Tennessee Titans and Their Roller-Coaster Season: The Good, Bad and Ugly

Fortunately for the Tennessee Titans and their fans, the start of the 2010 season has been vastly different from their nightmare 0-6 start to the 2009 season.

The Titans have looked like a solid playoff team at times, while other times they've looked like a five to six win team.

Week 5 added even more confusion to what kind of team the Titans actually are.

The defense was dominant as usual, but out of left field came a passing offense that usually looks non-existent. They managed 163 passing yards and seven of their 17 first downs came by way of the pass.

It wasn't all great in the win against the Cowboys. Recurring problems like lack of discipline still seemed to linger.

There's plenty of positive and negative things to analyze to try to figure where this team will end up at the end of this season.

The Good

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ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 10: Running back Marion Barber #24 of the Dallas Cowboys runs the ball against the Tennessee Titans at Cowboys Stadium on October 10, 2010 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Well as usual, the Titans defense has been excellent so far in 2010.

In the huge win against the Cowboys the Titans defense managed six sacks against a team that had only allowed one in their first three games combined.

The Titans defense continues to be an opportunistic defense that often bends, but hardly ever breaks.

If not for committing seven turnovers against the Steelers in Week 2 then the Titans would be plus-7 in the turnover department.

When you look at their defensive ranks it doesn't look so pretty. The Titans rank 24th in total defense in the NFL, mainly due to their secondary that still needs a lot of work.

However, this defense forces turnovers and gets under the skin of opposing offenses. They're gritty, nasty, and play with a ton of passion. You can't coach that.

I was ready to jump off the Chris Johnson bandwagon going into this week, but once again Johnson broke off that one big run that inflated his numbers.

He had a 42-yard run against the Cowboys late in the game. The scary part was the fact that it didn't lead to any points.

The special teams unit has been a roller-coaster ride in itself, but Marc Mariani gave this team a chance to win for the second straight week by returning a kickoff all the way inside the 10-yard line late in the game against the Cowboys.

He still needs to work on securing the ball better, but he's became a legitimate weapon in the return game.

The Bad

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ARLINGTON, TX - OCTOBER 10: Quarterback Vince Young #10 of the Tennessee Titans leads the offense onto the field after a turnover in the game against the Dallas Cowboys at Cowboys Stadium on October 10, 2010 in Arlington, Texas. The Titans won 34-27.

The lack of team discipline is what is plaguing the Titans the most at this point in the season.

They actually made a ton of improvement against the Cowboys as they only committed four penalties for 40 yards.

One 15-yarder by Stephen Tulloch could have ended up being costly, but luckily the Titans defense clamped down and kept the Cowboys from generating any points.

Costly penalties like the Titans have been committing can completely snatch momentum away from a defense who is playing tough football.

So far the Titans have managed to weather the storm and stay in a four-way tie atop the AFC South, but these penalties could eventually cost the Titans a critical game down the road.

The offensive line has also been very bad for the most part. Vince Young is rarely getting a solid pocket to throw in and Chris Johnson has had trouble finding holes much of this season.

They gave up three sacks against the Cowboys this week, and with Young's elusiveness that means the offensive line has got to tighten up if they want to get by tough AFC defenses like the Jets, Ravens, and Steelers.

The Ugly

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NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 02: Coach Jeff Fisher of the Tennessee Titans watches during an exhibition game against the New Orleans Saints at LP Field on September 2, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee won 27-24. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Image

The ugliest part of this team so far has been the secondary. They continue to be torched through the air after their win against the Cowboys.

This was a problem that plagued the Titans in 2009, but luckily the Titans have found ways to win despite giving up 300-plus yards on a regular basis.

In the last three games the Titans' secondary has given up 370 passing yards to Tony Romo, 341 yards to Kyle Orton, and 385 yards to Eli Manning.

What's there to expect when the Titans take on the upper-tier quarterbacks of the NFL like Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, and Donovan McNabb?

The Titans have to figure out a way to not get shredded through the air so often.

Fortunately the rookie Alterraun Verner is playing great football. Hopefully Verner will help this secondary go from ugly to a straight up bombshell.

Finally, the offensive play-calling has been very ugly this season. The plays called on offense are very predictable. Jeff Fisher and Mike Heimerdinger have to start shaking things up on offense.

They did that a little bit against the Cowboys and it led to 321 yards of total offense. That might not sound very impressive, but for the Titans it is.