Posse Preview Week 1: Titans vs. Steelers

2 days. We are 2 days away from the first game of the NFL season. To open the regular season, we are stuck with playing the returning champion Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s a game I both dread and look forward to. So, without further stalling, lets preview it:

Strengths for the Titans

• Controlling the Line of Scrimmage: Any good Tennessee Titans team starts and ends with this. Our Offensive Line is generally acknowledged as top 3 in the league and will remain so barring a major injury. The Steelers defense is extremely impressive, but our line showed last year that they are good enough to get Chris Johnson some space and Kerry Collins enough time to make a decision. So while we obviously won’t dominate the line of scrimmage offensively, we’ll at least hold serve and possibly control it for a drive or two. The big question mark is on the Defensive Line. While we are talented and deep, there is a question of whether we can dominate as our D-Line has for the past 2 years. Pittsburgh has a weak Offensive Line and while their O-line is expected to improve, nobody expects it to be a top unit. Our D-Line MUST take advantage of this or we will be in some trouble.
• Running the Ball: We’re a better running team than Pittsburgh. This can be neutralized by how good Pittsburgh’s run defense is, but I don’t think it will be enough. If our running game can get us to 3rd and 3 or better, we have enough of a passing game to convert these with some regularity. I know we won’t get our usual yards rushing, but to expect 3 yards a carry is not ridiculous, and could be enough to keep the Steelers defense on their toes.
• Tight End: We will need to use all 3 of our Tight Ends in different ways to help out the Receiving Corps. Cook, if he is fully healthy, could be the X factor, as his speed will be unexpected coming from that position. I imagine the Tight End will be Collins’ first look on 3rd downs, and even with our O-Line you rarely get a 2nd look against this defense so our Tight Ends will need to come to play.

Weaknesses for the Titans

• Wide Receivers: I like our group this year more than last year, but they are unproven and this is heck of a test. Nate Washington is likely not going to play, which is a big problem as well. When Pittsburgh was beaten last year, it was by teams getting a semblance of a running game going on their defense, converting 3rd downs, then hitting them over the top with a big play on either a Polomalu blitz or the rare times he was out of position. The Titans did this with a 30 yard touchdown to Justin Gage and even though Polomalu was out of position he still almost made the play. The problem is that play was more of an exception than a rule with the Titans. Our receivers last year struggled to make plays and while I have more hope for this year’s crop, I don’t expect them to light it up in the first game of the season against such a good defense. Kenny Britt has looked good, but he hasn’t seen anything like this Steelers defense. Washington could have been that guy, but he most likely won’t play and to expect Britt to make plays while the attention is focused on Gage… I don’t feel confident in that.
• Cornerback: Finnegan aside, the Steelers have more good receivers than we have good cornerbacks. Limas Sweed is good, in my opinion. He is also big and big receivers are a problem for the Titans. Last year in the Steelers game it didn’t matter because our D-line was getting to Roethlisberie9rgkwkewfer (I think that’s right) before he could get off a decent pass. That is why our D-Line will need to be in top shape. Finnegan will take Ward or Holmes out of the play most of the time, but that still leaves Ward/Holmes (whoever Finnegan doesn’t get) and Limas Sweed against Nick Harper (who I am NOT high on) and whoever has won the nickleback position, which we aren’t even aware of yet. If Pittsburgh goes to Shotgun and spreads us out, they could move the ball on us.

Question Marks for the Titans

• Return Game: I am not ready to call this a weakness because I just don’t know yet. I assume our return man is Javon Ringer, but I haven’t seen it confirmed that Ringer is our return guy. Whoever it is, while we have not seen any evidence of a top return game this year, one just never knows until the game starts.
• Kicking: Craig Hentrich is old and doesn’t have the leg he used to, although the touch is still there. However, just one short punt could really hurt us in this game. Also, while Rob Bironas is great, Heinz Field is so shoddy it negates most kickers’ range. It’s ridiculous, but it is what it is, and our Kicking game can’t be put into the strength section for this game.

Expectations for the Game

• I expect this game to be low scoring. I see the Titans dominating the line of scrimmage on defense and the Pittsburgh offense struggle to deal with a lot of 3 and 8’s.
• On offense, we will not be able to get the running game going early and without Washington our receivers aren’t enough of a threat for the Titans to manage more than a 1st down or two before having to punt.
• The Titans’ special teams will not be spectacular, but they will hold serve and not hurt the Titans either.
• Chris Johnson will have one shot to make a big play. It could decide the game whether he makes the guy miss or not.
• In the Obvious corner, I see turnovers having a huge impact on the game, and turnovers between two well coached teams are too random to predict.
• How Rob Bironas kicks and what his range is on such a cruddy field will be very important for the Titans.
• I could see the Steelers getting a big play or two in the passing game. Hopefully, Chuck Cecil will be preaching this all week.

Best Case Scenario

Our Defensive Line dominates as well as last year and the Steelers’ offense can’t sustain anything againt our defense and they never have the time to take advantage of their advantage at Wide Receiver. Turns out that the Steelers doing nothing to their defense in the offseason has led to stagnation and our O-Line blows them off the ball early and often while Smash and Dash collectively average 8 yards a carry. Kerry Collins hits Jared Cook on one play and Polamalu gambles for the big hit on Cook but misses because he misjudges Cook’s prodigious speed and Cook takes it to the house. Kenny Britt turns out to be the next Jerry Rice and torches the coverage several times while Kerry Collins has 7 seconds to throw. James Harrison cries when LenDale jukes him and shows that losing tequila weight has made him a top 10 Runningback. Titans win 56-0. After the game LenDale White and Keith Bulluck collect every Terrible Towel in the stadium and use it as toilet paper the rest of the year. Steelers enter season-long shock and finish 3-13.

Worst Case Scenario

Kerry Collins is injured on the first play and I see a High Definition up close camera view of Vince Young having to take out his iPod earphones because the coach is yelling at him to get in the game. Chris Johnson is then injured on the next play. I commit Seppuku, the form of Japanese ritual suicide in which one disembowels himself.

Official Prediction

This Titans team is on a mission to erase the bad taste from last year. That matters, especially in the 1st game of the season. I see us starting out the year showing everybody on national TV that the Titans are still a Super Bowl contender by beating the Steelers 17-14 in a tough defensive struggle that is won by the Titans O-Line being able to hold off the Steelers defense just enough to get Chris Johnson free for one big play. GO TITANS.

Tags: Ben Roethlisberger, Chris Johnson, Defensive Line, Kerry Collins, lendale white, NFL Week 1, Offensive Line, Pittsburgh Steelers, Posse Preview, Regular Season, Tennessee Titans, Terrible Towel, Troy Polamalu