown fewer passes (43) than any other starting quarterback. He was 3-of-4 passing in the first half against the Giants and finished 10-of-16 for 118 yards and a touchdown.

Critics might have considered the game plan too vanilla, but Coach Jeff Fisher said Monday it contained no hidden message about Young's status.

"It has nothing to do with confidence in our quarterback. It had to do with the game plan and trying to get the run game going, and that was our approach," Fisher said. "We won. We put 29 points on the board against a good defensive opponent.

"But every week is different, every opponent is different, every challenge is different. It's not our preference to throw the ball 16 times and run it 40 and win 10-7. We want to score as many points as we can.''

Several players admitted that riding Johnson, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, is a sound concept, but they still would like to see the ball in the air more often.

Young said "we definitely want to throw the ball around,'' in part to take some pressure off Johnson. Receiver Nate Washington said all he does is "run the plays that are called," but wants his fellow pass-catchers to remain patient.

Said tight end Bo Scaife: "We just have to go out there and do our jobs, but it is frustrating to guys who like making plays and know they can make plays. But we have a great running back with C.J., so you can't be mad. We just have to go with what works.''

Fisher reiterated he was pleased with how Young bounced back from being benched against the Steelers. On Sunday, The Tennessean reported Young missed or arrived late for at least two meetings leading up to the Pittsburgh game, prompting questions about his preparation.

"What's fact is that was two games ago now," Fisher said. "He came back and played well. We have moved on.''

http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...28/2162/Fisher+defends+Titans++pass-run+ratio

Negativity swirled around Vince Young all week like the winds of the Meadowlands.

Coming off one of his worst performances, every part of his game was questioned, from his level of preparedness after missing meetings, to his abilities under pressure, to his maturity as a fifth-year pro quarterback. In Week 2, it seemed like his entire season was on the brink.

For at least a game, however, Young answered his critics as the Titans beat the Giants 29-10 on Sunday at New Meadowlands Stadium.

Young wasn't asked to do much. He threw only four passes in the first half and finished the game 10-of-16 for 118 yards and a touchdown. But after throwing two interceptions, fumbling twice and getting benched in a loss to the Steelers, he played a key role in this victory by being mistake-free.

"I knew all eyes would be watching,'' Young said. "My teammates, I wanted to show them guys that it was definitely a rough week, but … that I put that in past and got myself prepared to play so we could get a victory. I wanted to be consistent.''

So what was the difference? Young's renewed commitment to preparation.

Sources familiar with the situation said Young missed or arrived late for at least two meetings leading up to the Pittsburgh game, including one Friday. While he was excused for one meeting, sources said Young's overall approach lacked the seriousness it needed.

That might explain why Coach Jeff Fisher didn't hesitate to pull Young and replace him with Kerry Collins in the fourth quarter when the Titans trailed the Steelers by only 13 points.

Young's teammates were impressed by the way their quarterback responded against the Giants, even though running back Chris Johnson's 125-yard, two-touchdown game and a defense that forced three turnovers were the big reasons for the convincing victory.

"You guys always ask, 'How's Vince matured?' Well, what he did today shows you,'' guard Jake Scott said. "He did what a professional does. He had a bad week last week — there is no other way around it. But he came out and played a great game and made plays when he needed to. He protected the ball and did everything we asked him to do. It was really just a professional performance on his part.''

Said tight end Bo Scaife: "I knew 'V' was going to bounce back. That is just his mojo. If he has a bad week then he is going to have three or four good ones. … Everyone came down on him and wanted to raise this question about this and that, but he knows what comes with being a quarterback.''

Young was calm but focused during the week, Johnson said.

"He didn't come in pouting or with his head down or mad at the coaches or whatever," he said. "He just came in not saying too many things to a lot of people, but he came in with a business face and worked on his game. I never doubted Vince's abilities. He's a great player.''

The Titans (2-1) won despite losing the total yardage battle 471-271. The defense forced two turnovers when the Giants (1-2) had the ball inside the 5-yard line, and while quarterback Eli Manning passed for 386 yards, he didn't throw for a touchdown.

The game was 10-10 at halftime then Young engineered three scoring drives in the second half, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Kenny Britt.

"It was a difficult week for our quarterback, but he is a real pro," Fisher said. "He prepared, bounced right back and he played very, very well. I fully expected him to bounce back. … He made some great throws.''

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100927/SPORTS01/9270324/2162/Vince+Young+finds+his+form

 

TEXANS

Two days later, I'm still not sure how to describe what we saw transpire at Reliant on Sunday. Rivers deemed it "easily the worst loss of the Schaub Era, and probably the worst loss of the Kubiak Era." I think that's a fair analysis, particularly with regard to Matt Schaub, whose play was simply detestable in every possible facet. Unfortunately, we could probably spend a great deal of time dissecting whether this loss was the worst one of the Kubiak Era, as there are a handful of other deserving candidates for the honor.

The most disappointing part, to me, is that entering this season, I thought the Texans had passed the days of getting totally blown out. I really thought that eggs in the form of what was laid against the Jets in the 2009 season opener (PGB for that pathetic display here and here, if you want to subject yourself to the pain again) were history. And yet, we're treated to debacles like what we witnessed against the Giants on Sunday and the Cowboys in Week Three. 40% of the time this season, your Houston Texans have looked totally unprepared and completely failed to execute. Games like that, where we wonder if the Texans even got the memo that they weren't on a bye that week, make me wonder how a team that looked so good against Indianpolis can transform into a squad that looks like an homage to the 2005 Houston Texans. Inevitably, I have a whole lot more questions than answers right now. The inquisition begins after the jump.

Star-divide

1. What happened to Matt Schaub? He looked skittish and unsure of what to do with the ball. When he did manage to get rid of the ball, it found a Texan less than half the time. I also can't recall seeing a 6'5" NFL QB getting so many passes tipped at the line. Since his arrival in Houston, I can't remember him ever looking as bad as he looked on Sunday.

