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Week 1 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 13, Jacksonville Jaguars 10
What you need to know
| Tennessee Titans |
The Titans had a surprisingly dominant running effort against the normally stingy Jacksonville run defense, and used that to come away with a victory at Jacksonville. LenDale White started the game, but he and Chris Brown shared the carries with White having 18 carries and Brown 19. Brown was particularly effective, rushing for a career high 175 yards while White gained 66 yards rushing. White was featured early in the game, but Brown ran well enough when he came into the game that White's first carry in the second half came with less than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Tennessee did not attempt many pass plays, and Vince Young threw mostly short passes to his receivers. He attempted six passes in the second half compared to 12 in the first half, in large part due to the success of the running game. Young threw an interception among his 18 pass attempts, and rushed 11 times, with one of those rushes resulting in a touchdown. Most of his rushing attempts were stymied before he could gain significant amounts of yardage, but he did show excellent elusiveness in avoiding sacks several times.
The Titans ran 13 plays inside the ten yard line, with ten of those plays being rushing attempts. Of the ten goal-to-go running plays, six of the ten were by White, with Brown and Young splitting the other four with two apiece.
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
The Jaguars could not stop Tennessee's running game, and were unable to generate a successful running game themselves, which proved to be significant factors in them losing the game. Neither Fred Taylor nor Maurice Jones-Drew was able to generate many yards on the ground. Part of the reason was that Jacksonville did not commit to the running game, as the two running backs combined for 13 rushing attempts, even though the game was close throughout.
The Jaguars took some shots downfield in the passing game, and David Garrard displayed good touch on both deep passing plays and the shorter throws. Garrard's favorite target in this game was Dennis Northcutt on both deep and intermediate passing plays. Both players could have posted better numbers if not for Northcutt dropping some catchable passes and Garrard missing some open receivers. Garrard also seemed very comfortable with tight end Marcedes Lewis, targeting him the most when he threw short and intermediate passes.
Jacksonville attempted nine plays in the red zone, and in keeping with their philosophy in this game, attempted six passes and three rushes. All of the rushing attempts were by Jones-Drew, while Garrard targeted Jones-Drew, Northcutt and Lewis twice each. Both passes to Lewis were while he was in the end zone. Northcutt, Matt Jones and rookie John Broussard were also targeted in the end zone during the game, with Broussard having the only score.
Jaguars' kicker Josh Scobee was injured before the game, and did not handle the kickoffs, although he did make a short field goal and an extra point attempt. However, when faced with a fourth and ten play from the 19 yard line and leading 10-6, the Jaguars elected to not kick a field goal, presumably due to concerns about Scobee's ability to make the field goal.
What you ought to know
| QB Vince Young, Pass: 11 - 18 - 78 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 11 - 22 - 1 |
Young managed the game by following the game plan of attempting mostly short with some intermediate passes, running at times, while using the threat of his running to set up his running backs who ran very well. Although he made most of his attempts, Young missed open receivers at times, including one where he overthrew his receiver and was intercepted. Young was not asked to take many risks in the passing game, but displayed his escapability and athleticism on several occasions to avoid sacks including his touchdown run, which was a designed play.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 18 - 66 - 0, Rec: 2 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
White started the game and although he did not have nearly the yards Brown did, was the featured back on most of the short-yardage situations, including the vast majority of the goal line carries. He ran with good power, and did not go down easily, although he was tackled early on most of his rushing attempts. The passes thrown to him were short dump off passes.
| RB Chris Brown, Rush: 19 - 175 - 0, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Brown ran with very good explosion and speed, bursting up the middle on most of the plays he ran, and made defenders miss once he got past the line of scrimmage. He had a career high 175 yards rushing and was very aggressive in the way he attacked Jacksonville's defenders. He split carries evenly with starter LenDale White, but was the more effective in terms of running through the line of scrimmage consistently.
| RB Ahmard Hall, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
The fullback spent most of the game opening holes for Brown and White.
| WR Justin Gage, Rec: 2 - 26 - 0 (4 targets) |
Gage was asked to run short and intermediate routes, caught half of the passes thrown to him and had a marginal impact on the passing game.
| WR Brandon Jones, Rush: 1 - 19 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
His only involvement in the first half was on a reverse run where he showed good burst and moves to gain 19 yards. As with the other Titan's receivers, he was asked to run shorter routes and block for the running backs.
| WR Chris Davis, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Davis was targeted on two short passes in the first half, one of them a pass that was deflected at the one yard line.
| WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (3 targets) |
Moulds was only used on short passing plays, and was overthrown on one of his targets that resulted in an interception.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (3 targets) |
Scaife and Young seemed to be in a rhythm early in the first half, and showed some athleticism in his route running and going after the passes that were thrown to him. However he was not targeted in the second half as the Titans relied heavily on their running game.
