Today's Top Stories From Titans Radio
Mike Keith: Nothing Else To Say
October 15, 2009
During the season, I try to have a new piece for this space ready each Thursday.
By Thursday, I have had time to take care of all of my normal duties, talk to some coaches and players, watch a practice and absorb whatever news is coming out of the Titans camp. By Thursday, I normally have a topic formed in my head.
Not this week. I got nothing.
A team that I thought was going to contend for their second straight AFC South title is 0-5. I know it. You know it. The American people know it.
Everyone is surprised, including the Titans players and coaches. And when I talk with family, friends, acquaintances, Titans Radio stations or folks that I have just met, I hear the same thing coming out of my mouth: "I don't know what to say."
I hear the theories, but none of them totally add up.
Yes, the Titans would have a better defense with Albert Haynesworth, but he couldn't help with the big pass plays allowed or the dropped passes on third down.
Sure, Jim Schwartz was a great defensive coordinator, but his schemes wouldn't help much with dropped punts and too many penalties on both sides of the ball.
And yeah, the Titans could change quarterbacks---and they may at some point---but if it doesn't work, what then?
Truth is, the Titans are 0-5 for a lot of reasons, not just one or two. But it took my ten year old son, just coming off of a successful fifth-grade football season, to crystallize what is really wrong with the 2009 Tennessee Titans.
When the team for whom you work is having a rough year, you cannot help but bring it home. Everyone at Baptist Sports Park is part of the team and, while most don't have long-term contracts with lots of zeroes, their heart is into everything that Jeff Fisher and the Titans do. When the Titans win, Titans employees soar. When the Titans lose, they struggle.
My son has grown up watching his dad go through the ups and downs of seasons good and bad. He's learned to read the cues. And to his credit, he always seems to know the perfect thing to say. Plus, like his mother, he is no puller of his punches. Thus, I am getting truth tempered only with consideration for me.
His comment this past Monday was completely on target.
It began as it always does after a loss: "Dad, sorry about the game." It was his continuation that was the laser beam: "You know, we're just not very good this year."
Right now, he's correct. Several players who performed well in 2008 just aren't playing to that level in '09. The early schedule is tougher and the injuries have been more position-specific (losing several defensive backs), but the fact remains that the Titans haven't played well in one ballgame. Certain guys, yes. Certain periods of time, yes. But not for a whole game.
That's the big reason this team is 0-5. Plain and simple.
When Jeff Fisher has brought teams out of the wilderness before, it has been by staying the course. Faith is never an easy thing, but past performance indicates football faith in Fisher is warranted.
So he is staying the course once again, looking to flip the switch, to somehow ignite this group who has shown that they can do it before. Jeff Fisher is simply refusing to give up on this football team.
Maybe this week is when it gets turned around. It is a tall order at New England, against the team of the decade, the three-time Super Bowl winner. Some could argue that this weekend's matchup is more favorable to Tennessee than last Sunday's with the Colts, as the 3-2 Patriots are not nearly as hot as 5-0 Indianapolis.
Pronouncements such as that ring hollow at this moment. In order to believe anything right now, you're going to have to see it. Totally get it.
There's nothing else to say.
