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It's really not that easy to keep the ball away from Eric Berry. Most teams go into games with the idea of keeping the ball away from Berry and none have. Part of Monte's scheme this year has included moving Berry around the defense. That's part of why he hasn't had very many (if any) INTs this year - he's played up on the line quite often. He has had quite a significant number of tackles around the line and behind the line, though. He's been put into positions where he can make the most plays against a given offense. And I agree that Bama will very likely win the game - with depth and talent as big reasons why - but I don't know that there's a clear coaching advantage at every spot but with Monte. There may be questions about Lane's ability, but coaches like Orgeron, Chaney, Thompson, etc. are proven excellent coaches as well. The two staffs are very comparable.

I think more of a problem than Fisher is the veteran players adjusting to Chuck Cecil. He's not a huge departure scheme-wise than Schwartz, but there are some differences between the two. Different players in each case I realize, but the 2001 Titans had some big defensive struggles after the change was made going from Gregg Williams to Jim Schwartz - and the make-up of each team (very successful the year before, many veterans returning) were very similar. That said, if the Titans win 2-3 games this year (a real possibility at this point), it's hard to argue that Fisher should stay on. I wouldn't necessarily be in favor of it, but I could fully understand the change. Yeah, a good thing about making a coaching change this year is that there are some actual possible upgrades that could be made. Fisher is a great coach - one of the best in the NFL, in my opinion - but so are Shanahan, Gruden, Holmgren and Cowher. Considering Bud Adams is 86 and has never won a Super Bowl, I'd tend to think he'll focus on making a huge splash with one of them if he fires Fisher.

I haven't heard anything official, but I know he's doing radio commentary in Atlanta now.

Not likely. He's probably staying in St. Louis and even if he doesn't, it'll be because LaRussa is no longer there. And in that case, he'll likely follow LaRussa wherever he goes.

I really think you're putting too much of this on the quarterback. Collins hasn't been good this year, but the 0-6 record is 100% because of the entirety of the team. It's time to go with Vince Young, but I don't think him playing over Kerry would have resulted in any more wins - or probably any better stats. The team as a whole is just severely underachieving and no one position will change any of that. The reason I agree that you make a change here is because playoff chances this year are basically zero. Put in Vince after the bye (which, if that was Fisher's thinking, I like it) when he has Jacksonville and Buffalo to start out with and see if he can be the quarterback of the future. If not, target one in the draft.

LOL at that last part. Um, Lions? Eh, once in the entire history of the NFL is still kind of unheard of.

This may not be the right forum, but I found this interesting:

That's where I might have lost my mind. By competitive I mean something in the area of 17-10 or 21-14 or something similar. I just don't see Bama scoring a ton on Tennessee's defense if Florida couldn't. Now, that's not taking into account the points the offense may give Bama, but if the offense starts giving away free points, it won't be competitive at all. That said, I'm working under the assumption that the UT offense won't be overly productive, but also won't be abundant in turnovers. Everybody said that about the Florida game in the Swamp too and Crompton made it out of there with a respectable enough game. If the Georgia game said anything about this offense, it's that the players are doing the basic, fundamental things right (like running routes correctly, catching passes and getting the ball to the open receiver accurately). If they do that, the defense can keep the game close. The Pistol is a unique formation, but what I mean by "traditional" is no spread option type plays. Tennessee has struggled under Monte so far when the other team has had either huge amounts of misdirection (Auburn) or a mobile QB (Ohio, Florida). I haven't seen much of either out of Alabama and I think that helps Monte out tremendously. That said, I think Alabama may have the most weapons of any team Tennessee has faced this season. And I don't know how the Sullins brothers (guard and center) will contain Terrence Cody. They struggled with Brian Price and I think Cody is a better player (or at least a tougher matchup because of his size and strength).

Not sure how many people will care that much about this, but he is the longest tenured coach in the NFL:

Brady got me 70 points this week. He has almost single-handedly won me two of my three leagues this week (assuming I hold a 27 point lead with my opponent having Denver's defense and me having Vincent Jackson in the NSBB league).

Maybe I've completely lost it, but I think the Vols will keep it very competitive with Alabama Saturday. I don't think Tennessee will win (short of Crompton looking like he did against Georgia), but we were fairly competitive with Florida and Bama is a better matchup, I think. Monte has had two weeks now to gameplan for a very traditional type of offense - which he's handled better to this point anyway - and I think Tennessee's run defense can at least slow Mark Ingram - maybe. Eric Berry will have to have a big play or two and it'll be interesting to see how Monte uses him Saturday. Offensively, Crompton will have to play well and the receivers will have to run their routes and catch the ball well. I don't think Tennessee can win, but a close game wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Comparison through 6 games of the two top pick rookie QBs: Sanchez: 52.1% completions/ 5:10 TD:INT/ 56.7 rating Stafford: 56.8% completions/ 3:6 TD:INT/ 65.5 rating Sanchez was getting the positive coverage the first few weeks, but the two have been pretty even so far.

I haven't read through the thread yet, but just in case it hasn't been said: Titans . . . :shock: We suck.

Any player eligible to catch a pass should start against Tennessee's defense.

He fired Gerald Perry, not Gene Clines.

