Titans’ Brown looks like he’s the real deal
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Before he went out with an hurt ankle in the first half of the Titans’ 17-7 season opening win at Miami Saturday afternoon, Brown had already gained 100 yards on 16 carries, which works out to over six yards per carry. Of the total, 52 were on the long scamper on which he was injured. The run set up the first score for the Titans.
The fact Brown is such a threat to break a big one is a welcome treat for the Titans’ offense.
While Eddie George could show shades of his old self once in a while, he was never a break away threat, even in his prime. He was more of a smash nose back who would get the tough yards.
With this new threat, the Titans, behind league MVP Steve McNair may be even more dangerous offensively than last year. This is because opposing defenses must now respect the run on every down as Brown presents a threat to break off big chunks of yardage where George did not. This, in turn, means linebackers and safeties will have to play a little closer to the line to support the run defense.
We saw this on several occasions Saturday when Zack Thomas and Junior Seau were out of position to defense the pass, leaving easy 10-yard spot patterns to Derrick Mason and Erron Kinney across the middle. They were out of position because they had to respect the play fake to Brown and move toward the line.
It should be pointed out, although the Dolphins have an impotent offense, their defense is still one of the top three in the league, yet Brown was able to put up 100 in just one half. His performance also came on a day when McNair was a shade rusty, passing only 9-of-14 for 73 yards. On a good day, any cheating toward the line by the secondary will be punished by the deep hit to Mason or perhaps Tyrone Calico when he returns from injury shortly.
As I said, I really wasn’t all that sold on Brown until recently. He came to the Titans pretty much unproven last year as he enjoyed only moderate success in college, his claim to fame being a huge performance on national television against Texas in the Big 12 Championship game. Prior to that time, he was part of a platoon of Colorado backs. Then, when he joined the Titans after being drafted last year, he missed his first pre-season with injury and saw limited carries behind George last season.
However, Brown seems to have made big strides as he did well this pre-season and during his opening half against the Dolphins.
Perhaps most impressive about the second-year man is his patience and following his blockers. Watching his runs from scrimmage puts me in mind of Priest Holmes of the Chiefs who patiently stays on his blocker’s hip until he finds the open field. Too many backs think only quickly hitting a hole is the key. The really good ones like Holmes, Jamal Lewis and Marshall Faulk, use patience and allow their blocking to open paths. It appears Brown may have the same instincts. Now, if he can only stay healthy and endure the wear and tear of the NFL and perhaps become a threat to catch some passes out of the backfield like the aforementioned backs, he could become one of the elite and quickly make his own name in Nashville.