Chris Johnson was basically the entire offense for the Titans last year, so he and Tennessee must hammer out their contract squabbles first and foremost to make Tennessee a threat.
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Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans became just the sixth back in NFL history to rush for 2000 yards in a season (2006), staking his claim as the premier back in the NFL. Now he wants to be paid accordingly.
The Titans view is that Johnson should honor the five-year contract he signed in 2008 that pays him a base of $550,000 per year. CJ’s view is that his old deal should be torn up and that a new deal should be struck which is more representative of his current status as the top RB in the league and maybe he’s got a point.
Besides leading the team in rushing, Johnson was also the team’s top receiver with 50 catches and 503 yards. Both sides aren’t budging at least for now and Johnson has hinted at a holdout. If the Titans are serious about challenging the Colts and Texans in the AFC South than it would probably be a good idea to get this taken care of before September.
Vince Young won eight of his ten starts after taking over a team that had gone 0-6 to start the season and helping them finish at 8-8. He ended up with 1, 879 yards and ten touchdown passes and was also the Titans second leading rusher behind Johnson with 288 yards.
Young will never put up numbers like Drew Brees but he’s a proven winner and is 26-13 as an NFL starter. Overall Tennessee ranked second in the NFL in rushing last season with 162 yards per game and was 12th overall with 351.4 YPG. Do the math. Most of the offense came from Johnson.
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Defense: This unit needs help and in a hurry. The Titans secondary was scorched last season allowing and AFC worst 258 passing yards per game. They ranked 28th overall giving up 365.6 YPG while surrendering a whopping 25.1 points per game. The Titans did help themselves signing free agent LB Will Witherspoon from the Eagles and drafting DE Derrick Morgan from Georgia Tech in the first-round of the draft.
Tennessee also picked up a trio of rookie defensive backs selecting UCLA CB Alterraun Verner, Safety Robert Johnson from Utah and SS Myron Rolle from Florida State. The Titans defense should be better but the question is by how much? They can’t be much worse than they were a year ago.
Why I like Tennessee’s chances: As long as Jeff Fisher remains the Titans head coach they’ll always be a factor in the AFC South. Fisher doesn’t get near the credit he should and maybe that’s because he hasn’t won the big game yet. He’s got every attribute you would want in a coach: He’s tough, fair, honest and articulate which is a must in the PR oriented NFL.
He never gave up despite losing his first six games in 2009 but more importantly the team never gave up on him. If Johnson and the team can get the financial stuff ironed out and if Young can keep his head screwed on straight this team could surprise a few people on offense.
I’m betting on it: The Titans were 6-10 ATS last season including a 3-5 record both at home and on the road. They went 9-7 to the over but stayed below the number in five of their final six games.
I’m just trying to help: Since I’m old, white and broke; it’s tough for me to relate to someone who is young, black and rich. But as my late father-in-law said, and it applies not matter what race, creed or color you are: “Nothing good happens after midnight”. Stay home and stay out of the strip clubs. Vince Young are you listening?
Bottom line: It was a testimony to Fisher’s leadership skills that this team didn’t fall apart after the 0-6 start. The Titans were a one-dimensional team last season and that needs to improve. They’re wafer thin at wide receiver and don’t have a great deal of depth behind Johnson. The defense is another couple of years away from being a factor and they have the misfortune of playing in the same division as the best player in the NFL.
A fair question would be which Titans team will we see in 2010? Will it be the one who started out 0-6 or the won that finished at 8-2?