Jamalisms

I'm with you on Star.

"Loggains broke into the NFL as a scouting assistant for Dallas in 2005 when Payton was running the Cowboys' offense." http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/titans/2013/06/07/david-climer-titans-get-rid-of-entire-playbook/2400125/

All indications leading up to his promotion suggest that Loggains is a bit of a whiz-kid - an above average offensive mind and a guy with a bright future in the NFL. That future starts now, but what will it look like? The Titans will be playing in new offense this year. The man behind this redesign is the new coordinator, Dowell Loggains. A large part of success or failure in 2013 will be based on the quality of the scheme he implements. If he succeeds where Chris Palmer failed, a talented and young Titans offense might surprise. If he fails, it might be another long year. Many pundits have indicated that Jake Locker’s success will make or break the offense in 2013. Inherent in that suggestion is the success and guidance of his former quarterback coach and current offensive coordinator. With the prowess of Loggains taking on so much importance, it can be a bit frustrating that the thirty-two year old first time coordinator is a bit of an unknown. Much lip-service has been paid to the Titans' return to a run-heavy focus but determining the exactness of that approach is guesswork at best. Teams often play vanilla schemes in the preseason which means there is only so much reliance one can place on observations made. Making things even murkier is the recent decision by the Titans to close practices to the media. The best observations usually stem from the third preseason game when starters often play into the second half. In addition, Loggains acknowledged that the win over Atlanta featured the offense's first game plan of the preseason. Titans Report recently took a look back at the Atlanta game to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Absent from the Atlanta game were Kendall Wright and Delanie Walker. Both players will be important cogs in the new offense and are expected to be healthy for week one. Wright, last year’s first round pick, was reportedly having a great camp before his injury but it is the versatility of Walker that Titans Radio color commentator, Frank Wycheck, feels is an X factor. As a former tight end, there could be some bias in Wycheck’s answer. The connection goes even deeper than that, however, and suggests that Wycheck has a pretty good idea of what he's talking about. On a recent podcast with ESPN’s Paul Kuharsky, Wycheck indicated that Walker will be assuming a very similar role in Loggains’ offense to that which Wycheck himself played when Mike Heimerdinger was the coordinator of the Titans. In that podcast, (a fairly meaty fifteen minutes that ranges from Vince Young to the Gray and Williams dynamic to the differences in watching a game as a broadcaster), Wycheck expounded a bit on the connections between Heimerdinger’s offense and the schemes that Loggains will implement. “Dowell Loggains has taken a lot of bits and pieces from every place he’s been from Sean Peyton, Parcells and Norm Chow and he’s kinda formed it in his own head but the base of it is Mike Heimerdinger’s influence and I think it’s a lot of the route combinations, really the attack on trying to figure out where’s the best matchup that I can get to by motioning by formation all that stuff. That’s where I think Dowell is at his best in how he reflects Dinger’s personality and the way he called plays.” This aligns fairly well with our analysis of the third game. Certainly, the offense will take fuller effect against the Steelers and when Walker makes his Titans debut - Wycheck stated that he doesn't think much of the real offense has been seen - but the puzzle picture is really beginning to take shape. After a year in which fans trumpeted the unveiling of a pass-heavy offense as an embracing of modern NFL trends, the Titans look prepared to go back to the future. Given our personnel, (namely a non-elite quarterback), this may be the wiser course. Kuharsky and Wycheck also discussed Jake Locker on that podcast, for those interested. In short, he has the all of the intangibles you want in a franchise quarterback and Wycheck feels that he will be enabled to begin showcasing his tangibles now that the interior offensive line has been improved. In fact, he discussed Locker doing some of that already this preseason. Follow Titans Report on Twitter: @TitansReport Follow Jamal on Twitter: @Jamalisms Click here to view the article

About time you started writing front page content. Good stuff.

That's what I'm saying. Benefits to guys in multiple ways. If your wife isn't gung-ho about football... get her gung-ho.

