Wins continue to mask Titans’ offensive problems

By Marc Hudgens  |   Tuesday, October 30, 2007  |  Comments( 0 )

Tennessee Titans
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After their 13-9 escape over the 2-5 Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon, Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher stated the obvious.

"The only thing that is lacking right now with this team is touchdowns," said Fisher.

Finally, someone gets it. And Fisher's not the only one.

"When our offense finally puts it all together and plays up to the potential that they have, we are going to be a pretty hard team to beat," safety Chris Hope added.

Meanwhile, running back LenDale White also weighed in.

"It's dangerous," said White, referring to Tennessee's weak offense. "We have to put more points on the board."

To an extent, White is correct. However, the Titans need to put more touchdowns, not just Rod Bironas field goals, on the board.

Tennessee has the NFL's third-ranked rushing attack, but it's just 24th in the league in touchdowns (13) -- and two were scored defensively.

In four of their past seven games, the Titans have accumulated just one touchdowns. Two games reflected two offensive touchdowns (Indy and Houston), and in only one contest did Tennessee score three (New Orleans).

So what needs to be done? For starters, White is not the sole answer to a truly strong running attack. In terms of yards per game, Tennessee's ground game is strong; however, the Titans' yards per carry is 4.1, which is good but not stellar (17th in the league). Obviously, then, there's not a highly impressive amount of productivity on a per-touch basis.

While White scampered for a career-high 133 yards against Oakland, he's built like a fullback (and runs like one also) and usually can't get big chunks of yardage on a regular basis. White's a solid back, no doubt, but he's better as a bruising complement to faster runners Chris Henry and Chris Brown.

Secondly, the receivers need to stop dropping balls that fall into their hands. Admittedly, quarterback Vince Young has thrown haphazardly at times, but the receivers appear to be the make-or-break factor in the passing game. Against the Raiders, there were five catchable passes that were dropped, three of which were in the end zone and one would have been a first down. Until the wideouts step up and consistently make catchers, there's no real way to judge Young's arm.

Some blame the Titans' offensive woes on a conservative game plan that is the brainchild of Fisher and coordinator Norm Chow. While Tennessee clearly plays it close to the vest, that may only be part of the problem. The receivers dropping passes have nothing to do with game plan. But what does fall under the game plan is going to a quicker back as the focal point of the rushing game. Even if Fisher and Chow split the carries about evenly between White and Henry (or Brown when he returns from injury), it would make the running game less predictable to defenses and therefore more efficient.

There is no singular issue that has caused the offense's ineptitude in piling up touchdowns, but at least the players and coaches realize there's a problem brewing despite the Titans' 5-2 record. And correctly identifying the team's offensive concerns is the first step in solving them.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He ...
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