What's Blue and White and Screwed All Over?
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by ASwaff
If you answered Vince Young, you would be correct. I've said all year that he's every bit the quarterback he was last year, he's just not getting any help at all from the rest of his offense. Sure, he had some duds, especially when coming back from an injury against the Oakland Raiders. But, last night was a prime example of the kinds of problems he's had to deal with this year that have led him to a total of just five touchdown passes against 12 interceptions. Tennessee's receivers dropped six passes last night, two of which would have been for touchdowns.
First culprit was Brandon Jones. He scorched Champ Bailey, which doesn't happen very often. Young threw a strike that would have been a touchdown pass, but it went right through Jones's hands. They ended up converting the first down, but then had to punt just four plays after the drop.
Next to get in on the act was Roydell Williams. He broke free of two defenders at about the 10-yard line, but instead of continuing to run, he stopped. Young threw the ball where Williams should have been, and he managed to get within arm's reach of the ball, only to let it hit off his hands. Another touchdown missed. Tennessee settles for a field goal.
But, don't worry, because it wasn't only the receivers. On the possession prior to Williams' dropped pass, Young had been working a masterful drive. Backed up at their own 10-yard line because of a holding penalty on the punt, Young managed to work his team downfield with a bunch of short passes, eventually grinding down to the Denver 26-yard line on a drive that chewed 4:20 off the clock. Then, within chip-shot field goal range for prolific kicker Rob Bironas, LenDale White fumbled on a handoff.
Speaking of Young getting no help, White is the primary running back on a team whose alleged staple is the running game. He has just three games in which he's rushed for 100 yards or more, and is averaging just 66.7 yards per game.
That not enough for you? How about the refs get in on the act? My favorite call came right before halftime when the Titans were running the two-minute drill. Young throws a high pass to Bo Scaife (who had a horrible drop of his own), but Scaife climbs the ladder and makes what looks like a phenomenal one-handed catch. Refs rule it incomplete. I thought the replays showed it was a catch, but in the sake of compromise, we'll call it inconclusive. And I think that's generous, because I never saw any real evidence that the ball hit the ground. Yet, the booth did not call a replay. They said they had seen conclusive evidence that the ball hit the ground. I'm still waiting on that conclusive evidence, because it sure as heck wasn't on any of the three angles I saw.
Nevertheless, Tennessee manages a field goal right before the half.
But the refs weren't done. Not by a long shot. On the Titans' second possession on the second half, Vince Young rushed left for a four-yard touchdown, but the refs inexplicably rule that he was out of bounds. Replays show he clearly broke the plane before going out of bounds. Only an ill-advised timeout by Mike Shanahan saved the refs from another embarrassing call. Jeff Fisher challenged the ruling and it was overturned for a touchdown.
My second favorite call by the refs was a fairly insignificant one, but entirely bone-headed and shows just how much this crew needs a reprimand. On a punt, Daniel Loper hits a Broncos player while the ball is still being kicked around. Before the whistle blew, he made a perfectly legal hit, and was called for a personal foul late hit. Seriously - go back and watch. The hit came before the whistle blew and it was still somehow ruled a late hit.
Okay, this turned into a bit of a rant. I didn't mean to go off on the refs so much. But, the point is that Young has played well in most of the games this year, he's just getting killed by dropped passes, broken routes, and just a general lack of aggressiveness by his wide receivers. On his first interception, Eric Moulds could have wrestled the ball away from the defender. He was right there, and it the kind of play you expect a veteran to make, but he barely got his hands out there. None of this is to say that Vince has had the perfect season. Far from it. I just think it's important for people to know that he's not a bust already, he just needs some weapons. Hopefully the Titans address that in the next draft.
