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(Hey, whaddya know? Tom is alive! And he was kind enough to write the Tennessee Titans preview for us.)

First of all, let’s hear it for the throwback uniforms this season, saving us all from having to look at the mighty thumb tacs (if you happen to be aware of the small media market Titans that is?).

Haynesworth, Hanynesworth, Haynesworth…

That seems to be all we have heard about from the media in Titansville since April. I have no idea if he will rule the roost in DC (and frankly, I don’t give a shit), but the Titans will miss the most dominant DT in football for sure. He is an ass-kicker, and no matter what the Titans front office say, they cannot replace him. DL coach Jim Washburn is an unsung hero in the NFL, and I am sure he will have a few tricks up his wizard’s sleeve, but it won’t be enough.

The Titans come off a 13-3 season, with a heart breaking loss to the rat birds in the divisional playoff game (bunch of quim licks, that they are). They return 21 of 22 starters on both sides of the ball, and have added WRs Nate Washington, Kenny Britt and TE Jared Cook (who I believe is the next coming of Kellen Winslow the first).

I have no idea if the death of Steve McNair will motivate the Titans and push them forward, but one thing is for sure, his protégée Vince Young has done feck all, and will be released at the end of the season.
On offense the Titans will go as far as their OL carries them (Roos and Stewart are as fine a pair of bookends as you are likely to see). If Collins has time and Johnson/White have holes, they can move the ball on anybody. Scoring TDs through the air in the red zone will continue to be the issue, and until that is resolved, the Titans can, and will be beaten in close games (ala the rat birds mentioned above, bunch of robbing pikie Maryland twats, so they are…).

I don’t believe the Colts are as strong this season, but the Texans and Jags will be far better. I can see the Titans posting anything from an 8-8 to 12-4 season, but I will opt for a 10-6, and a divisional loss, probably to the Steelers at Heinz field…

One to look out for is FS Mike Griffin, who could be a star in the making!

…that it merits its own DSM classification, it is perhaps time for an intervention. Maybe we can add that to the list of things for which Vince Young needs an intervention. At any rate, he sees dead people. Or things that are not there. Or something. Quoth the Young:

I don’t know when I’ll start again. But I will be the next black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. And I will be in the Hall of Fame.

Mind you, the former is awfully critical to the latter, but, no matter. You go on with your bad self, Vince. Canton in 2025. See you there. That’s when I will be inducted for my ground-breaking contributions to NFL coverage, blog edition…

It seems clear from the news dripping out of Nashville and being broken on tmz.com (the new starndard for hard news, apparently) that Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi were in some sort of relationship. Given that Kahel was 20 and McNair married, that was a rather troublesome detail. The NY Daily News fills in another piece of the puzzle this morning, reporting that friends close to Mechelle McNair – Steve McNair’s wife – say that she had no idea about the affair and the first she found out was in the hours following the news that her husband was dead.

So, that’s awful.

The easy guess, of course, is that McNair was trying to break it off with Kazemi and it went awry. The Nashville Police will have the final say on that, but the word locally (I am still in Nashville this morning) is that their investigation is centered on piecing together as many details as is possible about the relationship between McNair and Kazemi. That simply fuels the assumptions. We all should know shortly.

Sad. And puzzled.

The 4th weekend’s travels have taken me up to Cincinnati for a few Reds games and now down to Nashville to the in-laws for a few days. And it was on the drive down to Nashville that the news of Steve McNair’s death broke. Obviously shocking. But you surely don’t need me for that observation.

What I can tell you is that this news has hit Nashville like a ton of bricks. I lived here before law school when the Titans were moving to the city and in the intervening 13 years, Nashville has gone from a college town to a pro town. The Titans matter here, a lot. And McNair was the face of the team as they became beloved. So, yeah. This one hurts.

