Programming note: No game recap, as I was in a foul mood upon my return home from Lucas Oil Stadium. More on the game that was tomorrow or the next day.
According to the NFL’s official player participation information, here’s how the Titans lined up in yesterday’s 41-17 loss at Indianapolis:
Offense (48 total)
QB: Charlie Whitehurst 43, Zach Mettenberger 5
RB/FB: Bishop Sankey 22, Shonn Greene 11, Dexter McCluster 9, Leon Washington 8, Jackie Battle 1
TE: Delanie Walker 37, Craig Stevens 12, Chase Coffman 7
WR: Nate Washington 46, Kendall Wright 44, Justin Hunter 36, Derek Hagan 5
OL: Andy Levitre 48, Michael Oher 48, Brian Schwenke 48, Chance Warmack 48, Michael Roos 46, Taylor Lewan 4
Defense (87 total)
DL: Jurrell Casey 60, Mike Martin 50, Sammie Hill 40, Karl Klug 33, DaQuan Jones 20, Al Woods 18
OLB: Derrick Morgan 60, Kamerion Wimbley 53, Shaun Phillips 44, Quentin Groves 17
ILB: Wesley Woodyard 87, Avery Williamson 26, Zaviar Gooden 16
CB: Jason McCourty 85, Blidi Wreh-Wilson 71, Coty Sensabaugh 58, Marqueston Huff 1
S: Michael Griffin 87, Bernard Pollard 83, George Wilson 48
James Anderson, Beau Brinkley, Chris Spencer, and Daimion Stafford each only appeared on special teams. With Mettenberger’s late work, everybody who suited up played.
The normal collection of notes:
1. When you have an assortment of running backs, splitting snaps among them other than in a strictly defined manner makes you look great if you’re running the ball often and well and like you’re throwing darts hoping something works out if you’re not running it well or often. Which is it for the Titans? Well, Bishop Sankey’s carry at the start of the Titans’ second possession of the third quarter is his only carry when the Titans have been listed as under center since Week 1. IF Not Shotgun, THEN Not Bishop Sankey, it seems.
2. Delanie Walker’s injury was not serious enough to prevent him from playing pretty much his usual complement of snaps, with an adjustment for extra Coffman snaps because when you’re down 20-odd points in the fourth quarter, you’re probably not winning the game.
3. I wish the wide receiver grouping was other than what it was, and not just because it’s very difficult to come up with anything interesting to say about it on a weekly basis. But it’s the top three, and “we don’t have a fourth wide receiver.” We finally got a snap of Greene and McCluster, I believe, in the backfield together, so maybe put McCluster in the slot?
4. We finally saw the “Taylor Lewan as TE” package we’d been hearing about since before the season began. We’ll still see the glimpse we saw today becomes a more regular thing or if it was like Mike Otto’s snaps at TE in a prior Colts game-a product of injury to a normal tight end.
5. Mike Martin’s playing time this game identifies him clearly as “backup defensive end,” as he goes from healthy inactive twice and playing the fewest snaps of any D-lineman in the game he was up to playing more snaps than anybody in the group other than Casey. That usage reminds me of Lavar Edwards’ last year, playing a great deal when Morgan was inactive but finding it hard to get up and see the field otherwise.
6. We saw more side-flipping/creative deployment of the outside linebackers than we had seen in prior games, when it had been Morgan/Groves (roughly) on one side and Phillips/Wimbley on the other. I noticed Groves was in a fair amount during the game, at least relative to how much he had played (10 snaps on defense in the first three games combined). I’m guessing that was mostly a function of the total number of snaps the Titans were on the field, as it felt live he played more in the second half.
7. Responsive packaging again this week at inside linebacker, with Avery Williamson in the game for Trent Richardson at running back and Zaviar Gooden for Ahmad Bradshaw-I don’t think this was quite 100%, but I did see a trend. Of course, George Wilson takes their spot in sub packages.
8. Coty Sensabaugh played more snaps than he otherwise would have due to Blidi Wreh-Wilson’s concussion evaluation, so CB3 v WR3 watch is canceled this week. Also, the Colts spent some time with 0-1 wide receivers on the field. The Titans generally left both cornerbacks on the field for that.
9. I wondered late in the game if Daimion Stafford would see some work, just because why not, but Michael Griffin and Bernard Pollard stayed out there and Stafford wasn’t near the defensive subs on the sideline. I’ll be very curious to see how the Titans line up in sub if one of the safeties goes down, whether we continue to see dime or if they play nickel.
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