Notes from Titans -vs- Steelers - Offense

Following a dismal performance against the Minnesota Vikings, the 1 and 5 Titans were forced to return back to Nashville on short week to face the Pittsburgh Steelers for Thursday Night Football. Not surprisingly, the Titans were labeled an underdog and little hope was given for a victory against a Steelers team with struggles of its own. Could the Titans offense get any semblance of a balanced game going? Would the real Chris Johnson please stand up? Let's take a look.

Matt Hasselbeck has struggled since replacing the injured Jake Locker but overall I think his performance Thursday night was good. He was 25 of 44 for 290 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Unfortunately for Hasselbeck, his wide receivers dropped several passes which should have been caught. If the ball hits you in the hands that is a ball you should catch. Kenny Britt was the prime offender but he wasn't alone.

The running game is definitely improved and Chris Johnson finished with respectable numbers. He ran for 91 yards on 19 carries with a 4.8 YPC. At times he is willing to hit the gap and earn the tough runs but he still dances around too much at times and his indecisiveness causes him to miss opportunities for longer runs. Still it is nice to see a much improved performance from him compared to last season.

With Javon Ringer still recovering from a knee injury, second year running back Jamie Harper was active and he made the most of his opportunities. While he only got 2 carries, one was a goal line situation and he showed his strength by powering through the Steelers defense to score a touchdown. He earned every single bit of it too.

I like Harper and hope to see more of him in the games to come.

Overall, I thought the offensive line did a good job blocking in the running game.

The offensive line still struggles to recognize and contain a 3/4 defensive scheme where the linebackers stunt and come through the gap from the opposite direction. The Titans struggled with this against the Texans and the Steelers used Lawrence Timmons very effectively to create havoc against the offensive line. Leroy Harris was his primary victim and Harris just doesn't seem to me to play as powerfully as he did when he first cracked the starting lineup.

He wasn't alone however.

The good news is that Chris Johnson and Jared Cook are both doing a much better job picking up their blocking assignments. They both still need some work there but i see marked improvement.

Taylor Thompson just gets better every game. He is also doing a great job blocking.

I really like the Titans wide receivers and they did appear to play with more fire and physicality against the Steelers but consistency is key and they simply need to be more consistent catching the football.

It's great to see Kenny Britt back on the field and he obviously is a difference maker but he simply cannot keep dropping passes.

Kendall Wright made an excellent decision to get out of bounds at the end of the first half to set up the Titans field goal. Unfortunately, he also dropped a pass that should have been caught.

After struggling in early games it was nice to see the Titans offense put forth such a balanced effort. The improvement can be seen most in the time of possession which was almost equal with the Steelers holding the ball 29:57 and the Titans 30:03. Let's hope this improvement carries into the remaining schedule.

Notes from Titans vs Texans - Offense

The Titans traveled to Houston, Texas to play AFC South conference leader the Houston Texans who were undefeated and generally considered one of the best teams in the league. Unfortunately the Titans lost Jake Locker to a shoulder injury and it appears he will be out at least a few weeks if not more.Let's dive in and take a look at the offense, and see how it fares without Locker.

Chris Johnson looked really fast on the first and second plays from scrimmage. I thought the run blocking generally was pretty good. The right side of the line played well and kudo's to Steve Hutchinson and Michael Roos who had what I think was his best game of the season. He really played well. Look as how well he seals a block here.

Overall, I thought Chris Johnson ran with good effort and vision. He isn't quite the CJ of the past as he seems to have lost that "turbo" gear but he approaches the line quickly and for the most part reads the coverage well.

He does need to be careful about losing those pants. This isn't the first time it's almost happened. <insert joke emoticon> Finally, I do wonder if CJ sees the difference in his own performance and whether he is aware that he had issues of his own. Still, it is good to see the running game improve.

One thing I did notice was that on that run in the first quarter where CJ loses a yard we pull Leroy Harris from the right side to the left and JJ Watt comes in unblocked. It does look Craig Stevens was supposed to pick up two guys including JJ Watt.

That’s just a failure of the blocking scheme as Craig Stevens one on one with JJ Watt didn’t work too well on that 6 yard loss first play second quarter either. That’s just a failure of the blocking scheme as Craig Stevens one on one with JJ Watt didn’t work too well on that 6 yard loss first play second quarter either. 

The right side of the line generally struggled however and Amano and Stewart couldn’t hold anyone off at times. 

Finally, the offensive line did struggle to protect the quarterback as Jake Locker was put out of the game with a helmet to his shoulder on a sack. Matt Hasselback was under pressure a lot and he was sacked 3 times. He also lost a fumble. He finished 17 of 25 with 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a fumble.

Another thing I liked from the coaching staff was the use of Quinn Johnson in the passing game. I hope we see a little bit more of that as he looks good when he is catching and running with the ball and it has been successful so far.

Unfortunately, the passing game struggled some but there were some good things to see besides Quinn Johnson. I liked how we used Craig Stevens in the red zone to score the first touchdown. Also, Chris Johnson caught a couple of passes. Nate Washington continues to be a reliable veteran in the passing game and he really did a nice job blocking. Taylor Thompson struggles a bit with his blocking on the offense but the interception simply wasn't his fault just a poorly thrown pass by Hasselback.

Kendall Wright struggled early on but after watching the film it is easy to see the reason. I do not like to call other players or teams dirty but clearly the Texans play dirty. There were a ton of missed calls and Wright was held on the 2nd and 3rd incomplete.

 Furthermore, the last time I checked the NFL rulebook specifically prohibits the following: 

• A tackler using his helmet to butt, spear, or ram an opponent.

• Any player who uses the top of his helmet unnecessarily.

Well kids the Texans did that a lot as you can see from the following shots (pardon the pun).

Late hit and spear on Chris Johnson by Demps

He led with his helmet

A spear and a pile on

This is a spear (leading with helmet) on Hawkins

He lowers his head and leads with his helmet

After holding him for that incompletion, Kareem Jackson also took a shot at Kendall Wright after the ball was dropped. This of course wasn't called either.

Also, Damien Williams got mugged on that last pick six from Kareem Jackson who hot dogged it into the endzone. Kid, act like you've been there.

Finally, a note about David Stewart who clearly had reason to be angry. Having said that Son you can't lose your head like that and in retrospect Munchak should have pulled him for a few plays while he cooled down. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear we have a backup plan. 

Stewart lost his cool on the first Hasselback interception when a Texans offensive lineman kept grabbing him from behind. The Texan ultimately slung Stewart around and he retaliated by throwing a haymaker. I can't say I blame him but he has to shrug it off after that and play smart.

Obviously the Texans game was a struggle for the Titans offense and one only hopes to see improvement overall in the weeks to come. Let's also hope Jake Locker doesn't need surgery.