Now or Never for the Titans

As published at www.ongameday.ca

It never sat right with me watching Tennessee locking themselves into the basement of the AFC South for the first six games of the season.  Not after the crazy tear they went on in 2008.  These guys should have been building on the season prior and giving the Colts a run for their money, instead they were running out of steam half way through games and playing collectively like they spent the summer watching Detroit Lions motivational videos.

 

Jeff Fisher, for all his football savvy and mustachioed wisdom, was stuck firmly on “Team Collins” no matter how many losses, incomplete passes (89 but who’s counting) and general embarrassing Sundays his team had to wander through.  To his credit, Fisher must have been properly shaken after Young’s suicide debacle a year prior and is forever inclined to go with the fella with a proven track record of not-crazy, but this is the NFL and crazy shit is going to happen.  At some point you have to put it down as dark chapter in an otherwise amazing biography and run that one-in-a-million risk of a “Last Boyscout” incident.

 

After the Peyton Manning Jersey Mia Culpa Fisher finally caved to a murderous Bud Adams (who was reportedly angry enough to start bleeding from the eyes) and gave Young the nod after a long and ugly bi-week.  He more or less admitted he didn’t want to, but an 0-6 coach more or less forfeits his right to ignore the man with the big wallet.  The rest is a four game history.

So all of the sudden the Titans have a storyline, and the football gods just loooooooove a storyline.  Four wins in a row and two of them against division rivals.  Teams that are a joke don’t go 4-0 in the middle of a season.  It’s an uphill tooth and nail battle to the 6^th spot in the AFC, but every season has a Cinderella story, and my gut tells me the Titans are gonna crash the party or at least put on a good show at the door.

This Sunday night is where we find out of the Titans are serious about their comeback.  Arizona is a solid team that puts up big numbers and the Warner Fitzgerald one-two puts on as good a show as there is in the league.  Of course all that aside, this game means a hell of a lot more to the home squad, and Superbowl appearance aside, they still aren’t that good.  Being kings of NFC West this year is like beating up on children.  Look for the Titans to fire off a cannonball named Chris Johnson and ruin Thanksgiving for the Cardinal’s linebackers.

The Over/Under is 47.5 and I’m thinking that’s pretty conservative, this is going to be a highlight-rich slobber knocker and if I’m lucky enough the Cardinals D is going to spend a lot of time on the field.