Bills/Titans: Five questions with Music City Miracles
I know. When I tell you that, in order to properly discuss the upcoming Week 10 matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans, we need to talk to the lead blogger over at Music City Miracles, that blog name alone causes you to pop an aneurysm or experience a rage blackout.
Unfortunately, Jimmy - aforementioned lead blogger and man behind that no-longer-spoken-in-these-parts evil blog name - is a pretty cool dude, so it's tough to hold that name against him for too long. Our resident Titans blogger was kind enough to answer some questions about his favorite team in anticipation of this weekend's game. Off we go.
Obviously, Chris Johnson is probably the most dynamic offensive threat in the league. What do you perceive as the best way to minimize his impact on a game?
Get a big lead. That is really the only way they aren't going to keep feeding him the ball, and that might not even work. The thing that is so amazing about CJ is that you can bottle him up for five carries - he actually leads the league in carries for loss - but he can go for 80 in the blink of an eye.
I think the biggest disadvantage the Bills will have against him is that they won't have any idea how fast he really is until they see it on the field. You can watch all the tape you want, but it is different live, and there really isn't any way to simulate it in practice.
Kerry Collins signed a two-year deal last off-season, but now he's been benched for Vince Young. Is his Titans career over, and can he still play?
Good question. A lot of that depends on how Vince Young plays over the next eight games. Vince has a huge cap number next season, so he is either going to re-negotiate or be cut. If he continues to play well, they will most likely re-work his deal and Collins will retire (he has said he doesn't want to be a backup). If VY struggles down the stretch and the Titans don't think he is the long-term solution, I think they cut Vince, draft a QB early in the draft, and bring back Kerry to start next season and mentor the new guy.
As for if Collins can still play or not: not really. He was efficient last year, but nothing more than that. Could he be that again? Probably, but I don't think it is that likely.
Young has yet to pass more than 20 times in a game in his starts this season. Obviously he has help from an outstanding rushing attack, but is Young capable of making throws to win a tight game?
Some people from MCM are going to get mad at me for saying this, but that is what remains to be seen. Vince has played well so far and looks like he really grew in his time off, but he hasn't proven yet that he can take a game on his shoulders and win it. So my answer is that I don't know, but I feel better about it than I did two years ago.
Clearly, injuries have been an issue in your secondary. Is that unit getting any healthier, and are the Titans still susceptible to the big play?
The unit is getting healthier. Getting Pro Bowl corner Cortland Finnegan back has made a huge difference, and the signing of Roderick Hood has actually been a big boost. Hood has filled in for Nick Harper, who was terrible even when healthy. There is a chance he will be ready to go this week, which would be good news for the Bills. I hope Fisher lets Hood continue to start, but he is loyal to veteran players.
A lot of the big plays early came as a result of the safeties not playing their assignments. They have played better the last couple of weeks, so hopefully the big plays are over. Hopefully.
I've heard "experts" say that the Titans miss Albert Haynesworth, but you're middle of the pack with 19 sacks, and your run defense is in the same vicinity. Clearly, you can't not miss a player like Haynesworth, but is that talk being overblown?
The Titans really miss Haynesworth on third down. He can collapse a pocket better than any defensive tackle in the league. That kept QBs from stepping up and gave the edge speed rushers an advantage. Now, the edge speed rushers are having trouble getting to the QB.
The rest of the time Albert was on the field he was dominant, but he missed a lot of time due to injury over the years, and even when he wasn't injured, he spent a lot of time gassed on the sideline. So my answer is yes and no.
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Come on Brian
Johnson’s big plays continue as Titans roll past Buffalo
Have a little more faith in Buffalo, Tennessee has the 31st ranked D in the league! They should at least make it respectable.
Trample the weak, hurdle the dead!
You saw the Browns game, right?
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by TheAfghanTwilight on Nov 13, 2009 12:56 PM EST up reply actions
Okay, then I predict the Bills’ rush defense will be rated the 33rd next week. Yup, they’ll find a way to play so bad that they invent a new position for themselves: It’s called #$@!ed.
Twitter: helping to make anti-social people anti-socially social.
by TheAfghanTwilight on Nov 13, 2009 1:36 PM EST up reply actions
if we can limit
Carolina’s rushing attack who throttled New Orleans, then I think we do the same vs Tenn. It will be a challenge, but this game won’t be won or lost based on buffalo’s defense, but like every week it will be an inept Bills Offense that leads to 3 and outs, and careless throws by Edwards. It will be interesting to see if Dick Jauron used the bye week to re-scheme and motivate this team. They come out flat and lose big this week and Jauron will want this season to be over asap
MARVelous - "I went from America's team to North America's Team" Terrell Owens
Exactly
It’ll be less about Buffalos defense and whether they can stop Chris Johnson and more about whether the offense can do anything at all that would suggest they know what they’re doing.
Trample the weak, hurdle the dead!
Carolina ran for 116 yards on 25 carries. That’s over 4.6 yards a pop. We didn’t limit Carolina’s rushing attack. Carolina limited their own rushing attack by inexplicably letting Jake Delhomme throw the ball 44 times.
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"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Nov 13, 2009 1:06 PM EST up reply actions
All you can say to that is LOLCATZ, literally.
Twitter: helping to make anti-social people anti-socially social.
by TheAfghanTwilight on Nov 13, 2009 1:37 PM EST up reply actions
Haha
I saw an LOLCATZ book at a store yesterday and started thumbing through it. My girlfriend asked what was wrong with me. Those things are funny!
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Nov 13, 2009 2:22 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I love those things, but it works better to have a Borat-like internal voice when reading them.
Twitter: helping to make anti-social people anti-socially social.
by TheAfghanTwilight on Nov 13, 2009 3:41 PM EST up reply actions
still
it wasn’t the factor everyone said it would be, and part of the reason they stopped is they weren’t getting the big gainers the Jets did previously. Bills run defense is bad obviously but you are not going to lose a game in the NFL cuz of your run defense. It’s a passing league and if you can’t pass you can’t win, see Jake Delhomme’s 3 INT’s that day
MARVelous - "I went from America's team to North America's Team" Terrell Owens
Johnson
Chris Johnson is going to have a field day against the slowish, overmatched Bills run D. The key will be to avoid the 50+ yarders and keep the longer runs to a minimum, and force Young to throw. If the Bills can’t even slow Johnson, its going to be an extremely long afternoon.
I mentioned in my fantasy article the improvement in the Titan pass D with Finnegan healthy. He’s an excellent player and its not surprising he’s helped their pass D improve recently. He’ll be a tough matchup for Evans a nd TO.
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Nov 13, 2009 2:37 PM EST via mobile reply actions
stack the box – make VY beat our secondary
Trent Edwards - Backup QB until furthur notice
by J2 on Nov 13, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
it's going to go like this
Kyle Williams makes a nice stop in the backfield. Then Denney/Whitner/anyone makes a nice stop at the line of scrimmage. Then Johnson goes right up the gut for 80 yards.
lather. rinse. repeat.
Jonathan Stupar won the Heisman…while playing in the NFL!
How many...
Yards did the Jets rush for….I’m just sayin.
#1 quesiton for the Flaming Thumbtacks
Do you guys still believe that wasn’t a forward lateral?
"Are the Bills better than we think, or do they just suck the life out of most teams they play and drag them down to their level? - oompaloompa
by Joe P. on Nov 13, 2009 4:29 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Music City Mirage. I will never join that blog. I will post on every other blog on SBN. :-) Seriously.
Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008.
"Matt’s pretty valuable to y’all. Cherish him." - BG

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