pat

For illustration this was our offense

Our talent on offense wasn’t on the field together enough to form an identity. We were basically a bunch of talented players in a trench coat.

I’m disappointed, but not surprised. It’s hard to become something in the playoffs that you weren’t in the regular season. The offense just didn’t hold together this year. The Packers and Bills though…. HA HA

At the end of the game, my wife said “oh my god. I can’t believe they lost. This sucks” I told her now that she’s watched them lose in the playoffs live, she’s officially a Titans fan.

I was looking at the style of the teams. Titans had opportunities to get that win, but we’re just way to soft last year on defense to come back. The line was getting pushed around, Bengals ran with ease. This year I expect the Bengals to have a much tougher time against a stronger and more disciplined DL. Am still a bit concerned about the offense and kicking game matching up. But I trust the Titans to show up.

I rewatched the Titans Bengals from last year to get a sense of the style difference. The Titans had opportunities early on offense and defense. Titans moved the ball then threw an interception in the red zone. Clowney and Beasley really blew one 3rd down early on. Instead of a sack Burrows gets out of the pocket and hits a big gain. The team started to get it together, but couldn’t outplay the Bengals in the second half. There were a lot of close but no cigar plays for both teams. With a much improved DL, hopefully those go more the Titans way this time around.

This board has an odd high / low attraction for football fans. TitansReport accumulates both smart football fans and village idiots.

Game Day Bored

That play action into a screen to Henry makes an appearance

you are right, it’s a vague term. Mahomes spent much of this year sucking, like Tannehill. But when he won his Super Bowl, he was escaping pressure, passing accurately, and lighting teams up. So give the MVP credit for being capable of such play. And yes. Championship teams are about more than the QB. I went back and looked up the scoring offense and defense rankings of the SB winners over time. Usually the formula is top 5 offense plus a top 10 defense. That was the Bucs last year, the Chiefs, etc. Sometimes the #1 defense will win, but often not. Maybe that’s why there’s such a focus on QBs. You aren’t gonna have an elite offense without fantastic QB play. They might not necessarily put up stats in the post season, but when they need to make a play the best will show up.

I would expect quick play action to open the game. The deep shots and roll outs can be defeated by the same kinds of quick pressures that can tackle the RB for a loss. Call those once there is a feel for how the defense is playing.

Joe Burrow is being overvalued based on potential, and Matthew Stafford is being over-valued based on past regular season performance on losing teams. I think both are being overvalued as play off QBs. Pretty much everyone is rightfully scared of Jimmy Garopollo, and every one puts Brady / Mahomes / Rodgers at the top in some kind of order. I think people are putting Josh Allen in the right spot, but are wrong to be sleeping on Ryan Tannehill.

Mahomes and Rodgers carried their teams to a championship by leading elite offenses. I can see an argument that Brady has depended on his defense over the years more than other QBs, but he’s done it so many times you just have to give him credit.

Here’s my tiers. Within each tier, no order. Tier 1: Super Bowl Winners Aaron Rodgers Tom Brady Patrick Mahomes These players have rings. They have proven they can carry a team to a championship. Respect. Tier 2: Playoff Winners Josh Allen Ryan Tannehill These players have made deep runs before. They aren’t champions yet. Maybe they can take their teams to the next level. Maybe they have peaked. TBD. I kicked Josh Allen up a tier because of the historic performance against NE. He’s hot. Tier 3: Unproven Matthew Stafford Jimmy Garoppolo Joe Burrow These players haven’t proven anything. I kicked Garopollo down a tier because he keeps losing games with boneheaded INTs.

@dcblanton I'm not gonna put Tannehill on the same tier as Mahomes, but you are being absurdly negative. Tannehill is an accurate smart QB who would also shine with an Andy Reid offense. Andy Reid is to offense what Bill Belichick is to defense. Mahomes is a great talent in the perfect situation.