Take Me Down to Drop City - Sharona's Shots on Offense - Texans at Titans

AND ITS' ON SALE!! SCORE!!

Clifford Franklin: [Jimmy's putting stick-um on his hands] Coach, ain't that stuff illegal?
Jimmy McGinty: What are they going to do? Put you in football jail?

Its safe to say new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggain's first game was not a resounding success. He gets a pass from me on the game against the Texans though for several reasons. First, and foremost, he didn't get a lot of time to make changes or install anything. Second, he has a young quarterback who has only played in 12 NFL games. Third, his offensive line took a huge hit with the loss of starting right tackle David Stewart and starting left guard Steve Hutchinson. However, I will say it was an utter travesty that the Titans didn't utilize the shotgun more or go no huddle until 3:19 was left in the 3rd quarter. Also, Locker was rolled out very much and that is an area where he generally does well and where defenses have difficulty defending him.

Team Stat Comparison

	HOU	TEN
1st Downs	16	17
Passing 1st downs	11	12
Rushing 1st downs	5	2
1st downs from Penalties	0	3
3rd down efficiency	4-17	4-15
4th down efficiency	1-1	0-2
Total Plays	70	68
Total Yards	332	354
Yards per play	4.7	5.2
Total Drives	15	15
Passing	207	265
Comp - Att	21-35	21-45
Yards per pass	5.9	5.9
Interceptions thrown	0	3
Sacks - Yards Lost	0-0	6-44
Rushing	125	89
Rushing Attempts	35	17
Yards per rush	3.6	5.2
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-2	0-2
Penalties	11-97	4-35
Turnovers	0	6
Fumbles lost	0	3
Interceptions thrown	0	3
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	33:48	26:12

Let's face it, Jake Locker didn't have his best game.

However, he gets a bit of a pass from me since he is a young quarterback who has only played in 12 games. Moreover, he simply didn't get much help. Locker was sacked 6 times and really I can only find fault with one or two. With a makeshift offensive line, high snaps and breakdowns in blocking, even the most seasoned quarterback is going to struggle.

The 5th sack was totally on him however and he simply must learn to be more aware of pressure and to throw the ball away in those situations. In his defense on the other sacks, his pocket was collapsing within 2 seconds. He also threw 3 interceptions, 2 of which were batted passes when he was under center and/or under pressure. The Titans need to work on him with his release point a bit but also I don't get why he is being forced under center so much so early. Finally, Locker simply can't fumble like he has been no matter how much pressure he is under.

 

The area where I do find fault is with the Titans receivers which as a group simply failed to play at an NFL quality level. I really love the site ProFootball Focus, and they count only 4 dropped passes in this game. Respectfully, I disagree. Other sources have counted 6 or 7 and I personally would even go as far as to say there were 8: Wright (2) Washington (2) Britt (1) and Cook (2)  Thompson (1). The Titan's "number one" wide receiver, Kenny Britt, has a catch rate of 48% per the website Football Outsiders. That is simply unacceptable. Jared Cook is in the top 15 in tight end drop rate per ProFootball Focus.

With the exception of Damien Williams, who really has made some nice plays this year, most particularly against the Texans before he got hurt, the Titans receivers could have performed much better. Kendall Wright gets a bit of a pass because he is a rookie but the other guys simply get out-muscled way too often. Jared Cook in particular. The Texans had the Titans' receivers in man coverage for most of the game and they still had trouble getting separation and were unable to snag balls that hit them in the hands. Shame.

In some fairness to the receivers there were several pass interferences that simply were not called.

Chris Johnson also had a largely unforgettable game against the Texans and it was for a variety of reasons. The Titans largely abandoned the run in the second half and CJ only got 3 carries. He was thrown to once as well. I do think the Titans should have tried to run a bit more but largely the run blocking was suffering and CJ's vision wasn't all that great anyway. I can't fault CJ for trying to make something but he does fail to follow his blockers on occasion and that can lead to loss of yardage. I will note I find it inexplicable that Quinn Johnson only played 4 snaps and Taylor Thompson only played 9 snaps. I see a trend here and if you read my blog on Jared Cook and the tight ends you know what I'm referencing.

Furthermore, with a makeshift offensive line CJ was getting a lot of negative yardage.

I am well aware of the comments CJ made this past week regarding his lack of carries. I am not going to quote them here. The only comment I have is that CJ's "MeJ" attitude surfaces at times when you just have to wonder if he cares more for his stats than he does whether the team wins or loses. Incredible talent that he is, it might be time to consider whether the money and attitude are worth it. I wrote earlier on the Titans cap situation and they face quite the decision with Chris Johnson.

Finally, I think the Titans have to acknowledge its time to put some serious effort into the future of the offensive line. In my opinion, this must be one of the bigger priorities during the offseason. I look for the Titans to draft an offensive lineman fairly high, and I am very high on Alabama's Chance Warmack, if the multi-talented Barrett Jones is already gone. In any event, this is an area to address and I look for the Titans to do so.