Titans : Things Fans Want To See Tonight

The Tennessee Titans fans have a few things they want to see out of the team tonight.

The Titans need improvement in all facets of the game. That much is just a reality. It is not a tweak here, and an adjustment there. If the Titans were an engine, it would need a overhaul, not a tune up.

So what do fans want to see tonight when Jeff Fisher brings his St. Louis Rams to visit in the first ever game under the new Nissan Stadium name? Here are a few areas they want to see…….

Marcus Mariota

The fans want to see Mariota come out and play with poise. They do not want to see a repeat of the first two drives that resulted in Mariota turnovers. Granted, in both cases there was plenty of blame to go around.

Mariota mis-read (or Bishop Sankey mis-read) a screen pass called on 3rd and a mile and threw the ball right to a Falcon linebacker on the first drive. On the second driver, Mariota had the ball stripped out of his hand as he failed to step up in the collapsing pocket. It resulted in a touchdown for the Falcons.

The Titans can not lose the turnover battle and win any games this season. They are just not strong enough to overcome this. So fans want to see Mariota take care of the ball first, and move the team second. They want to see a confident and in-control quarterback. Mariota has been impressive in practice as well noted. Fans want to see that translate to game time situations.

The Defense

Last week the Falcons sliced through the Titans like a Ronco commercial knife going through a tomato. It was not a good start for the defense. Titans fans want to see this defense stop someone. Tonight they should be able to stop the Rams.

Fisher’s Rams have very little offensive fire power. They will come out in a Fisheresque run mode of course. They will start Auburn running back Tre Mason in the backfield. Mason is a capable back, but runs behind a very suspect line. If the Rams run on the Titans first team defense successfully, go ahead and start looking at who the Titans will take with the first pick in the draft next season.

The receiving corp is a few Titans castaways. Kenny Britt and Jared Cook will highlight the receiving corp for quarterback Nick Foles. These two do present match up issues with their size, but their speed is nothing to fear. Again, it is a rather pedestrian offense. The Titans should not let this team score.

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The Offensive Line

One thing the Rams do have is a dominant defensive line. The offensive line of the Titans must have a good evening just to be able to keep Mariota upright. They can not afford the miscommunications and missed blocks of a week ago.

The offensive line has been shuffled more than a Las Vegas deck of cards in the last few days. Guard Andy Levitre has just not played well at all. He is making way too much money to be as ineffective as he has been. So the Titans have mixed it up this week at practice.

The fans want to see some cohesiveness here. They want Mariota protected at all cost. They also want to see the Titans lineman open holes for the running backs. The Titans running attack can hardly be called an attack as of late. The backs need some room. Fans will be watching this all nigh long.

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The Running Backs

Lastly the Titans fans want to see a running game that resembles an NFL style running game. Second year pro Bishop Sankey has not looked good early on. He has trouble breaking tackles to get yards after contact.

I heard something the other day on the radio on 104.5 the zone that sums up what Sankey has been so far. The broadcaster said that Sankey got the absolute minimum of what was available on a run. That is a very good way to put it. Sankey gets as far as the blocks will take him. He gets nothing more.

Rookie running back David Cobb out of Minnesota can make a move tonight on that starting job. As mentioned, the Titans will be trying to run against a very tough Rams front seven. It will be a test for both of these young running backs, and I think it will go a long way to determine who will be the starter this season.

They will both get a bunch of carries of course this season of course. But it is a two back race at the moment. Western Kentucky running back Antonio Andrews has impressed at times in games and in practices. This would be a good game to see what he could do against a top notch defensive line as well.

The Titans will have to do all of this quick though. Both sides will play their starters into the second quarter, but not far into the second quarter. After everyone leaves the game, it is really hard to evaluate performances going up against second and third team guys.

So let’s hope we see big improvement from this team in all aspects. Let’s hope we see some passion and pride even if it is a pre-season game. I did not see any of that last week. Just some laughing on the sidelines. I don’t want to see that anymore unless it is a celebratory laugh and good times from a big lead. It will be interesting to see what tonight holds.

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