Per Yahoo!:
The Tennessee Titans are 5-3 but haven’t played the divisional rival Indianapolis Colts or Houston Texans yet. They can still win the AFC South. Or they can miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
It’s a gamble, of course. Minnesota went down this road less than a month ago, trading a third-round pick to the New England Patriots for Moss. They cut him on Monday, deciding his antics weren’t worth what he was delivering on the field.“It was a poor decision,” Childress acknowledged. “I’ve got to stand up and I have to make it right. When it’s not right, you need to make it right.”
Fisher clearly has no fear of duplicating that speech later this season.
He has a far greater command of his locker room and franchise than Childress does in Minnesota. He has a great running game with Chris Johnson. He has a quarterback in Vince Young who excels at scrambling and buying his receivers extra time to get open – a potential boon for Moss.
At least if Moss is trying.
Under good circumstances, on winning teams, Moss is a motivated presence. The Titans are a professional operation with a ton of weapons and potential. Minnesota is a weekly, Brett Favre-inspired soap opera. While you’d think Moss would’ve been humbled before this, he should be by now. It’s not too much to say part of his legacy is on the line based on simply how hard he plays in Tennessee.
He wasn’t unproductive in Minnesota, catching 13 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns in four games. For the season he’s caught 22 passes for 313 yards and five touchdowns. He caught 13 touchdowns last season in New England, tied for the league lead.
At 33, he can still play. He’s still the guy who in September blew by New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, causing him to aggravate a hamstring injury, and made a remarkable one-handed touchdown snag.
Even if he doesn’t catch a ton of passes in Tennessee, he’ll still draw double teams, cause safeties to play back (offering more running room for Johnson) and provide Young with the deep threat he’s lacking.
Moss likes to say his job is to “take the top off the defense.” If he’s playing hard, he’ll do that.
The risk is it blows up and embarrasses everyone. No one in the NFL wants to wear the hangdog face Childress sported Wednesday as he acknowledged his mistakes and answered questions about losing his locker room.
Fisher is beyond that though. He’s highly respected inside the franchise and around Nashville. He’s led the team to six playoff appearances. He has some credibility chips to play.
And he ought to command Moss’ respect immediately in a way Childress may not have. Fisher won’t take any trouble from Moss. And Moss should recognize that Fisher is as close as he’s getting to being around his now-beloved ex-coach Bill Belichick in New England.
If Moss doesn’t work out, Fisher can cut him, shrug his shoulders and move on. He isn’t Childress under duress.
Fisher is at a point in his career where gambles are worth attempting. The Titans are looking for a spark to make a move in a highly competitive division. Fisher isn’t coaching for a paycheck, he wants championships. If he ever leaves Tennessee, he could have his pick of jobs (this season we’re talking Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, maybe Chicago Bears).
That kind of power translates in how he can approach potential problems.
Maybe Moss is beyond hope and it won’t work out. If he isn’t, then he couldn’t have found a much better scenario than in Tennessee, for Jeff Fisher, surrounded by Chris Johnson. There’s even a bye week for everyone to get settled.
It’s a win-win gamble; at least here on Day 1 of the new nuptials.