2. How can the Texans not hand the ball off to Arian Foster on their opening drive? On their first four (4) possessions, how does Foster only get four carries?

3. What happened to the offensive line? Was their failure predominantly inspired by the Giants' excellence?

4. Why is Steve Slaton still returning kicks?

5. Not to disrespect the Giants, because they looked like world-beaters, but how does an offense as talented as the Texans' post less than 200 total yards?

6. Andre Johnson did not look right. As great as he is, and as profound an impact as he has on opposing defenses who have to account for him, I really question the wisdom of letting him play last Sunday. This Sunday too, for that matter. Was it just not feasible to rest him through the bye week to allow him to attack the remaining 10 games of the schedule as close to healthy as possible?

7. The lone bright spot from the offense's perspective was Owen Daniels. He looked more like the pre-injury OD than he has at any point this season.

8. Troy Nolan wasn't lighting the world on fire or anything, but I fail to understand why Eugene Wilson got as many snaps as he did.

9. Interceptions for Sherrick McManis and Kareem Jackson. They were akin to someone scooping water off the deck of the Titanic with a teacup.

10. Here's an idea for Frank Bush: Blitz 11 on every snap. Not like your secondary can keep anyone from catching the ball anyway, and you might occasionally get to the QB before he can get rid of the ball.

11. I like to think that every Sunday, in a bunker somewhere at an undisclosed location, Glenn Earl, Petey Faggins, Will Demps, Lewis Sanders, Eric Brown, and Jason Simmons gather to watch the Texans' secondary and say, "I could not possibly be worse than that. How do those guys have jobs and I don't?" At the same time, though in different cities, C.C. Brown, Dunta Robinson, and Phillip Buchanon all laugh nervously and refresh NFL.com to make sure they're still on active rosters.

12. The problem with benching Kareem Jackson is that it means you have to pick another Texans CB to replace him. None of the options strike me as palatable.

13. Looks like someone got a little carried away predicting the impact Brian Cushing would have in his return. I'm the "Do" of Texans fans.

14. There's a whole lot to question about Gary Kubiak, Rick Dennison, and Frank Bush right now. I'd like to narrow the focus...can someone explain to me why, trailing 24-3 early in the third quarter, Kubes would elect to punt from the NYG 38? I know it was 4th and 13, and I know it ultimately meant nothing, as Kareem Jackson picked off Eli Manning on the next series. But if you're trying to win the game there--I know, I know, suspend your disbelief for a second--why are you giving the ball back? Why not go for it?

The roller coaster continues on Sunday, when the 3-1 Kansas City Chiefs come to town. Will your Houston Texans be playing the part of Dr. Jekyll? Or Mr. Hyde? I haven't the foggiest. All I know is that I'll be sporting my "Houston Texans Away Team" patch.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/10/12/1747246/post-game-breakdown-giants-embarrass-texans

No one would argue that defending the pass is the biggest problem for the Houston defense. The Texans are giving up 329.6 net passing yards per game1- 32nd in the NFL. Two other teams (Buffalo and Jacksonville) have allowed higher quarterback ratings2 than Houston, but those two are 11th and 29th in terms of yards, respectively. In other words, it's pretty bad no matter how you look at it, despite the fact that the numbers from the last three games (275 YPG with four interceptions) are much lower than the first two games (411 YPG with no interceptions).

The debates begin when it turns to "The Blame Game." Is it the rookie's fault? Is it a lack of safeties? Bad play? Is it schematic failure? Was there a lack of foresight on the part of management to prepare for this season?

Well, let's breakdown the pass defense in terms of positional success. Luckily, there's a graph below to help out. After the graph, I break down some of the statistics and give reasons as to how certain positions are faring. There are some positives, too, so it's not all gloom-and-doom. I'll give you a shocker: Kareem Jackson isn't the biggest problem.

Memo to Frank Bush: You may want to cover the tight ends because allowing nearly 100 yards a game to a TE is beyond bad - especially since no other team is allowing more than 82 YPG to the TE. The 79%(!!!!!!!!!!) increase in yardage from 2009 to 2010 is, by far, the biggest difference in pass defense. The increase is especially bad when you realize that the 2009 Texans allowed the 10th-highest yards to a TE last year and had the 3rd worst DVOA versus the TE3. In 2010, receptions, yards, and touchdowns to the tight ends have accounted for ~28% of the totals given up by Houston. Another bad stat? The DVOA against the TE is an awful 44.8%, third-worst in the NFL. In the Cover-2 Zone defense, the tight end is usually a backbreaking problem, so the scheme gets full fault here. Frank, perhaps it is time for you to man up a linebacker or safety on the tight end.

The next biggest setback has been defending the second wide receiver - a 58% yard increase from the previous season. While the Texans don't stick to match-ups, the second receiver has usually fallen to rookie Kareem Jackson. The increase is just a bump that comes with starting a rookie cornerback4. Comparing his DVOA to the other two first round starting rookies, since Kyle Wilson is the dime cornerback in New York, Jackson rates out comparably (Jackson's at 23.5% to Haden's 56.5% and McCourty's 16.6%). Kareem has only played five games, so calm down, people. What did you expect? Teams are going to pick on a rookie. You can only hope for progress or allowing Kareem to press more as he did in the second half of the Giants game.

A 38% yard increase has also occurred in defending running backs. The over-pursuit and failure to recognize a screen pass are definitely to blame for this. Also to blame are the missed tackles by Xavier Adibi and Eugene Wilson among others. If you judge by DVOA, this is the worst category for the Texans, as their 32.7% DVOA ranks second-to-last, which is a staggering 69% DVOA drop-off from last year's league-leading -36.3%. The only cure is Brian Cushing's return, an increase of tackling drills at practice, and teaching the defense how to recognize a screen pass.

