NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- One offseason theme that emerged as Dowell Loggains wrote up a new playbook for the Titans was that Tennessee’s offense would look similar to Houston’s.
The Texans cut wide receiver Kevin Walter after the season in a cost-cutting move, and he jumped to the Titans on April. 4.
He offered the first big indication that Loggains’ offense would look a lot like Houston’s.
“I know they’re installing the same offense that I’ve been in the past seven years,” Walter said shortly after his arrival. “It’s a fun offense to be in.”
Later in the offseason I wrote more about how both the Titans and Jaguars want to look somewhat like Houston on offense.
Part of the reason for the Titans-Texans similarities is simple.
Mike Heimerdinger, who served two terms as Titans offensive coordinator, was a mentor to Loggains. And Heimerdinger and Kubiak both worked under Mike Shanahan in Denver, where many of their offensive principles were formed.
In a conference call Wednesday with Nashville media, Kubiak said he sees similarities in a primary theme.
“I think they’ve done a lot of things to complement their run game, from a boot standpoint, and they’ve got a quarterback who can run around and hurt you,” he said. “So, yeah, you see some of those things in what they are doing. But I think the biggest thing I saw was just the total commitment to the run and staying patient with what they are doing.
“A lot of road games are won that way, close road games. You stay committed, you stay out of trouble, you don’t hurt yourself turnover-wise and play good defense, and that’s what they did the other day.”
The Titans will have a hard time running 66 percent of the time a second week in a row.
I expect more of the Houston-like elements in the passing game to be on display Sunday at Reliant Stadium: rollouts, bootlegs and plenty of play-action.
