A Tale of Two Halves

Will wonders never cease to be wonders. I actually got to watch the Titans play this week, thanks largely to living in the Jacksonville television market.

I relish the games when the Titans play the Jags. The teams have such a storied rivalry (well, as storied as you can have with an expansion team). The press conference in 1999 when Coach Fisher referred to Alltel Stadium as the Titans' second home field really started it off. The Jax folks have never forgotten that comment. Their radio coverage guys absolutely loathe the Titans with a level of disdain usually reserved for Klan members and pedophiles.

This game really showed how lucky the Titans are to be 10-0. During the first half, they looked absolutely terrible. Aside from a quick medium strike on the opening pass, the Titans offense was absolutely impotent. The Jags were all on top of Chris Johnson for most of his carries. LenDale White left due to a mystery injury. Kerry Collins looked as I expected Kerry Collins to look. The defense wasn't much better. Poor tackling dominated the first half. Chris Carr, who was stepping into the secondary for an injured teammate, was clearly out of his depth and the Jags knew it.

Of course, the Jags aren't very good. Actually they should rename the team "The Gator Alumni Team" since a number of their skill players were only drafted because they could sell tickets to the Gator Boosters that live in Jacksonville. Fred Taylor looked like a shadow of his former self. Maurice Jones-Drew isn't the same runner he was last year. A better team would have been up 21-3 at the end of the half because of Tennessee's surprisingly weak defensive performance. Instead, it was 7-3.

The second half showed what, I hope, are the real Titans. Collins was in command of the passing game. The line gave him plenty of protection. The Jags secondary couldn't catch up with Tennessee's receiver corps. The run game finally clicked. The Jags looked completely lost. Jack Del Rio, or Sledge Hammer as we refer to him in Gainesville, was absolutely livid. When you have a 1-4 home record in that town, I would be livid too.

The class play of the day was Justin Gage's celebration penalty. He scored a pretty average touchdown, he dropped to his knees facing away from the ref and put his hands on the head as if the ref was about to arrest him. The ref obliged by throwing the flag.