Losing Jacques Reeves has hurt, as Brice McCain and Sherrick McManis have been bumped up the depth chart to see more playing time. Whereas the Texans were among the league's best in 2009 versus non-starting receivers, they've suffered a 22% increase defending those same receivers this season, which puts their fifth-worst DVOA at 30.1% - this ranks behind running backs and tight ends as the biggest problem. While youth has given up these bumps, maybe Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak should have kept Reeves, considering how McCain has been pushed around. I know he's a rookie, but, maybe, McManis (because Antwaun Molden's a unicorn) should get a turn in the slot. There needs to be some sort of adjustment here.

It's not all bad though. Glover Quin has done a pretty decent job against No. 1 receivers. The 53.4 yards per game by #1 receivers rates among the top half of the NFL. Heck, Glover is putting mega-millionaire Dunta Robinson to shame - Quin's allowed 53.4 YPG (1.3% DVOA) to Dunta's 78.8 YPG (38.7% DVOA) . Kudos to Glover, who is a cost-effective champ...or he's getting the benefit of playing alongside a rookie, who also happens to beat Dunta's numbers. Whatever the case, Glover's a brief bright spot here.

Before I wrap up this article, I'll leave you with one more bright spot. Teams can overcome bad pass defense to be a playoff team. Last year, New Orleans and Arizona were among the league's worst pass defenses. In 2008, San Diego was near dead last, but they made the playoffs. Perhaps the best example is the 2005 New England Patriots.

As Chron.com's Jerome Solomon points out:

The Texans are a lot more like the Patriots, with one of the worst secondaries on a good team in recent memory. New England finished 31st in passing yards allowed and pass plays of more than 20 yards given up in '05.

I saw every pass thrown against them. It was brutal.

The '05 Patriots actually started 4-4 behind a starting secondary that included a young veteran cornerback, a rookie cornerback, strong safeties signed off the street, and Eugene Wilson. During the 4-4 start, the Patriots won by an average of five points and lost by an average of 15 points, including two mega-curbstomps at home. Does that sound familiar? Eventually, those 2005 New England Patriots finished 10-6 and made the playoffs. There is past precedent that a bad pass defense doesn't condemn your team to a terrible season, so you can save the talk of draft picks and 2011. We can hope youth gets better over the course of the season, as it did for the Patriots, but until then Frank needs to fix the problems within his control.

On the whole, there are many different reasons to blame for the gaudy passing numbers put up on the Houston defense. The biggest problem, without question, has been defending the tight end. This week, Frank Bush really needs to address that issue since Kansas City's #1 target is rookie TE Tony Moeaki. If no changes aren't made, no one should be surprised if Moeaki puts up a career day5.

-----

1 Net passing yards includes yards lost due to a sack versus total passing yards, which doesn't.
2 QB Rating is derived from completion percentage, yards per pass, touchdowns, and interceptions.
3 DVOA is a Football Outsiders statistic. Simple explanation, in terms of defense, is it rates against the average of your opponent faced. If your defense has a 50% DVOA against tight ends then tight ends produce 50% better than their average against your defense. The higher the percentage, the worse things are.
4 At this point, I'm sure someone thinks: "Dunta was GREAT as a rookie!!!!! ROOKIE DUNTA FTW!!!!!!" Let's take a trip back to 2004, shall we?

For point of reference, Dunta started alongside Aaron Glenn, Marcus Coleman, and Glenn Earl. Through 5 games, the '04 Texans had one more INT than the '10 Texans (5 to 4), allowed two more TD passes (13 to 11), and allowed a near identical QB Rating against (102.9 to 104).

Furthermore, Dunta's stats through five games were: 22 tackles, 2 INTS, and 7 PD. Kareem? 25 tackles, 1 INT, and 5 PD. Dunta's stats, and the pass defense's, began to improve after game 7. Show some patience, people. He's performing similarly to that "rookie stud" through five weeks.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2010/10/12/1746399/statistically-breaking-down-the-houston-pass-defense

 

COLTS

We used the recap to focus a bit more on the positives because, well, there were a lot of good things that happened in Indy's 19-9 win over previously unbeaten Kansas City. Here, we discuss the flaws, and while there were fewer of those than the positives, the flaws were quite glaring.

***

Ryan Diem

He was awful yesterday, but, as bad as his play was, the line protection calls made to assist him were even worse. Towards the end of the third quarter, I caught myself screaming at the television, hoping Colts offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen would magically hear my insane banter through his headset. The screams went something like this:

F*cking assign f*cking Hart to f*cking chip Hali already, you f*cking clueless f*cking dirtbag!

For some odd reason Christensen and offensive line coach Pete Metzelaars thought it was a good idea to have stiff old Ryan Diem block Tamba Hali, KC's best pass rusher, one-on-one. The results were near disastrous.

All game long, Peyton Manning was running for his life from Hali. The apex of the Diem v. Hali debacle was early in the third quarter with the Colts driving into Chiefs territory. On 2nd and 10 from the 29 yard line, Diem whiffed on a block, and Hali slammed into Peyton Manning's blindside, causing a fumble. This was one of several blindside hits we've seen Manning take this year mainly because this offensive line is the worst he's ever had to play with.

Fortunately for the Colts, Jeff Saturday recovered the fumble, and Indy would later convert on a 47-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal.

Star-divide

Kelvin Hayden

The Chiefs looked as if they were targeting him yesterday, and it got embarrassing for the sixth year pro. Hayden's frustration boiled over into a dumb, and I mean DUMB, 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty against Chris Chambers after a 13-yard gain on 1st and 10 from the KC 39. The penalty happened with less than 18 seconds left in the first half, and it put the Chiefs in Colts territory, where they eventually would convert on a 45-yard Ryan Succop FG.

All game long, Hayden struggled. He even managed to get hurt late in the 4th quarter.

Throughout this early season, the Colts pass defense has looked shaky, at best. If not for the inept play of Dwayne Bowe (who dropped an easy touchdown in the third quarter), the Colts probably would have lost this game, and the blame would fall, once again, at the feet of Hayden and the Colts secondary.

