Tennessee offense vs. Miami defense

	TITANS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	25
	Pass	10
	Tot. Yds.	15
	Scoring	9
	Int's allowed	5
	Sacks allowed	9
	DOLPHINS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	2
	vs. Pass	4
	Total yds. allowed	2
	# of Ints.	8
	# of Sacks	18
	Turnover differential	-2

Heading into the toughest part of their schedule, against teams with top secondaries in the league, the Titans are going to have to get back to establishing a steady and reliable run game. One reason that Tennessee has had trouble running the ball with consistency is because their formations and looks have been tipping the defense to the play call. In the first part of the season, every time FB Lorenzo Neal would enter the game it would be a running play. Tennessee is beginning to expand the playbook and find more plays to run with Neal in the game. The fullback has been a nice addition to the team as a punishing blocker and he has proven capable of carrying the ball as well.

The biggest matchup problem for the Titans offensively is speed. Miami's defense is extraordinarily fast up front and is blessed with two of the most athletic and confident cornerbacks in the game, Terrell Buckley and Sam Madison. WRs Yancey Thigpen and Kevin Dyson are very capable deep threats that are going to have to make their presence felt. The key on Sunday is going to be the receivers' ability to challenge Miami deep. Even if the Titans do not get a lot of yardage out of the vertical passing game, just the threat and the fact that the corners are twenty to thirty yards downfield, opens up the Titans offense and will give them much more room to work underneath.

Last week, Steve McNair's timing was not back, but with one game under his belt and another week to prepare, the offense should start clicking again. Tennessee is going to have to be very efficient in their short-to-intermediate passing game, taking advantage of a defense that congests the middle of the field and loves to gamble on the blitz.

Miami is going to challenge Tennessee up front to test McNair's ability to get rid of the ball. Even though McNair looked a bit rusty last week, it seems as if the time spent on the sideline has helped the quarterback. He seems more in control of the offense and knows where to go with the ball on hot-reads. Sometimes quarterbacks can benefit from watching games and seeing the action from a coach's perspective. The game seems to have slowed down a bit for McNair and it would not be a surprise if he flourished in this offense for the remainder of the season.

QB Damon Huard has not made a lot of mistakes when faced with pressure, but he has also not shown the ability to beat the blitz. The Dolphins are going to once again turn to the running game to decide the tempo on Sunday. Jimmy Johnson is pleased with the steady improvement of the play of rookies Cecil Collins and J.J. Johnson.

The Dolphins feel they will be able to neutralize the blitz by running the ball off-tackle to the strong side against the "46" pressure. Tennessee likes to stack the strong side on the blitz, splitting the tackle and tight end with a rush from the defensive end and outside linebacker. Miami is confident in its offensive tackles (Richmond Webb and James Brown) and tight end Troy Drayton to redirect the rush and open a hole for the back to catch the defense upfield.

Miami is going to have to be able to run the ball with consistency of first and second downs Sunday to avoid disaster. The Dolphins are converting 38% of their third downs under Huard (20-of-52), and the Titans will prey on Huard if they get him in third-and-long situations.

The Titan's defense is designed to force teams into throwing down the field. By using seven-and-eight men in the pass rush, it obviously leaves a lot of pressure on the corners, but it also gives the quarterback limited time to wait for his receivers to come out of their breaks. So many times against the Titans, teams are forced into third-and-ten situations where all they can do is dump the ball off underneath to pick up a couple of yards and then are forced to punt. The only way to beat this pressure cooker of a defense is to ground it out and wear down the front seven.

Two things happen if the Titans establish a run game on Miami: 1) Neutralizes Miami's pass rush, which will limit mistakes and hopefully turnovers. 2) Wears down the Dolphins lightening-fast defense and provides a chance to make some big plays in the fourth quarter against a much slower unit.