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The Tennessee Titans concluded their 2010 preseason schedule with a 27-24 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.

Despite All-Pro Chris Johnson's absence, four Titan running backs combined to rush for an impressive 222 yards. Continuing their spirited battle for a roster spot, both Samkon Gado and LeGarrette Blount had solid games toting the pigskin, accumulating 63 and 59 yards respectively.

The outcome of the contest was sealed with Gerald McRath's interception of a Chase Daniel pass with little time remaining.

Up next, some thoughts and observations regarding tonight's Titans' preseason-ender.

The Tennessee Titans have not really been what you could call a blitzing team.  In 2009, they brought only 4 rushers 79.9% of the time, tops in the league. Surprisingly, that league-leading total was actually less than they rushed 4 in 2008, and the number of times they brought either 3 or 4 rushers fell from 83.3% to only 80.8%, or pretty much the same as the combined 80.7% they rushed 3 or 4 in 2007.  With the Colts actually blitzing some in 2009, the Titans finally inherited the mantle as the league's most blitz-averse team.

The continuity in blitzing in 2009 may have been a bit of a mild surprise, as Chuck Cecil replaced Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator.  Cecil during his career as known as an aggressive player, and Fisher's Titans formerly (and nearly once again) employed the famously blitz-friendly Gregg Williams, whose Saints defense rushed 5 or more 47.3% of the time last year.  Against the Cardinals, the Titans frequently brought more than 4 rushers, often with good results.  That tendency to rush more than the basic 4 continues against Carolina, though with less impressive results.  We'll have to see what the regular season brings, but in the interim, I thought I'd write a little more about blitzing.

Drexel has already posted his thoughts on player performances in the Titans' 15-7 loss to the Panthers Saturday, but I thought I'd chime in with some additional comments.  I put up the raw data dump of my brief notes on each play at my personal site, but this is the more intelligible, reader-friendly version of those.

Fourth-round draft pick Alterraun Verner, whom I projected as a potential third-round target of the Titans, was one of the great stories of the Titans' 2010 training camp. It seemed like the ball-hawking Verner had several picks every week throughout camp and he added another in prime time on national TV.

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The Carolina Panthers outlasted the Tennessee Titans in last night's 15-7 defensive struggle. During the first half, when the starters played, the end result was a 0-0 contest through two quarters, as the defenses reigned supreme while the offenses on the other hand, fizzled.

Since it's the preseason, the outcome of the game isn't the emphasis: it's all about the starters getting solid reps as they prepare for the regular season and for the backups/roster hopefuls, it's their opportunity to make their individual cases for making the squad.

Up next....I'll take a look at some of the good and not-so-good performances by the Tennessee Titans in last night's loss.