Fisher: Offense Executed, Defense Did Not
By Larry Stone December 31, 2001

In studying Sunday's loss to Cleveland, the Titans coaching staff found the Browns offense generated some 250 yards of total offense after missed tackles.

'The defense did not tackle and again, for whatever reason, were not good against the ball,' Head Coach Jeff Fisher said at his weekly press conference. 'We had some bad angles, we had some players out of position. But it's something that was a contributing factor in the loss.'

Fisher said the offense executed well, especially in creating holes for the running game against a Browns defense that continued to defend the run.

'They were still rotating to defend the run,' Fisher said. 'We blocked Eddie (George) to the secondary a number of times. We threw a lot of different run schemes at them and were effective. As we look at the tape offensively, there were a lot more opportunities for big plays.'

The Cincinnati Bengals will close out the Titans 2001 season Sunday at Adelphia Coliseum. Fisher said the team's goal remains a victory and experimentation for next year will not be a priority.

'There's not many players that we haven't seen play just because of the injury situation,' Fisher said. 'Yesterday, we took a look at Eddie Berlin and Joe Walker as returners. We may continue to do so and I may switch them. I may give Joe some kickoff returns.

'We've got a young defensive tackle, Kris Kocurek, that has been active but has not played yet and I'd like to get him a few series.'

The head coach did admit that several players need to step up their play heading into the off-season.

'As coaches, we tend to get frustrated with a game like yesterday,' Fisher said. 'We have to be realistic, we have to getaway, we have to comeback and look at it.

'I think there's a few guys that yes, could stand to benefit from increasing their production level this week. I want to see that they know what to do.'

Fisher said he planned to emphasize the defensive lapses in practice this week, perhaps even going with pads.

'We've got one more Wednesday, one more Thursday and one more Friday to get it corrected and we're going to get it corrected,' Fisher said. 'Typically, when we place an emphasis in an area we get it fixed.'

'We have a huge challenge in one of the better backs in the National Football League and so we better be able to tackle this week or we'll be in for a long afternoon.'