Kansas Jayhawks early season favorites?

You read that correctly, the Kansas Jayhawks are the early season favorites to cut down the nets in Texas. Why? The have the most room for growth. They have such a young team that's only gonna get better. Defensively they are average at best, but bill self will get that fixed. They desperately need leadership. They don't have any seniors that play any minutes. Junior point guard naadir tharpe needs to step up. He needs to assert himself as a leader. Andrew wiggins with all the hype coming in has been about half as good as perry Ellis. Perry Ellis is getting no talk, but he has been the best player in college basketball so far. Wayne Selden is a great young player as is fearless frank mason. Mason has been in my mind the most impressive player so far this year. He drives the lane without fear and is a great passer. Kansas' potential is a great that they could be scary good in march and honestly I don't think Michigan state is for real. They played great vs Kentucky but has struggled since. Kentucky and Duke don't look like threats, kansas has a huge size advantage over Oklahoma state. Unless they screw up pretty bad, kansas will be national champs.

Why the Chiefs aren't what we think they are

I know, I know. The Cheifs are 9-0 and giving the Broncos a challenege, but without a top level QB you cannot go far up in the playoffs. Alex Smith is not a top QB, he's average, and thats all he'll ever be. I don't think he has the talent to be a top level QB. In the draft (my specialty) I think the perfect fit for this team is the battle tested and expirienced Aaron Murray. I mean, look at Russell Wilson. He's short and still better than Alex Smith. Drew Brees BLOWS by Alex Smith. I just don't think the Chiefs can go far into the playoffs with Smith at QB

Backup QBs

In the NFL today, its a passing league. So, obviouls you have to have a good #1. But, and as we have seen this year, you have to have a solid #2. The Cowboys probably have the best backup in the NFl, with Kle Orton. Then you have the Bears with Josh McCown, and the guy I used to love, Matt Cassel. Of cource, us Titans have a pretty good one, too. Fitz Magic, as I call him, isn't too far off from Jake Locker. He even has legs.

Don't Dump on the Titans just yet. Titans vs. Colts Thursday Night Football. by Ben Williams

Following the Jacksonville loss, a lot of Titans fans have given up on this team, and who could blame them?

Ryan Fitzpatrick celebrates after rushing for a touchdown against Kansas City

It looks woeful from an outside perspective. Jake Locker is on IR for the year with a Lisfranc foot injury, they have fallen to below .500 once again, and an underachieving Titans squad are fresh off a game that they had no business losing.  Bundle all that up and add it to the fact that The Titans now have to face division leading Indianapolis on a short week's rest on Thursday night. You may as well just stay home and watch ABC's Nashville. 

Hang on now, calm down. It's not time to shut the lights out on this season just let. Even with a Titans loss against Jacksonville (albeit inexplicable and embarrassing) they are still very much in the wildcard hunt. And since The Colts were broken-in (horse joke) at home (38-8) by St. Louis, there is still an ever so slight glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel to win the division. 

Miami lost. San Diego lost. They both are sitting 4-5. So sure, the Titans squandered an opportunity to claim sole possession of first place in this hunt, but there is still hope for the hopeful. 

Ryan "Fitz!"patrick will be the starter for the Titans at quarterback. Despite losing a fumble returned for a touchdown that iced the loss in the closing minutes of the Jaguars game, he played well replacing Locker, completing 22 of 33 passes for 264 yards and 2 TDs. 

Fitzpatrick has shown that he can be a solid starter in the league in years past if he can keep his turnovers down. That's been an issue for him in the previous games as a Titan when Jake Locker was dealing with a right hip injury. 

“I’m no longer the guy that’s holding the seat warm for Jake, with him being out the remainder of the year now, it’s my gig and the communication has to step up that much more,” Fitpatrick said. “I felt more comfortable going into the last game for whatever reason, being thrown into the fire like that than I have the two previous starts. I think the two starts and getting the experience with the guys on the field and having a feel for them and them having a feel for me (helped).”

Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains was pleased with Fitzpatrick's performance against Jacksonville. It was his best performance as a Titan by far, but Jacksonville is is not Indianapolis. That being said the Colts Defense has shown holes; especially in last weeks game against the Rams where they gave up 138 yards receiving to Tavon Austin alone. 

If the game comes down to the end, the money's on Luck. Andrew Luck has proved to be a gamer in the closing seconds as he has led the Colts to seven 4th quarter come-from-behind wins and ten game winning drives in just a season and a half (Profootballreference.com)

The key to the game for the Titans is to establish the run sure, but to establish some kind of offense early. They've only led at half-time in three out of nine games so far this season. The Titans have to avoid a sluggish start that they've been known for this year against Andrew Luck. You don't want to give him any opportunity at the end of a game. 

