Stumbling out of the gate

Several questions surround the Titans’ slow start, but whether they have the answers remains to be seen

By Paul Kuharsky
As published in print Oct. 8, 2001

Titans QB Steve McNair

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Since they became the Titans, Tennessee has made a habit of starting off slowly.

In the Titans’ 1999 Super Bowl season, it took late dramatics to edge Cincinnati by a point in the opener and Jacksonville by a point in the first road game. A Week Four loss at San Francisco was a low moment.

In the 2000 season, when their second straight 13-3 record would eventually give them home-field advantage in the playoffs, they dropped the opener in Buffalo and needed overtime to beat Kansas City the following week.

This year a sluggish start has been too much to overcome, and Tennessee opened with losses to Miami, Jacksonville and Baltimore.

A team picked by Pro Football Weekly to return to the Super Bowl was confident it could salvage things, starting last Sunday in Baltimore. But the slow start was a big cause for concern because so many elements of a club perceived as sound were not clicking. Getting trounced by Baltimore did nothing to ease that concern.

"Ultimately, the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win," long-time OL Bruce Matthews said before the loss to Baltimore. "That’s kind of been our problem the first two (games) at least. The teams that have beaten us have made good plays. For the most part, we haven’t. Our mistakes have taken the place of us making plays."

The list of problems was long:

• The offensive line had been pushed around, failing to do much in the run-blocking or pass-protecting departments. The group traditionally has started slowly, but every guy has contributed this time around. The starting jobs of ORT Fred Miller and C Kevin Long appeared in jeopardy heading into the Ravens game. Miller started that game. Long did not.

• RB Eddie George hasn’t been listed on the injury report, and the big toe which underwent surgery is fine. But running behind an ineffective line, he seemed surprised a few times in the Jacksonville game when he found room to run, and he tripped himself up. His footwork seemed off.

• The wide receivers, long the source of criticism as the Achilles’ heel of the Titans’ conservative offense, have been pressing, trying to make plays. In doing so, many have cut routes short, throwing off the timing and rhythm of the offense.

"A lot of time, the receivers think, ‘If I cut this short, I’m going to get the ball,’ " offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger said. "They don’t understand. We spend a lot of time stopping the film and saying, ‘Look, you’re cutting it short, and the quarterback’s not at the top of his drop yet. So you can’t get the ball. If you go to depth, he’ll get to his drop, and then you have a chance.’ We either have to buy into that, or we’ve got to change."

• QB Steve McNair was knocked out of the opener when Dolphins DL Jermaine Haley hit him as he released a TD pass. McNair only started practicing fully the Monday before the Baltimore game, and the Titans concede his throwing shoulder is built in a way that the compartment between the shoulder joint and the rotator cuff is too small.

When he absorbs a hit with the shoulder, the swelling locks him up to some extent. Surgery to fix the problem will result in rehabilitation that could last anywhere from 3-14 weeks, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher said. So McNair will play on, but the shoulder will be a target. And the storyline of its status will likely weave itself through the rest of the season.

• CB DeRon Jenkins "won" the starting LCB spot in the preseason by making few mistakes and just as many big plays. Dainon Sidney, who has folded at crucial moments in the past, lost out in his bid to replace Denard Walker because his big plays in the preseason were paired with a few gaffes. (Sidney blew out a knee in the Miami game and is out for the season.) Miami’s Oronde Gadsden abused Jenkins, and Jacksonville, remarkably, did not try to target him. Rookie Andre Dyson missed the first two games while recovering from a broken toe. Now that he’s healthy, it might not be long before Dyson overtakes Jenkins, the weak link in a secondary that now has undrafted rookie FS Joe Walker in the starting lineup.

• The much ballyhooed defensive line has only two sacks so far. A group expected to dictate games had a low impact through the first two, though DRE Jevon Kearse has been pretty solid. The Dolphins took advantage of the outside rushes of Kearse and DLE Kevin Carter, making plays in the space they vacated in pursuit.

"It’s one thing to come free and to beat a guy, but it is another thing to beat a guy and get the quarterback to the ground," defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. "That is the thing we have to work on and what we have to get accomplished."

The Titans don’t have time to go one by one down the list of things to fix. They need to bolster them all at once.

The schedule, even after Baltimore and an Oct. 14 home game against Tampa Bay, does not offer them many easy games. Though they go to Detroit on Oct. 21, the four games against Cincinnati and Cleveland are no longer gimmes.

Tennessee continued to speak confidently of righting the ship and said its Super Bowl aspirations remain the same. But with the AFC Central turned largely upside down from the Titans’ perspective, there were legitimate questions floating around.

Has complacency set in for a team that believed the Super Bowl predictions? Was it fair that a cornerback who made plays in the preseason lost out on an open job to a player less respected in the locker room? Was Miller’s big-money contract keeping him in the lineup when reserve Jason Matthews may be a better alternative? Was the Titans’ conservative style of play finally catching up to them?

And most importantly: Can the Titans bounce back from an 0-3 start, rebuild their confidence and build momentum to save themselves from becoming a team that got to the Super Bowl once and fell back to the pack just like the Chargers, Patriots and Falcons did before them? Stay tuned.

Paul Kuharsky covers the Titans for The Tennessean.

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