Scouting Report: Know your Titans

Breaking down the Tennessee Titans this year is an exercise in forgetting the past. After going 13-3 last season the Titans stumbled out of the gates in 2009, dropping their first six games and looking progressively worse with each outing. Their troubles came to a climax in a week six loss in New England, a game in which the Patriots scored 45 first half points en route to a 59-0 win. The Titans passed for -7 yards that day, and had a new QB the next time they took the field. Since then the team has reeled off four consecutive wins and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Titans on offense:

The Titans are an easy team to figure out on offense. They are going to run, run, and run some more.

Running back Chris Johnson leads the NFL in rushing with 1,242 yards in just 10 games. The second-year back out of East Carolina is one of the fastest players in the league and is a strong runner between the tackles as well. He has rushed for over 100 yards in six games this season, including the last five, and has had outstanding rushing totals of 197, 228 and 151 this season.

The Cardinals front seven will have their hands full with Johnson and his speed, but will also need to prepare for the strength and size that LenDale White possesses. The fourth year pro out of USC is mostly used in the red zone and, while he is having a down year, is just one season removed from a 15 touchdown season.

Another threat to run is the Titans' QB Vince Young. Young's career has taken an interesting arc, as he led the Titans to the playoffs in second season after finishing his rookie year as the starter, but lost the starting job to veteran Kerry Collins early last year. Never known for his passing proficiency, Young's strength is making plays on and with his feet.

He has completed just 57.9 percent of his passes in his career, but carries a career-best 62.9 percent mark into Sunday's game. He has thrown 25 touchdowns against 34 career interceptions, and averages just 6.5 yards per pass. However, his ability to make plays in the running game is what makes him dangerous. If the Cardinals can slow down the run and make the Titans take to the air they are likely to find success, as Young does not have one reliable receiving option to throw the ball to. Rookie Kenny Britt leads the Titans with 26 receptions and Nate Washington with five touchdowns, but between those two, Justin Gage, Bo Scaife and Alge Crumpler the Titans are not exactly equipped for an aerial assault.

Titans on defense:

The Titans staked their reputation with a tough defense that keeps the team in the game. Losing stud tackle Albert Haynesworth to the Redskins in free agency has proven to be a significant blow to a team that has certainly taken a step back from the elite defenses in the NFL.

Still, with former Cardinal Kyle Vanden Bosch back healthy the Titans can rush the passer, and second year end William Hayes has started to come on, with four sacks on the year and 2.5 in his last three games.

The strength of the defense, however, still remains with the group of linebackers. Keith Bulluck leads the team with 81 tackles and is strong stuffing the run and in coverage. Fellow linebacker Stephen Tulloch is second on the team with 78 tackles, and the fourth year pro also has the ability to rush the passer.

A sign of how much the defense has regressed might be the fact that safeties Chris Hope and Michael Griffin are third and fourth, respectively, on the team in tackles. Both are solid in coverage and in run support, but are likely going to be needed to help out over the top with the Cardinals' quartet of playmaking receivers.

The first line of defense on the receivers will be corners Cortland Finnegan and Nick Harper. Finnegan made a name for himself last year as a good, hard-nosed player, after he totaled five interceptions in a season that saw him earn a spot in the Pro Bowl. At 5'10 Finnegan is likely to have a hard time with the size and strength of Arizona's receivers and will have to do a good job of jamming them at the line of scrimmage and disrupting routes downfield.

The veteran Harper, in his third season with the Titans after six with the Colts, is a solid corner who will not make mistakes, but whose days as a big time playmaker are likely coming to an end, and the Titans' smaller secondary will have a difficult time matching up with the size that Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Steve Breaston and Early Doucet bring to the field.