Bryant - Game Recaps

Chris Brown set the tone of the game for the Titans and he set it early. In the first 5 minutes of play, he rushed for 2 touchdowns. The first for 37-yards, the second for 29-yards. He finished the game with 148 rushing yards. Antowain Smith came in during the 4th quarter and contributed a third rushing touchdown.

Both Derrick Mason and Drew Bennett were targeted 8 times. Mason made 4 receptions for 63 yards, 1 of his receptions was a 26-yard touchdown strike from Drew Bennett. Bennett on the other hand made 2 receptions for 47 yards. Bennett was targeted twice in the end zone. The first time he dropped the ball. The second time, he was out of bounds when he made the reception. WR Eddie Berlin also played a role making 3 receptions for 53 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown reception.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers have opened their season 1 and 4, the first time since 1991. They got behind early and were never able to fully recover from it.

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. The Green Bay Packers turned the ball over 6 times in their ugly loss to the Titans. Brett Favre threw 3 interceptions. Ahman Green fumbled the ball. And in the fourth quarter, Donald Driver fumbled as well.

Ahman Green left much to be desired in his outing. He had only 3 rushing yards at the end of the first half and ended with only 33 yards total. He was repeatedly stopped at the line of scrimmage.

Obviously, when a team gets this far behind early in a game the running game is abandoned and more focus is given to passing. As evidenced by the fact that Brett Favre did throw for 338 yards. And both Donald Driver and Javon Walker had at least 150 receiving yards each. Driver had exactly 150, Walker had 159.

TE Bubba Franks was utilized in the end zone. Both of his catches for a total of 12 yards were touchdown receptions.

WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

Tennessee Titans

QB: Steve McNair (15-26-206, 2 TD, 7-36 rushing) McNair was sharp. He eluded sacks and gained 36 yards on 7 carries, one a 16-yard rush. Amazingly McNair only completed 4 passes in the second half of play, one of them an 11-yard touchdown pass to WR Eddie Berlin. But at that point the game had been pretty much decided.

RB: Chris Brown (27-148 2 TD rushing, 3-24 receiving on 5 targets) Chris Brown was spectacular. He broke a tackle and made an amazing 37-yard run for a touchdown on his second carry of the game. The very next drive of the game Brown rushed for a 29-yard touchdown. Brown had a 19-yard reception brought back on a holding penalty. Brown is an elusive runner with the ability to break tackles and find holes to run through. He sometimes struggles on third and short situations.

Troy Fleming (3-38 receiving on 3 targets) Fleming made a 12-yard screen catch during the first quarter of play. He dove to score his first NFL touchdown on a 14-yard reception.

Robert Holcombe (1-7 receiving on 2 targets) Holcombe made a 7-yard reception.

Antowain Smith (9-28, 1 TD rushing) Smith did not see the field until the fourth quarter when the Titans had the game well in hand. He ran in easily to score a touchdown.

WR: Derrick Mason (4-63, 1 TD receiving on 8 targets) Mason turned a short catch into 24-yard reception by breaking tackles. Mason was targeted in the end zone, but was out of bounds when he made the reception. Mason made a great 18-yard catch by the sidelines, but it was brought back on a personal foul call against Shad Meier. Mason was the recipient of Drew Bennett's touchdown pass.

Drew Bennett (2-47 receiving on 8 targets, 1-12 rushing, 1-1-26 1 TD passing) Bennett was a factor in all aspects of the game, contributing by receiving, rushing and passing. Bennett was targeted deep in double coverage the first play of the game. Bennett made a sharp 19-yard reception near the sidelines. Bennett made an adjustment to make a reception on an under thrown pass for 27 yards. Near the end of the first half Bennett was targeted twice in the end zone, he dropped the ball once in double coverage. The second time he was out bounds when he made the catch. In the fourth quarter, the former college QB completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason.

Eddie Berlin (3-53, 1 TD receiving on 4 targets) Berlin made a 12-yard catch in the second quarter, during the same drive he made a 30-yard reception to gain a third down conversion. In the second half of play he made a great catch at the front corner of the end zone for a touchdown. He had slipped and gotten back up and Green Bay challenged the play that he had remained in bounds before making the 11-yard reception. The ruling on the play was upheld.

TE: Shad Meier (0-0 receiving on 1 target) While Meier was no factor in receiving, he contributed a key block on Chris Brown's touchdown run. He also recovered Brown's fumble in the third quarter. Shad Meier made a 12-yard reception, but it was ruled as no play with a defensive holding penalty.

