Ahhhhhh, its almost fall. My favorite time of year. The weather gets a bit nipply-er, leaves begin to change, the grass no longer needs to be mowed, and most people's favorite sports season is just around the corner. 24 hours and counting to the start of the NFL season, which means its time to start a new season of blogging.
Although Matt stole some of my thunder (and my list dump idea) by breaking the nearly summer-long MRSLP silence, that's ok. My post will be better, and will have less "I have an iphone 3GS so I'm better than you" bragging. Though I do have an iphone 3G, so I'm better than you (but not better than Matt, who's better than all of us).
After my Nostradamus-like Titans predictions last year, I have a lot to live up to. Seriously, read that post from Week 1 last year. Jesus, I was spot on. Like I had Gray's Sports Almanac or something.
Well this year, the Titans are still getting little respect. Everyone still has the Steelers, Pats, Colts, Chargers, Ravens, and even the Texans and Dolphins over the Titans in the AFC. I guess that's the respect a 13-3 season gets ya. They were knocked out of the playoffs early after playing a mistake-filled, ugly game where Chris Johnson (our MVP last year - more on that later) dominated the 1st half but was injured for the 2nd half, the refs gifted the Ravens 20 yards and a first down on the last drive with a terrible no-call, and we still only lost by 3 points. Just thinking of that game gets me shaking with frustration. God I hate the Ravens (I called that frustration too - lucky me).
Enough pining over what could have been. It's a New Season, and while I'm optimistic at what the Titans can do this year, I'm less confident in this team than I was at the end of last year. And it has nothing to do with the loss of Albert Haynesworth.
The Titans return 10 of 11 starters from a defense that was just awesome last year. But all anyone talks about is how we'll take a big dip this year because of the loss of Haynesworth. I was torn on re-signing him. Sure, Albert was absolutely dominant the past 2 years. But where was he before that?
We drafted him in 2002, and he was mostly injured or anonymous til 2007-2008. Could it be because 2007 was a contract year, and 2008 was the last year he had the franchise tag on him, and he knew he was playing for a huge contract so he stepped his game up? Part of me says yes. Heck, a lot of me says yes. If we had re-signed him to the tune of $100 million, I think our team would be hurt more than helped, because the strength of this team's defense has always been its depth at Defensive Line, and the ability to rotate quality players in and out at all times. That depth would have seriously suffered if we had that much money tied into one player, even one as good as Albert. And did you realize that, as good as he was, he only played about 55-60% of the defensive plays for the Titans over the past 2 years? So yeah, this defense was and is more than Albert Haynesworth, and will continue to be really good without him.
So yeah, I'm not really worried about the Titans Defense this season. Great Secondary, Good Linebackers, and a really good, deep Defensive line with a nice mix of vets and up and comers that have a chance of making a big name for themselves in the next year or two (kinda like Albert did in 2007).
The thing that concerns me is the offense. I'm not expecting them to have a Saints/Pats/Eagles/Cardinals type, explosive offense. They haven't been that, and will not be that this year. They don't need that to win, and they don't have the personnel to support it. Heck, if the offense is as good as last year (maybe a bit better), then I'd be ecstatic, and I'd be sure we were in for another great season.
We definitely upgraded the pass catchers. Justin Gage came on at the end of last year and looked really, really good. I don't expect him to go over 1,000 yards or anything this year, but he's a solid WR, and should continue to be. Bo Scaife is a good TE, and can make the nice catch and long run when we need him to. Alge Crumpler is now older, and fatter, but is a great blocker and can make catches when we need him to.
The new blood comes in the form of 2 players. The first is our "big" (not really) free agent signing - Nate Washington, formerly of the Steelers. This guy was never a top receiver for them, but seemed to be there to haul in the long bomb for Big Ben whenever he threw one up. It'd be nice if he could provide somewhat of a deep threat for Kerry, who still has a big arm, but my expectations are tempered. He's missed most of the preseason with injuries, so I have no idea what to expect from this guy in our offense.
The other player is someone most have probably never heard of. We drafted a TE in the 3rd round (ahead of Chase Coffman - surely you jest!) by the name of Jared Cook.
Ok, this guy is a freak. We already have Scaife and Crumpler, so I wasn't sure why we "wasted" a pick on a rookie TE, but after seeing him play, I get it. The dude is like 6'6", 250, and runs like a gazelle. He's got great hands from what I've seen too. Big as a TE, fast as a WR. Oh my. He will be fun to watch for the next 10 years, especially in this offense, where the tight end is king. I could see him lining up as the 3rd or 4th WR in pass situations too - he's just that gifted. I just hope he can stay healthy, as he already has some injury issues that may keep him out of our first game. He has the potential to be great. I just hope he's more Antonio Gates, and less Ben Troupe (all the talent in the world, but injuries and poor hands cost him his career).
And the O-Line. I love em. Great. Maybe the best part of our team. The personnel has been pretty uniform over the past few years, and that's usually the most important thing for an Offensive Line. They played unbelievable last year. Chris Johnson and Lendale White ran for over 2,000 yards and 25 TD's combined last year. I've previously said that if Lendale White does good, then you must have a great O-Line, because Lendale White (Ohio State sucks!!) is an awful running back. Just terrible. So if he gets almost 800 yards rushing (including an 80!!! yard TD vs. the Chiefs) and 15 TD's in a time-share situation, your O-Line is great. And they are.
Also, Kerry Collins was sacked a grand total of 8 times in 16 games last year. In case you hadn't noticed, Kerry Collins is 36 years old, and isn't exactly the most mobile QB in the world. So that few sacks allowed means you're doing something great. And that's the O-line.
So, I love the Defense, am ok with the receivers, love the Tight Ends and love the O-line. So why am I heading into this season with a bit of apprehension? Since I've rambled for the better part of forever now, and most people stopped reading at "Sweet", I'll go ahead and save that for part 2 of my post, which I'll type up right before the season opener tomorrow.
But here's a sneak peek at why I'm not as confident as I was last year: 2 players. One of them will not surprise you. His name is Vince Young. He's still pretty much a piece of shit. The other one will surprise you. His name is Chris Johnson. Why does CJ worry me? Didn't I say earlier that he was the MVP of this team last year? (yes I did) Check back tomorrow to find out.....
In the meantime, enjoy some highlights from the NFL's fastest and most exciting player.
