DReese
To be frank, I've never been less excited to watch a football game in my life. It's not just that I think the Ravens are going to run up the score on us, (though it would be no surprise if they did) it's that I know that any way you slice this game, something is going to make you embarrassed to admit that you like this team at all. Here's a little tidbit to really get the positivity train rolling.
Haloti Ngata is one of the strongest men in the NFL. He's a totally dominant force on the inside of an otherwise somewhat underwhelming defense, Suggs and Reed notwithstanding. Don't believe me? Ask
Rashard Mendenhall. To some, he's the best player on the team. To almost everyone, he's the best player on the defense. The Titans' interior line is one of the most physically underwhelming units I've ever seen. They're not physical, they're not strong, and they sure as heck aren't very good at what they're supposed to be doing. Does anyone else see the potential for disaster here? If Ngata weren't enough, Terrence "Mount" Cody is also available to mess everything up too. He's massive, so he clogs up a lot of running room, and he's strong in the lower body, even by NFL lineman standards, so that probably means he's going to drive Amano four or five yards back every single play. Also consider that the main issue many scouts had with Cody coming out of college was conditioning. When you're standing next to Ngata on the line, you aren't going to have to worry about going 100% every play.While we're busy double teaming the best defensive tackle in football, Cody will be holding
Jake Scott back with one hand while Scott wildly flails his arms. Sorry Jake, I love you, but you really just don't have much of a chance this week. These two are going to create absolute mayhem on the passing and running game much like they did against Pittsburgh last week unless Munchak has some serious tricks up his sleeve. Even then, I don't think it'd help.
In case you can't tell, I'm much more worried about the interior line than anything else. Without it, our non-mobile QB made of glass gets pummeled and our new 50 million dollar man gets broken in half. Arguably their greatest strength is our biggest weakness. The glimmer of hope remains
Kenny Britt. He'll need to elevate his game to heights not yet seen for the Titans to have any chance at all. I'm not a believer in Baltimore's corners, so it's not out of the question that Britt can have a monster game.
Ray Rice runs wild on the defense after some questionable tackling and Baltimore's young tight ends have coming out parties. Baltimore's D forces lots of turnovers giving Flacco a short field to work with. The Ravens pick up where they left off in week one on the road to a Super Bowl appearance, someone gets hurt. Mismatches ahoy.