Episode 130 - Titans Survive Bears, Bye Upcoming

[pat]

1 hour ago, TitanDuckFan said:

I know they could.  But at this stage in his career and development, I don't think that would be what's best for him, or best for the team.

The part I find nagging, is this team still hasn't figured out a way to win without Marcus having an all-pro level day. 

When the Titans can win with a <100 passer rating day out of Marcus, they will be on the right track.  Mularkey doesn't have them there yet, and it remains to be seen whether or not he can get them there.

Give up 90+ passer rating and screw up special teams then Mariota needs to pla perfect.

[TitanDuckFan]

46 minutes ago, Cyrus said:

Why does Jamal like this post?

Doesn't it suggest that Mariota is carrying the team? 

So many questions.

I think Jamal, like many of us here, believes Marcus is making Mularkey rather than the other way around.  And I think anyone that looks at the situation with common sense and a little objectivity comes to the same conclusion.

Now, one school of thought around here says an elite franchise QB trumps everything, and I believe that's at least partially true.  But coaching and scheme shouldn't be discounted either.  The right coach that develops a scheme that optimizes his player's strengths is at least as important.

I think Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo showed that this year under Belichick. 

Brissett and the Pats crushed the Texans 27-0 this year in week 3, and Brissett's passer rating was 72.9 on 103 yards through the air.  While Blount averaged less than 4.5 YPC and went for 105 yds total.

Mularkey hasn't figured out how to do that (yet).  And until he does, AFAIC the jury is still out on how good this coaching staff really is.  So far, Mularkey's scheme is completely reliant on Marcus having all-pro numbers to win.

In my mind, that's neither a sign of a great coach nor a great scheme.  That's a QB carrying the franchise.

[socaltitan]

5 minutes ago, TitanDuckFan said:

I think Jamal, like many of us here, believes Marcus is making Mularkey rather than the other way around.  And I think anyone that looks at the situation with common sense and a little objectivity comes to the same conclusion.

Now, one school of thought around here says an elite franchise QB trumps everything, and I believe that's at least partially true.  But coaching and scheme shouldn't be discounted either.  The right coach that develops a scheme that optimizes his player's strengths is at least as important.

I think Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo showed that this year under Belichick. 

Brissett and the Pats crushed the Texans 27-0 this year in week 3, and Brissett's passer rating was 72.9 on 103 yards through the air.  While Blount averaged less than 4.5 YPC and went for 105 yds total.

Mularkey hasn't figured out how to do that (yet).  And until he does, AFAIC the jury is still out on how good this coaching staff really is.

A bunch of people bashed the coaches when Mariota was playing poorly. But now with Mariota playing great, it's all him and he's making the coaches? seems logical

[Jamalisms]

2 minutes ago, socaltitan said:

A bunch of people bashed the coaches when Mariota was playing poorly. But now with Mariota playing great, it's all him and he's making the coaches? seems logical

I agree. It is logical. Both responses are based on an appropriate realization how good the QB is.

[TitanDuckFan]

11 minutes ago, socaltitan said:

A bunch of people bashed the coaches when Mariota was playing poorly. But now with Mariota playing great, it's all him and he's making the coaches? seems logical

So, was Marcus playing poorly because he was lacking? 

Or was he playing poorly because the scheme wasn't suited to his skillset?

Or was the scheme and playcalling so bad that any QB would have struggled.

And when those games were going south, why weren't other aspects and players able to take up the slack?  We supposedly have one of the best O-Lines, and we have the best RB in the AFC.  It was early in the season and DeMarco wasn't worn down yet.  So why didn't it work?

[Cyrus]

The fact that Oilerman and myself are struggling to comprehend your position, and that you have tried to invoke Locker several times against me suggests that you're arguing from a very weak position.

You don't think Mariota is a franchise quarterback because he hasn't been in a position to carry the team, yet you liked a post that argued that the Titans are only winning because of Mariota's play.

You don't believe this offense is suited for his play, yet Mariota is number one in numerous categories and this team has been one of the top offenses in the league for several weeks. 

The best argument you have is that this team hasn't thrown the ball frequently enough, but this seems to disregard the reality that the Titans have often sat on leads in the second half. In games that the Titans have lost, and/or were playing from behind, they have thrown 41, 33, 29, 37, 43 and 38 times. (37 P/A average). This easily suggests that the team has put the ball in Mariota's hands to win games when they're behind. (They've only lost one game by more than one possession).

So what I can conclude is that you don't think Mariota is passing the ball enough in situations where the Titans are ahead or tied. (or comparable situations in terms of game flow). Considering that Mariota has been playing very well and that the Titans have been very competitive (far more so than in the last few years) I don't see any real basis for criticism.

You're being excruciatingly anal retentive. 

[Cyrus]

11 minutes ago, TitanDuckFan said:

I think Jamal, like many of us here, believes Marcus is making Mularkey rather than the other way around.  And I think anyone that looks at the situation with common sense and a little objectivity comes to the same conclusion.

Now, one school of thought around here says an elite franchise QB trumps everything, and I believe that's at least partially true.  But coaching and scheme shouldn't be discounted either.  The right coach that develops a scheme that optimizes his player's strengths is at least as important.

