First off, I need to apologize again to Alge for what I said about him in the game thread about looking like the high school kid that didn't belong on the football team.  He came up big when it mattered the most yesterday.  

Also, I love the fact that Kerry Collins faked Ray Lewis out of his jock on the game winning touchdown pass.

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The Titans players and coaches may not be celebrating 4-0, 

"We still have a chance to go 4-12," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said,

but the fans are.  And why not?  This is the best start in the history for this fanchise.  There is still a long way to go, as Bulluck said, but 4-0 is a heck of a way to start.

The game yesterday was another good statement by this team.  This defense proved again that they are among the best in the league.  Sure, they gave up some yards, but they forced four turnovers to set up some easy scores and held the Vikings to 17 points.

The offense was exactly what it needs to be for this team to win.  They took care of the ball, though they were pretty lucky to put the ball on the ground three times and only lose one , and they took advantage of the short field when the defense gave it to them.  That is all they need to do with a defense that is as good as this one is.

I love watching the first drive of the game under Dinger.  There is not an offensive coordinator in the league that is better right out of the gate (I have absolutely no stats to back that statement up.  It is just a gut feeling.)  The first drive yesterday went 74 yards in 11 plays and took 4:51 off the clock.  The only thing I didn't like about that drive was the play calling on the final third and two.  I thought they should have put The Round Mound (What about the FOX announcers stealing that from us?) in and take two down to pick up the two yards if necessary.  It would have been a huge statement for the offensive line.  Instead they settled for a 20-yard Rob Bironas field goal.

The defense forced the first turnover of the game on the Vikings' first drive.  The offense turned that fumble recovery into 7 points with a 1-yard touchdown run by Chris Johnson.  This was mentioned in the game thread, but I wish Crazy Legs would cut out the high stepping.  That could come back to haunt him at a very inopportune time.

The next Vikings' drive was not so good for the defense.  That drive went 10 plays for 80 yards and was topped off by a 28-yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson.  Michael Griffin should have stopped Peterson short of the goal line, but he took a bad angle.  All in all the defense did a good job of against AP, holding him to just 80 yards on 18 carries.

The Titans' offense stalled in the red zone again on the next drive and settled for a 32-yard field goal from Bironas.  The Titans offense has been great in the red zone so far this year.  That is interesting because most of us thought that Alge Crumpler would be the player that would cure those woes, but he has been non-existent in the red zone.  It was big for Kerry Collins and company to answer the Vikings' score.

Speaking of Collins, he played another decent game yesterday going 18-35 for 199 yards.  There was some debate in this morning's link post about his play as compared to Vince Young's.  The biggest number I am looking at is his turnovers, and through 3 full games he has turned the ball over 1 time (I give the fumble lost yesterday to Kevin Mawae).  I have little doubt that VY could be putting up similar completion percentage, yardage and TD numbers, but there is little doubt in my mind that he would have turned the ball over more than once.

The next Titans' touchdown came off an AP fumble that was recovered by Tony Brown.  That was the drive with the controversial Justin Gage call.  I don't think Gage made the line to gain, but I also didn't think there was evidence on the replay to overturn it.  The Titans got a break there, and they took advantage of it.  We need to remember that as the season goes along, because just like last year with the Chris Chambers non-catch catch, there will be a call like that that goes against the Titans.  That is just football.

It was big that the Titans headed into halftime with a 20-10 lead.  The 10 point lead was part of the reason that AP only carried the ball 18 times.  The other part was the game plan put together by Jim Schwartz.  Remember two years ago when someone started a website called firejimschwartz.com?  It is amazing what a guy can do when he gets good players to work with.  He threw everything at the Vikes' yesterday, including 5 man fronts, 4 man fronts, 3 man fronts, and zone blitzes.  I will be surprised if he isn't a head coach next season.

The second half was much the same as last week.  The Titans went into super-conservative mode and let the Vikings hang around.  The play of the day came off the foot of Craig Hentrich.  AP had just scored his second touchdown of the game to make the score 23-17, and the Titans' offense had just squandered the only good kickoff return of the season from Chris Carr.  The Vikings were gaining some momentum, but that punt just killed it.

