The Tennessee Titans (0-5) are on the road against the New England Patriots (3-2) Sunday.  They’re still looking for that first win, but things never look good when you are going up against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the rest of the New England Patriots.  Kerry Collins has struggled all year and head coach Jeff Fisher insists on keeping him as his starting quarterback.  Collins is not the sole reason the Titans are so bad, as it has been a team effort.  But, things are obviously not working with Collins, and I don’t see the 36-year-old starting for them next year, so why not start the talented Vince Young?  Young proved he has what it takes to be a good quarterback in this league when he won the 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year.  They are going with Collins though, so expect another poor performance from the Titans’ offense.

The Titans secondary better be prepared to be challenged often, as they are one of the worst in the league at stopping the passing game.  I think Tom Brady will finally have a game like the  pre-knee injury Brady.  The Titans do a decent job at stopping the run, but with the dangerous offense the Patriots have, I don’t think they will be able to stop much of anything against the Pats.  I don’t think this game will be close at all, with the Patriots blowing out the Titans.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New England Patriots 34, Tennessee Titans 14

The Titans have signed 28-year old CB Rod Hood.  Hood played in 15 games for the Cardinals last season and he made 40 tackles, defensed 14 passes, forced a fumble and he picked off a pass.  Hood has now played in 87 games in his NFL career and he has made 218 tackles, he has defensed 63 passes, has 1 sack, forced 2 fumbles and he has picked off 11 passes (he has returned 2 for TDs).  Hood could also help the Titans out on special team as he has returned 53 kickoffs for 1,236 yards (23.3 avg) in his career.  This was a good signing for the Titans as they need healthy players in the secondary.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting soon for the Titans.

The Titans have lost cornerback Nick Harper for the next 4-6 weeks after he broke his right forearm in last night’s game against the Colts.  He is third on the team with 38 tackles and he has defensed 2 passes this season.  It’s hard to say how bad this will hurt the Titans who were already awful at defending the passing game even with a healthy Harper.  22-year old CB James McCourty will replace Harper in the starting lineup while he is out of action.

The Tennessee Titans (0-5) had their worst offensive output of the year, getting only 245 total yards in their loss to the Indianapolis Colts (5-0)Sunday.  Kerry Collins continues to struggle and looked awful in this game.  He only threw for 164 yards on 19/32 attempts and had one interception.  The Titans failed to find the endzone, and didn’t score in the second half.  Three first half field goals from Rob Bironas was all the Titans would get.

The Titans were able to stop the Colts running game, holding them to a total of 58 yards on 23 carries (2.5 avg), but that was the only thing they did well in this game.  Peyton Manning was able to do pretty much anything he wanted, completing 36/44 (82%).  He had three touchdowns and one pick while passing for 309 yards.  The Titans need to make some major changes, and its about time for Vince Young to get another chance.  He got some garbage time in this contest, going 0/3, but things are not working with Kerry Collins so they should make the switch at quarterback.  LenDale White and Chris Johnson were effective on the ground, combining for 85 yards on 19 carries (4.5 avg), but the Titans had to pass all game with the Colts building an early lead.  The Titans looked awful in this one and things aren’t looking much better for them, as they are on the road against the New England Patriots (3-2) Sunday.

The Tennessee Titans (0-4) are still without a win this year and will be trying to spoil the Indianapolis Colts (4-0) undefeated season.  The Titans have not looked good at all this year, but they always play the Colts tough and will be desperate for a win this weekend.  Chris Johnson will have a good game, as the Colts give up over 100 rushing yards per game.  The Titans really need Kerry Collins to get out of the funk he is in and finally have a good game.  They will be sticking to the running game though, at least they should, so Peyton Manning has the ball in his hands as short as possible.

The Titans defense have a big challenge facing Manning, as he has thrown for over 300 yards in every game this year.  The best defense for the Titans will be their running game.  If they can keep their running game going and eat up the clock, it will keep the ball out of Manning’s hands.  Peyton is still going to put up his numbers though, so they need to make sure they stop the Colt’s running game.  That is one of the few things the Titans are doing well at though, as they are holding opponents to under 80 rushing yards per game.  Most people might think this game will be a blowout, but I think the Titans are going to battle and keep it close.  The Colts offense is too potent though and they will pull away in the fourth quarter.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Indianapolis Colts 31, Tennessee Titans 23

The Tennessee Titans are now 0-4 and their quarterback Kerry Collins has not been playing well.  Collins has thrown at least one interception every game, and has two in each of the last two games.  He is completing 56% of his passes and has five touchdowns and six interceptions with a QB rating of 68.9.  He is playing nothing like he did last year, when the Titans went 13-3 and won the AFC South.  The Titans coach Jeff Fisher is sticking with Collins though, stating “Kerry gives us our best chance to win.”

