EC34

Worth a discussion. Titans played the second best defense in the NFL. Browns played one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Titans gameplan was to run at and underneath 95 until they were stopped. They were never stopped. Browns couldn't get Judkins untracked consistently in the running game. Got down 2 TDs. Had to put the ball in the air. Titans lack of WRs who can get open quickly forces team into a short passing game. Browns with Jeudy and Bond have two guys who can take the top off of a defense - and both Judkins and Sampson are explosive in the short passing game. Titans call a 'not to lose' game every week. I would love Stefanski in Tennessee as our HC despite the Browns record. Ward is handicapped from the start. Wards mechanical flaw is that he will occasionally drop the elbow and still holds the ball too long. Sanders flaws include the ball pat, consistently bailing out from the back of the pocket and holding the ball far too long. This all being said, Sanders played much better than I anticipated he would while Cam played much as we have come to expect. I think they both have NFL QB1 futures. If I had to redraft today, I would still take Ward. Thoughts?

I hate this coaching staff. Zero opportunities for Ward. Scared nonsense.

The 'great rebirth' happened when Adams shocked the world and hired Bum Phillips. The perfect man for the right job in that moment. The oline was rebuilt. Then came E34. That was all she wrote. As much as people here don't like him now, the Titans desperately need their next Jeff Fisher. He was to Nashville what Bud was to Houston. Bum had Dan Pastorini, who was one helluva good looking, boat racing, swag king and a better than average QB (McNair ... Moon ... Pastorini ... Blanda ... Collins/Tannehill. We had a great offensive line in 1979 - Leon Gray, Conway Hayman, Carl Mauck, Ed Fisher, Mo Towns with a fantastic FB in Tim Wilson and Mike Barber was a helluva TE. Our defensive front of Andy Dorris, Curley Culp and Elvin Bethea supported by Robert Brazile, Art Stringer, Gregg Bingham and Ted Washington was even better. Just a completely stacked house on defense. When I look through Pro Football Reference and compare rosters over time, this squad vs other historically bad years, 2014 was awful - Mettenberger and Sankey led the backfield, but their was talent on defense. 2-14 1994 had Billy Joe Tolliver at QB which dragged down a really talent roster around him. 1984 3-13 team has first year Warren Moon who had Larry Moriarty as his lead back with Herkie Wells and Tim Smith as his top targets. God help him. Looking back on the two 1-13 seasons (72 and 73), a young Dan Pastorini had horrible offensive line protection. The good news is that once that got fixed for both Pastorini and Moon, the Oilers became formidable. If Ward is what we hope he is - and in my view - that jury is still out - and if we can solidify the front 5 - and give him a true #1 lead back to take the pressure off of him - we may do what the '73 team did, 1-13 to 7-7 to 10-4. Keep hope alive.

Mid-sixties Pro.

Sadly, I believe I may well be the oldest poster still active on this board - that said - I wonder if Charlie Tolar, Iowa Oiler, youngun Oilerman - is this the worst Oiler/Titan team that you can recall? In the early 70's we had a team with Elvis Bethea, Kenny Burrough and then nothing. This team is Jeffrey Simmons, Pete Skroronski and then nothing. I sat through back to back 1-13 seasons. This feels identical to that. And the 'hope' of Cam Ward feels more like a wish than reality. So what say you? I can't say this team is worse than those teams. But I think it is equally bad.

Realistically if this team was ever to have success it was going to begin now. Rookie QB, massive roster turnover, youth everywhere and the strength of the schedule tilted to the early games. It has been hard scrabble bad football. But here comes the turn. - Get the best player on the team back in Simmons, a decent piece in Key, and injecting the speed and physicality of Winston -- added to a surprisingly solid Day, Lynch upfront and the best of the 2nd year guys in Gray. Plus playing the Texans without Stroud, a banged up Mills and the potential of a Graham Mertz day. - Return Ridley to an overarchieving Dike, Ayomanor, Helm - with healthy backfield in Pollard and Spears - and an offensive line that should finally be gelling and able to pass off rushers and pick up stunts. - I believe in Cam Ward. I believe he will begin to play Cam Ward winning football (particularly when the coaching staff says f'it we've got nothing to lose). Could we be just as bad in these final games as we have been to date? Of course. But I'm going glass half full Sunday and saying that we are about to see the beginnings of the rebuilt starting to return dividends.

He took a team that we beat last year and turned it around in one-season. They are 8-2. He turns down a gimme 3 for a gutsy end of half TD. He manages the game perfectly from start to finish. And he was right, JROB and Carthon were ass cheeks. But, again, this site. No matter how wrong you are, as long as you put someone else down, you are 100% right.

That's objectively wrong. Ward has demonstrated poise under pressure, an ability to adjust, good arm talent, pretty good pocket presence, His leadership skills are unquestioned. Love that guys getting traded are specifically saying 'trust in Cam'. The locker room knows. As for Will, I absolutely think that the fanbase spins completely out of control about him. Give me 3 years of body of work - and then you can say you know. In Will's case, the locker room was far less supportive. Hope the Titans trade Will for a guy like Aidan O'Connell. Hope the Titans give Cam a full 3-years to prove it or lose it.

They were all losing seasons. Didn't think they added context.

