- Messages
- 5,432
- Reaction score
- 0
Titans throw different pitch at opponents
IRVING, Texas – It’s tough enough to get ready for a 2,000-yard rusher. The threat of Vince Young -- and the various wrinkles the Titans use to take advantage of his unique skills -- complicate the process of preparing for Chris Johnson.
For instance, it isn’t often that an NFL team has to work on defending the option. But Wade Phillips has to get back to his Southwest Conference roots a bit this week.
The Titans don’t run the option often. But it’s still something the Cowboys will have to spend time preparing for on the practice field and in the meeting room.
“They run two or three plays of option, but that’s enough to throw you off,” Phillips said. “We don’t see option normally so it presents a problem in that they’ve got a quarterback who’s going to the pitch and our players [normally] don’t have to worry about that.
“If you put it in too much, you’re starting to play the option all the time and you’re not playing the regular running game. It’s just something different that causes you problems.”
The Titans force foes to guess a little bit about the option by implementing new wrinkles on a weekly basis.
But linebacker Keith Brooking said the Cowboys can’t afford to let the option take their focus away from the Titans’ bread and butter.
“They want you to look at it on film and talk about it all week and focus on that, and they run it twice a game and kill you with everything else,” Brooking said. “Not saying we aren’t focused on it and aren’t working on it, because we’ve worked on it a lot, but it’s not something that you just want to absolutely get concerned over.
“The majority of their running game is stuff you see week in and week out in this league. You work on it and go over the assignments and things like that, but the critical thing is being mistake-free and everyone being on their assignment and doing what they’re supposed to do. Then you just move on and worry about the majority of their running game.”
IRVING, Texas – It’s tough enough to get ready for a 2,000-yard rusher. The threat of Vince Young -- and the various wrinkles the Titans use to take advantage of his unique skills -- complicate the process of preparing for Chris Johnson.
For instance, it isn’t often that an NFL team has to work on defending the option. But Wade Phillips has to get back to his Southwest Conference roots a bit this week.
The Titans don’t run the option often. But it’s still something the Cowboys will have to spend time preparing for on the practice field and in the meeting room.
“They run two or three plays of option, but that’s enough to throw you off,” Phillips said. “We don’t see option normally so it presents a problem in that they’ve got a quarterback who’s going to the pitch and our players [normally] don’t have to worry about that.
“If you put it in too much, you’re starting to play the option all the time and you’re not playing the regular running game. It’s just something different that causes you problems.”
The Titans force foes to guess a little bit about the option by implementing new wrinkles on a weekly basis.
But linebacker Keith Brooking said the Cowboys can’t afford to let the option take their focus away from the Titans’ bread and butter.
“They want you to look at it on film and talk about it all week and focus on that, and they run it twice a game and kill you with everything else,” Brooking said. “Not saying we aren’t focused on it and aren’t working on it, because we’ve worked on it a lot, but it’s not something that you just want to absolutely get concerned over.
“The majority of their running game is stuff you see week in and week out in this league. You work on it and go over the assignments and things like that, but the critical thing is being mistake-free and everyone being on their assignment and doing what they’re supposed to do. Then you just move on and worry about the majority of their running game.”