As always, the Tennessean has one of the Titans beat writers do a “5 things we know about the Titans” piece nearly every week. While I don’t hate the beat writers the Titans have, they do tend to mail it in on this one article (and a few others at times). This weeks version though had one little point that made me laugh out loud:
HEIMERDINGER LOOKS LIKE HE’S HAVING FUN
He used to have a reputation for being a bit of a grouch, and he can still be cranky at times. But Titans offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger doesn’t look like one these days, judging from his sideline interaction with quarterback Vince Young. Make no mistake: Heimerdinger and Kerry Collins get along great. But Heimerdinger seems to be enjoying the challenge of making things work with Young. It is showing on the field with some creative play-calling — and smiles — on Sundays.
Okay… I can’t help it. This makes me laugh. Just this idea that somebody would think, “Alright, what are the 5 things we definitely know to be true about the Tennessee Titans… Well… Mike Heimerdinger looks like he’s having fun!”
Also, the reasoning makes me laugh. This whole “Heimerdinger is really enjoying the challenge of making things work with Young.” Right. Because the challenge of making it work with Kerry was just too easy. They were doing so well it wasn’t even a challenge anymore. But Vince is just such a challenge that it has reignited Heimerdinger’s joy for football. In fact, he was tied for 3rd in the league last week for Coaches Smiles (a new Football Outsiders statistic). This is a huge turnaround for a coach who usually is near the bottom of the NFL in Coaches Smiles.
I really hate armchair psychology football analysis. The reason why the offense is working now is because Vince Young isn’t turning the ball over, Wide Receivers are holding on to their catches, the defense has forced some turnovers giving the offense a short field, and Chris Johnson is a monster on pace for 1,900 yards. It’s not because Heimerdinger is magically re-energized by the challenge of molding Vince Young into a good QB. It really is as simple as turnovers. Last year the Titans were 13-3 when Collins protected the football. They were 0-6 when he didn’t. With Vince, his QB rating is over 100 and he looks like the QB of the future when he doesn’t turn the ball over, and he looks like a disaster who is a huge draft bust when he does turn the ball over.
That’s it.
Tags: 5 things we know about the Titans, Chris Johnson, Jim Wyatt, Media Failures, Mike Heimerdinger, Tennessean, Vince Young
