This defense is tired and it shows. The defensive line is missing the presence of Tony Brown in the middle of the line. As good as Alterraun Verner has been as a rookie his inexperience showed today. He got picked on a lot. Of course the Titans were playing some soft defense, probably because they are tired, but the loose coverage allowed him to get burned on some plays. Finnegan added his own mistake or two as well. Jason McCourty played well in his first action following his forearm injury, adding an interception to his stats.
On offense, Vince Young was having a great game before he went down due to injury. Losing Kenny Britt early in the first half didn't help either. However, Nate Washington, Lavelle Hawkins and Damien Williams played very well overall. The same can't be said for Bo Scaife who had two crucial drops. Craig Stevens continues to quietly impress, adding his first NFL touchdown to his stats.
The Titans failure to convert on third down especially in the second half doomed this team to a loss. Chris Johnson inexplicably dropped a crucial pass on 4th down at the end and the Titans turned the ball over on downs. The defense added third down woes of its own, allowing the Bolts to convert on 12 of 18 for a 66% conversion rate.
The Titans rushing game continues to unimpress. The Titans combined for 65 net rushing yards. Chris Johnson ran for 59 yards on 15 attempts. He did score a TD. Unfortunately, the red zone efficiency was 33%.
Penalties at crucial moments continue to haunt the Titans. Donnie Nickey's hit on an official leading to his ejection was a dumb move plain and simple. A stupid holding penalty negated a pick 6 for free safety Michael Griffin. All together the Titans were penalized 10 times for 80 yards.
The upcoming bye week will allow players to rest and heal. Then it's back to work to fix some of the glaring issues, primarily in third down issues for both offense and defense.
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