Reflections on Titans vs Colts

It’s a little unusual when a game goes pretty much as expected, but that was my experience in Sunday’s Titans-Colts game.
Indy kept eight men in the box and was effective in slowing the Titans’ running game. It’s not necessary to look at the stats to find out if Bob Sanders had a big game. He was all over the field making plays, almost making me wonder if Indy had more than one #21 in their lineup.
Although the Titans had good blocking at the point of attack, the Colts’ defensive speed prevented them from going far beyond the line of scrimmage. LenDale White had a decent game running the ball but Chris Brown didn’t.
The Colts dared Vince Young to beat them and he couldn’t, despite getting man coverage on his receivers for much of the day.
Young wasn’t impressive throwing the ball, but got some results, and didn’t always look decisive when he had opportunities to run. Vince was effective though when he did take off.
I thought the Titans defense played rather well. They didn’t give up the deep play, allowing Manning to nickel and dime them underneath. Not a surprise and not a real problem. You’ve got to give something and should expect Peyton to take advantage of it. Pick your poison.
The Colts had some good luck on the blocked field goal which still made it over the crossbar.
Don’t you like those four WR sets that spread out the defense? They give Vince a chance to make a good run and I thought that’s what would happen on the touchdown pass to Roydell Williams. It was one of those plays when you think, “Oh, no!” when Vince throws the ball, followed by “Way to go!”.
It’s good to see Roydell step his game up. It will be homecoming for him next week when the Titans go to New Orleans and he should be pumped. Both for playing in front of his family and friends and also from looking at the film of the Saints secondary.
In the end, the Titans just weren’t quite good enough to win Sunday. But they had a chance and it was a good game to watch.
When the Titans made it to the Colts’ 47-yard line, I wondered what Jeff Fisher would do on fourth down with just seconds left on the clock. A field goal attempt would have been 65 yards and Rob Bironas is capable of that distance. His 60-yarder to beat the Colts last year made it with several yards to spare and I’ve seen him kick for that distance in training camp. But that’s right at the edge of his range.
Even though the play turned out to be a cluster, trying to pick up the first down and getting Bironas a little closer was the right call in my mind. Who knows if more magic would have taken place?