Tennessee Titans: 10 Positives to Take Away from Dominating Performance
Very rarely do the Tennessee Titans take care of a team as convincingly as they did the Jacksonville Jaguars, but that's what they did on ESPN's Monday Night Football, defeating the Jags 30-3.
It's always huge when a team can get a road win in the division and this win put the Titans in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC South.
However, the domination from start to finish for the Titans is being overshadowed by how bad the Jaguars looked in front of a national audience.
If you're the Titans, there's still plenty of positives to be pulled from the first divisional game of this season despite the incompetency of the Jaguars on Monday night.
Vince Young Becoming a Pocket Passer
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Vince Young may have only gotten one series against the Jags, but man was it a good one.
The opening drive for Young was one of his most impressive drives from start to finish for the entire season. He did all of his damage inside the pocket, which is something we can't say too often.
His throws were right on target, including the touchdown pass to Kenny Britt to cap off the drive.
Not long after that, Young made another critical mistake by fumbling the snap, which ultimately led to him being injured for the night.
Young fumbling the snap is a whole other issue, but he looked great in the pocket on his one drive of the game. Who knows what kind of game Young was going to have if he would have played the entire game.
The way the Jags looked the rest of the game, it is very conceivable that Young could have achieved career-best numbers in that game.
One thing is for sure: Young is improving each and every week in the pocket.
Kenny Britt Has Become a Strong Threat Inside the Red Zone
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Heading into the season, Justin Gage was viewed as the primary threat inside the red zone. With Gage's nagging injury, Kenny Britt has emerged as a great weapon inside the red zone.
Britt isn't exactly racking up the yards this season, but 25 percent of his receptions are touchdown receptions.
The Titans' quarterbacks, whether it's Vince Young or Kerry Collins, are looking for Britt inside the red zone.
He now has touchdown receptions in four straight games, and his touchdown reception against the Jags set the tone for the rest of the game. Britt earned that touchdown by breaking a few tackles and refusing to go down.
When Gage finally returns to the lineup, this Titans offense will be extremely difficult to stop inside 20 yards.
Javon Ringer Is a Great Complement to Chris Johnson
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After the Titans said so long to LenDale White, it was uncertain who was going to step up and help Chris Johnson in the run game.
That uncertainty is no more. Javon Ringer has shown this entire season how reliable he is. Whenever his number has been called, Ringer has been productive.
Against the Jags, Ringer saw the most action in any single game of his short career. He got 10 carries for 42 yards.
His yards per carry average is just a shade under six for the season. That's really impressive for a player that has seen little action in his career.
Teams no longer can just plan for Johnson. They have to respect Ringer's ability as well.
Millions of fantasy owners were probably upset to see Ringer get so much action, but they better get use to it. Ringer will continue to get his share of carries throughout the season.
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Titans No Longer as Reliable on the Tight Ends
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Last season, the Titans' tight ends accounted for 81 receptions, 736 yards and two touchdowns. After six games this season, the tight ends only have 23 receptions for 248 yards.
The Titans have historically relied heavily on their tight ends, but they're finally starting to get some reliable wide receivers on the outside.
Most of that production has shifted to Nate Washington and Kenny Britt. With that said, Bo Scaife is still an important piece to this passing game and he showed that in his touchdown catch against the Jags.
In the past, the Titans passing game was too predictable. Every opposing defensive coordinator knew that if the Titans were going to beat you through the air, it was probably going to be by way of the tight end.
That's no longer the case and it makes the passing game that much more dangerous for opposing defenses.
The Titans Have Emerged As Road Warriors
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How does three road wins at the New York Giants, Cowboys and Jaguars sound to start the season? I'm guessing it sounds pretty good if you're a Titans fan.
It's very probable that if the Titans make the playoffs, it's going to be by way of the wild card thanks to the crowded AFC.
If the Titans continue to win in hostile environments, then going on the road in the playoffs might not be viewed as such a daunting task.
Chris Johnson definitely performs well on the road. He's now rushed for 100-plus yards in eight straight road games, which is just two shy of the NFL record held by Barry Sanders.
The two toughest road games remaining may be the last two games on the schedule against the Colts and the Chiefs. Odds are the Titans will be fighting for their playoff lives when that time comes, so sustaining this success on the road will be important to their confidence going into those last two games.
Offensive Line Getting Better Each Week
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The offensive line is still nowhere near the strongest part of this team, but they took a huge step forward against the Jags.
They gave up zero sacks against the Jags and only two quarterback hits. That's pretty impressive considering the immobile Kerry Collins was in for most of the game.
Michael Roos has done a great job blocking each team's best defensive end and the false start penalties have also decreased as the season has progressed.
Chris Johnson is still struggling to find much room inside the tackles, so that still has to be fixed.
As long as they continue to give Vince Young solid pockets to throw in, then the Titans offense will be just fine.
Kerry Collins Reliable Safety Net for Jeff Fisher
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During this past offseason, Jeff Fisher fought to keep Kerry Collins in Tennessee, knowing the probability of Vince Young having another setback.
Well, Young is still performing well, but you can never predict when an injury is going to occur. What could have happened against the Jags if Rusty Smith would have been the backup instead of Collins? It definitely would have been a much more uncomfortable game for Fisher and his team.
It has to be great knowing you have such an accomplished veteran like Collins to come in and do damage control. As I've always said, Collins isn't going to lead this team to a Super Bowl, but he can manage games.
That's what he did against the Jags. He managed to not screw up and helped his team take care of business against an inferior opponent.
Other teams would kill for that kind of reliability at their backup quarterback position.
Most Likely a Three-Horse Race in the AFC South
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The AFC South got a little less crowded after the win over the Jags, but not by much.
The Jags still only sit one game back of the Titans, Colts and Texans. However, I'm pretty sure the Jags showed how big of frauds they probably are. How they beat the Colts is beyond me.
This is still one of the toughest divisions in the NFL. Both the Colts and the Texans are legitimate teams that are going to be there until the end.
All three of these teams are good teams, but only two at the most can make the postseason.
The Titans will end with two games against Colts and one game against the Texans over the final four weeks of the season.
Stephen Tulloch Is the Defensive Leader, Not Cortland Finnegan
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With Cortland Finnegan being just ordinary so far this season, Stephen Tulloch has become the defensive leader of this team in my mind.
He's been consistent each game this season. He has 59 tackles in six games and has twice finished with 13 tackles in a game.
The void that Keith Bulluck left behind has been filled by Tulloch. He's a huge reason why the Titans continue to be solid at stopping the run.
He's not too shabby in his pass coverage either, with three pass deflections this season.
Much like Finnegan, Tulloch is a very vocal leader on the field who everyone has to feed off of in big moments.
Damian Williams Having Nice Rookie Campaign
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Damian Williams had his coming-out party of sorts against the Jags on Monday Night Football. It was by far his best outing of his career as he pulled in four catches for 48 yards.
Williams is gradually becoming more involved in this passing offense. If he starts consistently putting up good numbers, then common logic will say that Nate Washington's production and Kenny Britt's production will go up.
He had a couple huge catches against the Jags that kept the drive alive.
We may be seeing this current group of Titans' wide receivers evolving into the best this team has had since their Super Bowl season.
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