If you want to look at one play that seems like a microcosm of the Colts secondary in 2010, look no further than 4th and 12 after the two-minute warning late in the game. Matt Cassel drops back, gets pressured a bit, but is able to complete a 21-yard pass to Dwayne Bowe for a first down. Again, 4th and 12, and the Colts can't stop them from getting first down.



The Running Game

While Mike Hart was the hero in the second half, the Colts running game continues to under-perform. Believe it or not, Merril Hoge of ESPN did a good job of illustrating the inconsistency of the Colts running game this morning on Sports Center. KC's gameplan was nearly the same as the NY Giants in Week Two. They had a base nickel defense using a soft coverage shell.

In essence, they dared the Colts to run.

If the Colts had anything remotely resembling the offensive lines we've seen in year's past, they'd have run for over 200 yards and averaged 6 yards a carry. They'd have converted their two early trips into the redzone in touchdowns, and their game would have been a laughter by the start of quarter three.

31 attempts, 97 yards, 3.1 a carry. Again, this is against a defense DARING YOU TO RUN!

Contrast this to the Colts, whose entire defense was keyed to stopping the run Sunday. While they had several impressive stands in the second half, Indy still allowed 113 yards on 27 carries, for 4.1 a carry.

All game long, TV announcer Dan Dierdorf made it a point to highlight how often Colts runners had to dodge defenders in the backfield. Again, KC wasn't blitzing. They used a base nickel defense. A 'soft' defense. Despite this, KC d-linemen lived in the backfield. This was because players like Mike Pollak, Jamey Richard, and Ryan Diem have a hard time doing this thing we call 'blocking.'

***

Again, I'm not writing all this to bash the team, or 'be negative.' These were just flaws I saw in yesterday's game, and have seen consistently in previous games. If the Colts are to win a Super Bowl (again, Super Bowl of Bust for this team in 2010), they must correct these issues.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/10/11/1744585/colts-19-chiefs-9-what-needs-fixin

Recently, in a Q&A with readers at the Indianapolis Star's 'blog site,' Mike Chappell made a good point when answering a questions about Colts rookie Jerry Hughes:

Fans never hear much about Hughes because he’s barely playing. The team’s first-round draft pick has been inactive for three games and played sparingly on special teams in the other two. It’s clear the team is bringing him along very slowly. Maybe too slowly. It’s hard to believe a 6-2, 255-pound defensive end can’t contribute on special teams. During the offseason and preseason, the team talked about how it was going to use him in special pass-rush packages. Well, we’re still waiting. The team is quick to point out – not necessarily accurately – that Dwight Freeney didn’t play a lot during the first half of his rookie season. Fact is, Freeney played quite a bit in pass-rush situations before moving in to the starting lineup at midseason.

The excuse we've heard all season from the Colts regarding Hughes' development is that, like Dwight Freeney his rookie year, it takes time for pass rushers to develop. Well, it's Week Six, and for three of the five weeks the Colts have played football games, Hughes has not been active.

Not even on special teams.

During his rookie year, Freeney was never inactive. Ever. In fact, as Chappell points out correctly, Freeney played a ton in nickel packages and as a pass rusher on third down. He had four sacks before he was promoted to starter by Week Nine at Philadelphia.

Well, Week Five has come and gone for Jerry Hughes, and instead of us talking about him as a potential starter, or even a third down pass rushing specialist (as Bill Polian sold him to fans and media on the day the Colts drafted him) we're still wondering why the club's first round draft choice cannot beat out known scrubs like Keyunta Dawson for some playing time.

But hey, to be fair, Freeney is a beast and often regarded as one of the best players in all of football. So, for a moment, let's forget comparing Hughes to Freeney even though Freeney, like Hughes, is a first round pick. Instead, compare him to Robert Mathis, who is a 5th round pick from the 2003 NFL Draft. After the jump, Mike Chappell helps provide us with that comparison.

The results do not speak well for Jerry Hughes and his prospects as a Colt in 2010.

Star-divide

Chappell was interviewed today on Dan Dakich's 1070 The Fan radio show. At some point in the conversation, after Dakich and Chappell finished discussing Brett Favre's *****, the focus shifted to Jerry Hughes. Here's what Chappell had to say about him:

My problem is that [Hughes] can't even help on special teams. That's my concern. Why he isn't, at least, doing something. He's been inactive for three games. He's been active twice and played a little bit on kickoff coverage. I'm not totally surprised he's not playing on defense, though if the pass rush continues to be hit and miss, I'd just assume see him out there getting some reps as a third pass rusher on third down as some other guys out there. They keep saying that Dwight Freeney didn't play a lot as a rookie until mid-season. Well, that's not quite true. He played quite a bit in nickel. Started starting mid-season against Philadelphia. Robert Mathis played a lot of special teams as a rookie, had 3.5 sacks but he was primarily a special teams guy. We'll see. I'm sort of waiting to see game six, game seven, games eight; will he do more? Maybe this is just going to be a red-shirt year. I hope that's not the case.

Like Dwight Freeney his rookie year, Robert Mathis was used as a pass rushing specialist on third down, and was quite a dominant special teams player. By Week Five that year, Mathis had two sacks.

Robert Mathis: 5th Round Pick.

Jerry Hughes: 1st Round Pick.

I'm all for giving draft picks 'time to develop.' But, at some point, 'time to develop' must give way to the kid actually doing something. He's had April through September to 'develop.' If he needs a longer period time to even get on the field to play special teams, let alone do what he was drafted to do (aka, SACK THE QB!), then why the hell was he picked?

The Colts don't need pass rushers who will develop next year or in two years. They need them now.

In fact, back in April, they even told us the need for another pass rusher right now was an important one. For two straight games this year, the Colts have generated zero sacks. Part of drafting Jerry Hughes was to help take the pressure off Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis and provide the Colts the all-important 'third rusher.' Polian told us this back in April.

