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Tennessee tilts to offense
McNair, Chow must carry Titans By Jeff Reynolds (jreynolds@pfwmedia.com)
July 18, 2005
Times have changed in Tennessee.
Mainstays Jeff Fisher and Steve McNair remain as pillars of the organization that five years ago was a yard away from a Super Bowl title. Most of their support system from that super season — Eddie George, Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle, Frank Wycheck and three-fifths of that 1999 offensive line — is either out of town or out of work. Starting DL Kevin Carter was released and RCB Andre Dyson left without a significant offer from the Titans.
Long a model of consistency, the Titans have been a team of high character with a rare degree of staying power in the salary-cap era, picking up 43 regular-season wins in the four seasons prior to 2005. In 2004, however, the Titans were a forgotten entity. McNair was battered and bruised all season, and without him and innumerable vital veterans who also suffered injury, Tennessee was scrappy but only posted five total wins, putting the team in complete transition mode.
McNair thought about retirement. He played in just eight games, didn’t take a single snap in December and was only average when he was on the field. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with his performance — nine touchdowns, eight interceptions and an average of under 200 passing yards per start — and walking away was a serious option throughout this offseason. Not that anyone could have blamed McNair for toying with the “R” word, considering the release of George and the cap purge that washed Mason, Carter, Rolle and ORT Fred Miller into free agency. The Titans’ relatively dormant effort in free agency the last two years didn’t hasn’t helped McNair’s confidence in his team, either.
The Titans convinced McNair they would build, for another run, around the 11-year veteran quarterback. General manager Floyd Reese put his trust in his head coach, Fisher, and crafted a plan that would hopefully lead to a competitive team this season and one worthy of playoff chatter a year from now. Fisher helped the team’s cause by luring offensive coordinator Norm Chow from USC to replace Mike Heimerdinger. “Dinger” and McNair were close friends, and, along with backup QB Billy Volek, spent plenty of time together. It was Heimerdinger who helped McNair convince the powers that be to scrap what had become an archaic offensive philosophy for a spread, three-WR passing attack that was almost futuristic to a top-level throwback such as Fisher.
Tired and unconvinced he wanted to start over with a batch of fresh-faced draft picks, McNair nevertheless caught the mojo in his first visits with Chow. With potential bookends of 35-year-old OLT Brad Hopkins and rookie ORT Michael Roos, the offensive line must mesh immediately to keep McNair from challenging Mark Brunell as the league’s highest-paid spectator, but there is plenty of reason for optimism. Suddenly, the vision of WRs Drew Bennett and Tyrone Calico flanked by rookie third-round picks Courtney Roby and Brandon Jones prompted terminology such as “shotgun” and “all-go” to be thrown around.
Those are the kind of words that help create sentences like “Steve McNair for MVP.”
As widespread as the thinking that the Titans have wiped the slate completely clean and are fatally low on experience might be, coaches say the team might start only one rookie (Roos) come Week One, depending on what happens with rookie CB Pacman Jones. Still, the Titans’ are far from the most experienced team in the NFL, and much of the ballclub’s success figures to depend on a potent offense.
Just as McNair’s imagination takes off, the Titans are close to landing a veteran — cause for celebration in Tennessee over the last few years — in Travis Henry who could become a bellcow running back. Henry has two 1,300-yard seasons to his credit and runs with more power and determination than lanky long-strider Chris Brown, the incumbent starter. Brown managed just 220 carries last season as George’s replacement. In that limited work, however, Brown proved he can hit the home run and averaged 4.9 yards per carry, more than any other back with at least 200 carries last season. The greatest shortcoming, other than doubt about his durability, for Brown is a lack of determination with the ball in his hand when the Titans needed tough yards. Not coincidentally, that happens to be where Henry’s bread is buttered.
Chow will further take the offense in a new direction by using the two tailbacks in tandem. He did just that with a great deal of success at USC, creating match-up quandaries for defenses with LenDale White and Reggie Bush. Henry is not a pile-moving back, but the 5-9 powder keg runs through arm tackles and, because of his low center of gravity, is more difficult to tackle than the slashing Brown. At USC, White (6-1, 226) averaged more than five yards per carry each of his first two seasons and ran for 1,103 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2004. Bush (5-11, 198) averaged 6.3 yards per carry, 11.8 yards per catch and totaled 13 touchdowns last year.
In other words, the offense showed promise, at least at the college level.
What’s left now is for the Titans to begin proving they were right. Right to go young, right to bring in Chow and right to return to both McNair and playoff football.
We should find out almost immediately. The Titans open the season with a stretch of staunch opponents with Pittsburgh, Baltimore, St. Louis and Indianapolis in their first four games.
