Its Not the End of the World--but You Can See it From Here

We had one of the best Monday Night Football games of the season. They loved it in most of the country and particularly Nashville. It just wasn't too much fun in Houston--for Texan fans.

I suppose it was fine with fans of the former Oilers who can't cut the cord...and for fans of Houston native Vince Young. In all honesty it WAS a great game to watch.

It just may have put the first nail in the coffin holding the jobs of the current Texan coaching staff and hopes for making the playoffs in 2009 as well.

Good thing that Bud Adams pulled out his "guns" a week early and got fined for it. This would have been the night for him to really put on a show. His Titans found another way to win with Young leading the way, while the Texans found yet another way to lose.

Actually, they had already tried this method two weeks ago. Having their normally reliable field goal kicker miss in consecutive games with a chance to tie games against the Colts and now Titans almost looks like the plan.

Speaking of plans...the defensive game plan absolutely stunk. Daring Young to throw the ball would normally be OK if the defenders were anywhere close to his receivers more often. Keeping Young from running for big gains might have been nice, too. And, if the plan was make Vince throw, then shouldn't the running game defense have been tad better than letting Chris Johnson romp for 151 yards?

Now, the Titans were aided by a horrid "guess" call by an official who figured that it had to be a horse collar tackle by the way the offensive player went down. He didn't see it, of course, since replays clearly showed there was no horse collar. Officials are supposed to only call what they see. This guy saw something that wasn't there. That was worth 15 yards and was a big aid in getting Tennessee into field goal range where Rob Bironas did NOT pull a Kris Brown. He hit a big 53 yard kick late in the game.

As was the case against the Colts Kris Brown's miss did not directly cost the Texans the game. It cost them a CHANCE to win the game.

Now back to being a mediocre .500 team with too many losses that didn't have to be, the hope is the club can somehow shake off the last two losses and put a string of wins together. Without that there is little hope for making the playoffs and perhaps for the coaching leadership on this team to hang around.

OK now, here is the key part of this whole exercise. Everyone just take a deep breathe and keep repeating, "Its only a game. Its only a game." If you happen to own a pair of ruby slippers you might try clicking your heels together while reciting that mantra. It won't get you out of Oz and back home again, but maybe it can change the luck of the Texans.