Champions classic

College basketball is officially under way ladies and gentleman! What a way to get it started. We have #1 vs #2 and #4 vs #5. In the 1st game Michigan state was taking on an inexperienced Kentucky team. Jon calipari Kentucky coach said before the game that it was unfair to play Michigan state and that they couldn't win. If I was a player and my coach said this I wouldn't want to play for him. He says we can't win so let's not play. You cannot make excuses when playing a good team. Young or whatever it is you have  to show up and play doesn't matter how good you are. Michigan state jumped out to a 10-0 lead and the lead was there for the whole 1st half, but in the 2nd half Julius Randle put Kentucky on his back. He scored 23 in the 2nd half and Kentucky tied it at 64. Keith applying bit a 3 and Gary Harris got a steal and a layup and Michigan state was up 5. With 10 seconds left Kentucky was down 2 and needed a stop. They got a miss but branden Dawson tipped it in and Michigan state won 78-74.
The 2nd game featured 2 blue bloods in Kansas vs duke. But kansas' blood was bluer. Jabari Parker went off for 19 in the 1st half as andrew wiggins was sitting with foul trouble. Perry Ellis took over for the jayhawks as he was unstoppable. He had 23 and 9 rebounds. Duke lead 42-40 at half. In the 2nd half andrew wiggins took over as he scored 16 in the 2nd half including an and 1 that also fouled Jabari Parker out of the game as Kansas won 94-83. The 3 freshman both played great. And it should be a great season of basketball

Titans vs. Jaguars: Week Ten Preview. by Ben Williams

The Tennessee Titans draw a familiar opponent in week 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars who, even when down in the past, have proved to be a tough out. 

As it stands, the AFC looks to have only one vacant wildcard playoff berth. The other of these should be claimed by either the Chiefs or the Broncos. There are four teams legitimately in the hunt for that last ticket to the post-season; the Chargers, Dolphins, and Titans all at 4-4 and the Jets at 5-4. The Browns aren't far behind at 4-5, but it doesn't seem likely that they can sustain enough wins to get to that target record of either 9-7 or 10-6.  

The Jets are a tough one to figure. Over the last four weeks, they have lost to a 2-6 Steelers teams, beat a quality New England, were absolutely embarrassed at Cincinnati (49-9), and then pull an unlikely upset against New Orleans. Geno Smith has thrown 8 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. It's difficult to see a team led by a quarterback rating of 71 make a run for the playoffs. 

Who knows where the Dolphins will go from here. They've lost two of their starting offensive linemen due to spilled milk. Offensive guard Richie Incognito (who was a pro-bowler last year) and tackle Jonathan Martin are gone indefinitely. It's also tough to see this team tying it's locker room up tight enough to make a run. 

Then there's San Diego who have been a bit bi-polar at times as well, losing at Oakland and following it the next week with a win over Indianapolis in which they kept Andrew Luck and the Colts out of the end zone. 

All of that being said The Titans certainly have to win themselves, but even with a lot of football left to be played they control their own destiny at this point. The good teams win the games that they should win. Jacksonville is one of those teams that the Titans have to beat and beat soundly. They haven't done that in the past. 

The Jaguars went 2-14 in 2012. One of those two wins came against the Titans. Granted the Titans were 6-10  themselves last year, but this year things seem to be different. for the Titans anyway. Now Tennessee has a legitimate shot at the post-season and the Jaguars are win-less through eight games. 

This match-up doesn't strike most as a "must win" game but it really is. If Tennessee loses to Jacksonville, not only do they not deserve a playoff spot; they won't get one. 

Chad Henne will start at quarterback for the Jags. They are ranked dead last offensively in both points-per-game (10.8) and yards-per-game (286.5) and have recently lost wide receiver Justin Blackmon (who had 415 of those yards) for the year for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. 

On the flip-side, it seems that the Titans have finally found their running game. Chris Johnson logged 23 carries for 150 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams and Shonn Greene went for 38 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Jake Locker (who was stagnant in the passing game) added another score on the ground. 

If Tennessee continues to click in the ground game, it doesn't bode well for the the Jacksonville defense who rank last in the NFL in rushing defense giving up 161 yards a game. 

The Titans defense is ranked ninth in points allowed (20.9 per game) and 11th in yards allowed (340.2 per game). Numbers do lie sometimes, but for the purposes of breaking down this week's match-up, they should hold true. Good teams win games that they should win. 

