Jeff Fisher Says Vince Young Still Titans’ Starting QB

Added on Sep 20, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

There’s a reason that Jeff Fisher is the longest tenured head coach in the National Football League. Among other things, its because he knows how to lead a team and knows the importance of not fanning the flames of controversy. Fisher was tired of watching Vince Young struggle to move the football and after his third turnover he gave his quarterback the hook. After the game, however, he quickly re-affirmed Young’s status as starting quarterback.

Not that Kerry Collins did much that would generate a grassroots groundswell to give him back the starting job–he threw an interception on his first series after replacing Young. To his credit, he did put up more passing yardage than any of the three other quarterbacks that played in the game though that’s really not saying much. Collins finished with 149 yards passing and threw for a touchdown. The Steelers relied almost entirely on their ground game following starter Dennis Dixon’s injury, though they weren’t particularly productive on the ground either. Pittsburgh won the game despite generating only 127 yards of total offense. Fans of high scoring games would have been better served watching Manchester United’s 3-2 English Premier League soccer victory over Liverpool than the Steelers vs. Titans.

Fisher didn’t hang Young out to dry after the game, since the Steelers’ nasty defense had as much to do with his struggles as anything. They made the Falcons’ talented QB Matt Ryan look ineffective in Week 1 and Fisher realized that they’re going to give a lot of people trouble this year:

“That defense has created some very difficult opportunities for a number of quarterbacks in this league year after year after year, even the most veteran quarterbacks. This is his first opportunity against them. He’ll get more opportunities against this defense, I’m sure.”

Tennessee tight end Bo Scafe credited the defense for keeping them in it, though after two weeks its clear that nasty defense/no offense is going to be the story of the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers–at least until Ben Roethlisberger returns:

“The turnovers are what killed us, and even with all the turnovers, the defense still had our back, and played well for us and gave us a chance to win.”

Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward tried to put a ‘glass half full’ spin on the utter ineffectiveness of the Steelers’ offense:

“Our guys stayed together. We had a fourth-string quarterback out there playing. We were interchanging with our offensive line who were cramping up. We still find a way to win ballgames. We know we’ve got to get better offensively, but it’s great to be 2-0.”

Pittsburgh has two more games before suspended starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is eligible to return. They play at Tampa Bay this weekend before a home game against the Baltimore Ravens. The Titans play at the New York Giants this week before returning home to take on the Denver Broncos.