Arrowsmith's Eye on Football: The Numbers of 7-9
By Larry Stone January 7, 2002

It's over.

The Titans 2001 season seemed to be like a bad dream from which you can't seem to wake up. Unfortunately, the events were reality not created in the land of deep sleep.

The Bengals really did come from 14-0 down. Neil Rackers did hit the field goal. The Bengals did halt a seven-game losing streak to Tennessee. The Titans did finish 7-9.

Now, in the aftermath, we look for answers as to why it happened and we wonder where the Titans are heading into 2002. It's the kind of analysis that will take weeks if not months to finish. I'm sure Jeff Fisher's coaching staff started on it Sunday night following the loss to Cincinnati.

However, let's begin here with just the numbers. Statistics often don't tell the whole story, but they can help us understand.

23.4 Points Per Game Given Up: The Titans defense gave up less than 12 yards per game a year ago.

355.6 Yards Given Up Per Game: This number is really staggering as teams gained, on average, 117 yards more per game than a year ago. The Titans gave up more than 5500 yards total this season.

266.2 Yards Passing Against The Titans: Tennessee will finish the season 31st in the league in this category. We mentioned above the 117-yard increase over last year. Some 115 yards of the increase came by teams passing the football.

32 Sacks: That's a decrease of 23 from a year ago when the team tallied 55. Teams got rid of the football quickly.

13 Interceptions: Only Jacksonville, Minnesota, Buffalo and Dallas finished with fewer interceptions.

3867 Gross Passing Yards: The Titans attempted on average just four more passes a game this season, and completed a lower percentage, but gained 601 more yards passing than in 2000. The 3867 total ranked fifth in the NFL.

23 Touchdowns Passing: Up five from last year.

112.3 Yards Rushing Per Game: This number fell some 18 yards from 2000. However, it's within a yard of the team's 1999 total. The 3.8 yards per carry number equals last year's number.

1128 Yards Receiving for Derrick Mason: Best year for a franchise receiver since Haywood Jeffries 1991 season.

Wycheck's Yards Per Catch Up Two Yards: Wycheck's reception total fell from 70 to 60, but that means the receivers are making more plays. Go deeper into his numbers and you see his per-catch number increased by some two yards. When he got the ball, he made more happen.

42.1 Third Down Efficiency: Considering that the team started the season 7-42 (16%) in third down coversions, getting back to 42% remains quite an accomplishment.

31:34 Time Of Possession: This number fell over two minutes from last year. A lot of this has to do with the defense's inability to get the opposition off the field and the offense's inability to consistently run the football.

19.9 Yards Per Kickoff Return: The Titans lost some seven yards for their offense over last season's 26.1 return average. In games where field position means so much, that's big. Part of the reason may be the Titans had 24 more returns than a year ago, a result of more points being scored.

7.8 Yards Per Punt Return: The Titans lost almost five yards in this category. Again, a field position challenge.

Opponent Field Position: The coverage teams gave up on average of four yards more per kickoff return, over two yards per punt return.

12 Fumbles Forced, 9 Recovered: The good news is the Titans did a better job in 2001 getting the fumbles they caused. The bad news is the number forced fell from 39 to 12.