Polian: We've been searching for the elusive 'third rusher' for a long time. And now we feel that [Hughes] can fill that bill.

Polian: We've said, seemingly forever, that the third rusher who can substitute for Dwight and Robert is something we have not had. And when Dwight and Robert were 100% healthy, the results spoke for themselves. When they've not been 100% healthy, the results have not been what we've wanted. So, that's the first priority. The third rusher has been a priority of ours, as I said, seemingly forever.

Polian: He gives us a lot of flexibility to create third down packages

Polian: He can put his hand down. He can stand up in the 'Joker' role. That's what he does. He's a pure pass rusher.

In fact, when asked a direct question about whether the Colts expected Hughes to contribute right away his rookie year as a pass rusher and special teams player, Polian said yes:

Question: Are you looking at this as this is that kind of guy who, situationaly, should play right away and contribute right away?

Polian: Oh yeah. And he runs well enough that he'll be a force on special teams too, I would imagine.

Now, either Bill Polian was flat out lying to the press when he said that back in April, or his scouting assessment of Hughes at the time he drafted him was dead, stinking wrong.

Today, Hughes can't even play on special teams at a time when important special teamers like Melvin Bullitt, Jamie Silva, and Kavell Conner are either done for the year, or on the shelf for an extended period of time. The team was more comfortable signing Aaron Francisco off the street and promoting someone like Mike Newton from the practice squad to play special teams over Hughes. What does that tell you?

I know some people out there who like to carry water for the Colts and Polian will cry this is yet another article needlessly bashing our 'flawless' leader. It isn't. It's me holding Bill Polian to his words. Back in April, Polian and the coaching staff stated with confidence bordering on arrogance that Hughes could contribute right away. They drafted him in the first round and signed him to a 5-year, $12 million dollar deal. Today, he can't even play special teams, let alone beat out the seemingly worthless Keyunta Dawson as a back-up defensive end.

This doesn't look good people. Either something terribly wrong happened to Hughes since he was drafted, or Polian and company very much over-rated his abilities back in April.

It's worth noting that, back in August during training camp, Polian tried to back away from his 'Oh yeah' statement regarding Hughes during a chat with Peter King:

But Polian and others have been quick to tamp down the expectation level for Hughes, noting that pass rushers have steep learning curves. The Colts don't seem to be counting on Hughes to be a big producer this year, but in early practices, they're excited about him being a long-term answer on a team with ends aged 30 (Freeney) and 29 (Mathis).

Sorry Bill, but that's not what you told us in April. Hughes wasn't drafted as a 'long term answer.' He was drafted as someone who could help Mathis and Freeney this year.

Something stinks here folks. It seems like the Colts might have screwed this pick up, and are now seemingly trying to save face.

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2010/10...-first-round-pick-jerry-hughes-a-bust-already

Clint Session missed most of training camp and three of the Indianapolis Colts' four preseason games with an undisclosed injury. He missed two of the first four regular-season games and more practice time with a hamstring injury.

He's back. Clint Session played like Clint Session while contributing 10 tackles and several big hits from his weak-side linebacker slot Sunday to help the Colts beat the Kansas City Chiefs 19-9.

"He played well," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said Monday. "He played very, very well. He was active, had a lot of big hits for us, covered ground. He played like he's capable of playing. He can be a force when he's on and he was on (Sunday)."

Three of Session's tackles came on third down. They were among the nine stops the Colts got in 10 third-down situations. The Chiefs converted their first, an 8-yard pass on third-and-3, then went 0-for-9. Only once since 2000 have the Colts fared better: They allowed Atlanta one conversion in 11 attempts in a 2003 game.

Still, what left an impression was Session's hits. While middle linebacker Gary Brackett is the unit's nerve center, calls its coverages and makes its checks, Session is its energy source.

"I think anytime you have a defender who goes out and puts down hits like that, it, one, gives us energy and fires us up, and two, demoralizes your offensive opponent," Brackett said. "I think it's no secret why (wide receiver) Dwayne Bowe dropped those passes late in the game after one of those slant passes where Clint went in and leveled him."

Session made only four tackles the week before at Jacksonville, but one was memorable. He hit Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew at the goal line with such violence, Jones-Drew's helmet flew off.


Run Offense: C+

It's pretty apparent by now that everybody is going to dare the Colts to run the football. They're going to drop seven, drop eight, drop the cheerleaders into coverage, so if the Colts want to win consistently, they must do better than a 3.1-yard average. Indy started well enough, grinding out 44 yards on the ground in the first quarter, but settled for just 53 more the rest of the game. Good to see Mike Hart make a splash and run so hard after all of his injuries. Joseph Addai always gets what's there, unless a defender picks him up and drops him on his head, which is what happened on the play that he hurt his shoulder and neck.
Pass Offense: C+

Honestly, we're grading on a Manning curve. Anybody else puts up his numbers, it's a B or better, but we've seen Manning at his best (which is most of the time), and Sunday, he wasn't in the same area code of his best. Everything looked like a struggle, even the short passes. It inspired one writer to ask Manning postgame, "Are you all right?" He was OK; he just showed he's human once in a while. But that's what happens when defenses are taking away tight end Dallas Clark -- sorry, fantasy leaguers -- and there are so many defenders in coverage. Maybe somebody with time (and no life) can look this up, but when's the last time we went two straight games with the opposing quarterback having a higher QB rating?
Run Defense: B

It looked ominous in the first quarter with Kansas City gaining 55 yards on 10 carries -- most of those coming on runs to the Colts defensive left side. But in the next three quarters, the Chiefs ran 17 times for just 58 yards, a 3.4 average. Ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis didn't have sack numbers but played the run well, along with tackle Daniel Muir and others. Safety Antoine Bethea made a rib-breaking hit that forced Jamaal Charles' key first-half fumble. When it comes to stopping the run, it's all about passion and speed with this group. Cornerback Jerraud Powers made the point after the game. The last few weeks, they just didn't play with the same speed and ferocity. It's not nuclear physics.
Pass Defense: A-