Actually, even without the no trade clause, Lee would be able to veto any trade attempt because of 10/5 rights (10 years in the league, 5 years with the same team). I'm not sure if the 10/5 rights kicked in last offseason (when there was interest in trading him), but they definitely have been there since last season started.

Good news. Even with the questions brought up about whether his success should be attributed to the Ballpark in Arlington or not, he's still probably the best hitting coach currently available.

A little more on the Gruden-to-Louisville rumors. Michael Lombardi (who wrote this article) is apparently friends (or at least an acquaintance) with Gruden, so his thoughts may be pretty legit.

Roethlisberger: 63.4% completion percentage/109:74 TD:INT/90.5 rating/12.5 y/c Garcia: 61.6% completion percentage/161:83 TD:INT/87.5 rating/11.3 y/c Very similar career numbers with Ben having a better completion percentage and rating, but Garcia a better TD:INT ratio. Saying only because of age is wrong, but that's the biggest difference between the two at this point. Both have decent mobility as well, but neither has been a real running threat. Also worth noting that Garcia is pretty good at avoiding sacks and Roethlisberger is awful. Part of that might be his line, but he holds onto the ball forever. That said, Ben's been very good this year, and I'm guessing there's a reason Garcia doesn't have a job, so I'd take Ben easily. Warner is 10th in both DYAR and DVOA, so I wouldn't call him done either. Anyone who's career stats I can easily confuse with Tom Brady is welcome on my team. Yeah, that's what I meant with the age comment. Garcia might be done, but if he's still capable, he's as good as a lot of starting NFL QBs. I didn't realize DVOA liked Warner so much either, so I'd probably put him over Garcia too then. Of course, Garcia not having a job now may not have much to do with whether he's done or not. He was with the Raiders through training camp and then was cut shortly after it. By the time he was back out on the market, every team had its starter already and it's rare for a team to bring in a new QB to start after training camp - barring injury.

Roethlisberger: 63.4% completion percentage/109:74 TD:INT/90.5 rating/12.5 y/c Garcia: 61.6% completion percentage/161:83 TD:INT/87.5 rating/11.3 y/c Very similar career numbers with Ben having a better completion percentage and rating, but Garcia a better TD:INT ratio. Saying only because of age is wrong, but that's the biggest difference between the two at this point. Both have decent mobility as well, but neither has been a real running threat.

Absolutely. Bring the guy on board and get him to work looking at tape and watching BP and have him add a toe tap here, widen a guy's stance there and see what he can do, just make sure the team doesn't start hacking at the first pitch every single at-bat. Like I said during the speculatory panic over Ryno possibly becoming hitting coach, I really doubt Lou will just sit idly by and watch a hitting coach come in and teach something completely different from what he believes. Lou is a very big proponent of patience at the plate and bringing in a hitting coach who teaches the opposite of that would not work at all, I would think. And with Hendry's tendency to cater to his manager, I really doubt Hendry would force a hitting coach on Lou.

That's an interesting question. And there are actually a few. Jon Kitna, Cowboys Kevin Kolb/Michael Vick, Eagles Matt Leinart, Cardinals Jeff Garcia (was with Raiders to start year) Not many, but those are a few varying degrees of starter quality QBs currently serving as backups. Seneca Wallace also has a career 60% completion percentage and a 25:14 TD:INT ratio. I think he'd make an ok starter, but he'd have to have good weapons and a solid running game. You'd only take those guys after at least 20-25 other guys disappeared off the face of the Earth. It depends on which QB you're talking about from that list. I consider Garcia to be the best on that list and there are currently 14 starting QBs I'd take over him (with three I'm not sure about in Sanchez, Stafford and Henne). With some of those QBs, I'd take Vick or Kitna over them, but not many. I still think Leinart can be a quality starting QB in the league and Kitna, if nothing else, could pull a Kerry Collins for a year or two, I think. As for the QBs I'd take over Garcia - Brady, Palmer, Roethlisberger, Flacco, Peyton, Schaub, Rivers, Eli, McNabb, Romo, Cutler, Rodgers, Brees and Ryan. Roethlisberger and Romo only because of their age. Warner's a possibility, but I'm not sure if this year's bad start is a sign that he's done.

Since 2000 (the furthest back I felt like checking, Jaramillo has been in Texas since 1995, I believe), here is how the Rangers have stacked up in terms of OBP against the rest of the AL: 2009: 12th 2008: 2nd 2007: 11th 2006: 9th 2005: 6th 2004: 11th 2003: 8th 2002: 6th 2001: 4th 2000: 6th Here is how they stacked up with the rest of the AL in runs scored in that timeframe: 2009: 7th 2008: 1st 2007: 5th 2006: 4th 2005: 3rd 2004: 4th 2003: 5th 2002: 5th 2001: 3rd 2000: 9th How much of the runs scored is Jaramillo and how much is The Ballpark In Arlington? I don't know.

That's an interesting question. And there are actually a few. Jon Kitna, Cowboys Kevin Kolb/Michael Vick, Eagles Matt Leinart, Cardinals Jeff Garcia (was with Raiders to start year) Not many, but those are a few varying degrees of starter quality QBs currently serving as backups. Seneca Wallace also has a career 60% completion percentage and a 25:14 TD:INT ratio. I think he'd make an ok starter, but he'd have to have good weapons and a solid running game.

Bruce Miles agrees: