Post-Game Thread Vikings 25, Titans 16

Aside for the glaring turnovers that cost us the game today, another issue I noticed was not nearly enough downhill running. The smash attack we saw during the preseason disappeared and was replaced by razzle dazzle and window dressing. On 3rd down we tried some sort of weird fake QB thing and then a pass/pitch among other plays with more style than substance. That's not the kind of offense we were promised.

To make things worse we didn't even stay on the attack with the run game. In a game that was close for most of the day, and were leading at half time, we had twice as many passes as runs. Marcus threw the ball 41 times to only 22 combined carries. I understand that the defense can dictate some plays, but we had several runs in the first half that were successful. The abandonment of the run game just puzzles me completely.

Unlike several on this board, I don't believe this is the end of the world, and the sky is not falling. But I will be concerned if this becomes a trend. We have a good OL and talented backs. Let's establish them first as a force to be reckoned with, then we can get a little more fancy.

 

That was VYs wonderlic score.

 

What was Mariota's?

Edit...33

 

Here are my thoughts: The Titans WON this game. I know what your saying, the score was 25-16 Minnesota... is you crazy?! Well no. Besides the two defensive touchdowns inside of one minute, the Titans beat a playoff team today. 16-12.

Our offense outplayed theirs across the board.
We out passed them 271 yds to 236 yds and Mariota threw 2 TD's to Shaun Hills 0.
We out rushed them 64 yds to 58 yds and essentially shut down Adrien Peterson.

Our offense won time of possession, # of plays from scrimmage, 3rd down efficiency, penalties, offensive points scored, red zone efficiency etc., etc. Just about every stat.

Our defense held their offense to ZERO touchdowns on 3 trips to the red zone and only 12 points on four field goals. Though we didn't get any sacks, we had pressure on Hill all day. Our safeties played great.

Our new O-line also played great, especially Lewan (besides the 2 penalties), Conklin and Spain. Warmack was by far the weak link and should be replaced as soon as Kline is ready. The two sacks however were really coverage sacks as Mariota held the ball too long.

Overall it was a great effort by the Titans and the coaching staff. Those two horrible plays completely changed the result of this one, but as far as I'm concerned, this was a substantial victory for a 3-12 team against a playoff squad.

 

After watching the Titans fail today, I only saw great things. The Titans would have won this game if not for the turnovers. Adrian Peterson was Shut Down, there we no long/big offensive plays from the Vikings. As usual the Titans beat themselves with turnovers.

We have a great team, we just had a few bad plays on offense.

 

Not to curb your enthusiasm, but we were only up 10-6. We got a meaningless TD at the end. You can't predict the Vikings would not have scored some other way. Hill was hitting passes right and left. We were doing nothing on offense in the 2nd half. MM was missing receivers when it counted. Maybe we win...maybe not...but you can't say for sure we would have.

 

No, the Titans were up 10-0 at half time. The only thing that caused the Titans to lose was the 3-0 turnover ratio.

Apparently you watched a different game than I did.

 

61 yard Kick off return needs fixed too. Can't have that happen in close games.