numbers courtesy of NFL.com

Week 9 crash course

I truly apologize for not posting this last week I was dealing with health issues but that's in the past. Here's the week 9 crash course. The dolphins win on Halloween on a game winning safety in overtime just the 3rd time in nfl history that's happened. I would like to send my prayers to Jonathan Martin and his family during this rough time. THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS ARE 9-0 ladies and gentleman. They struggled but hey a win is a win. Tony romo actually did something clutch but it's not the apocalypse as it came against the Vikings at home. Tennessee gets their revenge on the rams 28-21 from the Super Bowl that famously was won at the 1 yard line. Rams fans say it's okay as they have a Super Bowl instead of a regular season win. The jets beat the saints. No u did not misread that. The jets beat the saints. Washington is back in the playoff picture with a 30-24 win over the chargers in overtime. Did wood head break the plane? You make the call. Carolina has won 4 in a row. They are tied with the saints a top the NFC south. Nick files tied an nfl record with 7 TD passes. But coming against the raiders doesn't actually count. The Seahawks won a game they should have but shouldn't have. Their a top team but struggled against the worst team before turning it on to win. Tol Brady went full homo. Never go full homo. But he threw for 400 yards and most importantly got the high five. The colts beat the texans in their playoff game. We would like to send Gary kubiak and john fox our prayers here at ap sports blog. Monday night football. Bears packers. Cutler and Rodgers... On the bench? Yes McGown and Wallace were the quarterbacks. The bears won the game to end week 9.

P.s. The chiefs are the best team in the nfl!

Preview: Titans vs. Rams. by Ben Williams

Almost 15 years removed from a 23-16 loss to the St. Louis Rams in Superbowl XXXIV, Jeff Fisher will coach in a Titans vs. Rams rematch. However, this time Fisher will be coaching on the opposite side-line from the Titans.


Kevin Dyson is tackled a yard short of what would have been a game-tying touchdown on the final play of Superbowl XXXIV

Perhaps all those years should be enough to cure the woes of what could have been, but whatever bitterness the Titans organization and fan-base may still have lying around may be amplified in this seldom played match-up against the Rams and second-year Head Coach Jeff Fisher. 

Fisher Coached the Oilers/Titans for almost 17 seasons (the current longest tenure in the NFL is Bill Belichick with 13), so for Titans fans there has to be an odd sense of nostalgia heading into this game. On the flip side, as far as the players feel; maybe not so much. There are only 16 current players on the roster that were around when Fisher was at the helm. 

As to be expected, Fisher has downplayed it as just another opponent in a must win game. Fisher told reporters, "I'm not playing, and I think there's 16 players on the roster that were there when I was there So it's a different football team, so I'm excited for our guys." (per Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean) 

It is also worth mentioning that Fisher did recall his time with the Titans with fondness and thanked the Titans organization and former owner Bud Adams who passed away just over a week ago.

As for the current match-up on the field, the Titans are coming off of an extra week of rest and the Rams are coming off of a short week from their 14-9 loss to Seattle on Monday night. Titans quarterback Jake Locker and running back Shonn Greene are seemingly the biggest beneficiaries of the bye week since they both are still recovering from injury. 

That leads into the biggest key of the game for the Titans offense. According to Mike Munchak, Shonn Greene is to see a spike in his work-load (to say the least), receiving around 15 carries a game. This seems like an unrealistic number given that the Titans are averaging 27 rushing attempts per game and five of those are coming from the quarter back. Still if this is even close to being accomplished, it's encouraging for the Titans rushing game. After all, they aren't paying him $1.65 million to have two carries a game.

Even though it's his backfield, Chris Johnson is a one-type kind of back. He is an open field runner with elusiveness in space and break away speed. Greene was brought in to be the in between the tackles back that they desperately needed, but has been plagued by a knee injury since the start of the season. He did return week 7 against San Francisco, but only received one carry. One must assume he wasn't quite there yet, so with the bye week's rest and Munchak's surprising confidence he could be a factor in those tough yardage situations. 

The Rams defensive line has been a proven pass rushing threat but their run stopping ability has shown to be exploitable, giving up 86 yards a game (24th in NFL). With both backs finally healthy, the Titans have an added dimension to keep the defense guessing. 

Speaking of the running game, Zac Stacy seems to have emerged as "the guy" in Jeff Fisher's backfield. Though the Rams fell to the Seahawks, Stacy established himself as the worthy starter recording 26 rushing attempts for 134 yards. In the two previous games he recorded  17 and 18 carries. The only problem is that the Rams have failed to record a rushing touchdown so far this season.

There has also been a teak in the Titans special teams. Returner Darius Reynaud was cut after the San Francisco game and is replaced by wide receiver Damian Williams who returned kicks in college for USC.   

The emotion of the reunion with Jeff Fisher will be short-lived if not non-existent altogether. Neither of these franchises are big on creating a commotion of controversy, so there should be a few kind words and handshakes exchanged but not much more since getting this win is so important for both teams' playoff hopes. 

 Though Jake Locker seems to be 100% healthy and has shown talent in the passing game, look for this to be a Jeff Fisher-esque game with stout defense and lots of rushes. 

Chris Johnson has received a lot of grief for his comment, "If the running game doesn't get going, this is going to be another non-playoff team." That may be the smartest thing he has ever said.