Matt Hasselbeck Injury: Titans Should Hand the Keys over to Jake Locker

The Titans need to stop fooling themselves with Matt Hasselbeck. The Jake Locker era needs to begin now.

The 36-year-old QB is just good enough to give your team hope, only to ultimately fail in the end.

At 5-5, Tennessee isn't going to the playoffs. They need to see what the rookie Locker can do, especially with the arm injury Hasselbeck suffered in Sunday's 23-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Locker came in for an injured Hasselbeck late in the third quarter facing a three-score deficit. And 140 yards and two touchdowns later, he almost pulled off one of the best comebacks of the NFL season. Don't forget this came at Atlanta, in a dome environment.

The odds were stacked against him, and he almost pulled it off. Pretty incredible considering Chris Johnson had 12 carries for a laughable 13 yards. Locker's one carry for 11 yards almost equaled Johnson's performance.

He seemed comfortable in the pocket, didn't tuck the ball and run too often and didn't make any stupid decisions. That's a great sign for a rookie with almost zero NFL experience. If Sunday was a peak into the future, the Titans have to be thrilled.

To recap: Locker rejuvenated a dead offense on the road against a potential playoff team while having absolutely no running game to help him.

That is enough to give the kid another shot.

As Andy Dalton and Cam Newton continue to impress, it's time to see how bright of a future the Titans have. At this point it's the smartest move for the long-term development of the franchise. 2011 is not going to end with a playoff appearance.

Hasselbeck was the bridge to a new era, and now it's time to step over it and move on.

Thanks for 10 decent games, Matt.