Derrick Henry breaks a long run against the Texans. Photo by Donald Page
The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard!
Before we get into the beef of this enchilada, Titans talk, let me say this: life is beautiful and, sadly, we have a good percentage of Americans so afraid of dying they have stopped living. This edition hit the press before the election results, so whatever happens I know one truth—my family and I will be fine. That is the result of being raised to think for myself and to make the best of a bad situation. You can cry about the hand that life dealt you, or play it.
With that said, one of the most important things to me and my family is keeping the country open regardless of COVID-19, even if cases rise 500% in the next month. The fact is, this virus has a more than 99% survival rate among those who get it. Real numbers! But Train Daddy, what about the elderly? Funny how so many of you feel responsible now for a group of people many happily ignored prior to COVID. The elderly obviously deserve extra attention now, and they deserved that same attention even before COVID hit. I guess it is another good thing that the survival rate for ages 70 and up is nearly 95%.
I take heart knowing that working Americans would never allow another shutdown. Let the government try again and see what happens. It’s no threat, just a truth! Maybe it is a threat, and if it is, oh well. This isn’t a threat of violence or looting or burning one’s city, it’s just the promise of civil disobedience and not complying to any future mandates or laws hindering Americans’ rights to provide.
Its no secret that if Biden wins the election the chances of another shutdown drastically increase. Biden says moronic things like “I’m going to shut down the virus, not the country.” Please, someone explain to me what that means because it sounds like an oxymoron to me. The fact is, this virus is real, it’s spreading, and Europe proved it cannot be contained through harsh lockdowns, though European nations once again have decided to screw their economies even more with more recent lockdowns after COVID spikes.
When Trump says the solution can’t be worse than the problem, that resonates with me and with many. What do these people want? For Americans to stay locked inside for over a year until we start begging for government cheese?
One of the smartest men I know recently said he believed it was a good thing that the numbers for COVID have continued to rise, that it’s inevitable and that herd immunity was the solution. Even if we had a vaccine, though, many wouldn’t take it voluntarily. If you are a lockdown junkie, your ears are probably bleeding. We all face death eventually and life is too short to not live it to the fullest.
I hope that as we enter November and December I can focus on sports. With that said, it is announced in my opening—the same intro I have had for almost a decade writing for the Murfreesboro Pulse: “sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk.” I may specialize in talking sports, but I never claimed to be writing a one-topic article and my respect goes to the editor in chief of this great paper for allowing me that freedom.
Where my Titans people at? What a ride to start the season. At least we kicked the season off in the first place. We started with a summer simply not knowing if we would have football or not. We had many lobbying groups doing everything in their power to convince Americans football simply was just too dangerous to play with the COVID outbreak.
We had a small handful of NFL players decide to opt out of the season. The NFL allowed these players to opt-out and even paid them.
With that out of the way, NFL teams around the country attempted to get shortened training camps underway even though it was all very unorthodox. We had no pre-season games and the Titans opened week 1 in Denver on Monday Night Football. It was an exciting two-point victory in which kicker Stephen Gostkowski was horrendous, missing four kicks for the first time in his career, though he nailed a 25-yarder for the win. The Titans followed that up with two more close victories against the Jags and Vikings.
Then COVID hit the Titans and all hell broke loose. The Steelers game was up in the air, and after what seemed like a month of never-ending new cases it ended. The Steelers game was rescheduled and, after weeks of national backlash from the media and opposing players saying the Titans broke COVID protocols, the Titans were given redemption on Oct. 13. They humiliated a Bills team that was on fire in Nashville and it was also announced that night that no Titans player or staff member willingly broke COVID protocols and that the organization would face no punishment. The team was slapped on the wrist eventually with a fine. Whatever.
We followed that up with a thrilling overtime victory versus the Texans that will go down as one of the most exciting games in the history of Titans home games. Wish I had been there! I would’ve been if it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to go see a socially distanced game!
Following that week, we had the big game: the postponed matchup with the Steelers, the battle of the undefeated teams, 5–0 versus 5–0! We saw the best defense in the NFL up against one of the most productive offenses in the NFL. Tennessee decided not to show up in the first half of that game. They trailed 27–7 at one point in the third quarter but the Titans showed they have heart and brought it to within three points only to have Gostkowski miss a 45-yarder with only 19 seconds left. A heartbreaker!
That leads us into the Bengals game—a game where you had a 5–1 team ready to have a bounceback versus a 1–5–1 team in the Bengals that was facing major injury issues. The Titans defense decided not to show up, Gostkowski continued his slump of missing important field goals and the Titans offense didn’t hum like it had been doing all season. A rookie, Joe Burrow, led the Bengals and picked apart what has become a very apparent bad Titans defense. Joe, by all accounts, is the front runner for 2020’s rookie of the year award with only Justin Herbert in the way.
So, what are my thoughts on the current state of the Tennessee Titans after that loss?
The offense has been playing very well this season and Tannehill has earned the right to have a questionable game. The Titans offense is scoring big and fast and they are the least of my concerns.
I don’t know what to say about Gostkowski. He won some very big games for us in the beginning of the season but has been pretty unreliable. I feel like right now after this Bengals game Stephen Gostkowski, the future Hall of Famer, is on thin ice. If he doesn’t come through in the future it’s going to break and we will have to say bye-bye. I really hope he can get his groove back, and I’m rooting for him.
The Titans defense is another matter. The Titans DBs have been horrendous. They can’t cover to save their lives. They made the Bengals receiver core look like three Jerry Rices out there running routes. The Titans have invested a lot into the pass rush and, sadly, they have been more than disappointing not being able to get to the quarterback. I do not have much good to say about this defense. Frankly, it’s bad and if it’s not fixed the Titans won’t have a chance. Luckily, it’s a long season and Coach Vrabel has proved he is more than competent. It is fair to say they have shown moments. It was the defense that gave us a chance against the Steelers getting a couple much-needed turnovers in the second half of that game.
The return of star corner Adoree’ Jackson will be a major help. He has been on injured reserve since week 1 and hasn’t played a snap. Looking at the roster, I don’t see anyone Coach Vrabel can rely on. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 3, and if the Titans don’t make some kind of move by then for help on defense, I will be a little dumbfounded. The Titans sit at 5–2 with an amazing offense. If there ever was a time to give away pieces of the future—meaning draft picks—to get help on the defensive side of the ball, that time is right now, my friends!
Thank you to all of my loyal readers, even the haters! Thank you all for the support. I do this because I love it. I love my country, I love football, and typically my articles would be a tad more humorous, because I enjoy making you, the reader laugh. But we kept a more somber tone for this article.
If I may say one last thing: no matter what happens on election night I truly pray that we as a country can accept the results. No riots, no protest, no childish tears. Act like an adult and move on with your life. It may be too much asking for a fair election where we all play by the rules, but if we can manage that maybe we will move forward. I think it’s fair to say all sides have become so divided that no matter who wins, the other side will be ready to take a stand for what they believe in. I will say that if the losing side doesn’t take to the streets to terrorize law-abiding citizens with violence and destruction, maybe a dialogue actually could be opened!
That’s it. The Train Daddy is rolling into the station. Choo-choo!
