I planned to do what I normally do and watch the opponent's previous game. Unforutnately, the Colts lost last week to the Saints, 62-7. I started watching that game for this post, then decided it ultimately wouldn't be a very good game to write a review of the Colts off of. I instead watched the Colts' previous game, a road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Colts in that game tried to rally from a 20-7 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, but an ill-advised Pierre Garcon lateral attempt was returned for a score with the Colts trailing by three with less than three minutes left in the game.
What I saw from the Colts, after the jump:
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What I saw from the Colts, after the jump:
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To preview this week's game between two divisional foes coming off blowout losses, we turned to our regular Colts correspondent, Nate Dunlevy of the great Colts site 18 to 88. In addition to writing 18 to 88, Nate is the author of two books, including Blue Blood, a history of the Colts in Indianapolis, and Invincible, Indiana, a new novel.
If you'd like to read my answers to his questions, including some thoughts on Jeff Fisher as potential new head coach of the Colts, read it at 18 to 88. For Nate's answers to my questions, you can find those after the jump.
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If you'd like to read my answers to his questions, including some thoughts on Jeff Fisher as potential new head coach of the Colts, read it at 18 to 88. For Nate's answers to my questions, you can find those after the jump.
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In his Monday presser, Mike Munchak stated he wasn't planning on making any personnel changes.
On Thursday afternoon, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweeted that "Munchak wants to see complete complement of carries to evaluate CJ and run game fully."
I think McCormick meant to use the word reevaluate, since Munch supposedly performed a full evaluation during the bye week. Or perhaps McCormick used evaluate in the sense that the evaluation has been and remains an ongoing process.
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On Thursday afternoon, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweeted that "Munchak wants to see complete complement of carries to evaluate CJ and run game fully."
I think McCormick meant to use the word reevaluate, since Munch supposedly performed a full evaluation during the bye week. Or perhaps McCormick used evaluate in the sense that the evaluation has been and remains an ongoing process.
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Yes, it's more on Chris Johnson. I'll start with this from the great Greg Cosell of NFL Films on this week's FantasyGuru Matchup podcast:
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Well, you have to understand, as we always say, the eye in the sky does not lie. It's the truth serum. And players know, they see it too. Okay? Right now, Chris Johnson is not running well. He is an avoid contact runner. His teammates can see that. It's not a scoop what I'm telling you, believe me. So now as a coach, you have to decide, here's a guy who's not running real hard or well. Am I going to keep giving him the ball. How are his teammates and my players going to react to that?Pete Prisco of CBS Sports, one of the media guys who really sit down and watches games, also wrote about Johnson in this week's column:
Mike Munchak is in a difficult situation here, because Chris Johnson at his best and yes, still on any given play, can he break it? Sure he can. But overall, he is not running with a whole lot of desire and energy, and his teammates can see that. So, I know this isn't helping from a fantasy standpoint, but he's got a tough decision to make here. You know, when you put in the tape and you see the other backs like a Ringer, they actually run like they want to run. Now, they're not as physically talented as Chris Johnson, but they actually run like it means something to them to be out on the field.
Earlier this year, I evaluated what was wrong with Chris Johnson. At the time, it showed the Titans line was allowing too much penetration. Now I think a lot of the blame has to go to Johnson. He is running tentatively, and he's missing holes. [Ed.-Breakdown of second CJ's second run.] Johnson is missing holes when they are there and he just doesn't seem to have the same feel he had during his first three seasons in the league.It ain't just me. In other Chris Johnson/run game struggles, FO colleague Ben Muth wrote about the offensive line's play on Sunday, and just to make it Chris Johnson week, this week's ESPN In$ider column is on teams that like the Titans that start off throwing the ball well and running the ball poorly. Generally, they start running the ball better, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Titans do that. Just don't be too surprised if the Titans do it with Ringer.
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I do my best to say nice things about players. I recognize they're doing a difficult, very demanding job, and one that I would be a miserable failure at if I tried. I know there are things going on on the field, in the locker room, and in meeting rooms that I don't know about or fully understand that very easily might change my perspective.
That said, if I see something, and I think I'm right, I'm not going to try to pull punches. And Chris Johnson is not currently anything close to a good NFL running back.
To try to figure out what really plagued the Titans' running game on Sunday, and figure out why Chris Johnson only rushed for 18 yards on 10 carries, I thought I'd watch all of those carries and try to figure out what happened. The result of that viewing was clear: on the majority of plays, Chris Johnson failed to gain even the yardage I'd expect a marginal NFL running back to gain on that play. On only one play did he display the skills of an above-average back, and that was his only successful run by Success Rate standards. He does not seem to see the field clearly, does not attack holes aggressively, and when he believes contact is likely, puts his head down and tries to dive forward for a couple yards rather than attempt to make a defender miss or shed a tackle.