I don't understand how people continually lay the blame on Callahan. He was a young coach growing into a job - like his players. He wasn't good. He isn't the underlying problem. It takes THREE - GM, Head Coach, QB. When those three guys aren't clicking, failure happens. People blame Amy Adams but in truth, she has tapped leadership from the most successful systems in fooball: the Packers, the Chiefs, the Seahawks. Largely she has stepped away and let football guys make football decisions. Mostly, it has made sense (Carthon the exception to the rule though I believe her hand was forced by the league office). Until it hasn't. Borgonzi has the chance to find his guy. I believe he has his QB. If those three guys get aligned and prove worthy, we have a chance: 1994 ... Reese, Fisher (mid-season) Carlson (2-14) 1995 ... Reese, Fisher, Chandler (7-9) 1996 ... Reese. Fisher, Chandler (8-8) 1997 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (8-8) 1998 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (8-8) 1999 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (13-3) Super Bowl 2000 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (13-3) (Divisional Round) 2001 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (7-9) 2002 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (11-5) (AFC Championship) 2003 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (12-4) (Disvisional Round) 2004 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (5-11) 2005 ... Reese, Fisher, McNair (4-12) 2006 .... Reese, Fisher, Young (8-8) 2007 ... Reinfeldt, Fisher Young (10-6) 2008 ... Reinfeldt, Fisher, Collins (13-3) 2011 ... Reinfeldt, Munchak, Hasselback (9-7) 2016 ... Robinson, Mularkey, Mariota (9-7) 2017 ... Robinson, Mularkey, Mariota (9-7) (AFC DIvisional Round) 2018 ...Robinson, Vrabel, Mariota (9-7) 2019 ... Robinson, Vrabel, Tannehill (9-7) (AFC Championship Game) 2020 ... Robinson, Vrabel, Tannehill (11-5) (AFC South Champions) 2021 ... Robinson, Vrabel, Tannehill (12-5) (AFC #1 seed) Want a mind bender? Franchise has had 13 winning seasons since 1994 -- 13 W / 18 L I guess that accounts for the anger and disillusionment of the fanbase.

This is all so overly critical. Ward hasn't been terrible. He hasn't been good. He has been a rookie QB. He flashes at moments. He breaks down a few times a game. That the team had Ward, Ayomanor, Dike, Helm, Winston Jr and Harris all on the field for significant time along with Gray, Lathom, Skoronski and Sweat says that there is at least some talent on the lower shelves. Hooker and Simmons and Day if they choose to retain him are still valuable. I think Slater has a chance next year, and who knows maybe that got lucky with the UDFA Dickerson so that he can step into the Moore role. That's something. Not enough, but something. Lots of work to do ahead but Chargers are relatively a top shelf team and the boys were competitive - truly two stupid goal line playcalls away from a very competitive outcome. Today wasn't a good day for the passing game. It was a surprisingly good day for the defense against a good SD offense. I suspect we will give DreMont Jones away this week, which is too bad. Is this defense had Ernest Jones, DreMont and healthy Simmons, Sweat and Sneed and Hooker - I'd feel like we could be close. We don't. We won't. And we aren't. But it was fan silliness that imagined this team would be competitive without Brian Callahan and now its just angst and frustration not crediting the boys for a good effort against a team that overmatches them.

Curious to see how many more holes they open this week. I have to believe Ridley and Pollard and maybe Chig all get dealt. McReary certainly has value, but feels suicidal given what else they have left in the room. I would think Woods and Diggs would both be available. And Levis is still alive. Roll it all together and not certain how much it brings but the front office needs to be busy this week trying to return a bit of value.

I've been a fan of this team for 60+ years. Honestly, this is about as hopeless as I have been since the early 1970s. A few positives: 1. It's a really respectable rookie class. I don' t know if the 3 4th rounders will be great NFL players, but I think all 3 look to be good ones. 2. I'm more positive on Ward now than I was when we drafted him. He has the right temperament to get better. He is unfazed. He remains confident. He has plenty of arm and he largely makes good downfield decisions. He certainily hasn't had Jayden Daniels rookie season, but he looks to me to be a real NFL QB. 3. The talent level on the team is laughable. 4. McCoy is not the next HC. Here's what I think is a rational core to build around for next season: QB: (1) Ward RB: (2) Spears, Mullings TE: (2) Helm, Okonkwo (resign him and play him as a big slot which is where he belongs) WR: (3) Ayomanor, Dike, Oliver OL: (5) Lathom, Skoronski, Cushenberry, Slater, Moore (unless you can cut your losses on the cheap, that said, he has been good bad - as opposed to horrific bad (13) core pieces with cheap plugs on the back end in Hance, Udoh and Levin if team chooses to bring them back. DL: (2) Simmons, Sweat Edge: (2) Femi, Harrell ILB: (2) Gray, Williams DB: (1) Harris S: (3) Hooker, Woods, Winston (10) core pieces with a complete rebuild in the secondary, edge, and dline. Bringing back Jones on a cheaper deal wouldn't be terrible (or good). Slye is too inconsistent. Hekker and Cox are fine. (2) I have 26 guys returning - going to have to be more. But that is the defining of rebuild year 1, not rebuild near completion. Thus, 1972 all over again. Where is the new Bum Phillips and the new Earl Campbell?

Has Dan Moore exceeded expectations? I ask because if he is ok, then the Titans may have their OL of the future in place with Moore, Slater, Cush, Skro and Latham. Similar on d. If Sweat returns to run stuffing form, got 2 out of 3 needed with Simmons. Be nice to be able to focus on edge, db, wr and rb.