The Titans put the game away on that drive when Nick Harper intercepted Gus Frerotte, and Crazy Legs scored a 6-yard touchdown on the next play.

A few more thoughts:

• The KVB hit was not dirty.  Frerotte needs to stop crying
• Tarvaris Jackson probably wishes he never got in the game.  He was in for 3 plays and was sacked twice.
• Against a defense such as the Vikings, The Round Mound should only be in there in short yardage situations
• I want to see more screen passes
• I hate the Ravens 

Now it is Ravens week.  I cannot put in to words how much I hate that team, but I will try this week.  For now we enjoy 4-0.

Jack Del Rio doesn't think the Titans are an elite AFC team, and Fisher wants the boys in 2 toned blue to know it.

 Jeff Fisher runs down his 10 most defining moments of the past 10 years in Tennessee, and the 2002 beard that lead us back from a 1-4 start makes no appearance. I call shenanigans!

 The Titans start the season at 16 in ESPN's Power Rankings, just above the Bucs and Jets... eww gross.

 Michael Griffin becomes the first player kicked out of practice since Big Albert in 2003 after blowing up on Cary Williams, and Rob Bironas is finally off of the injury report; now if we can just teach Rob to catch passes...

 A sportswriter thinks the pressure is on for Vince Young.  In other news the sun rose in the east today and water is expected to be wet.

 Bud Adams unveils the new Titans Ring of Honor that covers the Oilers years as well, but my favorite part is reading the comment left by an irate Houston fan at the bottom:

Disgusting. Those are basically ALL Oilers who played in a city hundreds of miles away. Who really cares that much in Tenn about these guys? Just Bud trying to rececitate the team he KILLED once again.

Comment boards > barstools for laughably bitter and irrational comments.

 Using caveman era standards that provide no context, the Titans D was ranked 5th last year and looking to improve on that ranking, according to the Tennessean.  However a closer and smarter analysis shows they were the tops last year, which I guess means they were double first place while Albert was healthy...

 Hang on, those same smart stat guys predict that we'll bomb this year?  Those idiots can make numbers say anything!  Stats are worthless!!!!  Note: They also have been touting the Texans as a wildcard-or-near-wildcard team... I'm a much bigger beliver in stats as analysis for why things happened, than what will happen, especially in the NFL where the sample size in miniscule.

 I'd like to extend a special finger to Roger Godell for needlessly urinating on Ryan Fowlers reputation, then backing off because there was never any reasonable evidence.  Jerk.

In case you missed it yesterday, Joe Horn is interested in playing for the Titans, but the Titans aren't interested in having him.

"At this point, I don’t think we would have any interest," Reinfeldt said of Horn, who was released by the Atlanta Falcons.

Jim Wyatt's report on the morning special teams practice.

The Tennessean mentions that August's boy Kyle Vanden Bosch cut his body fat to 5% in the offseason, and that gramsey's boy Michael Griffin was laying the wood at Tuesday's afternoon practice.

"You don’t want no cheap shots if nobody sees you coming," Griffin said, "but if I feel like you see me coming the whole way, it’s an even battle."

KVB is also giving back this season. He is donating $1,000 for every sack to his foundation to raise money to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.  Fans can make a donation at KVB93.com.

Terry McCormick suggests that the offense will look better when they have time to game-plan for opponents.  While I don't doubt that is true, I don't think it is a good excuse for the offense looking as bad as it did.  The defenses the Titans are facing are not game-planning for them either.  I don't understand why someone cannot just step forward and say that Vince Young played bad on Friday night.

Finally, because you can never have enough fantasy football games, I have created a Pick'em League and a Survival Football League for the readers of this site.  To sign up just go to the Yahoo! Fantasy Sports page, click join a private group, enter league #31482 for the picks and #9797 for survival.  The password for both leagues is gotitans.  Also, if you are interested in playing in one of the MCM fantasy football leagues let me know.

(On if he is OK with the hit Michael Griffin put on Omar Cuff during practice)

Well, I didn't [see it]. Griffin was on the other side. They're feisty and wearing pads. The first defender to him is going to front him up. As long as it's not the second or third [defender].