You may think that the offensive line is to blame. The Titans are currently ranked worst in the league in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Line Yards metric, which tries to separate out the result of blocking from the running back's play. One of my plans for later this week is to re-watch one of Chris Johnson's games from the second half of 2009 and compare the Titans' offensive line play then to how it is now. Based on Sunday's play, the Titans' poor ALY mark this year is deeply misleading. The Titans' offensive line is not blowing open great big, massive holes for Johnson to run through, but the blocking is plenty good enough for Johnson to have a great deal more success than he is having. Chris Johnson's poor performance on Sunday was largely attributable solely to Chris Johnson.
Please note this post is about Chris Johnson's performance running the ball Sunday. I'm not saying the offensive line was great against the Steelers or against the Browns, to pick the Titans' two prior games, nor that they were bad in those games. I'm not saying anything about him in blitz pickup, or his work as a receiver. This post is based solely on his work as a rusher Sunday.
As to what this means for next Sunday, I really don't know. To my eye, what Chris Johnson was doing would prevent him from running for good yardage against virtually any NFL defense, behind virtually any NFL offensive line. It is possible that Chris Johnson just had an exceptionally bad game, and that he will run the ball much better Sunday against the Colts. Personally, I am not optimistic about Chris Johnson's future performance, be it against the Colts, the rest of this season, or the remainder of his NFL career.
For those who are interested, all the gory PBP details are after the jump.
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That said, if I see something, and I think I'm right, I'm not going to try to pull punches. And Chris Johnson is not currently anything close to a good NFL running back.
To try to figure out what really plagued the Titans' running game on Sunday, and figure out why Chris Johnson only rushed for 18 yards on 10 carries, I thought I'd watch all of those carries and try to figure out what happened. The result of that viewing was clear: on the majority of plays, Chris Johnson failed to gain even the yardage I'd expect a marginal NFL running back to gain on that play. On only one play did he display the skills of an above-average back, and that was his only successful run by Success Rate standards. He does not seem to see the field clearly, does not attack holes aggressively, and when he believes contact is likely, puts his head down and tries to dive forward for a couple yards rather than attempt to make a defender miss or shed a tackle.
You may think that the offensive line is to blame. The Titans are currently ranked worst in the league in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Line Yards metric, which tries to separate out the result of blocking from the running back's play. One of my plans for later this week is to re-watch one of Chris Johnson's games from the second half of 2009 and compare the Titans' offensive line play then to how it is now. Based on Sunday's play, the Titans' poor ALY mark this year is deeply misleading. The Titans' offensive line is not blowing open great big, massive holes for Johnson to run through, but the blocking is plenty good enough for Johnson to have a great deal more success than he is having. Chris Johnson's poor performance on Sunday was largely attributable solely to Chris Johnson.
Please note this post is about Chris Johnson's performance running the ball Sunday. I'm not saying the offensive line was great against the Steelers or against the Browns, to pick the Titans' two prior games, nor that they were bad in those games. I'm not saying anything about him in blitz pickup, or his work as a receiver. This post is based solely on his work as a rusher Sunday.
As to what this means for next Sunday, I really don't know. To my eye, what Chris Johnson was doing would prevent him from running for good yardage against virtually any NFL defense, behind virtually any NFL offensive line. It is possible that Chris Johnson just had an exceptionally bad game, and that he will run the ball much better Sunday against the Colts. Personally, I am not optimistic about Chris Johnson's future performance, be it against the Colts, the rest of this season, or the remainder of his NFL career.
For those who are interested, all the gory PBP details are after the jump.
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We'll be doing our regular question and answer session about the Colts with Nate Dunlevy of the great Colts blog 18 to 88. If there's anything in particular you'd like me to ask Nate, please post it in the comments section and I'll incorporate it in my questions for him.
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It kind of hurt just to type that. In Sunday's game, the Houston Texans had 222 yards rushing against the Titans. It wasn't just a single superlative player who had success, as Arian Foster and Ben Tate went over 100 yards on the day. It was the first time since 1985 that the Titans/Oilers let two opposing running backs both go over 100 yards on the ground.
Curious about exactly how the Texans ran the ball so successfully, I decided to watch every running play they had when the game was at least sort of meaningful. In practice, that meant every first half running play, the first drive of the second half to make it 27-7, and then a couple runs from the drive that made it 34-7.
After the jump, what I saw.
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Curious about exactly how the Texans ran the ball so successfully, I decided to watch every running play they had when the game was at least sort of meaningful. In practice, that meant every first half running play, the first drive of the second half to make it 27-7, and then a couple runs from the drive that made it 34-7.
After the jump, what I saw.
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Embarassing is far too mild an adjective to describe the Titans performance yesterday.
Putrid is more like it. Disgusting fits. Nauseating is applicable.
I kept looking to find something, anything, encouraging about the game, but didn't see a single thing. I didn't believe the Titans could play much worse than they did in their previous game, but that was wishful thinking.
More to come on this subject in my next article. I'm still too upset about yesterday's ugly performance to write more now and don't know if I'll get over it after the customary 24 hours.
Well, folks, this one was ugly.