First, thank you to Dwayne Bowe. I thought Reche Caldwell had made a comeback. If Bowe makes that catch in the end zone, this is a different game, maybe a different result. That said, the Colts did a far better job against the pass -- except for Kelvin Hayden's silly late hit. The newly installed safety, Aaron Francisco, didn't do anything to hurt the team. And while the pass rush was credited for just one sack, it consistently put pressure on quarterback Matt Cassel. That was a huge pass break-up by linebacker Philip Wheeler in the end zone. Thought I'd mention it since I almost never mention Wheeler. Nothing personal, I assure you.
Special Teams: A-

Guess who's back? It's place-kicker Adam Vinatieri, who I'm going to jinx now by mentioning he's perfect so far this year. Also, a great job by the refurbished Colts special teams on kickoff returns. Every time Dexter McCluster touched the ball, he looked like he might take it all the way. Instead, six returns for just a 23.5-yard average. I'd give them credit for the onside kick, too, but that would be a stretch. Somewhere, Hank Baskett was thinking, "Why couldn't that have happened when I was on the field?" New Colts returner Kevin Moore didn't do much with punts or kickoffs, but he didn't fumble, so that's a start.
Coaching: B

For the record, Jim Caldwell still insists last week's late timeout was the proper decision. He is nothing if not stubborn. That said, he found a way to reenergize his defense, which stopped the run (for the most part) and generated pass pressure. And he didn't do anything goofy, like his compatriot across the field. I didn't like the game-opening onside kick; it's another case of a coach letting Peyton Manning crawl inside his head. And I really didn't like the decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 at the Indy 8-yard line. Take the field goal. Take the points. Think those wouldn't have come in handy later?
Intangibles: F

So, how does a franchise get an "F" on a day it wins? By closing the danged roof, that's how. If they're not going to open it on a sun-splashed 80-degree day, when are they going to open it? Can we have our tax dollars back . . . please? The high was 87 degrees Sunday. And it was a dry heat, best I could tell -- 29 percent humidity when this was being written at 7 p.m. I know this is a dome city and the fans are less than Green Bay hearty when it comes to the elements, but 87 degrees? How soft do they think the fans are?

http://www.indystar.com/article/20101011/SPORTS03/10110347/1058/SPORTS03/Bob-Kravitz-s-report-card

 

TITANS

Alterraun Verner was in middle school when Mayfair High (Calif.) football Coach Mike Fitch first laid eyes on him. He did so reluctantly.

"Al's dad gave me a tape to look at when he was coming to our school and said watch this. Usually I'm like, 'Great, here we go, another one of these,' '' Fitch recalled. "Then I put it in and I went, 'Holy smokes! You have to be kidding me!' Even as a youngster, I knew this kid was good.''

These days, the Titans feel the same way about Verner, a rookie cornerback.

The fourth-round pick had a game-changing interception in last Sunday's 34-27 win over the Cowboys, and was a big hit with coaches and teammates even before he began filling in for injured starter Jason McCourty last month.

Verner's performance has been so encouraging, in fact, that it might be difficult to send him back to the bench when McCourty is cleared to return to action in a few weeks following surgery to repair a broken forearm.

"We'll face that when J-Mac is ready to come back,'' Coach Jeff Fisher said. "The race was very, very close to start with (between McCourty and Verner), and I'm not saying that Jason isn't going to come back and be our starter. But they've both played very well.''

Verner, who replaced McCourty against the Giants in Week 3, said he's just happy with the opportunity to play.

"I've loved every minute of it,'' he said. "But I am very critical of myself. Some things people think I might have done well, I think I could have done better.''
'Halo effect'

At Mayfair, Verner excelled on both sides of the football and in the classroom. He finished high school with a 4.17 GPA and accepted a scholarship with UCLA.

He was an instant star with the Bruins. In four years he totaled 13 interceptions and set the school record with four interception returns for touchdowns. He also earned All-Academic Pac-10 honors while majoring in mathematics/applied sciences.

Many draft experts projected Verner as a second-round pick despite his smaller than ideal size (5-feet-10, 187 pounds) and less than blazing speed. Yet 20 defensive backs were selected before the Titans took him with the 104th overall pick.

DeWayne Walker, who was Verner's defensive coordinator at UCLA and is now head coach at New Mexico State, called Verner one of his favorites, "just a special guy."

Walker was also defensive backs coach with the Redskins, Giants and Patriots, working with the likes of long-time NFL stars Lawyer Milloy and Ty Law, and at USC he coached Troy Polamalu.

"You are talking about All-Pro guys, nine- and 10-year vets when you talk about some of those other guys I've had the privilege of coaching," Walker said. "But I tell you what, I wouldn't bet against Alterraun. There are certain guys that I say have a halo effect, and they live right and do things right and they respect the game, and on top of that he has intelligence.

"You put all those into one and you have Alterraun Verner. He is a blessed young man.''
'Rare gem'

Just a few months into his NFL career, Verner has shown a knack for making plays. His latest, a fourth-quarter pick of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, set up a crucial touchdown.

In the preseason, Verner led all Titans cornerbacks in training-camp interceptions. Coaches went with McCourty to start the season, however, in large part because of his experience and physicality.

McCourty played well before being injured, but Verner is giving the staff something to think about in the meantime.

"It is no surprise,'' defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil said. "Sure, he'd like to have some plays back. There were a few times (against the Cowboys) when he looked like a rookie, played like a rookie. He made some rookies mistakes, mistakes he won't make in the future.

"But that guy is a football player and I can't say enough good things about him. I'm happy we've got him, I'll put it that way.''

Fitch, in his 17th season at Mayfield, said he's never had a player work harder than Verner, who also served as a peer tutor to the team on subjects including math and history.

He has a hunch Verner will find greatness during and after his NFL career.

