1. Eddie George is thru; 2.9YPC says it
all, IMO.
2. Benji Olsen is questionable and if he can't go then the Titans are
left with either Tom Ackerman (who got abused in relief of Pillar last year) or
Todd Williams who is a 7th round rookie.
3. Drew Bennett is perhaps out for this tussle but Tyrone Calico is one
hell of an athlete. Tho really raw, he does have 2 TD on 2 catches this
season. Calico is much too big and fast for the top 5 Steelers DB, so
experience will be at issue. Really, pressure on McNair altho it is
noteworthy that Ike Taylor knocked Calico out of a game last season.
4. Wychek won't play but TE Erron Kinney and Shad Meier have responded
with 10 and 8 grabs respectively.
Key stat:
The Titans have allowed 8 sacks in 3 games; they gave 5 against Indy in the
course of absorbing a savage beatdown. All 5 were recorded by speed guys:
Freeney, Rahaim Brock , Chad Bratzke had 1 each, Robert Mathis 2. IMO,
the Titan OT are getting too old to deal with that mode.
On the other side:
5. The Titans play nickel at least 60% of the time; so, MLB Rocky Calmus
is largely irrelevant. Last week, the Titans went to the nickel 34 of 41
snaps.� We'll see a lot of Andre
Woolfolk a player with Taylor-like athletic ability. It is a matter of
record that Woolfolk had very little more experience as a college CB than
Taylor (parts of 2 seasons vs. all of one). So one wonders: if Andre, why
not Ike?
6. The Titans are superb against the run. They are #1 in YPG; also,
in the past 2 games against, the Steelers have averaged just 55 YPG. IMO,
the twin keys are:
6a. The Titans keep 4 DL on the field in their nickel as the Steelers can
not.
6b. Their safeties make a lot of tackles, as does Bullock. In fact,
the interchangeability of Bullock and Tank drives that set, IMO. That so:
To win, the Steelers have to run. To run, they have to get the S out of
the box. To accomplish that, they have to pass successfully and, all
things being equal, they can (as, IMO, you've overrated Dyson, especially) if,
but only if, they protect their QB.
Key stat: the Titans have 0 INT.
Key matchup: The Titans like to put Kearse and Carter on the same
side; look out Todd, look out Tommy. The Steelers are going
to have to play a quantity of SG, single back and/or they're going to have to
bunch to that DE-strong side, IMO.