NFL Week 1 Schedule: Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
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The Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars square off today for the season opener in Jacksonville.
These teams know each other all too well, but both teams will be brandishing a brand new quarterback to start the season. Everything else about these two will remain the same—especially the fact that they will run the ball.
This year the AFC South is not as strong as it normally is, so both teams are looking to get a jump on the rest of the division with a win today.
Keep reading for reactions to the biggest game developments as well as some random NFL information you may have been wondering about.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars have defeated the Tennessee Titans 16-14.
This actually turned out to be a better game than originally thought. The Jaguars controlled the first half, while the Titans controlled the second, however the Titans got down to the 50 yard line before throwing an interception with 0:18 seconds left.
This game was a good hard fought game that showed that both the Titans and Jaguars have a lot of fight in them. This game will be a big building block for both teams.
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The Tennessee Titans are lucky to get out of the first half only down by ten. The Jacksonville Jaguars have outplayed the Titans on every aspect of the game.
The Titans are still in this game with a full half to play. Here are five things they need to do to get back in this game.
1. Get the Ground Game Going
Whether they have to put Jamie Harper or Chris Johnson in, they need to get some form of ground game going. With no threat of a run, the Jacksonville defense is going to have a field day.
2. Remember Discipline
Head Coach Mike Munchak is most likely in the locker room right now yelling at his players about discipline. They have already hurt themselves too much with penalties for this game and they need to smarten up. If they can do this it will make it much easier to get in the endzone.
3. Make Luke McCown Beat You
Maurice Jones-Drew is having no trouble at all on the ground. This is allowing for easy passes by McCown. The Titans need to make the Jaguars throw the ball.
4. Capitalize on Opportunities
When a ball hits anyone on the team on the hand, they need to pull it in. A dropped pass and a dropped interception is the difference of at least 6 points so far in this game. In other words this game could be 7-3 right now instead of 10-0.
5. Get Creative
The Titans play calling has been very vanilla so far. The Titans need to call something that will spark the team.
The Good
The defense looked strong at the end of the half. They are finally starting to work together and make plays.
The offense is moving the ball. They have 77 yards of offense and that includes a couple of huge negative yard pays.
The Bad
The Titans are not taking advantage of opportunities. The Jags have given the Titans opportunities for interceptions, but the Titans are not taking them.
Chris Johnson has negative total offensive yards so far in this game.
The Ugly
The Titans will not stop shooting themselves in the foot. Five penalties for 35 yards in the half, including their last drive in which they had two penalties.
Marc Mariani returned a punt to the Jacksonville 25 only to have a block in the back penalty bring it back to the 44. The Titans then completed a pass to get inside field goal range only to have a holding penalty bring them back to their own 46.
The Titans lost 29 yards in two plays. That is an easy way to lose a game for yourself.
Chris Johnson has gotten off to a terrible start for this game. He is unable to gain anything for the Titans which only puts them in a bigger hole.
Here is a look at Johnson's opening game stats since he has been a Titan
2008 vs. Jacksonville: 15 att 93 yds 0 td
2009 @ Pittsburgh: 15 att 57 yds 0 td
2010 vs. Oakland: 27 att 142 yds 2 td
So far in this game Johnson has 4 carries for 3 yds.
| TEN | JAX | |
| Total Yards | 36 | 76 |
| Passing Yards | 27 | 9 |
| Rushing Yards | 9 | 67 |
| Penalties | 3(15) | 0(0) |
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 |
| First Downs | 0 | 7 |
Points | 0 | 7 |
The Titans are struggling at the end of the first quarter. They only have one first down while the Jaguars have seven, and they've only thrown the ball three times.
The Jaguars are playing better than expected and the Titans will have to step up the tempo if they would like to win this game.
Titans Offense:
QB: Matt Hasselbeck
RB: Chris Johnson
WR: Kenny Britt
WR: Nate Washington
TE: Craig Stevens
LT: Michael Roos
LG: Leroy Harris
C: Eugene Amano
RG: Jake Scott
RT: David Stewart
Titans Defense
DE: Dave Ball
DT: Shaun Smith
DT: Karl Klug
DE: William Hayes
LB: Akeem Ayers
LB: Barrett Ruud
LB: Will Witherspoon
CB: Cortland Finnegan
FS: Michael Griffin
SS: Chris Hope
CB: Jason McCourty
"The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks brought special ceremonies at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville where the planes crashed. After reading a Psalm at the morning ceremony at the World Trade Center, President Obama arrived to applause and chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" at a wreath-laying ceremony in Shanksville at noon. There, he and first lady Michelle Obama shook hands and spoke with many members of the crowd gathered there."
Here is a fantastic article by ABC News:
I ask that everyone take a moment to remember the people who died and the people who are still dying due to cancer of the lungs from the dust.
It was things like football that helped us get through those terrible times, and I appreciate the NFL recognizing the 9/11 attacks with a patch.
Here is a list of both teams inactives:
Titans Inactives:
#11 QB Rusty Smith
#21 RB Javon Ringer
#60 C Kevin Matthews
#68 T Byron Stingily
#90 DE Derrick Morgan
#91 DL Jason Jones
#35 Chris Hawkins
Jaguars Inactives
#20 DB Rod Issac
#22 CB Kevin Rutland
#62 C John Estes
#73 OT Eben Britton
#74 DE Aaron Kampman
#86 TE Zach Miller
#87 WR Jarett Dillard



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