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Week 3 Game Recap: Tennessee Titans 31, New Orleans Saints 14
What you need to know
| Tennessee Titans |
The Titans controlled the clock in this game, especially early and late, and used a balanced attack and opportunistic defense to put away the Saints.
QB Vince Young directed an efficient attack, throwing for two TD passes and directing two other scoring drives. He spread the ball around to his receivers and threw mostly short passes, mixing in enough intermediate routes to keep the defense honest. Young seemed content to stay in the pocket, though he did scramble intentionally a couple times. Backup QB Kerry Collins entered the game late in the second quarter after Young hurt his arm, but Young returned to play the entire second half.
RB LenDale White ran with determination, though not for big yardage. His third quarter TD run gave the Titans the lead for good. As expected, White shared the load with RB Chris Brown, who also ran hard, even though his final stats weren't great.
No Titans receiver was targeted more than five times. WR Brandon Jones got the Titans offense rolling with his first quarter TD reception. WR Roydell Williams was the most targeted Titans receiver, and WR Eric Moulds came up with a clutch sideline reception to set up the go ahead score. TE Bo Scaife caught Young's final TD reception in the fourth quarter.
PK Rob Bironas hit one out of two field goals, his miss coming from 27 yards. The Titans defense stifled the Saint running game and pressured QB Drew Brees most of the night, forcing four fourth quarter turnovers to seal the victory. LB Keith Bulluck intercepted Brees three times and was the player of the game.
| New Orleans Saints |
The Saints offense sputtered most of the night. They were never able to establish a running game, and their passing attack disintegrated in the late going amidst a flurry of turnovers.
QB Drew Brees had a disastrous night, turning the ball over five times--four of them coming in the fourth quarter. He threw the ball fairly accurately the first three quarters and directed both scoring drives, but everything went south for Brees in the last fifteen minutes.
RB Deuce McAllister had very little room to run and eventually left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury (torn ACL) after making his only reception of the night. RB Reggie Bush received most of the carries after McAllister left, but he had precious little production to show for it--though he did score both Saints touchdowns on short runs. Bush was active in the passing game at least.
WR Marques Colston was the leading receiver and had a big catch in the second quarter that set up the first Saints TD. WR Lance Moore was targeted more than any other receiver and made a small splash in this game. No other Saints receiver tallied more than 25 receiving yards.
PK Olindo Mare did not have a field goal attempt and scored only two points, obviously not his fault. The Saints defense was not able to exert any consistent pressure on Vince Young and did not have a sack in this game.
What you ought to know
| QB Vince Young, Pass: 14 - 22 - 164 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 5 - 21 - 0 |
Vince Young came out throwing and had a solid first quarter. He threw mostly short passes and was generally accurate. His one big mistake in the first quarter was a fumbled snap that knocked the Titans out of field goal range. Young did not seem to favor any particular receiver; he threw to eight different players in this game and did not target any of them more than five times. Young found Brandon Jones for the TD pass on the first drive of the second quarter; however, Young's next pass was an INT, his only turnover, which cost the Titans a golden scoring opportunity. His second TD throw was a fourth quarter strike to former Longhorn teammate TE Bo Scaife. The Titans offensive line played very well in this game and generally gave Young all the time he needed to get rid of the ball. Young suffered a minor arm injury late in the second quarter and left the field to get an IV and some treatment during half time. He played the entire second half without incident. Young scrambled a couple of times but generally seemed confident and content to stay in the pocket and let his RBs take the punishment.
| QB Kerry Collins, Pass: 4 - 4 - 22 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Collins entered the game near the end of the second quarter and finished the half while Young was being attended to in the locker room. He completed all four of his passes, three to RB Chris Brown.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 17 - 50 - 1, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
White ran with determination and looked good doing it, though it didn't necessarily show in the final stats. The Saints clearly game planned to shut down the Titans running attack, so it was tough going for White at times, but he fought hard for the extra yards and was able to score a short TD run in the third quarter to put the Titans ahead for good. White did nothing in this game to jeopardize his starting job, though keep in mind that he will continue to share carries with Chris Brown.
| RB Chris Brown, Rush: 11 - 38 - 0, Rec: 4 - 18 - 0 (4 targets) |
Chris Brown had less rushing attempts than LenDale White but was more involved in the passing game. He finished with only four less total yards than White, though he did not score a TD. Brown ran hard, and like White, got a lot of tough yards.
| WR Roydell Williams, Rush: 1 - -11 - 0, Rec: 3 - 37 - 0 (5 targets) |
Williams led the Titans in targets, which isn't saying much since it was only five. He came up with a big third down catch in the fourth quarter in a drive alive that eventually produced a TD. Williams also had one rushing attempt in the first series of the game, an end around that the Saints blew up for an eleven yard loss.
| WR Brandon Jones, Rec: 4 - 73 - 1 (4 targets) |
Jones scored the first TD of the game in the second quarter on a nice 35 yard catch and run. He led the Titans in receiving yards, but keep in mind that he was targeted only four times in this game. Given the Titans are a run-first team and that Young spreads the ball around, it's hard to see a ton of upside with Jones or any other Tennessee receiver.
| WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (4 targets) |
Moulds got a couple of red zone looks and came close to scoring on one of them (Young missed connections in the end zone). He also had a great catch falling out of bounds at the one yard line that set up the go ahead TD.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 3 - 26 - 1 (4 targets) |
Scaife got involved in the passing game early, he is clearly the pass catching TE in this offense. His fourth quarter TD catch essentially clinched the game.
| TE Ben Hartsock, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets) |
Hartsock started this game and caught the only ball thrown his way.
| PK Rob Bironas 1 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 7 points |
Bironas was working with a brand new holder in this game, so he may have an excuse for the short (27 yard) field goal he missed.
| TEN Rush Defense |
The Titans run defense, led by Albert Haynesworth, bottled up Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush most of the night, limiting the RB duo to a measly 20 yards, and the Saints as a whole to 34 net rushing yards. It's hard to tell how much of this was due to great defense and how much to the underperforming Saints offensive line. Probably both, but it was a stellar performance regardless.
| TEN Pass Defense |
The Titans pass rush kept steady pressure on Drew Brees throughout the game, and often forced him to unload before he was ready. Still, they were able to sack Brees only once (which did produce a fumble thanks to a nice strip by DE Travis LaBoy). The secondary did a solid job containing the Saints receivers and preventing any of them from going off, plus they came up with four INT's, three by LB Keith Bulluck.
| QB Drew Brees, Pass: 29 - 45 - 225 - 0 TD / 4 INT, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0 |
Brees started slowly and was not able to muster a first down until the second quarter. He hurried his throws at times, but he was sacked only once. Going into the fourth quarter, he was actually having an okay game, and the Saints were trailing by only three points. In fact, it seemed as though he was getting a little rhythm and gaining confidence. But on the last play of the third quarter, Brees scrambled for a first down and took a hard shot to the head, and he completely unraveled after that. On the very next play, he was sacked and fumbled the ball away, and thereafter he was shaky and seemed to lack confidence. Perhaps Brees was more affected by the blow to the head then he let on--who knows. Whatever the case, his fourth quarter was a complete disaster, which included three INT's, one of which was returned for a TD. Surprisingly, Brees' favorite target in this game was WR Lance Moore, though he frequently looked for Marques Colston as well.
| RB Reggie Bush, Rush: 7 - 15 - 2, Rec: 6 - 20 - 0 (8 targets) |
Bush was well contained by the Titans defense and was limited to one yard or less on five of his seven carries (though two of those carries were one yard TD runs). As usual, he was quite active in the passing game, catching six of eight balls sent his way (he was targeted two other times on plays negated by penalties). Bush's mediocre stat lines are becoming disturbingly common, though the two TD's saved him in this case.
| RB Aaron Stecker, Rush: 3 - 6 - 0, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (3 targets) |
Stecker saw the field more than usual after McAllister left with his injury, a trend that may continue now that McAllister is out for the season. He didn't have any more success running the ball than his teammates, however.
| RB Deuce McAllister, Rush: 4 - 5 - 0, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (2 targets) |
McAllister was having a fairly miserable game until the disastrous knee injury sidelined him in the middle of the second quarter. The Saints offensive line seemed incapable of opening holes, and all of the RB's had trouble finding room to run.
| RB Mike Karney, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Karney had one carry and one reception.
| WR Lance Moore, Rec: 6 - 54 - 0 (10 targets) |
Moore was very active in this game and was thrown to more than any other Saints receiver. His final stats weren't stellar, but he made an impression at least.
| WR Marques Colston, Rec: 4 - 68 - 0 (8 targets) |
Colston led his team in receiving yards and had a big 37 yard catch that helped set up the first Saint TD. He also came close to scoring in the third quarter (Bush went over from the one on the next play). Inexplicably, Colston was targeted only once in the fourth quarter, a pass that was intercepted and nearly returned for a TD.
| WR Terrance Copper, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (3 targets) |
Copper did not have a ball thrown his way until the third quarter, so he obviously did not figure strongly in the Saints' game plan. He finished with two catches for 23 yards.
| WR David Patten, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Patten was hardly involved in this game, but at least he caught the only pass sent his way.
| WR Devery Henderson, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (2 targets) |
Henderson continues to be nearly invisible in this offense.
| TE Eric Johnson, Rec: 5 - 23 - 0 (6 targets) |
Johnson was Brees' safety valve in this game, catching five of the six short passes thrown his way.
| PK Olindo Mare 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Mare had 2 PAT's, and that's it.
| NO Rush Defense |
The Saints were obviously determined to stop the Titans rushing attack, and while they prevented White and Brown from going off, but they did not prevent Tennessee from controlling the clock, and ultimately the game. S Josh Bullocks (nine solo tackles) played close to the line, and most of his tackles came in run support.
| NO Pass Defense |
The Saints were not able to mount a consistent pass rush, and Young often had all the time he wanted to throw. No secondary can cover opposing receivers forever, so blame Young's solid performance on the front seven more than the cover guys. Maligned CB Jason David came up with an INT, the only Titans miscue of the night.
