Titans Preseason Report Week 1 - harleyhorse8's Dynasty

Arena Blog Dynasty Scores Sign Up ☰

harleyhorse8's Dynasty Blog

Titans Preseason Report Week 1

Posted on January 26, 2014 at 04:36 PM.

(0)

Titans Dominant Victory Ruined by Chris Johnson Injury

By Nolan Edwards, ESPN.com Analyst

NASHVILLE- Chris Haig made the most of his first game as Tennessee Titans head coach, leading them to a 30-6 win over the Washington Redskins. What seemed like all of Tennessee was excited to see what their new coach brought to the table, and Haig delivered, running his spread-option offense to secure a Titans victory.

Tennessee received the opening kickoff and immediately began to split the Redskins defense in two with the running game. The Titans drove to the red zone before being stopped and settled for a Rob Bironas field goal to make the score 3-0. The next drive, linebacker Moise Fokou intercepted Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III inside the Skins' territory. The Titans took advantage of the short field, with QB Jake Locker running it into the end zone off a read option. However, the feel-good mood on the Tennessee sideline was dampened somewhat when the Redskins pulled back a field goal, and even more when star running back Chris Johnson went down injured at the end of the first quarter.

When the second quarter started, the Titans second-string offense kept up the heavy running attack with Shonn Greene the go-to guy. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to fool the defense as he found TE Taylor Thompson in the end zone and placed the throw over the head of linebacker Perry Riley for another touchdown. The Titans defense also helped out, as LaVar Edwards, the rookie DE out of LSU, forced a fumble from Redskins QB Kirk Cousins. However, Washington was able to recover. Before the half was out, Fitzpatrick led another drive into Redskins territory and capped it off with a Bironas field goal. At the half, the Titans led 20-3.

The Titans' momentum slowed in the third quarter, as QB Rusty Smith experienced the worst decision-making of all four quarterbacks to play this game for Tennessee. After they forced Tennessee to go three-and-out, the Redskins drove down the field and into the Titans' red zone. However, a clutch play from CB Coty Sensabaugh forced another fumble off Cousins. Although the Titans were unlucky again not to recover the fumble, it held the Skins to only three points. Those would be the only points scored by either team. Later in the quarter, safety Brandon Meriweather, who has had his spot in the team taken by veteran Kerry Rhodes, went down with an injury, although he did return.

During the fourth quarter, the Titans used run after run after run to wind down the clock. Power back Jackie Battle had an impressive showing, running the ball 19 times for 132 yards. As well as that, QB Tyler Thigpen staked his claim to be a Titan come regular season, as he threw a long 19-yard pass to receiver Damian Williams and scored a touchdown off a read option. As well as that, the defense finally recovered a fumble when DE Scott Solomon decked a scrambling Cousins and linebacker Tim Shaw fell on the ball. Near the end of the game, Redskins LB Perry Riley was injured on special teams.

As the final whistle blew, Titans fans and Coach Haig had to be feeling satisfied about how the team performed. While this is still only the preseason, it's a good start for Haig and the Titans to win this convincingly, and we'll see if they can keep it up in the regular season.

Nolan Edwards is an ESPN analyst. Watch him on SportsNation every weeknight at 5 on ESPN2.

Washington Redskins at Tennessee Titans
Aug 8, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Washington Redskins (0-0)	3	0	3	0	6
Tennessee Titans (0-0)	10	10	0	10	30

Team Stats Comparison
	WAS	TEN
Total Offense	212	481
Rushing Yards	101	364
Passing Yards	111	117
First Downs	13	25
Punt Return Yards	12	41
Kick Return Yards	164	61
Total Yards	388	583
Turnovers	2	0
3rd Down Converstion	7	7
4th Down Conversion	0	0
2-Point Conversion	0	0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	1	5
Penalties	1	1
Posession Time	22:47	33:13