Week 10 Ravens Preview: Time To Beat Up On The Titans
The Jimmy Smith injury stings. Couldn’t have come at a worse time as we’re in the midst of a 2 game skid. But we’ve got to regroup and move on. This AFC North race is tight and we got a little help last night. If there’s one team that needs to fall out of the race, it’s the team we’ve lost to twice. So seeing the Bengals play like dogshit picked up the spirits a bit. Yeah, the Browns are even more legitimate than I admitted in Week 3, but we’ve still got a head-to-head game on them. Week 17 against them at home is going to have massive implications as long as we get our act together now. No better time to see a struggling team with a QB like Zach Mettenberger on the other side heading into the bye.
Real quick about the Titans. I’m so disappointed that they split us into separate divisions back in 2002. The AFC Central division rivalry between these two teams was incredible. It was Ravens-Steelers before Ravens-Steelers. The Titans were the first football team I hated with every bone in my body. Eddie George and Steve McNair used to make my blood boil. The Divisional round game in 2000 was the hardest hitting football game I’ve ever seen, and was actually on YouTube in its entirety until recently. I remember Derrick Mason getting knocked out cold twice on one drive and finishing it anyway. Absurd. Pretty sure the Titans are why Jamal Lewis’ eggs are so scrambled nowadays. We missed out on a lot of great football because the Texans had to come in and ruin things. But I digress. Quick Keys to a win Sunday:
1. Don’t Abandon The Run
We quit on the run too quickly last week when we fell behind by 12 at the half. The run is what got us to 5-2 and it’s what’s going to get us to the playoffs god willing. Pound it early, pound it late, pound it often. Titans are giving up 135 yards on the ground a game, poor enough for 29th in the league. Take advantage.
2. Blitz, Blitz, Blitz
This should be a theme moving forward. We gotta bring the house more often. Blitz Elam. Blitz the nickel. Make the kid Mettenberger uncomfortable. The best way to cover up thin coverage is to get to the QB. Make him get rid of the ball quickly and make him make mistakes. Titans are in the bottom half of the NFL allowing 20 sacks this year. Less 3-man rush, more pressure.
3. Just Win
Easy as that. Just win and get to the bye. The Titans don’t do anything well. We should smash them, but we have to make sure our secondary makes the proper adjustments with Danny Gorrer starting at corner. This game is a great opportunity for those guys to gain some confidence. It’s not complicated. They stink, we don’t. Don’t play to their level. I want to see 35 points on the board at the half.
Don’t fucking blow this. That’s pretty much all I got. 6-4 at the bye, and then we work from there.
PS: The kid RDT is a Titans fan for no good reason, so I’ll just leave this grainy video here to remind him what a defense looks like…