Game Review:
Titans 54
Dolphins 38
Overview:
This wasn't pretty. We were already down 33-10 by halftime. The Titans had a lot of big plays on special teams (they returned a punt for a TD, sacked our punter for a safety and pinned us inside our own 2 yrd line 3 or 4 times). In addition to that their defense returned a fumble for a TD. We couldn't stop Vince Young all day but it was not his running ability that gave us problems, it was his passing and his ability to elude pressure and buy time in the pocket. Aside from a 53 yd TD we held Chris Johnson for negative yardage (13 for -2) but Young was 15 for 20 (231 yds, 3 TD).
We also had some key injuries. John Beck left early in the 2nd, Braylon Edwards followed him to the locker room just after halftime and on defense we had injuries to Bart Scott and Anthony Henry (his replacement DeJuan Tribble was torched all day). Our passing game didn't work at all in the first 3 quarters but Kenton Kasom had a great day running to the outside (9-141, 2 TD). DeMario Waddell had a good day on defense, holding Justin Gage to 1 catch and returned a kickoff for a TD in garbage time.
Looks like my style of offense is better suited to beat a Cover 2 defense and not so well suited for a pressure defense when I acutally play the games. If I super-sim it's the other was round...
During the Week:
WR Braylon Edwards will miss next week's game at Jacksonville with a bruised ellbow.
CB Anthony Henry will be out 2-3 weeks.
Adam Schefter just reported about 'Wide Right 5'. The Hurricanes defeated FSU once again on a missed FG. Those nice little things in the game make me smile and it really adds something to the game...
Mid-Season Report:
At 4-4 we are on target to achieve my season goal of 8-8 (although the owner would be happy with 6-7 wins). Our main problem is our inconsistency, above all at the Quarterback position. We have 3 completely different Running Backs so we should be able to adjust our running game to the opposing defense. We have a good change-of-pace QB in Josh Johnson and a good young O-Line. We need help at Receiver (aside from Braylon Edwards, whose contract is expiring) and we need a Franchise Quarterback.
On defense, Tony Bake is getting better with every game as our Rush Linebacker but he's a one trick pony and can't do anything but go after QB's. We need a DE to replace injury prone Vonnie Holliday and we definately need an upgrade at Strong Safety. James Sanders is not the answer. Another shutdown Cornerback across DeMario Waddell would also be great.
As for the draft, I suppose we'll be picking somewhere in the middle of the pack (between 12 and 20, depending on how we finish the season). We also have the Falcons' 2nd rounder, which would be #33 as of now (the Falcons are 0-8). There are a couple of nice QB's in this draft class. One guy from Arkansas has a Vince Young comparison so he'd probably be a very good fit for our offense. There's are two good Strong Safeties to watch out for. One is a better run stopper/hitter, the other is better in coverage. We'll have to decide which one suits our defense better (any guesses???).
Game Preview, Week 10 at Jacksonville:
Braylon Edwards is out, as are Holliday, Henry and Barton. Jacksonville are missing RB Maurice Jones-Drew as well as Defensive Linemen Cornelius Griffin and Quentin Groves. With MJD out backup Kenton Keith will likely get most carries but he doesn't scare me so I'll put strong emphasis on stopping the pass. Running up the middle against John Henderson will be difficult so I hope 'Mr. Inconsistency' John Beck has one of his better days. Their secondary is pretty good (espacially CB Rashean Mathis).
Game Review:
Dolphins 3
Jaguars 20
Overview:
Wow, this was awful... None of our 3 QB's could move the chains. Beck (11-25 for 109, INT) and rookie McCoy (5-11 for 73) played bad and Johnson's Wildcat plays didn't work (0-2, INT). Kenton Kasom got injured early on and the other RB's couldn't find holes in their D-Line. Neither David Garrard not Kenton Keith did much damage as our defense played pretty well but with just 3 points and 6 first downs it's hard to win a game. 9 penalties for 106 yds didn't help either...
The last two games have been really frustrating. Two weeks ago we were 4-3 with a decent chance at a wildcard playoff spot. Now at 4-5 we'd almost have to win out the season to make it, which is almost impossible, given we have a QB who tends to throw games away every once in a while.
During the Week:
Nothing to report.
Game Preview, Week 11 at New England:
We are missing Barton (IR) and CB Henry. The Pats have zero injuries. As always against New England, I don't think we have a chance and I hope to avoid a blowout this time. Avoiding dumb mistakes (e.g. turnovers, penalties, drops, missed tackles) and not completely losing the field position battle (kicking, punting, return game) should help. Let's get the basics right first...