FWtex

I admit it, I have a big man crush on Jeffe Fisher. How i wish he was the saints coach because he always has his team ready to play after around week 3.

I was in Houston when Jeff fisher was named head coach. There was no doubt in anyones mind in Texas or Tennessee that Fisher was no more than a one year bridge to take the oilers to the titans. Problem was the oilers won that year and so have the titans ever since. Heck, there were rumors Fisher was on the hotseat last year if the titans did not make the playoffs. ???

This is why I have problems with picking the saints to win this week.




UNSUNG POWERHOUSE

Tennessee has two straight 13-win seasons and two division titles in the past three seasons, but the Titans don't get a lot of hype about their steady success


Wednesday September 17, 2003


By Dave Lagarde
Staff writer

Quick question.

Can you name the NFL team with the most victories over the past four seasons?


Go to the head of the class if you answered the Tennessee Titans, who host the Saints on Sunday.

The Titans -- 44-20 over that time frame -- have succeeded without a whole lot of flash and dash. They don't get a whole lot of acclaim or notice -- not one player was chosen to participate in last season's Pro Bowl. This despite the fact that over that span, the club had consecutive 13-victory seasons, two division titles and appearances in the Super Bowl and the AFC championship game.

Tennessee also knows more than a little about overcoming adversity. The Titans started 2002 in a 1-4 hole but came back by winning 10 of their last 11 regular-season games on their way to the AFC South title.

The Titans return the nucleus of last season's team, though the offseason brought some changes to the salary-cap strapped roster. Tennessee lost veteran experience in nickel back Donald Mitchell, defensive tackle John Thornton, center Gennaro DiNapoli, backup quarterback Neil O'Donnell and veteran middle linebacker Randall Godfrey.

The Titans did not make a significant free-agent addition, using the draft to address their biggest needs: bolstering a porous pass defense and adding speed on offense. The thinking was it was enough for another title run before this group's window of opportunity closed.

Although Tennessee avenged its AFC championship loss to the Oakland Raiders in the season opener, the Titans were waylaid last Sunday at Indianapolis, losing 33-7 to the Colts and getting beaten up in the process. Spark plug Steve McNair, who already was nursing a tender knee, dislocated the ring finger on his right hand. McNair, who rarely practiced with the team during its run to the South title and AFC championship game, is expected to play Sunday.

It's another story for guard Benji Olson, who injured a knee and will miss several weeks, and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, who is expected to miss playing time because of a partially dislocated left elbow. The absence of tight end Frank Wycheck, a key ingredient in the Titans' passing game, compounds those injuries. He suffered a concussion in the Titans' second exhibition game and another against the Raiders.

"We are not in a situation where things are OK and we're the team to beat," Coach Jeff Fisher said Monday. "We have a long way to go. We have a lot of things to be corrected and a lot of improving to do."

And the Titans need to get healthy, but as they proved last season, they remain a dangerous team when wounded. McNair is the main reason.

"We know from the past that he is the guy who makes that team go," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "He's a big man with a big arm. He's the guy we have to stop."

. . . . . . .

BlackandBlue