I have to agree and give the O-line is the "Most Improved Award" for this game. They enabled Chad to have that extra second he needed to spread the wealth around the field, which in turn set the Titans back on their heels. Even the announcers said that the secondary started backing up several yards, and that, in turn, enabled some small semblance of a running game when they did. Under Herm, especially last year, we never had that. And none of our QBs ever had enough time to throw as deep a ball as was thrown to Coles, for example, in the 4th quarter. But to me, the biggest difference was the aggressiveness of the HC. Mangini truly did "play to win the game," where Herm only talked about doing it and then didn't have the balls to do it. The 4th quarter pass to Coles (and then the one to Baker at 16-16) pretty much put the game away. Had we settled for the safety of a FG, which is what Herm would have done given the fact that the Titans had turned the momentum around with such conviction, the Titans would have taken the ball down the field and not had to answer with TD. Then we'd be looking at OT and it might have changed the entire outcome. Kudos to the O-line and especially coach Mangini.
Let's look at the 3 scenarios. If a safety: Jets up by 6, Tennessee ball at their own 30. If the Jets recover. Jets up by 8, they punt, Tennessee ball at Jets 45. If the Titans recover. Jets up by 8, Tennessee ball at Jets 1 (aka, one play away from having a chance to tie it) Best case scenario is the Jets recovering and punting it, followed closely by the safety. You play to win the game, right? Well, you trust your defense. If you can't stop Kerry Collins and the offense which has done NOTHING all game from getting 70 yards, you deserve to lose. The last scenario is by FAR the worst. I also don't know about you, but I'd rather have a 6 point lead against a team that can't score and has to go 70 yards than a 2 point lead with a team having virtually 4th and goal from the 2 to tie it up. That's basically what you're saying.
And Tony Wise, the OL coach. He took this group in TC and had his work cut out for him, knowing two rooks would be starting, not much quality depth, and a past his prime Kendall. I watched Wise whip and teach these guys in TC, and I think they could be good with a few games under their belts. Kapnick did a nice job filling in, too, but I want to see them improve every week. Whatever success they have this year will be a direct reflection on Wise.
You are pidgeon-holing the arguement too much. You act like it's impossible for Tennessee to march downfield, simply because they had trouble to that point. You are forgetting how much we yelled in the past few years that the D had too much to do to help out the offense all the time. When they burned out in the 4Q, the fingers were pointed. You are ignoring that we were on the road. The worst thing you can do on the road is give up points. Ever. Even 2 is 2 too many. If you have so much confidence in the D holding, why not give them a shot to make 3 good plays, with no ground to cover? Then add the crowd into the mix. They exploded in the second half. That stadium was loud on my tv, I can just imagine how it must have been on the field. I'm not saying the Titans would definitely have won, but giving them two, and the ball right away is deadly. If they take their time, put together a nice drive, and cap it with a score, we are sitting here talking about how Mangold's safety cost us the game.
Actually, I thought that the way that our first possession was called so that the rookies could get the butterflies out of their stomachs. The difference between the first two possessions was simply too much to have been otherwise. First possession had no motion and simple straight ahead blocking. Second possession had lots of motion and HARD counts. I think that they wanted to get them settled in first so that they could open up the playbook as the game wore on. Then again, I might be making our coaches sound a lot more smarter than they are and they simply adjusted to what Tenn's defense was doing.
With a 6 point lead, you take the safety there EVERY time. Anyone remember being up by 6 under Parcells and him making Vinny throw the ball out the back of the endzone? You're still up by 4 points, so if you can stop them from scoring a TD, you still win the game. 5 point lead or less and it's a totally different story. You're going to need to put up one more scoring drive, so if time is a factor, taking the safety is not a good option.
overall i think the main difference i saw in the offense was the ability for chad to stay in the pocket and get rid off the ball...he threw the ball with authority all day and he also looked decently mobile, escaping pressure by stepping up and delivering good passes( that pass called back for holding that was a TD to cotch is a good example.)
