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Week 11 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 20, Denver Broncos 34
What you need to know
| Tennessee Titans |
Vince Young set a new career high in passing yards with 305 and had his best fantasy performance of the year. It wasn't enough to overcome the big plays of the Denver Broncos, and the Titans fell in the Mile High city, 20 to 34. Young was one of the lone bright spots for the Titans, as he showed excellent accuracy and decision making throughout the competitive portion of the game. He also had his best rushing game of the season, leading the team with 74 yards and a touchdown. Young was troubled by at least four key drops by his receiving targets, including a few that would likely have gone for scores. His favorite target was Justin Gage, although five other Titans had between four and six looks each. He did a good job distributing the ball to his various receivers. His two interceptions came in later portions of the game when he was forcing the ball in an attempt to come back.
The Titans running game had an excellent match up against the 31st ranked Denver rushing defense, but outside of Vince Young's scrambles, they could not capitalize. LenDale White had a disappointing game in front of his hometown friends and family. He never seemed to get on track and was taken out of the game plan a bit by the multi-score lead the Broncos had for large portions of the game. White also lost a fumble on a promising Titans drive.
Justin Gage led the Titans receivers, while Brandon Jones caught Young's lone touchdown pass early in the second quarter. Gate, Jones, tight end Bo Scaife, and Roydell Williams all had at least one crucial drop on a well thrown ball that would have either been a touchdown or a big gain.
The Titans defense missed Albert Haynesworth, who missed the game with an injured hamstring. They gave up 359 total yards, and three touchdowns, all of which went for more than 40 yards. They contained Selvin Young relatively well, but overall they missed too many tackles and took too many risks to win the game.
| Denver Broncos |
Denver scored early and often, and they surprising did so with big plays. All four of their touchdowns came on 40 plus yard plays. Both starting wide receivers, Brandon Stokley and Brandon Marshall, scored on medium length passes that they turned into long scores. Glenn Martinez ran a first quarter punt back 80 yards for the Broncos first punt return touchdown in four years. First year third string running back Andre Hall took his first rush of the game 62 yards for a score. The Broncos scored in impressive and unlikely ways, and outperformed the Titans for a crucial 34 to 20 victory that puts them tied at the top of the AFC West.
Quarterback Jay Cutler had a great game. He was very efficient with the ball, averaging over nine yards per attempt, while limiting his mistakes. He didn't throw an interception for only the third time this season. He favored Marshall, Stokley, and tight end Tony Scheffler. Running back Selvin Young got the start with Travis Henry out with an injured knee (and an uncertain status after his NFL hearing for possible violation of the league's substance abuse policy), and had a decent game. He didn't break off any big runs, but still ran hard and found extra yards at the end of nearly every rush. He tweaked his knee, paving the way for Hall to fill in and explode for 80 plus yards to lead the team in rushing. Young was later able to return to the game.
The Broncos defense was opportunistic. They forced three turnovers, but had a hard time containing Vince Young. Young set a new career high in passing yardage, while also rushing for a season high 74 yards. Outside of Young, the Broncos defense was excellent, limiting the Titans rushing game and making enough plays to keep the Titans from staying close. Despite giving up 423 total yards, they found a way to win. A few late interceptions helped their cause.
What you ought to know
| QB Vince Young, Pass: 26 - 41 - 305 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 11 - 74 - 1 |
Young set a new career high in passing yards, and set season highs in completions and rushing yardage. In short, it was his best performance of the 2007 season to date. Young threw the ball accurately, but his numbers suffered from at least four ill-timed drops by his receiving targets, including a few that could have gone for scores. He moved around in the pocket and scrambled confidently, as the Broncos couldn't muster much of a pass rush for the majority of the game. Despite having spies watching his every move, Young managed to scramble very effectively, making defenders miss as he picked up first downs with his feet on a number of occasions. He had a third quarter rushing touchdown that was initially ruled out of bounds, but the play was reviewed after an oddly timed Broncos timeout, and the call was reversed. Young's favorite target was Justin Gage, with ten looks. Five other Titans had between four and six balls head their way.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 13 - 42 - 0, Rec: 2 - 22 - 0 (2 targets) |
White had a lackluster performance in front of his hometown friends and family, especially in light of the premier match up he had against the 31st ranked Denver rushing defense. He never got on track, and regularly failed to get past the defensive line or first set of linebackers on his rushing attempts. He also was taken out of the game plan a bit with Denver leading by multiple scores throughout a majority of the game. White's longest run was 11 yards. He lost a second quarter fumble, when Broncos defensive lineman Marcus Thomas knocked the ball out of his hand. He caught both of his passing targets on dump offs.
| RB Chris Brown, Rush: 3 - 14 - 0, Rec: 4 - 61 - 0 (4 targets) |
Brown got some work on a second quarter series to spell starter LenDale White, but didn't see much action afterwards. It was later reported on the television broadcast that Brown was sick to his stomach on the sidelines. He did return in the fourth quarter and caught a few dump off passes.
| RB Chris Henry, Rush: 1 - 4 - 0 |
Henry had one rush and was used as a kickoff returner.
| WR Justin Gage, Rec: 6 - 66 - 0 (10 targets) |
Gage led the Titans in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. His looks came predominantly on shorter and medium routes, and he had a good nose for the first down marker, as five of his six catches moved the chains. He also had one of the four crucial Titans' drops.
| WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 4 - 47 - 0 (5 targets) |
Williams dropped an almost certain touchdown in the first half. He caught his other four looks to finish fourth on the team in receiving yards.
