Yeah, still waiting for that elusive big-time Safety to be drafted onto the roster.

The refs didn't bail him out unless they completely whiffed on the rule. The rule bailed him out that gives him the right to catch the ball till it hits the ground unless the rule was explained wrong in the telecast. If the Titans would have respected his right to catch the ball until it hits the ground, he probably would have caught it on the bounce, but then again he is Jacoby.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/gamecen...090920_HOU@TEN

I think they should be proud of their effort and mental toughness. Being on the road and being down 21-7 after giving up an easy TD, was enough for most of us fans to throw our hands in the air and say, "here we go again" and simply give up. This team had plenty of execution errors, that need to be addressed. However, they did not bow down to the like of VandenBosch or Finnegan. They stood their ground and fought, literally, for a victory. While this game shouldn't go down in the text book for how to win a game, there is a bit of an intangible element that this team showed that should be celebrated.

Dominique Barber blew the coverage when Chris Johnson was lined up out wide. By the time he figured out what happened Johnson was galloping for the endzone. We have two rookies starting on defense which further confused things. Cushing was out of position on one of Johnson's rush TD's, and Glover Quin was playing nickle back. DeMeco was trying to pull it all together, but by the time he did Johnson had done all of his damage. The defense has been doing this all pre-season and by now should be getting it figured out. We will see next week against JAX.

Would have been incomplete IF he had received it in the end zone then he MUST complete the play with full control, but he had control of it in the field of play, so all he needed to do was break the plane. IMO, he actually should have been down at the 1 yard line as it looked like his knee was down, but I will take the TD.:D

It all started with the overruled TD that the Raiders had against the Chargers that could have been a game winner..... The NFL reviewed that play and I think from now until the end of the season once the catch is made in the end zone and possession is established then that is the end of the play. Another way to see this type of play is when a receiver catches and establishes possession of the ball at the 5 yard line then dives to the pylon and loses the ball when he knocks the pylon with the ball. The pylon play ends once you score the TD. Similarly, when you catch a ball in the end zone and establish possession then that should end that play.... Thats why the play wasnt overruled.

Agreed. The team had every right to celebrate such a hard fought victory, despite the number of mistakes made in the game.

I went back and watched the Chris Johnson wide-open-for-the-TD pass play last night. At the start of play, CJ saunters out to the wideout position. At this point, the Texan linebackers haven't noticed him, in fact they seem confused as there is much shouting and shuffling around among DeMeco/Diles/Cushing. Both cornerbacks are on the other side of the field. Freddy on the wideout, Dunta on the slot. Barber who is in the middle of the field can be seen looking at Eugene Wilson and Wilson is seen looking at and emphatically pointing at one of the wide receivers on the other side of the field. I take it Wilson is saying either "that's my guy" or "that's YOUR guy". From there, you can hear the crowd's volume (eyes on CJ no doubt) begin to build and the ball snaps and it's all over.

Conclusion: just a perfect storm of inexperience, confusion and undercoaching. I believe this play got Barber yanked but after watching it, I don't think he's entirely at fault. As a safety (and the last line of defense), he (Barber) at the very least should have scanned the field and made sure all the wideouts and possible trick plays were accounted for. Eugene, too. The linebacker on that side of the field should have spotted CJ and turned around to make sure one of his safeties was in position. That's the way I see it....

So why after two games do we have the worst run offense and worst run defense in the NFL? Hard to go very far with those stats, if they continue.

On offense, seems we are almost signalling the other team that a run is coming, and we have played two excellent defenses. Perhaps we can disguise this better.

On defense, seems it is a lot on third down, first and second down is better. And we played to good run offenses. Perhaps our third down package has a lot of young players who aren't staying in their lane, a little experience will help.

"Conclusion: just a perfect storm of inexperience, confusion and undercoaching. I believe this play got Barber yanked but after watching it, I don't think he's entirely at fault. As a safety (and the last line of defense), he (Barber) at the very least should have scanned the field and made sure all the wideouts and possible trick plays were accounted for. Eugene, too. The linebacker on that side of the field should have spotted CJ and turned around to make sure one of his safeties was in position. That's the way I see it.... "

That's pretty much the way it was. However, all of these things can and should get worked out - I hope! It better be sooner than later!

I have been all for screen plays with Slaton. Especially that first game when the Jets were blitzing with no remorse. But our execution was terrible. I went back and watched that game and it looked as though we had not even been working on screen plays.

As a matter of fact it was Pitts who looked bad, when he pulled for the screen. He not only let his man come free without so much as a chip block but he ran into Duane which led Bart Scott to have a free hit on Slaton.

If we want our run game to be more effective we are gonna have to show that we are an elite passing team. We must keep defenses honest. Especially after Slaton's 3 fumbles.

That is completely unacceptable. Our safeties are almost non-existent in run support. If the LB's lose contain, its to the house everytime. Then to pore salt on the wound they are not fast either.

Thus you have:

Mike Bell 46 yd TD
Adrian Peterson 75 yd TD
Thomas Jones 39 yd TD
And worst of all...
Chris Johnson 57 yd TD, 69 rec TD, 91 yd TD

"Its only preseason" my ass.

Despite how bad the Oline looks as a unit, D. Brown has looked good against Vandenbosh. I believe the one time he got in was when O. Daniels was blocking him.

Also, Busing is starting to look like a ball hawk. He has picked couple and almost picked another when he jumped the quick slant. Not saying he is starting material but he is looking good in relief. I think that's why his playing time has increased.

Weird stat of the day:

Counting pre-season, so far in 2009, the Texans are 0-3 at home and 3-0 on the road.

Allow me to clarify. 90% of the time when a punt is muffed an a defender is standing right there in front of the return man, the kick team winds up with the football. One could argue the defender, not the refs, bailed Jones out by catching the ball in the air but the refs did take a rather obscure rule out of the rule book to give the ball back to the Texans (and tack on a 15-yard interference penalty on the defender).

Tasker, being a kick returner and gunner much of his NFL career, probably knew that rule but I'm betting most of the players and coaches didn't. It's a good thing at least one of the refs knew the rule and was also in a position to see that the ball didn't hit the ground.

The defender was simply reacting as just about any player would if a muffed catch hopped into their lap.

Hey I was screaming interference before the muff. JJ has a the right to the ball and a 2 yd cushion, the defended was in his face as the ball was coming down, the flag should have been thrown at that moment.

I was not aware of the ball hitting the ground is the trigger for the cover team, I just knew the cover guy did not allow JJ the chance to field the punt.

Just in case it wasn't mentioned, Jeff Fischer, Titans coach and on the rules committee, in his postgame comments said the refs made the right call.

In the endzone the rule is that the WR has to maintain possession through contact with the ground.His knee had already hit the ground but in the endzone you have to have possession all the way to the ground...a knee isn't enough in other words. The contact with the ground stipulation was fulfilled when Jacoby landed on the DB. He lost the ball after he "bounced" off the DB and went to the ground a second time.

I'm almost positive they got rid of the 2 yard "halo" around the punt returner. As long as you don't physically interfere with the return man you are OK.