I think Fisher is lying to himself and I know Collins has not gotten much help or protection, but its obvious the 36-year-old does not give them their best chance to win after an 0-4 start.  They also have the 2006 Offensive Rookie of the Year, Vince Young, waiting on the sidelines.  The situation is very similar to 2006, when Collins was benched after an 0-3 start and Vince Young replaced him and went 8-5.  All of the blame should not fall on Collins though, as the whole Titans team has not played well so far this season, but its obvious a change is needed so why not go with Vince Young?

The Tennessee Titans (0-4) continued their poor play and lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road today.  Nothing seems to be going right for the Titans and their depleted secondary was no match for David Garrard and the rest of the Jaguars offense.  Cortland Finnegan and Vincent Fuller both sat this one out due to injury and their replacements looked lost out their today.  Rookie cornerback Jason McCourty was a huge weakness for the Titans as Garrard attacked him early often, with a lot of success.

The Titans offense wasn’t much better, as they couldn’t get into the end-zone until the final minute of the third quarter.  The game was pretty much over by then though, as the Jaguars had already put up 30 points.  Kerry Collins threw two interceptions today, just like he did last week, and finished with 284 yards and a touchdown on 29/48 (60%) pass attempts.  Its coming closer and closer to handing the reigns to Vince Young, as this Titans offense is not getting it done.  They hope to get their first win next week at home but they are facing Peyton Manning and the undefeated Indianapolis Colt.

The Titans have released veteran QB Patrick Ramsey.  The Titans needed help in the defensive backfield so they activated a player off the practice squad which caused Ramsey to lose his job.  The Titans probably didn’t want to get rid of Ramsey as Vince Young is now the  only back up to Kerry Collins.

The Tennessee Titans (0-3) have not looked like the team that won 13 games last year and are still looking for their first win of the year this week on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2).  The Titans have lost all three of their games by a touchdown or less, including a week one three points overtime loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers.  The Jaguars have played inconsistently this year, but are capable of going toe to toe against some of the league’s best teams as they held the Colts and Peyton Manning to only 14 points in week one.

The Titans need to get quarterback Kerry Collins going, and the best way to do that is to get Chris Johnson some effective carries early and often.  Collins is at his best in the play action, so if Johnson is able to get going early then the Titans passing game can be productive.  Johnson has had a good year so far, as he has 351 yards and two touchdowns on 53 carries (6.6 avg).  That average is a little skewed though, as Johnson had a monster game against the Houston Texans and their league worst run-defense with 197 yards on 16 carries, including a 91-yard touchdown run.  Johnson has been effective in the other two games, but has failed to reach 100 yards and is averaging 4.2 yards per carry in those two games.  Jacksonville has a solid defense, but they have been giving up a lot of yards with an average of 381 yards per game.

The Titans run defense has been one of the few bright spots so far this season, as they are only giving up 60 yards on the ground per game.  The Jaguars Maurice Jones-Drew has been the Jaguars main weapon and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, but the Titans strong run defense should slow him down.  With the Titans needing a win badly, I think they will come out ready to play.  This will be a close, hard fought game but I think the Titans are finally get themselves a win with their ability to stop the run.  I see the Titans getting a late field goal to win it.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Titans 24, Jaguars 21

The Tennessee Titans are allowing 274.7 yards passing per game this season and opposing QBs have a rating of 100.7!  That is just not acceptable from a veteran secondary like the Titans have.  Safeties Chris Hope and Michael Griffin are not doing a good job of negating deep passes.  Hope has 21 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 3 passes defensed and a interception this season but he’s getting bad reads on the football often causing disaster.  Griffin has 16 tackles, 1 forced fumble and he has defensed 1 pass.  He is more of a run enforcer for the Titans.  CBs  Nick Harper and Cortland Finnegan have also had issues in coverage this year.  Harper has 26 tackles to lead the secondary but he just hasn’t made many plays on the football.  Finnegan was great last season but this year has been different.  He has made 17 tackles, has defensed 1 pass and he has 1 interception.  The Titans have 7 sacks this season so pressure on the QB is not an issue.  The Titans have been awesome against the run allowing only 60.7 yards rushing and 2.2 yards per carry so if the secondary steps up they could have an incredible defense going forward.