July 18, 2005
Mainstays Jeff Fisher and Steve McNair remain as pillars of the organization that five years ago was a yard away from a Super Bowl title. Most of their support system from that super season — Eddie George, Derrick Mason, Samari Rolle, Frank Wycheck and three-fifths of that 1999 offensive line — is either out of town or out of work. Starting DL Kevin Carter was released and RCB Andre Dyson left without a significant offer from the Titans.
Long a model of consistency, the Titans have been a team of high character with a rare degree of staying power in the salary-cap era, picking up 43 regular-season wins in the four seasons prior to 2005. In 2004, however, the Titans were a forgotten entity. McNair was battered and bruised all season, and without him and innumerable vital veterans who also suffered injury, Tennessee was scrappy but only posted five total wins, putting the team in complete transition mode.
McNair thought about retirement. He played in just eight games, didn’t take a single snap in December and was only average when he was on the field. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with his performance — nine touchdowns, eight interceptions and an average of under 200 passing yards per start — and walking away was a serious option throughout this offseason. Not that anyone could have blamed McNair for toying with the “R” word, considering the release of George and the cap purge that washed Mason, Carter, Rolle and ORT Fred Miller into free agency. The Titans’ relatively dormant effort in free agency the last two years didn’t hasn’t helped McNair’s confidence in his team, either.
The Titans convinced McNair they would build, for another run, around the 11-year veteran quarterback. General manager Floyd Reese put his trust in his head coach, Fisher, and crafted a plan that would hopefully lead to a competitive team this season and one worthy of playoff chatter a year from now. Fisher helped the team’s cause by luring offensive coordinator Norm Chow from USC to replace Mike Heimerdinger. “Dinger” and McNair were close friends, and, along with backup QB Billy Volek, spent plenty of time together. It was Heimerdinger who helped McNair convince the powers that be to scrap what had become an archaic offensive philosophy for a spread, three-WR passing attack that was almost futuristic to a top-level throwback such as Fisher.
Tired and unconvinced he wanted to start over with a batch of fresh-faced draft picks, McNair nevertheless caught the mojo in his first visits with Chow. With potential bookends of 35-year-old OLT Brad Hopkins and rookie ORT Michael Roos, the offensive line must mesh immediately to keep McNair from challenging Mark Brunell as the league’s highest-paid spectator, but there is plenty of reason for optimism. Suddenly, the vision of WRs Drew Bennett and Tyrone Calico flanked by rookie third-round picks Courtney Roby and Brandon Jones prompted terminology such as “shotgun” and “all-go” to be thrown around.
Those are the kind of words that help create sentences like “Steve McNair for MVP.”
As widespread as the thinking that the Titans have wiped the slate completely clean and are fatally low on experience might be, coaches say the team might start only one rookie (Roos) come Week One, depending on what happens with rookie CB Pacman Jones. Still, the Titans’ are far from the most experienced team in the NFL, and much of the ballclub’s success figures to depend on a potent offense.
Just as McNair’s imagination takes off, the Titans are close to landing a veteran — cause for celebration in Tennessee over the last few years — in Travis Henry who could become a bellcow running back. Henry has two 1,300-yard seasons to his credit and runs with more power and determination than lanky long-strider Chris Brown, the incumbent starter. Brown managed just 220 carries last season as George’s replacement. In that limited work, however, Brown proved he can hit the home run and averaged 4.9 yards per carry, more than any other back with at least 200 carries last season. The greatest shortcoming, other than doubt about his durability, for Brown is a lack of determination with the ball in his hand when the Titans needed tough yards. Not coincidentally, that happens to be where Henry’s bread is buttered.
Chow will further take the offense in a new direction by using the two tailbacks in tandem. He did just that with a great deal of success at USC, creating match-up quandaries for defenses with LenDale White and Reggie Bush. Henry is not a pile-moving back, but the 5-9 powder keg runs through arm tackles and, because of his low center of gravity, is more difficult to tackle than the slashing Brown. At USC, White (6-1, 226) averaged more than five yards per carry each of his first two seasons and ran for 1,103 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2004. Bush (5-11, 198) averaged 6.3 yards per carry, 11.8 yards per catch and totaled 13 touchdowns last year.
In other words, the offense showed promise, at least at the college level.
What’s left now is for the Titans to begin proving they were right. Right to go young, right to bring in Chow and right to return to both McNair and playoff football.
We should find out almost immediately. The Titans open the season with a stretch of staunch opponents with Pittsburgh, Baltimore, St. Louis and Indianapolis in their first four games.
