The Titans have placed 35-year old CB Nick Harper on the Injured Reserve List with a fractured forearm ending his season.  Harper played in 11 games for the Titans this season and he made 81 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, defensed 6 passes and he has 1 interception.  28-year old Rod Hood will replace Harper in the starting line-up this weekend against the Seahawks.  Hood has played in 5 games for the Titans this season and he has made 12 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, defensed 3 passes and he has 3 interceptions.  Hood should do a decent job against the Seahawks.

24-year old RB Chris Johnson has been selected to the Pro Bowl for the Titans.  He has played in 15 games this season for the Titans and he has carried the ball 322 times for 1,872 yards (5.8 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  Johnson has also caught 47 passes for 483 yards (10.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs this year.  Johnson is only 75 yards away from breaking Marshall Faulk’s all-time record for total yards from scrimmage (2,429) in 1999 with the St. Louis Rams.  Johnson is a longshot to break Eric Dickerson’s all-time rushing record of 2,105 set in 1984 with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Titans picked the wrong time to lay an egg last night as the Chargers crushed them and ended their playoff hopes.  Vince Young played his worst game of the year last night as he completed 8 of 21 passes for 89 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 40 yards (6.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Chris Johnson had another great game with 21 carries for 142 yards (6.8 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg).  Nate Washington led the way in the passing game for the Titans last night with 4 grabs for 39 yards (9.8 avg).  The Titans finished up with only 270 total yards on offense (182 rushing, 88 passing) as they only had possession of the ball for 20:53.

The injuries on defense caught up with the Titans last night as they looked hopeless against the Chargers.  Linebacker Stephen Tulloch led the way for the Titans with 10 tackles last night.  LBs Gerald McRath, Colin Allred and safety Chris Hope each had 8 tackles apiece last night.  The Chargers finished up with 425 total yards in this game on offense (166 rushing, 259 passing).  The Titans are now 7-8 on the year.

This is a tough match-up for the Titans but they must win it if they want to have a chance of making the playoffs.  It will not be easy.  The Titans must control the clock to protect their defense which means that Chris Johnson will likely have a heavy workload on Christmas Night.  The Titans should have success on the ground as the Chargers are allowing 116.9 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry this year.  The Titans will also probably use a lot of ball control passing to the TEs and RBs in an effort to keep the clock running and the Chargers’ offense off the field.

The Titans’ defense is crippled right now due to injury as linebackers Keith Bulluck and David Thornton have been lost for the year.  The Titans must blitz more than usual because if Philip Rivers has time to throw the football the Titans will be in big trouble.  The Chargers have a lot of big, physical receivers in Vincent Jackson, Malcolm Floyd and Antonio Gates who will all tower over the Titans’ DBs.  The Titans must also keep an eye on the slowing LaDainian Tomlinson and the speedy Darren Sproles because of the weakness they now have in the front seven.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 31, TITANS 23

Defensive tackle Tony Brown has stepped up and played pretty well for the Titans this season.  He has played in 14 games for the Titans this year and he has 37 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and he has defensed 1 pass.  Brown is leading the Titans in sacks this season as they have had a hard time getting much of a pass rush going which has led to them giving up 265.1 yards passing per game.  But, you can’t blame that on Brown who is doing his part.

Chris Johnson is having one of the best seasons ever in the NFL.  He has played in 14 games in which he has carried the ball 301 times for 1,730 yards (5.7 ypc) with 11 TD runs and he has also caught 44 passes for 446 yards (10.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Even early in the year when the Titans were having trouble throwing the ball and Johnson was facing extra defenders in the box he was still getting his yards.  He has averaged 155.4 yards from scrimmage this season and 6.3 yards every time he has touched the football showing just how electrifying he is.

The Titans have lost Keith Bulluck (torn left ACL) and David Thornton (pectoral/shoulder injury) for the rest of the year.  This will really hurt the defense as Bulluck was the team’s leading tackler this season.  Bulluck played in 14 games for the Titans this season and he made 108 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, defensed 7 passes and he had 3 interceptions.  Thornton played in 11 games for the Titans this season and he made 59 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 sack.  It’s hard enough to lose one impact player on the D but the Titans lost two so someone will need to step up this week.

The Titans have signed 30-year old linebacker Jamie Winborn.  Winborn played in all 16 games for the Broncos last season and he made 99 tackles, defensed 11 passes and he had 1/2 a sack.  He has now played in 92 games in his NFL career and he has made 340 tackles, defensed 27 passes, has 10 sacks, forced 5 fumbles and he has 3 interceptions.  The Titans better hope that Winborn is ready to contribute right away due to the season ending injuries to David Thornton and Keith Bulluck.

The Titans were cruising along in this game until the Dolphins rose up in the 4th quarter by scoring 15 unanswered points to send this game into O.T.  The Titans then got serious again pulling out a nice win that keeps them in the playoff hunt.  Despite being gimpy with a injured hamstring Vince Young played a good game.  He completed 14 of 27 passes for 236 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 INT and he also carried the ball 2 times for 24 yards (12.0 ypc).  Chris Johnson was a busy body with 29 carries for 104 yards (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 55 yards today.  Justin Gage (2 rec, 43 yards, 2 TDs), Nate Washington (1 rec, 32 yards, TD) and Bo Scaife (5 rec, 40 yards) pitched in for the Titans in the passing game.  The Titans finished up with 364 total yards on offense (128 rushing, 236 passing) in this game.

The defense gave up a lot of yards but they also made a lot of big plays to help the Titans win the game today.  LBs Stephen Tulloch (13 tackles, 1 QB hit) and Gerald McRath (11 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Titans’ D today.  CB Nick Harper also had a solid game with 9 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception.  S Michael Griffin pitched in with 4 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception.  The Dolphins finished up with 468 total yards (121 rushing, 347 passing) of offense in this game.  The Titans are still in the playoff hunt with a 7-7 record.

This should be a great game tomorrow between two of the NFL’s hottest teams.  With Vince Young being a little gimpy the Titans will likely feed the rock to Chris Johnson even more than usual.  The Dolphins are allowing 106.1  yards rushing and 4.1 yards per carry this season so Johnson should have a good game once again.  Vince Young will probably have to stay in the pocket due to his hamstring so the O-Line will have to keep him clean against a Fins’ D that has 38 sacks already this season.  The O-Line could be up to the challenge however as they have only allowed 12 sacks this year.  The Dolphins are giving up 233.6 yards passing per game and they are starting two rookie corners so there are plays to be made down the field.

The Titans will have to tighten the chinstraps on D because Ricky Williams will likely be coming at them quite a bit.  But, I look for the Dolphins to be about 50/50 run/pass as they will want to challenge the Titans’ secondary as they are allowing 258.2 yards passing per game.  Still, the Titans are lucking out as the Dolphins have one of the worst WR corps in the NFL.

PREDICTION:  TITANS 28, DOLPHINS 27