South. That seems to be an appropriate word for the direction every team was pointing Monday morning, expect for the Titans who carried the flag as the only team to win from the division on opening weekend.
Indianapolis Colts. The preseason doesn’t count, but it does matter. The Colts looked rusty, lost and uprepared to play in front of the world on Sunday night. And injuries have played a monumental role. Manning missed all of the preseason recovering from surgery to remove a busar sac in his knee, and the offensive line is without three key cogs to protect manning: guards Ryan Lilja and Ryan Diem and center Jeff Saturday. That forced Indy to start guards Charlie Johnson and Dan Federkeil for the first time. Tight end Dallas Clark suffered a knee injury that forced him from the game and a head injury knocked running back Joseph Addai from the game as well. Speaking of Addai, Indy has to get the running going. Addai rushed for just 44 yards on 12 carries and the Colts gained only 53 yards on the ground as a team, which explains Manning’s 49 pass attempts. Addai hasn’t rushed for 100 yards or more in a game since Nov.4 against New England last year.
Jacksonville Jaguars. That was a physical clash against the Titans, but playing a Jeff Fischer coached Tennessee team, what else would you expect. The offensive line is becoming a slap and glue project. The Jags didn’t starting center Brad Meester (injured biceps) or backup tackle Richard Collier, who was shot last week. Then Jacksonville lost starting LG Vince Manuwai for the season with a knee injury and placed Maurice Williams on IR. The Jags had protection problems all day against the Titans and Tennessee’s defense carried them to victory, forcing Jacksonville QB David Garrard to throw two picks and sacking him seven times. The offense only tallied 189 total yards of offense. Bad day for the running game. The Jaguars were held to 33 rushing yards. They’ve got a healthy, hungry Buffalo team coming in on Sunday and with an early season showdown against the Colts (at Indy) in two weeks, Sunday’s contest with the Bills looks more and more like a must-win.
Houston Texans. They got their butts kicks and their heads handed to them, no questions asked. Aside from Andre Johnson’s 10 catch, 112 yard performance and Mario Williams’ two-sack day, nobody else bothered to show up. Familiar themes that have been hampering the Texans. The offensive line wasn’t good, allowing five sacks. QB Matt Schaub’s play was less than inspiring, throwing for barely 200 yards and was picked off twice. The running game continues to be a nonfactor. The Ahman Green experiment needs to end. He just can’t remain healthy. They need to find out what they’ve got in Chris Taylor and Steve Slaton. Head coach Gary Kubiak just needs somebody, anybody to be able to run the ball with some success. Until that happens, Houston will remain one-dimensional and a pretender. Hopefully Kubiak placed a great emphasis this week on tackling and wrapping up, because there wasn’t much of that Sunday.
Tennessee Titans. Stout defense and strong rushing attack. The formula for head coach Jeff Fischer remains in tact. Vince Young has yet to blossom under center. They still don’t have a No.1 wideout capable of stretching the field. And now Kerry Collins takes over for the injured Young, who’ll be out 2-4 weeks with a sprained knee. Defensively, they’re one of the best units in the AFC. The Titans recorded seven sacks and picked off Jags QB David Garrard twice. They found a real threat in rookie running back Chris Johnson, who rushed for 93 yards and had 34 receiving yards and a score. Look for Fischer to get him the ball 20-30 times a game, similar to the way the Saints use Bush in a variety of ways. The LenDale White-Chris Johnson combo may emerge as one of the best backfield duos in the AFC.
