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On to #2.
The Rams are in Nashville ready to take on the Titans tomorrow night on national television as we continue to tune up for the regular season. Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher has already suggested we'll see more time from the starters, so we should get a better look at the young O-line and the more reliable defense.
To get a sense of what the Rams are looking at tonight, I linked up with Jimmy Morris from Music City Miracles, SB Nation's community for fans of the Tennessee Titans.
How's the offense looking so far? The offensive line's pretty young; how are they working with Marcus Mariota and the run game?
The offensive line looked bad in the first game. They have reshuffled things this week. It will be interesting to see how they look against the Rams very talented front. Mariota turned the ball over on his first two drives, but led a nice TD drive on his third drive. I expect the offense to get better and better throughout the preseason. They have a lot of young guys that will hopefully just get better as they get more time together on the field.
Speaking of Mariota, what are the early returns? I really, really like yall's wide receiving corps. He'll have the anti-Sam Bradford entry into the NFL with that group. Are things seemingly clicking between Mariota and his wideout targets?
Mariota has been really good by all accounts. Like I mentioned above, he struggled early in the first game, but it was good to see him bounce right back. That is an important trait for a rookie quarterback. There is plenty of talent in that receiving group, but none of them have really put it all together just yet. I am excited to see what they grow into with Mariota under center.
Defensively, if you were an opposing offense, where would you attack? Is the pass rush going to be sufficient? Is the middle too soft? How about at the back?
The defense is also a work in progress. They were bad against the run and the pass last year. They were good against the run in the first preseason game, but Matt Ryan and Julio Jones marched right down the field in their only drive. The pass rush should be better with the addition of Brian Orakpo (assuming he stays healthy, of course). The defensive backfield should be better this year after they signed CB Perrish Cox and strong safety Da'Norris Searcy.
How does the fan base feel about Ken Whisenhunt thus far? Last year was tough, but rosters don't get in that shape in one year. Is he the right guy to turn things around?
The fan base is skeptical. The roster does need a talent upgrade, but there were some things we saw last year that were just bad coaching. The concerning thing about Whiz is the fact that his record is terrible ever since Kurt Warner retired. He hasn't been able to find the next guy. Hopefully Mariota is the guy to help him turn it around.
To that end, what are the fan expectations/demands for 2015? You guys had 14 years of Fisherball, so patience is obviously a strong suit. What do you need to see from the Titans in 2015 to be optimistic about 2016?
It's really all about Mariota. If he gets better every week, everyone will be excited for 2016. If not, it is going to be another really long offseason.
Thanks to Jimmy for the time.