The Tennessee Titans were not very good Sunday. In fact, being not very good is an understatement. The 57-14 whooping the Texans put on the Titans was simply amazing and embarrassing at the same time. If the loss wasn’t bad enough, the Titans also had a key injury during the game. Quarterback Marcus Mariota injured his hamstring in what the Titans called a hamstring strain. There has been mystery behind whether or not he would be ready to play this week when the Titans played the Dolphins in Miami and we have been waiting to see if the Titans would tip their hat as to the health of Mariota. Well, Wednesday, they surely gave plenty to talk about along with tipping their hat. The Titans decided to sign veteran quarterback Brandon Weeden to potentially be the backup to Matt Cassel this Sunday. And with that, the talk has definitely begun and we all know what the talk is.
This is yet another opportunity that has never even been extended to Colin Kaepernick and he remains unemployed. Read the list of quarterbacks that the Titans were interested in besides Weeden: Matt Barkley, Matt McGloin and TJ Yates. Look at any of those quarterbacks and tell me which one of those is even comparable to Marcus Mariota. The answer is none of them. The Titans now have a couple of older quarterbacks on their roster with Cassel and Weeden (Cassel is 35 and Weeden is turning 34 in October 14th). Cassel had a leg up on the backup quarterback job coming into the season because he was familiar with the system the Titans want to run. That familiarity is a good thing, but it isn’t very good when he puts out there the performance he did Sunday in relief of Mariota. He threw two interceptions and also had a fumble. So with that being said, there probably is not very high hopes for him to have a good Sunday. Add in the fact that he has lost some arm strength and looked lost on the field and you have to wonder if the knowledge of the system was even enough to keep him on the roster. If they would have brought Kaepernick in this offseason, he would have been ready to be the backup and the Titans would not have even had to change their offense if Mariota was to get injured.
As far as Weeden, many were surprised when he was even a first-round draft pick back in 2012 (22nd overall to the Cleveland Browns). He was older than most rookies because he went to play pro baseball before he came back to play college football at Oklahoma State. Weeden was very successful in his time at Oklahoma State, but unfortunately that success has nothing to do with him winning in the NFL. Weeden has not been very good at all, only having one season of double-digit touchdown passes while never having a season with a two-to-one touchdown-to-interception rate. Also, we all know where Weeden will be when the ball is snapped until the end of the play: in the pocket. He could not run from pressure if he wanted to. Kaepernick has at least had three seasons of a 2:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and he even had a four-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio last season. So to say that Weeden was the better option here than Kaepernick is utterly ridiculous and many who know football know this.
To be honest, Kaepernick is a better option as a backup than either of these two. He is younger, has a better arm and is more similar to Mariota than either Weeden or Cassel. Many can recognize that but apparently the Titans don’t really care about winning. Everyone knows this signing is to keep Kaepernick out of the league. He kneeled for what he believed in and there are still people upset over that. Well, I hope that you enjoy losing because with Kap not there and Cassel and Weeden there, the Titans chances of winning got lower really quickly. Gone will be the running plays that teams have to account for. Now look forward to seeing a statue back there for teams to tee off on especially if the Titans are in predictable passing situations. The Titans better hope their running game (which has been sputtering this season) shows up or things could get even worse. Better yet, the Titans have to hope that Mariota is only down one week (if he is out Sunday) because the quarterback position is now one that is of much concern now.
