2008 Titans (July 9th is 'Jeff Fisher Day'??)

[74_75_78_79_]

Interesting article...

https://www.theringer.com/2018/8/7/1765 ... is-johnson

1999 thru 2003 can be seen as the "oasis"-period of Jeff Fisher fielding contenders in his HC-ing career. Otherwise, before and after, mediocrity all around. And even within that very..."oasis" was a 7-9 blemish which was his 2001 season.

But right before his time in Nashville was up, he experienced one last whiff. First a mere playoff campaign in '07 that's currently being discussed on the latest "worst playoff team" thread, and then this very 2008 campaign which is discussed here.

A 13-3 top-seed, but I remember going into the playoffs not being too utterly impressed. I wasn't exactly mistakening them for the 2000 Titans who I think we can all agree was Jeff's best-ever team despite going one-and-done unlike '99.

In 2000, as the case with 2008, it also was the Titans & G-men being the two top-seeds. And thinking about a possible SB matchup between the two in the former year I can't help but to see that as Titans steamrolling over them. 2008, however, despite Tenn actually having a better record than the defending-Champs, I saw a noticeable gap separating the two; not as noticeable as '00, but still enough. Kerry Collins, who yes was NYG's QB in 2000 and now Tenn's QB, didn't exactly strike fear in hearts.

I know they convincingly beat the Steelers penultimate week, the game that won them top-seed, but I really feel that had they met again in Nashville for the NFCC, the Steelers win this time. Yes, it was the Ravens that knocked the Titans out in the divisional round as they, of course, also did in 2000.

I've pointed out before that there are parallels between the '79 and '08 Steelers...

viewtopic.php?p=3922&hilit=parallels#p3922

You can say that these Titans fulfilled the role of the '79 Chargers - beating Steelers convincingly thus getting home-field because.

Solid run-game and defense as the case during the aforementioned "oasis"-period, but 2008 to me not quite on par. That said, and one can say what they want about Jeff's shortcomings, but I thought while with the Rams that he'd return to the playoffs. Forgot the exact season, but I wrongly predicted they finishing top-seed.

So what are your takes on this 2008 Titans installment?

[CSKreager]

8 of their 13 wins were against teams .500 or better so they weren’t the beneficiaries of a weak schedule (heck they only played 1 game against the historically bad West Divisions)

[74_75_78_79_]

8 of their 13 wins were against teams .500 or better so they weren’t the beneficiaries of a weak schedule (heck they only played 1 game against the historically bad West Divisions)

Yes, not a soft schedule. I didn't really think they were a paper-tiger going in. But I just didn't see them going to the Super Bowl. I don't remember what my take was going into the divisional round, but I'd guess I thought Titans would beat the Ravens.

Their defense, though great, wasn't up there with eight years prior, and McNair/Eddie George quite the better QB/RB(s) combination. '08 had the 21st best offense with such a weak passing game - but just 9 INTs total that regular season FWIW.

I just dug up that 'Rams finishing top-seed' prediction! It was going into 2015, nine years ago...

https://www.profootballresearchers.com/ ... php?t=3137

Not just top-seed but I did have them going to the Super Bowl - and then losing to the Pats with Tom winning MVP. The wrong thing to think obviously in hindsight, but my 'logic' of the predicted Super Bowl berth was that after consecutive years of mediocrity, Fisher's Titans exploded in '99! Well, after 7-8-1, 7-9, and 6-10, I thought it'd happen for the Rams.

Back to the '08 Titans - again, not a soft schedule nor a paper tiger. Perhaps simply a 12-4 or a strong 11-5 trapped inside that 13-3 veneer. Just a little bit worse than their actual record IMO, not at all alot. They beat winners in the Vikings and the Colts, the latter being their only meaningful game vs them (the other one - a loss - being in the finale), and also beat two winners on the road vs Harbaugh's Ravens and Lovie's Bears.

However, they were the team that Favre's Jets (just coming off a big win at NE, mind you) walloped at Nashville, handing them their first loss, dropping them to 10-1 with NYJ peaking at 8-3 before their 1-4 slide that infamously costed them the playoffs.

[CSKreager]

Tennessee also had a +141 point (best in 2008) so it’s not like they were barely scraping by