I think Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo showed that this year under Belichick. 

Brissett and the Pats crushed the Texans 27-0 this year in week 3, and Brissett's passer rating was 72.9 on 103 yards through the air.  While Blount averaged less than 4.5 YPC and went for 105 yds total.

Mularkey hasn't figured out how to do that (yet).  And until he does, AFAIC the jury is still out on how good this coaching staff really is.  So far, Mularkey's scheme is completely reliant on Marcus having all-pro numbers to win.

In my mind, that's neither a sign of a great coach nor a great scheme.  That's a QB carrying the franchise.

Mularkey has had the reins for one incomplete season after many horrific years of noncompetitive play. This is the best play we've seen in many, many years. Comparing him to Belichick with Brissett and Garoppolo is Apples and Bananas. 

And quarterbacks make virtually all head coaches, there are very few exceptions.

[Cyrus]

3 minutes ago, TitanDuckFan said:

So, was Marcus playing poorly because he was lacking? 

Or was he playing poorly because the scheme wasn't suited to his skillset?

Or was the scheme and playcalling so bad that any QB would have struggled.

And when those games were going south, why weren't other aspects and players able to take up the slack?  We supposedly have one of the best O-Lines, and we have the best RB in the AFC.  It was early in the season and DeMarco wasn't worn down yet.  So why didn't it work?

Because this team is a serious work in progress and has been trying to buck a losing culture that has been around for almost a decade? 

Goodness guys, get off the week to week rollercoaster and have some perspective. This is the best the team has looked in a long time.

[TitanDuckFan]

23 minutes ago, Cyrus said:

Mularkey has had the reins for one incomplete season after many horrific years of noncompetitive play. This is the best play we've seen in many, many years. Comparing him to Belichick with Brissett and Garoppolo is Apples and Bananas. 

And quarterbacks make virtually all head coaches, there are very few exceptions.

Don't tell me, tell OMan that. According to him this coaching staff is Aces, the scheme is perfect, and is the reason Marcus is doing as well as he is.  And with Mularkey's help, he may even be a franchise QB someday.

As long as Belichick and Mularkey are both NFL head coaches though, they'll be apples and apples.  It's the nature of the game.

As far as QBs making all head coaches, I think the 2015 Broncos with a limp-armed Manning put that in dispute.

[Cyrus]

Just now, TitanDuckFan said:

Don't tell me, tell OMan that. According to him this coaching staff is Aces, the scheme is perfect, and is the reason Marcus is doing as well as he is.  And with Mularkey's help, he may even be a franchise QB someday.

As long as Belichick and Mularkey are both NFL head coaches though, they'll be apples and apples.  It's the nature of the game.

As far as QBs making all head coaches, I think the 2015 Broncos with a limp-armed Manning put that in dispute.

I don't really get that from him, but I will say it's a lot easier to say that the scheme is perfect when your QB has a 101.9 QB rating on the season than it is to say that the scheme is fundamentally flawed. 

[TitanDuckFan]

10 minutes ago, Cyrus said:

I don't really get that from him, but I will say it's a lot easier to say that the scheme is perfect when your QB has a 101.9 QB rating on the season than it is to say that the scheme is fundamentally flawed. 

That depends on the degree of fundamental flaw.  Marcus came from a run-first offense at Oregon, despite what the pundits have said, so he knows that game as well as any college QB coming out.

But I believe "less than optimum" is a better way to describe what we're seeing on Sundays, especially the losing ones.  Every coach misses on a game plan once in a while though, so it could just be that.

But it's just as wrong to state flatly that this scheme is near-perfect and the play calls are great.  Because they aren't.

And if they were, we wouldn't be losing every game where Marcus doesn't have a >105 passer rating.

[Jamalisms]

37 minutes ago, Cyrus said:

Snip

Perhaps if you stopped trying to mix a discussion of the appropriateness of the offensive design with the question of how much Mariota has accomplished, we'd be spared your indignation.

[OILERMAN]

Jamal has been relegated to sticking his tongue out and wiggling his fingers and hands next to his ears when confronted with stances he can't respond to

[OILERMAN]

7 hours ago, TitanDuckFan said:

Don't tell me, tell OMan that. According to him this coaching staff is Aces, the scheme is perfect, and is the reason Marcus is doing as well as he is.  And with Mularkey's help, he may even be a franchise QB someday.

This is all BS

Mariota has the skill set to be an elite QB,if he's not there right now he's just about there. He would have gotten there under other coaches as well in all likely hood.

Mularkey has done a great job in his first season turning the team around and making them competitive as well as helping Mariota play well. That doesn't mean he's a great coach. Going from competitive to a SB contender will be another task that he'll be judged on in the next 1-2 years, the jury is still out.

As for the scheme, whether it's perfect or not is meaningless and just an opinion. I happen to really like the scheme but it's more about player execution than the exact scheme.

[Jamalisms]

44 minutes ago, OILERMAN said:

Jamal has been relegated to sticking his tongue out and wiggling his fingers and hands next to his ears when confronted with stances he can't respond to that have no basis in, or regard for, the discussion being had.

It's happened before. With the same people.