Tennessee Titans: What Do We Know About Them This Year?

Through six games of the NFL season, we Tennessee Titans fans have much more to be happy about than we did at this point last year. The team is 4-2 rather than 0-6 and just came off of a 30-3 win on Monday Night rather than a 59-0 loss in the middle of a blizzard.

Chris Johnson hasn't done as great this year as many thought he would, however, he is running at almost exactly the same pace as he did last year. If he picks it up over the last 10 weeks like he did last year and the team goes 8-2 to end the regular season—that would be absolutely incredible.

And it is definitely possible the way the Titans have been playing.

Vince Young came in last season after the sixth game and showed more maturity and better decision making abilities than we had seen him with before. As much as he had improved in his time on the bench from 2008 to 2009, he has improved even more through the offseason and the first six games this year. Vince has had help from his receiving corps which is absolutely full of playmakers such as Kenny Britt and Nate Washington.

In VY's worst game this year, against the Steelers, he was only allowed to pass 10 times and completed seven of those passes. Had he gotten more attempts, maybe the run game could have been opened and we would be 5-1.

During the loss to Denver, it seemed that the Titans didn't want to pass until they had to in the game, which let the run game be too predictable and ended up costing the Titans that game along with some penalties. Though Vince Young has had a few deep passes this year that have been spot on showing he is incredibly accurate on the deep ball, too bad Britt let one go through his arms.

After VY and CJ, the receivers have all stepped up this year and made catches that they dropped in the previous years, which has contributed to the Titans being a top five scoring team.

The biggest thing on offense this year that we know about the Titans...if they come out throwing the ball, then the run will inevitably follow and be very efficient, whether it is Johnson or Ringer carrying the pigskin.

On defense, the Titans came into the year with a bunch of new names that needed to step up for the squad to be successful, and that is exactly what they have done. From a defensive line that leads the league in sacks to a secondary that is No. 2 in interceptions, to the linebackers who won't even allow a running back to consider a big game.

The Titans have shut down opposing offenses for the most of this year. They are brutal as they are constantly hitting the quarterback which causes mistakes late in the game, and in some cases, causes the teams second string quarterback to have to come in.

The defense is giving up a ton of passing yardage, but when a team gets into the red zone, they stand up and shut down the opposing team.

There are a few things we know about this defense...they will allow passing yardage all day, because they are focused on interceptions until it is time to crack down in the red zone. They will not allow a running back, not named Felix Jones, to run on them at all, and they will hit the opposing quarterback early and often.

The special teams this year has had a couple big plays with Marc Mariani returning, and that will hopefully continue, especially in two weeks when the team takes a trip to San Diego who has all sorts of special teams issues.

Overall, as a fan of the Titans, I know that they have everything it takes to make a big run this year on offense and defense if they play to their potential.