I just can't seem to figure out why more women don't post here...

bah dum dum

The Titans have started a new, woman-only fan club. Benefits aren’t free but they’re unique to the fan experience.As part of the franchise’s overall outreach, a new fan club has been created. Titan True, (excuse the dropped ‘s’), is for ladies only. This limits participation but the events and discounts included as part of membership make it the perfect gift for any discerning gentleman who would either like to get a lady-friend more involved with the team or is looking for something to buy for the already devout female fan. Women self-paying to join is also an option, though strong hints to others may net you membership as well. Membership benefits are listed below: A grab-bag of Titans merchandise Special access to “Ladies at LP” event with Titans coaches and players (Spring 2014) A quarterly newsletter A 20% discount on all orders at TitansLockerRoom.com “Chick Flick” Movie Night at LP Field (Spring 2014) Presale access to LP Field concerts and events Special rate to attend VIP Football 101 event at Saint Thomas Sports Park (November 2013) Community volunteer opportunities with Titans coach’s and player’s spouses Access to other special events, contests and discounts year-round! Plus your choice of a Titans game ticket: Titans vs Kansas City Chiefs, October 6th Titans vs Houston Texans, December 29th The twitter account for this endeavor is @TitanTrueWomen. As an example of exclusive events, a quick review of the twitter account mentions an upcoming event for yoga at the 50-yard line. Very cool if you're into that sort of thing. Also keep in mind that most events will allow for ladies to bring a guest, though one assumes the guest would also have to be a lady. At $100 for the first year and $50 each year after, the club isn’t free to join. Depending on your TitansLockerRoom.com spending habits and adding in the value of the included ticket, however, this club could potentially pay for itself – and that doesn’t account for a stronger opt-in from the benefitting lady in your life. Follow Titans Report on Twitter: @TitansReport Follow Jamal on Twitter: @Jamalisms Click here to view the article

Interestingly, Kuharsky just retweeted a comment from the Jags that this ESPN Stats & Info article is based on an incomplete picture and is judging a book by its cover. Stat Wars

One of my gripes is that it weights performance low when the score is far apart... which on the surface sounds ok... but means that a QB who leads a big comeback gets much less credit than deserved and a QB who threw interceptions, etc to allow for that comback can still score high.

I added that qualifier with you in mind.

Also, I must admit that I continue to dismiss Total QBR. Emphatically. I have a few reasons but none truly weighty enough to convince anyone else.

Stats are cool. Advanced / adjusted stats are even cooler, (when done well). They tell the story of what was and they can be gleaned from to tell the story of an individual player's role. But what happens when stats go wrong?Stats don't trump true film breakdown but trusting the film breakdown of non-professionals is risky and professionals are too-oft loathe to share their analysis with others. From my perspective, stats are better than the conjecture and guessing that many fans engage in because there is a certainty to them. Given a large enough sample size, excuse-type context of stats becomes less meaningful and cumulative trends come to the fore. With that said, even though I like stats, I acknowledge two things. The presentation of stats can mislead even the person presenting them because... Determining the most appropriate lens through which to view and interpret stats is an inexact matter. Even worse than misused stats are assumed stats that result from adjustments to results based on context. Adjustments to results involve even more judgement because an undue adjustment can skew things. You also have the matter of people assuming that an adjustment will present players in a more favorable light when such may not be the case. In fan circles, (see: groups of passionate people who don't take the time to manually make the adjustment and prove that it results in line with their preconceived notions), this can lead to fruitless or misguided discussions. We dug into this a bit around here this offseason when discussing dropped passes thrown by Jake Locker and how that affected his completion percentage. In team circles, (see: The Jacksonville Jaguars who made some adjustments and presented the results to the media but did not compare them to adjusted results for other players), this can result in an embarassing rebuttal from ESPN Stats & Info. As we advance into a new season full of glorious statistical results and numbers upon numbers, let this serve as a reminder to all that due dilligence is always warranted and even professionals get it wrong. Follow Titans Report on Twitter: @TitansReport Follow Jamal on Twitter: @Jamalisms Photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik on Flickr. Used under the Creative Commons License. Click here to view the article

Let's see if I can double-negative the off topic tangents and right this ship: Vince Young.

In my estimation... unless he completely wets the bed, Jake is likely to get another year no matter who the head coach is. Even if he completely wets the bed, he might still get another one. At that point they may bring in some competition but Jake is going to be the presumed starter. Here's one other rhetorical thought - a lot of people say Locker hasn't started for a full year yet. I would say he has... he was the undisputed starter all of last year... he was just too injured to play all of the games. Maybe a 'full season as starter' vs 'served at the starter' caveat... but it always makes me want to start arguing when I hear people say it. And a lot of people do.

