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Yeah, I'll agree that the offense could be doing more. But if the other two units are underperforming, the offense won't be able to turn things around. If the special teams starts turning the ball over less now that Mark Jones is returning punts and kicks and if the secondary continues its improvement, I think you'll see the offense start to play better as well because it's in more positions to run what it's good at - short passes and running with CJ and LenDale.

Good point. I can't count.

As bad as those numbers are, I can believe they won only 43 games. It looks like an expansion team that did nothing but grab AAAA filler players. That the team improved by 20 games the next season is impressive as well.

I don't think this should be overlooked. Hendry was in a similar situation with Hundley when he took the job and he turned it into two good contributors - Karros and Grudzielanek. He's also worked positive trades for guys like Jacque Jones, Neifi Perez and others who many fans didn't think had much value at all. Hendry has proven to be very good at making trades (with a few exceptions, of course).

The only mention of Perez I've seen is pure speculation. It wasn't pure speculation that had the Mets interested.

The defense actually got better as the game went along Sunday against the Jets. However, the offense wasn't able to run its gameplan because the special teams helped put it in a 14-0 hole before the offense stepped on the field. The offense didn't run a play until there were roughly 2 minutes left in the first quarter and the Titans were down by two touchdowns. That forced the offense to throw the ball more than it needs to and, thus, resulted in more 3-and-outs and turnovers than last year. The offense will not be successful on its own, the talent is not there at quarterback and wide receiver for that to be the case. That's why the defense and special teams need to be solid and they have not been this season. The 49ers are a different case from the Titans because under Martz, the 49ers wanted to throw the ball. The Titans want to run it, but when they're down 14-0, they can't run it as much as they want. That's interesting, I didn't realize it. As good as Johnson is, though, he's still a "home run threat" type back who will have a lot of 0 yard runs and rushes for a loss because he shoots for that big gain. I would like to see them - and I'm sure Fisher and Heimerdinger want to - integrate LenDale into the offense more. He won't have the big runs CJ has, but he'll usually get some kind of yardage with each run. However again, when we're playing from behind from the start of the game (Jets game) or when the defense is allowing huge gains (Houston game), LenDale's role becomes lessened.

As I posted earlier, I'm not sure how many teams are going to be involved if they have to give up something of value and pay most of Bradley's contract. I think the "interest" in Bradley comes from the fact that the other GMs know they have all the leverage. The other GMs have seen the stories about Bradley and have read the quotes from Lou and Hendry basically stating that Bradley will be traded because nobody wants him back. When you see the low-payroll Padres are interested, you know teams are looking for a something-for-nothing deal. Actually with all the negative publicity and the national media claiming Hendry will have to eat 80% - 85% of his contract, I'm surprised there aren't 20 teams interested at this point. I've also seen teams like the Mets interested as well. If Hendry can get one or two teams like the Mets bidding against each other, how much he has to pay of Bradley's contract will likely decrease. And the fact that Bradley is probably the best corner OF on the market means that a team with a need there might be willing to give more and make more of an effort to outbid others. I don't expect anybody to pay most of Bradley's salary, but the more teams that are involved the more likely it becomes that the Cubs aren't paying 80+% of his contract. Sure the Mets are interested as long as we're willing to take Oliver Perez for Bradley. I haven't heard that their interest in hinged only on us taking Perez. Are you speculating or is there something to that?

Trammell's first year in Detroit - 2003: Rotation Nate Cornejo (ace) 92 ERA+ Mike Maroth 75 ERA+ Jeremy Bonderman 77 ERA+ Adam Bernero 71 ERA+ Gary Knotts 71 ERA+ Lineup C - Brandon Inge 64 OPS+ 1B - Carlos Pena 108 OPS+ 2B - Warren Morris 87 OPS+ SS - Ramon Santiago 59 OPS+ 3B - Eric Munson 102 OPS+ RF - Bobby Higginson 88 OPS+ CF - Alex Sanchez 84 OPS+ LF - Craig Monroe 97 OPS+ DH - Dmitri Young 144 OPS+ When your best pitcher is Nate Cornejo and Dmitri Young is your best offensive player, it's not the fault of the manager that the team is bad. For what it's worth, the Tigers made a 20-game improvement the next year under Trammell.