| PK Rob Bironas 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Bironas had a perfect game, connecting on his lone point after attempt, and both field goals, which were from 20 and 31 yards.
| TEN Rush Defense |
The Titans' rush defense was not tested much as the Jaguars did not attempt many running plays, but they were up to the task when they had to take on the run, holding Jacksonville's running backs to a 3.69 per carry average. They played aggressively and apart from allowing two runs of over 15 yards, stopped the Jaguars' runners around the line of scrimmage.
| TEN Pass Defense |
Tennessee's pass defense was aggressive throughout the game, and proved to be successful most of the game although they gave up a long touchdown pass and several intermediate completions to the Jaguars' receivers. They did however manage to deflect a couple of passes intended for players in the end zone, and recovered a fumble after a catch and run by Jones-Drew that ended inside their ten yard line, that helped seal the victory. Despite Garrard's mobility, the Titans were able to generate a good pass rush throughout the game, sacking the Jaguars' quarterback twice and forcing him to hurry his throws or scramble on several occasions.
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 17 - 30 - 204 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - 24 - 0 |
Garrard looked comfortable running the offense, especially early in the game. He showed good touch on intermediate and deep passing plays, including a well-thrown 47 yard pass for a touchdown where the receiver caught the ball in stride, and a short pass to the corner of the end zone that was caught but knocked out of the receiver's hands thanks to a good defensive play. Garrard used his athleticism judiciously, and stayed in the pocket in the face of pressure trying to make plays with his arm on several occasions and only ran from the pocket when he absolutely had to. He seemed very poised and had his team in position to either tie or take the lead late in the game by engineering a drive that ended as a result of Jones-Drew losing the ball inside the Titans' ten yard line after having it inadvertently kicked loose by a teammate.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 7 - 32 - 0, Rec: 3 - 28 - 0 (4 targets) |
Jones-Drew, like Taylor, did not have many rushing attempts, but was able to display his explosiveness and speed a few times, including kickoffs. He was in the game for all of Jacksonville's goal line plays. Late in the game, he turned a short pass into a first down run of over 20 yards, but had the ball knocked out by a teammate as he was being tackled. Jones-Drew's productivity suffered from a lack of touches.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 6 - 16 - 0 (1 targets) |
Taylor did not have many rushing attempts and was unable to get on track. He was routinely stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. He got past the line of scrimmage once, and showed good acceleration and power, but his productivity suffered from a lack of touches. Taylor was not involved in the passing game.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 4 - 57 - 0 (9 targets) |
Northcutt was Garrard's favorite receiver in this game and could have posted better numbers. He was overthrown a couple of times but also dropped some passes that appeared he should have caught. Northcutt showed very good speed and quickness and was able to get open several times throughout the game. Seven of his nine targets came in the second half.
| WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wilford was used on short passing routes, and showed good hands in making catches while tightly covered.
| WR John Broussard, Rec: 2 - 55 - 1 (2 targets) |
Broussard caught both of his targets, including one where he beat one on one coverage to reel in a well-thrown pass from Garrard for a 47 yard touchdown catch, displaying impressive speed and great hands as he dove for the ball and held on.
| WR Matt Jones (2 targets) |
Jones was targeted once in the end zone, and caught the ball, but was stripped before he could secure it. He was not utilized much otherwise.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 4 - 35 - 0 (7 targets) |
Lewis was targeted several times as Garrard's outlet receiver on short and intermediate routes and did a good job of getting open. He was targeted twice in the end zone, being overthrown once and on the other attempt, he appeared to not lay out completely for the pass.
| TE George Wrighster, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Wrighster was not involved in the passing game until the second half, and just for one short pass.
| TE Greg Estandia, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Estandia was used on short routes and mostly blocking.
| PK Josh Scobee 1 - 1 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
Scobee was hurt during the pre-game warm-ups and did not handle the kickoffs. He did convert his lone point after attempt as well as his only field goal attempt, which was from 22 yards. During the third quarter, when Jacksonville had a fourth down opportunity to kick a fairly short field goal, their coach Jack Del Rio elected to not have Scobee attempt it.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Jacksonville's rush defense, which was highly ranked last season, was ineffective throughout this game, allowing the Titans' running backs to average 6.5 yards per carry. They were pushed off the line of scrimmage by Tennessee's offensive linemen and made very few big plays against the Titans' running backs.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jaguars' pass defense was aggressive as usual, but had few opportunities to make plays due to Tennessee's success running the football. Despite the limited opportunities and Vince Young's ability to escape coupled with the Titans focus on a short passing game, Jacksonville managed to record two sacks and an interception while holding Young to short gains when they flushed him out of the pocket.