"He's a guy that can be a senator, a doctor, a lawyer. He could be the governor of California one day. He could be president one day, I kid you not,'' Fitch said. "People there are just finding out about this kid, but he is a rising star I'm telling you, and not just in football. He is one of those rare gems that comes around once in a lifetime.''

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20101014/SPORTS01/10140337/2161

From all the breathless reviews after the Titans-Cowboys game, I can only assume that Jeff Fisher went to a pre-Halloween séance last week and started channeling Don Coryell.

The Titans called pass plays for Vince Young on 16 of their first 25 offensive snaps at Dallas, with several of them designed to get the ball far downfield.

It was a sneak attack.

"I never thought I'd see Vince Young back there just picking us apart, and he did," Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said after the game. "Hats off to him. You can't say Vince Young's not a pocket passer, because we made him that today."
Related

* 5 things we know about the Titans

Thus, the Titans are now on the offensive fast track with other pass-first NFL teams, right?

Time for a Gatorade shower, folks. Like noted philosopher and longtime Tennessee State basketball Coach Ed Martin used to say: One robin don't make a spring.

Until the Titans prove they can successfully throw the ball downfield with true consistency, this game stands as an aberration, not an indication that this offense has turned the corner and advanced into the 21st Century.

Chuck Cecil can count on one finger the number of games the Titans have thrown downfield effectively in the past two seasons. The reason the Dallas game stands out is that it was such a dramatic change in philosophy.

And it paid off. While the only completion on the Titans' first possession was Young's 24-yard touchdown pass to Nate Washington, the Cowboys were flagged twice for interference, accounting for a total of 48 yards.

Somehow, though, I don't think Jacksonville Coach Jack Del Rio is going to scrap his customary defensive game plan for the Titans and instead switch to the scheme he employs for, say, the Colts and Peyton Manning.

I don't think just one game is going to make defenses come in and not put so many people in the box," Titans running back Chris Johnson said. "… I still think teams will try and play us the same way."

When Fisher said the game plan for Dallas was really no different than the way the Titans had approached previous games, he must've had his fingers crossed. After talking to several players, it was clear that the Titans had emphasized the downfield passing game last week.

Was this a real attitude adjustment by Fisher or a sign of desperation.? I lean toward the latter. After going into a shell on offense and losing at home to Denver, Fisher and his assistants must have gotten together and surmised that change was necessary if they were to get their groove back.

Too, they may have figured out that Johnson wasn't going to make it through the season if he kept averaging 26.5 touches per game via runs and pass receptions. His 20 touches — 19 runs and one catch — against Dallas were more manageable.

So we can expect more of the same in the next 11 games?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Until proved otherwise, it remains to be seen if this was just a passing fancy.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...es+may+not+bite+on+Titans++pass-happy+offense

The Titans have 12 sacks over the past two games, but pressure on the quarterback hasn't made much of a difference in the secondary.

One week after Kyle Orton passed for 341 yards against the Titans, Tony Romo threw for 406. Going into Monday night's game, the Titans ranked 27th in passing yards allowed per game.

"I'm disappointed in that," Coach Jeff Fisher said of the yards surrendered to the Cowboys. "We have a lot of things to fix from this ballgame. We gave up some passes in double coverage. We gave up some passes because we used poor technique. We gave up some plays because of whatever. … It's all these things that are certainly correctable."

As for cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who surrendered several big plays, Fisher said: "Maybe he's trying to do too much. Just do what we're asking you to do and how we ask you to do it and good things will happen."
Related

* 5 things we know about the Titans
* Tennessee Titans find success by passing

Asked if Finnegan, the recent recipient of three NFL fines, might have been worried about playing too aggressively, Fisher said: "I know what you're saying. I don't think it's a distraction. But he needs to pay more attention to making the plays and playing the defense, and that goes for everybody on defense. I'm not just singling him out."

Williams vs. Hawkins: Through the first four games, Fisher maintained that the only reason receiver Damian Williams was active ahead of veteran Lavelle Hawkins was the rookie's return game skills.

But with both active against the Cowboys, it was pretty clear that Williams had moved ahead of Hawkins on the depth chart.

The Titans threw three times for Williams, who caught two for a total of 30 yards. The Titans never threw to Hawkins, who was on the field for only a few offensive plays.

"He gets open. He's a natural at it," Fisher said of Williams. "He played well. We need to try to keep him on the field."

Sack leaders: For the first time since 1982, the Titans have recorded at least six sacks in back-to-back games. With 22 overall, they lead the league.

Defensive tackle Jason Jones and defensive end Jason Babin had two sacks each against the Cowboys, who yanked guard Leonard Davis when he struggled to block Jones.

"We beat one-on-ones, we got them by gaming, we got them by flushing and we did it with blitzing," Fisher said. "It was just a great effort by those guys up front.''

Injuries: Center Eugene Amano (stinger), defensive end William Hayes (head), Williams (back) and Babin (hand) were banged up, but Fisher said none of the injuries appeared too serious.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...0362/2162/Porous+secondary+disappoints+Fisher

Titans linebacker Gerald McRath is a ball of energy on the football field, a nonstop mover and talker.

McRath was grounded to start the season, however. A suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances had him watching the first four games from a Buffalo Wild Wings in Atlanta with his family.

"It was tough. I can't lie,'' McRath said. "I was like a big cheerleader.''

McRath was back on the field with the first-team defense against the Cowboys on Sunday, and he was a key contributor, recording eight tackles as the Titans held on for a 34-27 win. He picked up where he left off his rookie season, when he started the final three games and displayed his potential.
Related

* Tennessee Titans defeat Dallas Cowboys 34-27

“It felt right. I felt very blessed to be back. I am almost at a loss for words," McRath said. "This win was a big win for the organization and I feel happy to have been a part of it.

“I feel like I have a lot of things I have to work on. There is always room for improvement and I think that is the most important thing about it. I can come back in Monday and find more ways I can get better to help this team out.’’

McRath wasn't allowed at Baptist Sports Park during the suspension and was banned from contact with team officials. He spent September working out in Nashville during the week and going to Atlanta on Sundays.