As I posted earlier, I'm not sure how many teams are going to be involved if they have to give up something of value and pay most of Bradley's contract. I think the "interest" in Bradley comes from the fact that the other GMs know they have all the leverage. The other GMs have seen the stories about Bradley and have read the quotes from Lou and Hendry basically stating that Bradley will be traded because nobody wants him back. When you see the low-payroll Padres are interested, you know teams are looking for a something-for-nothing deal. Actually with all the negative publicity and the national media claiming Hendry will have to eat 80% - 85% of his contract, I'm surprised there aren't 20 teams interested at this point. I've also seen teams like the Mets interested as well. If Hendry can get one or two teams like the Mets bidding against each other, how much he has to pay of Bradley's contract will likely decrease. And the fact that Bradley is probably the best corner OF on the market means that a team with a need there might be willing to give more and make more of an effort to outbid others. I don't expect anybody to pay most of Bradley's salary, but the more teams that are involved the more likely it becomes that the Cubs aren't paying 80+% of his contract.

Haha, I knew his laugh reminded me of something. Enjoyable game so far, at least.

I'll take that bet If there are a lot of teams involved in the negotiations, the likelihood is that they'll begin to offer against each other and drive up the price. They might not be willing to go that high with their bids, but if there are 5-6 teams involved, Inari has a good chance of being right. I hope inari is right, but I have my doubts. That's a big "IF" (if 5-6 teams are involved) because they might start dropping off once Hendry tells them he's not paying 85% of the money owed. It's not a matter of Hendry coming out and saying "I'm not going to pay 85% of his salary", it's a matter of beginning the negotiations at one point and playing two or three teams off of each other. Bradley is one of the best corner outfielders on the market and any teams interested will take that into account. The Cubs' desire to trade Bradley would only have a significant effect in one of two ways. Either Hendry sells at the first offer he gets or if Bradley had a no trade clause and gave the Cubs only one team he'd go to (or if there was just one team interested). If there are multiple teams interested, the likelihood is that they'll start bidding against each other. That's how any negotiation works.

Here we go: WR TO @ Miami Gage @ Jax Andre Caldwell @ Cle QB Brady v Bal Schaub v Oak

Yeah, you can't pass up McFadden this week. I looked at my running back options, and I'm wavering a bit. I play 2: Jacobs @ KC Chris Johnson @ JAX Cedric Benson vs. CLE I'm wavering about Johnson, thinking of putting Benson in given that matchup. Am I crazy? The Benson matchup is great, but Johnson is so much of the Titans' offense - and he's so incredibly explosive - that he's basically an auto start for me. He's likely to have a good day (12-13 points) on one play.

I'll take that bet If there are a lot of teams involved in the negotiations, the likelihood is that they'll begin to offer against each other and drive up the price. They might not be willing to go that high with their bids, but if there are 5-6 teams involved, Inari has a good chance of being right.

Jeff Fisher on the wide receivers in the Jets game.

I wouldn't mind seeing Vince in a Wildcat type formation or contributing to the offense in some way. I am a bit surprised they haven't worked him in it in some capacity. I'm expecting Fisher to at least break it out some in two weeks against the Colts. I have to think it's in the works, but I'm still surprised it wasn't used in the Steelers game or even when the offense was struggling last week.

