Titans too young to succeed in 2004....LIE!!

The rookies were actually one of the few highlights this year. The veterans were the ones stinkin' the place up.

 

No. Having 1 really great player and 1 really bad player, is not the same as having 2 average/good players (not related to our actual situation).

Secondly, I think you're deluding yourself by looking at the age of the backups. There is a reason why players are backups and it has nothing to do with their age. You also need to look at the age distribution across the different positions. Clearly WR and DB was very young and their play was accordlingy, however I will give you that the poor play of our O-line and linebackers can not be blamed on youth.

I kinda give the QB's and RB's a pass because they really suffer from poor O-line play, so it's not fair to put too much blame on them.

Our D-line I thought did a good job and so did our TE's, regardless of age.

 

You can't really judge line play by statistics like that. Linemen generally don't make a ton of plays, but they prevent a lot of plays from happening. If Haynesworth is eating up two blocks on every play to give a linebacker a better shot at making one, then he is playing well...

Also, I thought Odom made a lot of big plays this year. The off tackle spot is probably our weakest spot, but Starks is still really young.

 

Tide, no one is saying that youth is the only reason that the Titans lost. No one is even saying that it was the main reason. But it's blatantly obvious that it was a factor. You even admitted as much above.

 

The Pats are in the Playoffs and looking to make another run to the SB. Their defense is playing lights out right now with this 5th string rookie CB. We on the other hand don't manage the CAP well enough to even keep one of our starting CBs and our 1st round pick a couple of years ago might not make the Pats roster at CB.

CAP management has been a problem along with dumb draft choices. And no, guuys lately have not developed into productive players unless you want to argue that guys like Beckham, Gardner, Woolfolk, Calico, Nickey and Reynolds are really contributing. To boot Reese thinks he is some kind of genious for bringing in KVB but he didn't offer a bonus year on KVBs contract so we have the thrill of possibly seeing another quality player leave in the offseason (I wonder if he will go to a real contender, I would). You were against keeping Kassel last year which has proven to be a good perspective but what stud MLB do we have "developed" to take his place? I don't think his clone Reynolds is anything to get excited about. We entered this season with vets at C, LB, OL and QB. The play we got from those postions is the main reason why we were 4-12 and picking #3 in the draft (3rd worst team in the NFL). The sad thing is we don't have anyone ready to step up into those roles with the exception of a few unproven OL meaning we are in terrible shape entering this draft. The coaching down the stretch was ridiculously stupid in that we didn't get Stewart, Amano and Bell alot more work considering Hartwig, Olsen and Pillar were as worthless a **** on a boar hog. With all the holes to fill, not to mention we will have no choice but to use our #3 pick on a QB because McNair is all but finished I am having a hard time being overly optimistic right now.
Yet according to you they managed the CAP well?

 

Oh, by the way the Pats have lost two of their OL to injury, one of them their LT. They have two rookies starting on their OL. In Nashville that would be a good excuse to stink up the place but in New England they don't make excuses.

 

I absolutely think the biggest problem with this team is the lack of talent, not youth. But youth does figure in, because players obviously get better over time.

To me, though, a team like the Patriots can get by with a few young players starting because they are surrounded by proven veterans. It's easy to patch gaps with inexperienced guys when the gaps aren't huge. Look at their starting lineup. They have tons of veterans, not to mention some proven young players. A rookie here or there that has been pressed into service hurt them, but they can compensate to protect those weak spots. Plus, 1 of the 3 rookies they are starting is a 1st rounder at guard, so he's hardly a real weak spot (much like Roos for us).

The Titans, meanwhile, are playing a bunch of young players and have very few veterans. We have huge gaps and our rookies can't be protected. Are our sucky safeties helping to protect Pacman or Hill?

I don't blame cap management. Yes, that's what got them into this situation, but the alternative was to not stay a contender for 6 years running. They knew what they were doing. This is just the price you pay for trying to win. Eventually, you have to pay the piper.

 

Ok, lost Rodney Harrison very early, has been replaced by a Rookie free-agent(Michael Stone). Lost 5 corners, forcing rookie Ellis Hobbs into the fray. Lost starting LT and Left Guard very early, throwing two ROOKIES into the starting lineup on the speed side of the line in Kaczsur and Mankins. You tell me that those aren't important positions.

Soxcat is right, anything like this for the Titans and it's an excuse, but not for any other team. Excuses are like a$$holes, they all stink, and i'm sick of this one. The #1 reason we sucked this year has got to be COACHING, you can't tell me that we don't have talented players, we don't have coaches getting the most out of our potentially talented players. We have a Defensive Coord who has never even met his players, doesn't know how to put them in a postion to succeed and it is starting to poison the attitude of this whole franchise. I have never seen a team become so worthless in such a short period of time, and it starts with the guys instilling work habits and attitude in our players, not the players themselves, because if you watch them at all, they don't have any urgency or aggression. The team continues to regress.