K: Gary Anderson (6-6 XP, 2 FG) Anderson made field goals of 36 and 38 yards. Anderson had a 42-yard field goal attempt was deflected at the line of scrimmage.

Pass Defense: Samari Rolle intercepted Favre in the end zone, but the play was challenged and questionably ruled incomplete. Near the end of the first half, Lamont Thompson intercepted Favre and again in the third quarter. Near the end of the third quarter, the Titans' defense held the Packers at the three-yard line for four downs and prevented a score.

Rush Defense: Ahman Green was completely shut down. The Green Bay Packers had a total of 35 rushing yards. Kevin Carter recovered Green's fumble. Titans' special teams recovered a muffed punt in the fourth quarter.

Green Bay Packers

QB: Brett Favre (24-44-338, 2 TD, 3 Int, 1-2 rushing) After completing a 47-yard pass to Donald Driver, Favre was nearly intercepted in the end zone. Green Bay challenged the call and the interception was overturned. Favre turned things around for the Packers in the second quarter and went 5 of 5 for 70 yards culminating with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Bubba Franks. With less than 2 minutes left in the first half, Favre threw an interception. He threw a second interception during the opening drive of the second half. He threw a third on a pass intended for Javon Walker. In the fourth quarter Favre did lead the Packers on a touchdown scoring drive, completing 7 of 11 passes for 81 yards. But it was really too little too late.

Craig Nall (7-8-64, 1 TD) Nall came into the game with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. Nall led the Packers on a touchdown scoring drive.

RB: Ahman Green (10-33 rushing, 2-5 receiving on 3 targets) As he has a propensity for, Green fumbled during the Packer's second drive, giving the ball back over to the Titans. In comparison to Chris Brown who had 90 yards during the first quarter, Green had rushed for only 3 yards on 4 carries. Once the Packers had gotten behind in the game, the running game was completely left behind. It wasn't until the third quarter that Green had any sort of presence on the field with a 14-yard carry and later in the fourth quarter an 18-yard carry.

William Henderson (3-11 receiving on 4 targets) Henderson made a short 2-yard catch during the Packer's opening drive. In the third quarter, he was targeted in the end zone.

WR: Donald Driver (10-150 receiving on 12 targets, 1 fumble lost) Driver was Favre's favorite target. He was targeted over the middle during the first drive for the Packers but the pass was incomplete. Driver made an impressive 47-yard catch near the end of the first quarter. He made a great reaching grab to gain 14-yards. He was part of the turnover problem though and fumbled a reception in the fourth quarter.

Javon Walker (8-159, 1 TD receiving on 15 targets) Walker was targeted in the end zone. He made a 33-yard reception over the middle during the second quarter. In the third quarter, Walker made a fantastic 57-yard reception to the 3-yard line. Walker's touchdown reception was near the end of the game on a pass from Craig Nall. In fact 3 of his receptions for 20 yards on 3 targets were during that same drive.

Robert Ferguson (1-11 receiving on 3 targets) Robert Ferguson was targeted deep near the end zone, but the ball was thrown too deep for him to make the catch. Ferguson was the target during Favre's interception; it appeared to have been a broken route by Ferguson. Ferguson's lone reception was during the last drive of the game and from Craig Nall.

Antonio Chatman (2-32 receiving on 4 targets) Primarily a punt returner, Chatman was the recipient of an 18-yard pass during the Packers' first touchdown scoring drive.

TE: Bubba Franks (2-12, 2 TD receiving on 5 targets) Franks was targeted in the end zone but Keith Bullock broke the pass up. In the second quarter, Franks was wide open and made a touchdown reception. In the third quarter, Franks was targeted in the end zone but Favre overthrew him. Franks made his second touchdown reception in the fourth quarter.

David Martin (0-0 receiving on 1 target) Martin was targeted near the sidelines in double coverage.

K: Ryan Longwell (3-3 XP, 2-2 FG) Longwell converted 39-yard and 53-yard field goal attempts.

Pass Defense: McNair was pressured a little throughout the game, but was able to evade the Packers' defense.

Rush Defense: Not much here at all. The Packers allowed 224 net yards rushing and 3 rushing touchdown strikes. The offensive line of the Titans manhandled the Packer's defensive line and opened holes repeatedly for Chris Brown.