(On if Michael Griffin should have caught an interception during a drill against the third team offense)

The specific drill that we were working on put the defense in a very difficult situation. It was designed to, not to send a message, but designed to have to play to be corrected because we anticipated that it wouldn't play correctly at first glance. It was a very difficult play. 

(On LenDale White, Jevon Kearse, and Albert Haynesworth not practicing)

LenDale got the flu, and Jevon and Albert should be OK.

(On how important it is for the offense to get into a rhythm, specifically with regard to the passing game)

I think the offense feels good about where they are. We need to score more points and we need to do what it takes to win the ballgame and just progress normally throughout the preseason. But as far as the rhythm, we're a little off target early in the ballgames for a lot of reasons which we've exhaustively discussed and we're just looking forward to the next games.

(On the Atlanta Falcons)

With Atlanta, after looking at two games they're much improved and play with a great deal of energy and emotion and are executing very, very well offensively. They've done a real nice job with the scheme and the utilization of personnel. [Michael] Turner had two runs over 15 yards against the Colts. They're very physical. They're well coached. They've done a nice job in a short period of time. 

(On Cortland Finnegan's aggressiveness during practice)

You know, we're competing, we had to get some things done. This is probably one of the last practices this year where we're going to compete against each other. Everything else is servicing each other as you get ready for your opponent.

(On if they'll be able to take advantage of shorter defensive backs against the Falcons)

Everybody has defensive backs who, on the roster, aren't as tall as you'd like. But that doesn't mean they can't run and jump. This is a much improved Atlanta team overall so it will be a good test for us.

(On Daniel Loper getting snaps with the first team)

Well it's good because as a backup when you're swinging both ways, when you're called upon during the season it's going to be as a starter so it's good preparation for him.

The Titans have officially completed their first week of camp.  It is only 7 days until we get some actual on the field action against another team.  What have we learned so far?

1. Vince Young is inconsistent.  There has been a lot of chatter about that on the site.  Like I said in jason's observations form last night's practice,  it is going to take a while for VY to look good day in and day out while learning Dinger's offense.  We will see him get more and more consistent as camp goes along.  As long as he is ready to go when the Jaguars come to town in week 1 everything is ok.
2. Jim Wyatt has his eye-openers from camp thus far and they include Kyle Vanden Bosch, Stephen Tulloch and Michael Griffin on defense.  That list is very encouraging.  We know what we are going to get out of KVB so no surprise there.  We need Tulloch to step up and add depth at linebacker. The coaches love Ryan Fowler, so Tulloch isn't going to start, but he has been working some at outside linebacker so he will be the back-up for all 3 spots.  There is no player more loved on this site than Griffin, and Wyatt just confirms that he is going to be a star in this league.
3. Wyatt's offensive eye-openers are Chris Johnson, Justin McCareins, Justin Gage, and Alge Crumpler.  The only way that that list could be more exciting is if VY was on it.  The Titans' offense was void of playmakers last season.  Johnson is looking to be a guy that can take it to the house anytime he touches it.  The Titans have never had one of those guys.  McCareins and Gage are stepping up to be solid, and that is exactly what Dinger needs.  Crumpler looks healthy, and we all know how good he will be when healthy.  The Titans should be able to cure there red zone problems from a season ago.
4. The Titans are not the wait around for talent to develop team that they were when Floyd Reese was the GM.  They proved that by cutting Mike Williams this week.  That can do nothing but make the team better. 

This is going to be a fun season.  I can't wait until they take the field next Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Before last season Titans defensive coordiantor Jim Schwartz offered a reward to anyone who was able to play at least 90% of the defensive snaps.   On Friday he made good on his promise by giving Kyle Vanden Bosch, Keith Bulluck and Cortland Finnegan sledgehammers painted in Titan colors  I love what Keith Bulluck said about it:

“This is pretty cool,” Bulluck said. “I just hope I can get another four or five of these with 90 percent snaps. It’s cool coach Schwartz did this, I’ll keep it here until I am no longer at this locker.”

I hope Bulluck is here and playing well enough to get four or five more of those as well.

Lavelle Hawkins and Craig Stevens got their first work with the team yesterday because they were later finishing up their exams.  Hawkins apparently looked good in his first work putting a move on Michael Griffin to haul in a touchdown pass.

Paul Kuharsky's practice notes from yesterday.