I'll try to give you impressions from my vantage point at the stadium. You all heard the game or pirated the streaming video, so you know the statistics. I saw Collin gave game balls and credit for the win to every one including the folks who wash the uniforms. He's an excitabe boy. Today, I was too, so the view from the stadium is a little different and let me tell you about it. Oh first, I promised. Jonathan was right. 27-17 Jaguars was his prediction and I mocked him. Jonathan was right. I feel like I am in a Bizzaro world. Good call Jonathan. Great call actually, I never saw this game coming. I never saw this coming
but you did.
After the jump, I'll tell you what I saw.
First impression, Josh Scobee can kick you in the head. The Titans average starting position was... the 20 yard line. Why? Because Scobee kicked it so far they couldn't run it back. One time he kicked it so far on the kickoff, it sailed out of the endzone and almost beaned a security guard in the back of the head while he was looking up into the crowd. I was hoping, while it was in flight, it would hit him. That is the sadastic side of me, but seriously, it landed so close the guy jumped. Scobee was pissed about missing the just before half time field goal of 56 yards. When he came out from half time, he went right to the line of scrimmage with his little ball holder device and nailed it on the mulligan. In person, Scobee is a big man, bigger than David. No one in the league is better than Josh Scobee. No one.
Second impression, Tra Thomas is who we thought he was. David gets the game ball for a standout performance, but Tra Thomas handed it to him. David was not ruffled at all during the game. No one bothered him in the pocket, no one. Watching Tra Thomas play was so amazing. Tra seems to read the mind of his defensive opponent and move instantly to where the guy would be. Kyle Vanden Bosch had like 15 sacks two years ago. Tra Thomas abused him in the same manner he treated Quentin Groves in training camp. The guy is such a good pass blocker you have to see it live to believe it. Here is one of my problems with JDR, he tries to pass BS off as the truth. Eugene Monroe beat Tra Thomas out for the position. BS flag thrown on that one. Jack has a problem now, the line without the rookies in there played unbelievable. What cha gonna do now Jack?
Third impression, Chris Johnson is fast but so are our linebackers. Chris Johnson is unbelievably fast. The game moves at a different pace when he has the ball. You can't believe how the alarm bells went off when he had the ball. Daryl Smith chased him down to the corner and Justin Durant chased him down to the corner. The reaction time our linebackers showed in diagnosing the play was measured in nano-seconds. They were there, instantly. When Chris Johnson was taken away as a threat, there was no fight left in the Titans.
Fourth impression, Jeff Fishers team quit. The Jaguars punched them in the mouth so hard in the first quarter, they quit. Oh, Terry, come on, you are being overly dramatic now. THEY QUIT!!! A Jeff Fisher team knew they were done. I never saw that before. The final play of the first quarter was the Titans first first down. They knew they two things, Chris Johnson wasn't going anywhere and Kerry Collins is a horrible quarterback this year. Kerry Collins threw the ball no where near anyone a number of times. As Bill Parcells said. "You are what your record says you are" and the Titans have no wins this year. I bought into the best 0-3 team story until I saw them play. Vince Young needs to start and the Titans need something to jump start them. They quit today. Sometimes we say the score didn't reflect the game and in this case it is true. The Jaguars left 10 points on the field today with the half time blunder and the fumble at the goal line. The score should have been 47-17.
Fifth impression, Mike Thomas is slippery. Mike ran kickoffs back today. He did nothing special that I could see, no blazing speed, no elusive moves. The stange thing was no one could tackle him. He was like oil sliding through the opposing coverage. I can only guess he reads and follows blocks beautifully. His reverse last week showed he could find the sweet spot and that ability showed up on kickoff runbacks. Because of Mike and Scobee, the Jaguars played half court basketball while the Titans played full court. I don't know how to say it any different, he is somehow special without looking like he is doing anything special. Make sense? Not to me, someone help me out.
Sixth impression, Play calling is devious.. Dirk Koetter has cooked up a number of misdirection plays that are a wonder to see. The first Maurice touchdown was pure legerdemain. Everyone pulled to the right. Tra Thomas let his man beat him to the inside. You could see the defensive guy licking his chops, he had finally beat Tra to the backfield, now where was the ball? Tra stood there and laughed at him as Maurice walked around the end where Tra's man used to be. Maurice seemed to draw that moment out as well. No hurry, no big deal, just a nice slow jog for a score. A Jeff Fisher defense laughed at by the Jaguars who aren't supposed to be that good. I could hear the Jaguars telling the Titans "It is over when we say it is over, now get back here we aren't done having fun".
Seventh impression, John Henderson rocks the stadium. Early in the game the Titans were pinned back against the North End Zone. It was third down and the Jaguars had been doing a good job shutting them down. John Henderson signalled the crowd to pump up the noise. The place went nuts. I have not seen John Henderson do that in two years. Maybe he did, but this was the first time in a long time it meant something. John Henderson was in this game emotionally and it showed. I have not seen the big guy play like this and act tlike this since the Monday Night game against the Steelers in 2006.
I could go on and on so why not. Here are more general impressions.
I am sorry David that I ever doubted you. You threw some of the most amazing tight coverage passes without ever really taking a risk. You are a very good quarterback. You just needed a team around you.
Mike Sims-Walker, nice job. How about watching Marcedes Lewis execute some YAC. When the big guy get rumbling down field, he almost dances sometimes. I get the sense Mike Sims-Walker can break it, but he seems to not yet make it happen.
Jarret Dillard got in when MSW limped off the field in the third quarter. I am telling you, that guy is quick. The Jaguars kept running this quick pass like screen. Only Jarret could bring it alive. Loved seeing him get in the game.
Zack Miller got some action but I don't see it yet from him. He looks like what he says he is, a poor man's Tim Tebow. Nothing special from Zack, nothing bad. A note to everyone who said Ernest Wilford wouldn't provide value, write that on a piece of paper, crumple it up and eat the paper. As Collin called it, David loves to throw to Ernest and he is showing the same guts and sure hands he did here in 2007. IGWT.
Justin Gage meet Rasheen Mathis. Rasheen will be your escort today and will take you off the field and show you what inconsequntial feels like.
You might see pink cleats and gloves on the players when they replay the game. It was Breast Cancer awareness day in the stadium and I am guessing the players with the pink have been touched in some way by the cancer. No jokes, i respect the significance.
OK, I was saving the negative for last. Derek Cox was the leading tackler for a reason. He was covering the guy who caught the ball. In the third quarter, the Titans came out with a new game plan, go after Cox. Collins went back to his man over and over. One time Daryl Smith broke into the backfield and pressured Collins who overthrew the receiver and Cox got the interception. Derek Cox needs to pick his game up quickly. He is the weakness in the backfield right now.
I am sure you are bored with all of this by now so let me close with this. I could barely speak to those around me today in the first half. It was too emotional to get the words out. I have been in that stadium for so many games waiting for the Jaguars to return. I was overjoyed and overcome with happiness today. The real Jaguars, my Jaguars, have come home. Welcome back guys. Jonathan, nice to meet you as well!
- Terry O'Brien