| WR Brandon Jones, Rec: 3 - 25 - 1 (5 targets) |
Jones dropped a deep pass early in the game that likely would have been a touchdown. He redeemed himself quickly, with a 21 yard touchdown catch on the Titans third offensive series. Young made a great throw that only Jones could have caught, and Jones turned and zipped past Dre Bly and into the end zone.
| WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 2 - 27 - 0 (4 targets) |
Moulds had a couple catches and was the target on Young's first interception that was snagged by Dre Bly.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (6 targets) |
Scaife was Young's second favorite target behind Justin Gage. He dropped one of the passes, but a late first half catch that was ruled incomplete, took a big gain off the books and stalled what looked to be a promising Titans drive.
| TE Ben Troupe, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Troupe was targeted a couple of times, but one was actually a backwards pass so it was scored as a run. He wasn't much of a factor in the game.
| PK Rob Bironas 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Bironas made field goals of 56 and 37 yards, and both of his PATs. His 56 yarder was at the end of the first half, and he originally missed it, although Coach Mike Shanahan of the Broncos called timeout just before the play in an attempt to ice Bironas. After the timeout, Bironas calmly drilled the 56 yarder, and gave head coaches throughout the league second doubts about using this particular strategy.
| TEN Rush Defense |
Tennessee's rush defense allowed 166 total yards on 26 carries for a 6.4 average. They missed the dominating presence of Albert Haynesworth, who missed the game with an injured hamstring. They contained starter Selvin Young relatively well, but when third string option Andre Hall got his first touch, he zoomed past them for a 62 yard game-sealing touchdown. They forced no turnovers.
| TEN Pass Defense |
Tennessee's pass defense gave up 200 yards on 16 of 21 passing for an average of 9.52 yards per attempt. They allowed two touchdowns---one to each of the Broncos starting wide receivers, Brandon Stokley and Brandon Marshall. Each score was over 40 yards in length. The secondary generally had decent coverage, but too often missed tackles or went for interceptions that allowed the big gains. The forced no turnovers and had one sack of Jay Cutler.
| QB Jay Cutler, Pass: 16 - 21 - 200 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 7 - 0 |
Cutler has a very efficient game throwing the football. He hit both his starting wide receivers, Brandon Stokley and Brandon Marshall, for touchdowns. Both were solid throws that the receiver caught and then made good open field moves to race pass the defense for the score. Cutler showed great accuracy and power on his throws, and failed to throw an interception for only the third time this season. Marshall was his preferred target, with Stokley and tight end Tony Scheffler right behind.
| RB Selvin Young, Rush: 14 - 54 - 0, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (2 targets) |
Young led the Broncos in rushing attempts, but never broke any big runs. His long rush was nine yards. Young did show good elusiveness as he rarely went down on first contact and usually found a way to gain an extra yard or two on every run. He caught a few dump off passes as well. He left the game in the fourth quarter with an injured knee, but he returned later when his replacement, Andre Hall, was shaken up.
| RB Andre Hall, Rush: 7 - 89 - 1 |
Hall provided a surprising spark to the Broncos rushing game. He entered the game in the fourth quarter after Selvin Young hurt his knee. Hall took his first touch and zipped past the Titans defense for a 62 yard score. On the strength of that carry alone he would have led the Broncos in rushing, but he added 27 yards on his other six carries.
| RB Cecil Sapp, Rec: 2 - 2 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sapp caught both of his targets for minimal gains. He was primarily used as a blocking fullback.
| WR Brandon Marshall, Rush: 1 - 16 - 0, Rec: 4 - 56 - 1 (6 targets) |
Marshall had a very complete game. He led the team in receptions and finished second to Brandon Stokley in yardage. Marshall's touchdown was a perfect example of his elusiveness, as he broke free of the tackle attempt to race for the score. He also has a nice 16 yard end around where he pump faked to freeze the defense and gain some extra yards. He continues to run with great balance and agility, and is very hard to tackle due to his unique combination of size, skill, and athleticism. Marshall made several tough snags in tight coverage, and showed good hands doing so. He also threw several impressive and effective blocks throughout the game.
| WR Brandon Stokley, Rec: 3 - 75 - 1 (4 targets) |
Stokley started the scoring for the Broncos. His third down catch looked to be enough simply to move the chains, but he turned after the catch to precisely the right spot where he was able to run into the end zone for a score. He led the team in receiving yards.
| WR Glenn Martinez (1 targets) |
Martinez's impact came in the punt return game. He returned one for an 80 yard touchdown that put the Broncos offense up by two touchdowns early. It was the first Broncos punt return for a touchdown in four years. Martinez later muffed a punt that led directly to Vince Young's touchdown run.
| TE Tony Scheffler, Rec: 3 - 38 - 0 (4 targets) |
Scheffler was third on the team in receptions and yardage, and two of his catches went for first downs.
| TE Daniel Graham, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (2 targets) |
Graham caught both of his targets, and earned one first down.
| PK Jason Elam 2 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points |
Elam made field goals of 21 and 39 yards, and all four of his PATs.
| DEN Rush Defense |
Denver's rush defense gave up 133 total yards on 29 carries for a 4.6 average. 74 of those yards came off the legs of Vince Young, as LenDale White was bottled up to the tune of 13 for 42. They allowed one rushing touchdown to Young. Marcus Thomas striped White of the ball and Ian Gold recovered it.
| DEN Pass Defense |
Denver's pass defense gave up 305 yards on 26 of 41 passing for 7.44 yards per attempt. They allowed one touchdown early to Brandon Jones. Ian Gold forced a fumble and had a game sealing interception late in the third quarter. Dre Bly, while beat for the Jones touchdown, also had an interception. Tim Crowder had the lone Broncos sack of the game.