Veteran linebacker Jamie Winborn started in his place and played well alongside starters Will Witherspoon and Stephen Tulloch. McRath was back with the first group on his first day back, however, and the Titans cut Winborn on Saturday.

"He brings us high energy, and he is a smart player,'' Tulloch said of McRath. "I don't want to take anything away from Jamie — he did a great job — but Gerald had a great offseason, and he showed what he could do last season. And he came in and picked up where he left off. Gerald has a bright future ahead of him, and he plays the game with a passion. … He is real fast, and he can definitely get to the ball carrier.''

Coach Jeff Fisher said McRath brings speed to an already quick defense. His athleticism might let the Titans stay in the base defense on plays when they might normally go to a nickel package.

In time, however, the Titans will have to sort out which linebackers are best suited to help in pass defense, and which guys deserve to be on the field the most.

"We're just glad to have him back,'' Fisher said.

For McRath, being back in between the hash marks sure beat watching games at Buffalo Wild Wings, although he admitted he likes their wings.

"It's a privilege to play in the NFL, and I never want to take anything for granted," McRath said. "Being suspended, it made me want to work even harder."

http://www.tennessean.com/article/2...0337/2162/SPORTS01/McRath+makes+presence+felt

 

JAGUARS

Entering the 2009 season, the Jaguars were going back to a one back system. After Maurice Jones-Drew was Fred Taylor's understudy for three seasons, it was his time to shine. In the first eight games of the season, Jones-Drew played like he was shot out of a cannon. He was on pace to shatter the Jaguars single season rushing record and to challenge LaDainian Tomlinsons single season touchdown record. However, since that point Maurice Jones-Drew has become less effective.

In the Jaguars last 12 games, Jones-Drew only has had two hundred yard rushing efforts and 4 rushing touchdowns. Some of this has been by design, but it still seems as if MJD hasn't quite been his explosive self. With the emergence of Deji Karim and Rashad Jennings, will the Jaguars head back to a backfield by committee?

Star-divide

First, make no mistake, Jones-Drew is still the main man in the backfield and will be treated as such. However, it is clear the Jaguars are looking for find some other pieces. If the Jaguars are so gung ho and running the ball between 30 and 40 times the game as they've done recently, they are going to have to need Karim and Jennings to get 10 or so touches each. There isn't a single running back in the league who can absorb that amount of punishment.

Rashad Jennings has been getting an increased workload and has begun to show he deserves some more carries. Deji Karim's 15 carries in Buffalo is the best example so far of the Jaguars looking to spread the ball around. With Karim also on kickoff duties, Jennings will most likely be getting most of the "spell" carries.

Heading into the Titans game, the Jaguars are going to need to run the ball effectively. It was there over reliance on the passing game that got them into so much trouble in Nashville last year.

Jones-Drew's decline in production took the rest of the offense down with it in the second half of 2009. With an ankle injury, and now a wrist injury, that could potentially linger, it's best to limit the amount of carries MJD has at this point.

He is still this team's best offensive weapon, but Jennings and Karim look like they can be adequate replacements. In fact, they'll have to be if the Jaguars want to go anywhere this season.

http://www.bigcatcountry.com/2010/10/14/1748870/is-jacksonville-back-to-running-back-by-committee

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Tight ends have a lot of success scoring against the Buffalo Bills.

Marcedes Lewis has had a lot of success this season.

Both of those truths remained after the Jaguars' 36-26 win over the Bills on Sunday.

Lewis caught two touchdown passes, tying a career high for touchdowns in a game. They were his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the season, setting a single-season franchise record for touchdowns by a tight end.

Through Lewis the Jaguars tied the game, then took their first lead.

"Truthfully, regardless of who we're playing I'm confident in myself and my ability to get downfield and use my size, and my ability to make plays," the 6-foot-6 Lewis said.

Lewis' touchdowns occurred a little more than two minutes apart.

The first was a one-yard scoring pass with 29 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 13.

"That first one to Marcedes was beautiful," quarterback David Garrard said.

"He was wide open. ... Marcedes has been playing excellent and we're going to continue to feed him the ball. He deserves it. We're going to continue to find him as much as possible. Marcedes for president."

Lewis reached the end zone on a 27-yard pass to score again 1:38 into the second half. That touchdown gave the Jaguars their first lead of the game, 20-13.

"I feel like we played pretty good, but there's so much we can correct," Lewis said. "I'm interested to go back and watch the film and get ready for Tennessee [next Monday night] and change those things."

This was proof, again, that the Jaguars weren't just puffing Lewis' ego during the preseason when they called him the most dominant player in training camp.

Lewis opened the 2010 season with a two-touchdown performance against Denver.

He said his timing and on-field chemistry with Garrard has improved this season. It was the second year in a row Lewis stayed in Jacksonville during the offseason rather than going home to California.

"Everything is starting to be second nature," Lewis said. "When the ball is in the air, it's my ball."

Garrard threw to Lewis five times and Lewis caught four. He had a game-high 54 yards receiving and averaged 13.5 yards per reception.

Lewis was also called out for a holding penalty that negated a touchdown run by Maurice Jones-Drew. As it turned out, the Jaguars scored anyway.

"My hands are inside, just one of those things, the defender kind of flopped like Vlade Divac," Lewis said. "The ref made the call. It is what it is. We kept battling, ended up getting a touchdown [to] Mike Sims-Walker."

Reggie Williams holds the Jaguars record with 10 receiving touchdowns in a season. Jimmy Smith never had more than eight. Lewis already has five after only five games.

As for setting the single-season franchise record for touchdowns by a tight end, Lewis said: "That's good, that's not my expectation. I gotta keep going. I gotta do whatever it takes for us to continue to win ballgames. ... Regardless if I catch one touchdown or two."

http://jacksonville.com/sports/foot...tight-end-marcedes-lewis-breaks-loose-again-0