Week 1 happened, Week 2 is about twelve hours away!

Recap of the opener:

Our run defense is a thing to bring children up on. Seriously, if they just showed film of our linebackers clotheslining RBs in the backfield instead of 'teaching', our schools would be fixed.

Ziggy Hood is roided up to the point that he looks like Bane. Awesome.

Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel have never looked meaner.

Big Snack injured? I didn't get the full story there. Hope to see him tomorrow.

Timmons' preseason was not a fluke: dude looks fantastic going against the other team's starters. Could he overtake Potsie for team leader in tackles? Very possible, if he stays healthy. Larry Foote is looking more and more like a guy we cut after week 2 and bring back in week 12 when we realize football kills all of our players.

Harrison and Woodley continue to be terrifying death machines. Nothing new here. A lot of uncalled holding, matched by unbridled violence. Yawn.

Farrior looked better, and it makes me wonder if he was really as bad as he looked last year. Maybe he really is just a system guy who gets a tremendous boost from having Troy Polamalu as one of his playmakers? That seems entirely likely, and it looks like that "step he was missing" will be replaced by the five extra steps #43 contributes.

On the offensive side of the football, there was Bruce Arians, calling up the most satisfying offensive game plan we've seen since 1979. Seriously, though: he had a fullback on the field, almost every running down, AND he had Dixon hand off to the FB! Amazing! Did this game plan blow the other team away? No, of course not. It was a fantastically inefficient indulgence in a run heavy strategy; still, that's the side we want to see them erring on, as opposed to getting sacked on 3rd and short.

Isaac Redman is fun. He lined up at FB and HB. That's fun. That's what Franco and Rocky and Frenchy used to do. That's what MEN were meant to do. Was he great? Eh... Whatever. We like to watch fatties in the backfield who can run with the ball and we got it.

Mendenhall was okay. He spun-moved his way to victory, and that was fantastic. Outside of that, he was okay. Nothing particularly memorable. In the future, maybe we could get a stiff arm or dropped shoulder for every two spins? Would like to see more fight, less flight.

Randle-El is exactly as we remembered him. He does this thing that can't be recreated in a video game, where he has a catch rating in the low 80s, but an emotional exhibition rating of 99+. To be honest, I'm not sure how much I like it. Yeah, I get that he's pissed that he dropped a ball, but what does it ultimately contribute to our chances of winning, having him cartwheel around in frustration over it? My memory of him is thus: bad hands, big heart in the 2005 regular season; some fantastic catches and a beautiful throw in the playoffs; and then a return to mediocrity and passionate outbursts with the Redskins. I guess I'm just curious as to whether he can channel his emotion into focus?

Hines Ward is my spiritual leader. After that catch he made where he hit the ground, and then rolled out from under the touch defender! Holy shit! He's so fucking heads up! THAT is the ultimate example of playing the game the right way. He saw an extra yard available to him, and in order to get it he had to backpedal 5, and get hit all over again.

Okay... Dixon. I really liked the idea behind the script they gave him. It was basically just "DON'T FUCK UP." That was a good idea for week one, playing a decent team that could be tamed by our defense. As the game wore on, though, it became more and more clear to everyone watching that the dude was all nerves and wasn't allowing himself to throw long. At some point in the second quarter, they showed clips from other games, where Eli "decent quarterback" Manning tossed a beautiful ball into the corner of the endzone from 20 yards out; followed by Peyton "best passer in history, ever" Manning throwing a bullet from 30 yards out into traffic and hitting Reggie Wayne in motion; capped off by Vince "kind of comparable to Dennis Dixon" Young bombing one across half the field to hit a receiver who had stunned the secondary. And this highlight reel, it made me think to myself "wow, we haven't seen any of that this season." I'd suggest that Dixon can do it. I don't think he has a noodle arm. I think the plan they gave him was to pick apart a relatively young LB core, and just protect the ball. On top of that, I think he was nervous as all get out. His pass to Heath that got picked: terrible. It looked like a Madden interception, where the player doesn't have a clear perception of 2D depth, and thus holds the button too long instead of arcing it. Do I expect more of that? Sure. He's not fantastic, and because of that he'll never be comfortable enough to learn how to execute certain reads. That's the Kordell Stewart level of competency. Can he still be successful? Sure. Not terribly successful, but good enough.

This week, I expect to see him throw a bomb against the Titans' secondary. Probably early.

The Titans should be the favorites here. We're going to Nashville, where they mauled us in 08. They have the best RB in football, along with a dynamic athlete at QB. Do they have a playmaking receiver? Not really, but we don't really have a shutdown corner. If you didn't notice, the Falcons' passing gameplan was all about hitting seam routes and come backs to try to test the tackling abilities of Bryant McFadden. He passed the test as far as containment went, but he sucked at coverage and allowed far too many balls to be caught. Same is true of Clark and Taylor. Expect the Titans to come out throwing at our CBs.

Last time we met was opening night of last season. Chris Johnson, the outstanding running back who owned the league, was pretty much tamed by our front seven. What we'll see tomorrow will be a fantastic battle of wills. If we can break him early, we'll be fine. If he finds a hole, or Vince Young is able to expose the soft spots in our under coverage, then you should expect him to penetrate our line in a huge way, before the end.

I like Chris Johnson. He's got a very quick cut, and excellent open field speed. I don't think he's anything special, in terms of redefining the position. Yes, he ran for 2,000 yards last year, and that's a rare achievement. One time Pat and I drank over 30 beers each in your living room. Could we do it again? Probably. But ask us to do it several days in a row. Chris Johnson is being asked to do a ridiculous thing every season, and his body will eventually die because of it.

Vince Young is a step above Slash, step below McNabb on the mobile QB list. McNair? Perhaps? Decent enough comparison, though probably a better runner, and weaker passer. Not nearly as fast as Vick, not nearly as foolhardy as Tebow, but much more confident as a playmaker than a guy like Dixon. If we had someone on offense who could take over the game, and force Young to beat our defense, he couldn't. However, because he knows that he doesn't have to do it all himself, he can play a much more conservative passing game, and wild running game against our D.

That's probably the number one reason why the Titans have the edge. They run very well, and the only thing that limits them from continuing to run isn't great run defense; it's being behind in the score.

Expect field goals. And more outstanding punting (Sepulveda for MVP!). And some shockingly great battles on the ground.

This will be good football that we will be approaching without a clear advantage.