Titans Lose Tough One Against Atlanta Falcons

The Titans Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt is now 4-30 in his last 34 games as an NFL Coach. He is 1-11 in home games with the Titans. 1-11. Let that sink in.

Whisenhunt inherited a disaster which is the Titan franchise when he was named head coach prior to last season. It is difficult to change a franchise in a year when your roster is as inept as the Titans. I give Whisenhunt that much. But the Titans have not made any improvement since he has arrived. They are as bad today as they were when he took over. It’s that chicken and the egg thing. What came first? Bad team before Whisenhunt, or bad team after Whisenhunt? Doesn’t really matter.

Zach Mettenberger took over at quarterback for an injured Marcus Mariota in front of the home crowd today in Nashville. There has been a smattering of talk from pro Mettenberger fans that have looked forward to seeing him play instead of Mariota. I think that much was at least laid to rest today. He was ineffective. He was lethargic. He threw interceptions in critical times. Pretty sure we won’t hear keep Mettenberger in the line up tomorrow. But it wasn’t his fault.

No this team is just not good. The funny thing is that the Titans are still in the hunt of the AFC South Division. It is the most pathetic and bad division in the history of the NFL. The AFC South leader is Indianapolis who has won 3 games. The Jags and the Texans have won 2. The Titans have of course won one.

I have been a little critical of the Titans defense. I don’t think they have any players that could play on another NFL roster other than Jurrell Casey, and he has not impressed at all since getting his payday. Well today they played inspired, and they played hard. The game against the Dolphins was an embarrassment defensively. The Titans held a very good Atlanta Falcon offense to just 10 points today. That is winning football when you hold Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, and Devonta Freeman to 10 points.

To be honest, the Falcons shot themselves in the foot with penalties and miscues all day long. They also had a touchdown catch in the fourth quarter called out at the 6″ line, and the Titans intercepted Ryan two plays later in the end zone.

Freeman had several yards called back on penalties. He ended up with 116 yards on the day. Ryan had a lackluster day of 22/38 for 251 yards and one touchdown. The Titans got some pressure on Ryan as Dick LeBeau made his presence felt for the first time this season seemingly.

So I can’t fault the defense on this day. But the offense…well they were offensive. They make you want to poke your eyes out so you don’t have to watch sometimes. The Titans play calling is like a Saturday Night Live skit. It would be the NFL Team that doesn’t realize they are supposed to score. Maybe Will Farrell could play the quarterback.

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The frustration is beginning to show on the faces of the players. Whisenhunt refuses to allow the game to flow. By that I mean the Titans will have a successful running play where they collapse the opposing defense and simply run over them. Instead of keeping the same guys on the field and feeding it to them, he immediately sends out a new personnel grouping and throws some sort of stupid little pass that kills any momentum. I do not understand.

The running backs heat up with the more carries they get. Running the ball is as much a rhythm as passing. Today Antonio Andrews had 51 yards on 10 carries. He should have been handed the ball 25-30 times today. He was hot. If he had been given the ball, he would have been well over 1oo yards on the day, and would have kept the chains moving.

But Whisenhunt likes to throw the ball. I don’t understand his passing scheme however. I did see something today that I have never seen before in the NFL though. The Titans were always in third and long. So 4 0r 5 of the Falcon defensive backs would sit on the sticks and keep everything in front of them. Mettenberger would throw short to Dexter McCluster and he would get tackled immediately to force a punt.

The Titans are nearing the halfway point of this 2015 season. They have zero wins at home again. They again have absolutely no identity, unless that is their identity. Maybe that is Whisenhunt’s master plan. We don’t want anyone to know who we are, so we just won’t develop an identity. Sounds logical. Sounds about what I watch every Sunday.

Fans are tired of this. Players are tired of this. Owners seem to embrace it because we do not hear anything from them. It kind of reminds me of a playground in grade school without any supervision by a teacher. It is anything goes. Everyone does what they want to do, and no one is held accountable. The players aren’t held accountable. Whisenhunt definitely is not held accountable.

So as far as the loss goes today I will say my apologies for writing the defense off for the season. They played well enough to win. As for Whisenhunt and the offense, I will just scratch my head and try to figure out what the game plan was for today. I will also start writing that Saturday Night Live skit based on the Whisenhunt offense. Will Farrell – ” OK guys that one worked too well. Let’s not run that one again. I kind of feel sorry for that team and their fans. The player’s aren’t hitting us that hard and the fans seems so nice with that ‘we’re number one’ chant. No, let’s run a short little pass to McCluster. That should be harmless enough. Ok. Sissy pass on one…ready…break.

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