NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- On the sideline of the Tennessee Titans, just seconds after Leon Washington embarrassed an allegedly great Titans defense by running 61 yards for a touchdown practically untouched, a portable heater on the Tennessee sideline began spewing billows of smoke.
It sputtered and coughed, kicking out a dark cloud into the faces of nearby Titans players. Finally, after a few minutes, center Kevin Mawae braved the lethal mist and pulled the plug.
If only someone had been so merciful to the Titans. They'd begun spewing and choking hours earlier.
In one overcast afternoon we saw the most overrated 10-0 team in NFL history get obliterated and another bunch, the New York Jets, elevate themselves to the best in the AFC.
If you've been waiting for Brett Favre to crash back into his old habits of chuck and duck, and the Jets to de-evolve into the Same Old Jets, you might be waiting for a long while based on their impressive battering of the Titans, 34-13, at LP Field. That's two consecutive road victories for the Jets as they beat New England last week.
The Titans rose to 10-0 by playing smart football. Their quarterback play was efficient, the defense thought to be stifling and the Tennessee run game punishing. Against the Jets someone replaced the Titans with the bodies of the San Francisco 49ers and Kerry Collins played like Joan Collins.
Don't let the score fool you. It wasn't that close. A play or two more and the Jets could've scored 50. They toyed with the Titans all game displaying a wonderful blend of defense, play calling stratagem and Favre.
The fans here were outraged over several pass interference penalties and began chanting that the refs -- ahem -- stink. This game had nothing to do with the officials and everything to do with the Jets demonstrating what the Titans are.
Tennessee is a good team. They're a solid team. They're also no lock for the Super Bowl and now they certainly aren't the best team in the conference.
The Jets are.
After the game linebacker Keith Bulluck, as funny as he is talented, put on a show for a small group of media, alternating between defending the Titans and showing begrudging respect for the Jets. Like the Tennessee fans, he wasn't happy with some of the officiating.
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| Albert Haynesworth should be sad, knowing the Jets are the better team. (AP) |
Bulluck then said that the two best teams in the NFL are in New York (technically they both play their home games in New Jersey). He could barely contain his smirk after making the statement.
You're being sarcastic, right, I asked?
"Very," said Bulluck. "Facetious."
"Now we know for the next time we play them," Bulluck said of the Jets. "It'll be a different game next time."
You mean, there's going to be a next time, I asked?
"It's up to them," he said.
The bottom line is Mercury Morris and his Miami Dolphins can crack open another bottle of bubbly and toast away. No one's going undefeated this year.
The Jets may have also perfectly diagrammed the way to beat the Titans, though it does take a highly accurate pass thrower to pull it off. While Bulluck at first said the Jets threw in wrinkles they hadn't seen before, then backed off the statement, his teammate, defensive lineman Tony Brown, said the Jets ran more of a quick movement offense.
New York shallowed the drop-backs for Favre and Jets receivers shortened their routes. "We wanted to come out and pass the ball short because we knew what type of pass rush they had," said Jets receiver Laveranues Coles. "Their d-line is excellent. They never had to rush more than four guys to get pressure when we watched them on film. We wanted to get them going early and get the ball out of Brett's hands so he wouldn't have to take any licks. From there, try to build our ground game and make them have to sit back in Cover 2."
Throw in how Jets runner Thomas Jones gashed the Titans for 96 yards on 21 carries and it was the perfect combination for an upset.
"I can't imagine how many rushing yards they had," said Bulluck.
Sorry Keith: It was 192 in all. Nothing like this had been done to the Titans all year and running the ball so effectively allowed the Jets offense to stay on the field for 40 minutes. Forty minutes.
But if you're coach Jeff Fisher, the most disturbing aspect from the game has to be the number of mental errors made by the Titans. It was stunning, actually, to watch them transform from perfection into a sloppy group. It wasn't just the eight penalties for 60 yards. The Titans had at least four key dropped passes and about as many key missed tackles.
One website put together a list of all 10-0 teams since 1966. It's an impressive group and includes such teams as the 1990 San Francisco 49ers and 1998 Denver Broncos, and while the Titans deserve respect for their start Tennessee isn't on the same level as some of those franchises.
It's not even close.
Anyone who puts these Titans in the class of those other teams is just blowing smoke.