The Titans' offense is not designed to carry the team. The defense is designed to carry the team and the offense (primarily the running game) does enough to win the game. Kerry Collins is not a great quarterback, nor is he good enough to carry a team. But, when the defense is playing well, he is a good enough quarterback to make enough plays and avoid enough mistakes to allow the team to win games. If the offense has to carry the team, the team will not win games. Of the 10 highest paid players on the Titans last season, 4 were offensive players. Three of those four were offensive linemen (Roos, Stewart and Mawae). The only player in the top 10 highest paid Titans was Vince Young - who was expected to be far better than he currently is. The Titans spend far more money on building a great defense than they do on building a great offense that can consistently carry the team to victory. The Colts, for instance, wouldn't win many games if Peyton had a stretch of games where he completed 40% of his passes while throwing 10 INTs and 4 TDs. In the same vein, the Titans aren't winning when their defense is ranked 23rd in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed. The Titans aren't spending the kind of money on receivers and starting quarterback that will allow them to make great comebacks consistently or have a lot of success in adverse conditions. What you're doing is looking at a symptom of the problem and citing it as the problem. If the defense were playing better (not even, necessarily, as well as last year) then Kerry's numbers would look better because the offense would be in better situations. And on a side note, how many of those incompletions are drops? I don't have the number off the top of my head, but I counted 3-4 simply dropped passes by the receivers against the Jets and I know there were quite a few more before that. A number of those drops have come late in the first three games and hurting his overall numbers.

I wouldn't mind seeing Vince in a Wildcat type formation or contributing to the offense in some way. I am a bit surprised they haven't worked him in it in some capacity.

The fact that we've held late leads every game means that the offense has been doing its job. It's been getting the team the lead, but the defense and special teams have been surrendering that lead. There's nothing a quarterback change will do to correct that. The defense and special teams giving up the leads is also part of the reason why Collins has struggled in the fourth and I don't think Vince would be likely to be an improvement over that.

Such a weird start for them. I honestly believe vince young should be starting. The offense is by no means the problem. Vince might make more big plays than Kerry, but he'll also turn the ball over more. This team doesn't need more turnovers.

There's also speculation of playing hurt (219/.266/.371 since the break). Its a down year for him, no doubt. His first and second half splits are almost identical the last two years. Was he hurt last year? He has two bad months to blame for his second half woes this year. He OPS'd in the .500+ in July and September. And he OPS'd over .800 in every other month except .767 in August. He might be a streaky player. They might have seen better pitching or had a tougher schedule those months. It might be AT&T bringing his numbers down. He hasn't been the same since he went to SF. I don't know. He did miss time in July, and has now tweaked his back again this past Saturday. He's still outplayed Milton Bradley to date in 2009, and that's the issue. He's nearly the same this year as he was last year, though. He had a .749 OPS last year and he has a .744 OPS this year. If this is a down year, then he's had two in a row. I'm thinking a mid-.700s is Aaron Rowand. As for the counting stats being superior to rate stats, think about this: Last year, Rowand had 611 PAs. In those appearances, he hit 13 HRs, 70 RBI, 37 2Bs and 0 3Bs. This year, in roughly the same number of plate appearances as Rowand had last year, Bradley and Reed have combined for 16 HRs, 60 RBI, 26 2Bs and 2 3Bs. And this was a significant down year for Bradley. Combine those counting stats with the huge advantage Bradley has over Rowand in rate stats (significantly better OBP primarily) and you have much better production in right field than Rowand. If you put Fox in place of Reed, the advantage gets even bigger. Counting stats just aren't a good way to evaluate a player.

Rowand has had 3 seasons with an OPS at or above .800 in his 9 total seasons. He's done it once in the past 5 seasons. Apart from 2007 he hasn't OPSd above .749 since 2004. He'll occasionally reach an .800 OPS, but he's not likely to reach it.

The Titans have signed returner Mark Jones to return kicks. This makes me happy. We also signed safety Kevin Kaesviharn - an interesting move that I guess is depth behind Hope and Griffin. To make room for the two the Titans placed Craig Hentrich on IR and cut former 2nd round pick Chris Henry.

Bears have signed Darrell McClover to help bolster the LB depth.

Is Timmy boy supposed to be out for awhile? Everything I've heard is that he should be ready for the LSU game in two weeks (they're off Saturday). But even if he's out, I've heard Brantley is fairly mobile as well.