Remember the Titans
Don Hunsberger
Sports Columnist
Remember the Titans
Six games into the new season, the NFL has presented us with some interesting surprises.
The Lions have won a game, and three teams have not. Both the Saints and Bucs have perfect records. The Redskins have played six straight games against teams who were winless when they met.
For some teams, that's the road to the Super Bowl. For Washington, it's a 2-4 start and the beginning of the end for Head Coach Jim Zorn. The Saints, for several years now an offensive powerhouse, have found a defense. The Bucs, for the last decade a defensive powerhouse, have not. But to one whose fantasy team has taken a pounding so far this year, the greatest surprise of all has to be the rapid demise of the Tennessee Titans.
Last season, the Titans boasted the best record in the NFL. At 13-3, they possessed a solid quarterback in Kerry Collins and a defense second to none. This year, their defense trails every other team in almost every category, including total points allowed and average points per game. This once-great franchise, led by Jeff Fisher, the longest-serving coach in the NFL, is beyond horrible. Last Sunday, disgracing the powder blue uniforms of the Houston Oilers, the Titans were obliterated, 59-0, by Tom Brady in a heavy snowstorm. The once-vaunted Tennessee defensive front didn't come close to pressuring Brady, who did what great players do when horrible teams come calling. He tossed an NFL-record five touchdowns in a single quarter and finished with six for the game. There was no part of the contest in which the once-feared Titans were competitive.
While New England opened up its offense on every series, the Titans seemed content to run the ball and hope for the best. Maybe that's because the Titans had suffered 12 drops going into the Patriot game, then dropped a half-dozen more in the first half. When Collins did pass, his receivers often ran patterns more reminiscent of high school than of the NFL. Twice, Collins was intercepted. By the time the first half had ended, the Patriots had amassed 436 yards of total offense - more than most teams manage in an entire game.
I proudly took the Tennessee defense in this year's fantasy draft, and even though they lost the first game, the defense looked relatively solid. Every game since, it's gotten progressively worse. The only positive statement I can think of is this: The Titans' next game cannot possibly be worse.
Fisher's recent statements about the team are as lame as its performance on the field.
"What this is about is remaining focused," he said, "and working on our jobs and doing those kinds of things. We are a football team that's winless and is trying to get a win."
With motivation like that, how can they possibly fail?
If the team continues to play at its current lethargic pace, and if the coach continues to mouth platitudes rather than motivate his players, a time will come when no one in Tennessee, Houston or anywhere else will be able to remember the Titans.
Friday, October 30, 2009 - www.dailycommercial.com/dpm1030