The details are not good. It appears to be a murder/suicide, with the woman being the trigger-person. Not usual. And nothing certain as of yet. The Tennessean is reporting the deceased women, Sahel Kazemi, as having dated McNair for several months. Which is odd, given that he is married. The apartment where the bodies were found is on 2nd Street in Nashville, a touristy street in downtown within view of where McNair played for the Titans for a decade. It is not a bad part of town. At all. But it was also an apartment leased in McNair’s name where Kazemi was apparently living, and just two days ago, she was arrested for DUI with McNair in the car as a passenger in a Cadillac Escalade registered in the names of McNair and Kazemi at the address of his restaurant. Weird details. Even weirder? The arresting officer two days ago was the same one who arrested McNair on DUI back in 2003. I guess he never got a promotion.

None of it really matters in the end, of course. It’s a tragedy, it is beyond indescribably awful for McNair’s family, and all the rest. David Climer in the Tennessean puts some words to the loss from Nashville’s perspective.

Apparently. Had forgotten all about him. But with Kerry Collins re-signing with the Titans, the Tennessean ran down some reaction from the esrtwhile Titan starting quarterback’s agent. All in all, pretty decent quotes about Young’s approach to 2009:

That decision has no bearing on Vince’s thinking,” Adams said Wednesday. “He is just trying to get himself together, not worrying about what they are doing with Kerry. That doesn’t matter to him.

“Vince is not upset. He is not asking for a trade or anything. He loves the organization, loves (Titans owner) Bud Adams, and he wants to be in Tennessee. But he still wants to play, and is approaching this offseason like he’s going to.”

“Vince wants to be the starter. He has started all his life, so he wants to start,” Adams said. “And he is preparing like he is going to start, doing all the things he needs to do.

“He looks hungrier to me than ever before. I don’t know that he is doing more than he’s ever done, but this is as early as he’s ever started.”

“It’s an important offseason for Vince. He knows it’s important and is doing everything he is supposed to be doing,” Adams said. “He is just preparing to play football. I don’t know if he wants to prove himself or anything like that, he is just a competitor and he is getting ready to play.

“And he is preparing himself like he is getting ready to start, to be the starter.”

Now to see if Young himself feels as his agent says he does. And if he will be able to deal with it when he is sitting behind Collins next fall.

I usually have an easier time picking Divisional Weekend games than this. But these are some tough matchups.

Except really this one. For this game, I really haven’t thought too much about. I like the Titans. I’ve been following them all year. They’re playing at home, with, really, a few weeks of rest, against a rookie quarterback and rookie head coach.

That’s all I need. That’s a game changer. If Baltimore wins this football game, I will be more stunned than if the Cards beat the Panthers, the Eagles score five red zone touchdowns, and William Wallace shoots fire from his arse. Combined.

One note to ponder: In a close game, scoring touchdowns will be key. Here are some red zone stats:

Tennessee’s offense was the 3rd best rated red zone touchdown unit (62.2%).
Baltimore ranked 2nd in red zone defense touchdown rate (35.9%).

Baltimore’s offense was the 25th best rated red zone touchdown unit (47.1%).
Tennessee ranked 7th in red zone defense touchdown rate (46.5%).

Of course, the week five matchup between these two is being analyzed to its fullest. But remember that game took place in Baltimore. And it was three months ago. The Titans have been challenged to develop their passing game since then. For a little indication of this, look at Tennessee’s week 16 AFC South clinching 31-14 win at home versus the Steelers where Collins completed 20 of 29 for 216 yards.

Ed Reed is good, Joe Flacco is good, Haloti Ngata is, well, fun to watch drop back in coverage.

But no team is more committed to protecting the quarterback than are the Titans. They have a solid blocking scheme, sliding the line strong side and using a TEs and backs to pick up the extra rushers. And its a top priority.

Swamper Jerloma made a good point last week (and a few times before) about the Ravens. They are a yard dog bully, and love it when they can rule their field. But when someone actually challenges their physicality and aggressiveness, they can lose a bit of their swagger.

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