In a game that looked like a matchup of the top two teams in the AFC South, the division-leading Tennessee Titans were decisively beaten today at home in Nasville by the Houston Texans, 41-7, in a game that was about as close as the score indicates. The game started slowly for both teams, with both teams starting with a pair of punts.
After that exchange, though, the Texans would never punt again. They scored on their next five possessions to take a 27-0 lead before the Titans got on the board, then another touchdown and a Hasselbeck interception returned for a touchdown provided the final margin.
In a normal game, I'd say some nice things about some players before going on to the brickbats. Unfortunately, it's tough to find many nice things to say. Jake Locker had his first NFL completion. The Titans scored a touchdown on all of their red zone possessions. Chris Johnson had a couple catches lined up at wide receiver. Donnie Avery drew a big pass interference penalty. Javon Ringer had some nice work on the drive that led to the TD. Jason Jones had a good stop on a fourth-down play. Huh, that was a longer list than I expected.
Beyond those, virtually everything went poorly. Coverage busts by different players gave the Texans big plays. Both Arian Foster and Ben Tate went over 100 yards rushing. Chris Johnson left a lot of yards on the field in his 10 carries for only 18 yards. None of the non-primary wide receivers had anything like a decent game. Matt Schaub had virtually no pressure on him all day. Zone coverage wasn't up to the challenge of Schaub. Chris Johnson's six catches netted only 27 yards.
At least it's only one game. The Titans need to lick their wounds and should have a good chance to recover with another game next week at LP Field, that one against the (at least so far) winless Colts. Take 24 hours, fix what you need to fix, and move on. no comments
In a game that looked like a matchup of the top two teams in the AFC South, the division-leading Tennessee Titans were decisively beaten today at home in Nasville by the Houston Texans, 41-7, in a game that was about as close as the score indicates. The game started slowly for both teams, with both teams starting with a pair of punts.
After that exchange, though, the Texans would never punt again. They scored on their next five possessions to take a 27-0 lead before the Titans got on the board, then another touchdown and a Hasselbeck interception returned for a touchdown provided the final margin.
In a normal game, I'd say some nice things about some players before going on to the brickbats. Unfortunately, it's tough to find many nice things to say. Jake Locker had his first NFL completion. The Titans scored a touchdown on all of their red zone possessions. Chris Johnson had a couple catches lined up at wide receiver. Donnie Avery drew a big pass interference penalty. Javon Ringer had some nice work on the drive that led to the TD. Jason Jones had a good stop on a fourth-down play. Huh, that was a longer list than I expected.
Beyond those, virtually everything went poorly. Coverage busts by different players gave the Texans big plays. Both Arian Foster and Ben Tate went over 100 yards rushing. Chris Johnson left a lot of yards on the field in his 10 carries for only 18 yards. None of the non-primary wide receivers had anything like a decent game. Matt Schaub had virtually no pressure on him all day. Zone coverage wasn't up to the challenge of Schaub. Chris Johnson's six catches netted only 27 yards.
At least it's only one game. The Titans need to lick their wounds and should have a good chance to recover with another game next week at LP Field, that one against the (at least so far) winless Colts. Take 24 hours, fix what you need to fix, and move on. no comments
The inactives are out for today's game at LP Field between the Titans and the Texans, and here they are:
HOUSTON TEXANS: G Thomas Austin, DE Tim Bulman, FB/TE James Casey, OT Andrew Gardner, CB Brandon Harris, WR Andre Johnson, QB T.J. Yates
TENNESSEE TITANS: DT Zach Clayton, DE William Hayes, S Chris Hope, C Kevin Matthews, LB Colin McCarthy, QB Rusty Smith, OT Byron Stingily
For the Texans, there are no big surprises. Johnson and James Casey are the big inactives, and neither of them was expected to play as of Friday. For the Titans, Hope and McCarthy were out, Hayes was questionable after having back spasms in practice on Friday, and Craig Stevens plays after being listed as questionable, which comes as no real surprise.
I didn't ge the chance yesterday to do the post about the defense at the bye week I planned on, so I'll get to that this week.
Please leave your comments here during today's game. no comments
HOUSTON TEXANS: G Thomas Austin, DE Tim Bulman, FB/TE James Casey, OT Andrew Gardner, CB Brandon Harris, WR Andre Johnson, QB T.J. Yates
TENNESSEE TITANS: DT Zach Clayton, DE William Hayes, S Chris Hope, C Kevin Matthews, LB Colin McCarthy, QB Rusty Smith, OT Byron Stingily
For the Texans, there are no big surprises. Johnson and James Casey are the big inactives, and neither of them was expected to play as of Friday. For the Titans, Hope and McCarthy were out, Hayes was questionable after having back spasms in practice on Friday, and Craig Stevens plays after being listed as questionable, which comes as no real surprise.
I didn't ge the chance yesterday to do the post about the defense at the bye week I planned on, so I'll get to that this week.
Please leave your comments here during today's game. no comments