Interestingly, I saw Bironas listed as fifth most accurate on NFL.com... but I could have sworn he was said to be third most accurate when he got the new deal. Also, Wyatt came out with a similar post today: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130819/SPORTS01/308190068/Tennessee-Titans-five-troubling-preseason-developments

I agree, mostly. That was part of the point. ... here are "conclusions" based what we've seen. There's little evidence against them so far, so they seem firm. They're based on two preseason games, however, so it's easy to overstate them (which I intentionally did).

Only one day? No.

What you see in the preseason is not always what you get when real bullets start flying. It would be easy to read too much into the results of the first two Titans contests. With that said, here are four observations from the year so far. This offensive line is going to make running the ball a breeze Chris Johnson has nine carries for 90 yards. Shonn Greene has eleven carries for 61 yards. Neither back has a negative rush so far. Both backs have seen much more consistent holes than in recent years and that is despite facing a pretty good defensive front against the Bengals during the second week of preseason. Chris Johnson has already busted off a big gain and even absent that run he’s averaging 4.0 yards per carry. Shonn Greene has converted a third and short and a fourth and short. He has a 19 yard run already, which is longer than all but two runs he had all of last year. Verdict: Running the ball and controlling the clock should be easy. Jake Locker is ready to take the next step His overall statistics haven’t been superb, (19 of 31 for 174 yards), but he has passed the overall eye test and an abnormal number of drops against the Bengals held his stats down. Locker has taken what was there, has been accurate with ball placement and has looked overall comfortable (enough) in the pocket. He hasn’t gone down field yet and he hasn’t shown much running the ball. When (if?) those elements are added, he’ll be that much more dangerous. At the least Locker won’t destroy an otherwise good offense - he won’t be a detriment. We’ll see how much of an added bonus he is, but his overall consistency and production should be enough to keep the ball moving, especially with the WR depth and run game this offense will have. Verdict: Move him down your list of concerns. The defense is going to lose us games New run defenders haven’t looked good against the run. Missed tackles are still too prevalent. Coverage is still off and our cornerbacks haven’t stepped up. Tommie Campbell hasn’t blossomed and the new draft picks haven’t shown anything. Ayers will probably be playing hurt from day one now. Wimbley is being marginalized and won't contribute even with less snaps. McCarthy is already injured and will never stay healthy. Pressure up front hasn’t been consistent. We’ve given up points too easily with the first team defense in both games. Vanilla game plans don’t account for all of the issues exhibited and they’re too similar to the issues we’ve seen before. Creative blitzing and coaching adjustments won’t be able to hide this wart when the regular season arrives. Verdict: The sky is falling. The kicking game is officially a concern Rob Bironas may be the third most accurate kicker in NFL history but he had an off year in 2012, making only five of ten attempts in the 40-49 yard range. Of all kickers with at least five attempts in that range, he was the worst in the NFL. He’s been hurt during camp this year and he missed a 37 yard and a 38 yard attempt against the Bengals. If the injury is the cause of his misses, that injury has lingered close enough to the regular season to cause concern. If it isn’t the injury that affected him, it’s even more concerning. Maybe he’ll turn things on for the regular season and he’ll earn the new deal he was given but the odds that he won’t, based on recent struggles, should concern fans. Verdict: Get some veteran kickers' phone numbers handy and on speed dial, just in case. Follow Titans Report on Twitter: @Titansreport Follow Jamal on Twitter: @Jamalisms Photo courtesy Brian Hill Photography. Photo can be seen in original form on his website. Click here to view the article

I still don't see how Peyton injecting himself with stem cells is legal and not a banned substance and considered performance enhancing.

He also then praised the holes when he did well last year and repeated his belief that his success was due to the OL. It's either incriminate the OL or don't answer the question. He's never been the kind to not answer the question.

God forbid someone predict us to come in second in our division... EVERYBODY PANIC! You explained why you predicted second place. Again - second in the division. It may be a bit hopeful but it's reasonable. Ignore the trolls. It's not worth the explanation.

Anecdotal, but strongly I'd say... given history of respective programs, which ingrains fan interest. It's probably supported by merchandise sales and all sorts of other data... if that were readily available.

Good to see you here Bigg. nice wrote-up. I hope people don't overstate your Stafford comparison. You explained it pretty well and I would agree that Jake, if he stays healthy, will show more of his true colors this year. You think his true colors are that of a legit QB. I hope you're right. A projected cleaner pocket and healthy/emerging WRs, not to mention a hopefully better-able-to-contribute run game should do a lot to help him... one way or another.