The Beginning of the Rob Johnson Era

Today's the day the Rob Johnson era starts. Johnson was named the started for today's Wild Card game with the Tennessee Titans in a bombshell statement made by Wade Phillips early this week. That set forth a week of debate and clamor as Flutie fans and Johnson fans battled it out. On Two Bills Drive, the message board was knocked out of service by over 2,000 posts. The Chuck Dickerson show on WGR radio was rocking this week with his disciples and Flutie backers going at it. The town is alive in anticipation for today's game.

Rob Johnson make his first playoff start against the Titans today.

Johnson had an excellent game against the 13-3 Indianapolis Colts last Sunday. Whether he can continue his torrid pace or if the noise in Adelphia Stadium will drown him out and cause him to falter is another story - to be posted sometime tonight. One thing is clear, though. Rob Johnson seems to be starting his career as the Bills No. 1 quarterback. Just like when Martin Biron was given the reigns of the Sabres No. 1 goaltender position with Dominik Hasek out with injury, it now appears to be the same situation with Johnson. With a halfway decent performance against the Titans today, he can almost assure himself of the top quarterback spot with the Bills for years to come. Phillips seems as if he's now taking the same stance that Lindy Ruff is with Martin Biron. The job is his, now he has to go out and do his best.

Johnson seems to be deflecting the pressure of starting his fist post season game onto the Titans.

"I think the pressure's on them," said Johnson. "They're the four or five point favorites. They're expected to win."

"I think last week there was probably more pressure because I hadn't played in a year," Johnson contiued. "Everyone was looking probably for me to fall on my face actually, so they can get rid of me or have a story. I don't know. I'm just happy to be playing again. Sure, there's pressure every week to perform. That's part of the job."

Phillips says that he will not take Rob out if he starts to falter. He stated that Johnson is the No. 1 quarterback for the game and he's sticking by his decision. Good luck Rob!

A friend of mine in Nashville has been communicating with me about this huge matchup. He wrote a great article about the Tennessee view of the Bills-Titans Wild Card game and he gave me permission to share it with my readers. Here's the view from the Titans side of the ball:

Johnson's presence is sort of what Yancey Thigpen in the lineup does for the Titans... forces teams to guard against a deep threat. He makes the other receivers able to slip through coverage, and especially gets big plays for the tight ends.

Despite Thigpen's ability to make big plays, the offense really keys around Eddie George and TE Frank Wycheck. Eddie George is one of the strongest runners I've seen; when he gets up to speed it takes a whole defense to bring him down and he falls for 3 yards after he's hit. The Titans offensive line, led by veteran Bruce Matthews, is stellar, able to open big holes and pass protect reasonably well. George is as dangerous catching passes in the backfield or in the flat as he is running. Teams with the most success against the Titans' running game have keyed a linebacker or safety onto George and kept him to short gains.

The key to George's great season has been the blocking of FB Lorenzo Neal. He may not be the biggest hitter, but he's timely and has a good sense of how to lead a running back. A matchup of Bruce Smith on Neal might be a wise move for the Bills.

Steve McNair is a streaky quarterback, and right now he's hot. His favorite target is Wycheck. WR Kevin Dyson has shown flashes of brilliance, but is terribly inconsistent. Depth at TE is top-notch, with Jackie Harris and Michael Roan helping out. McNair's big advantages are his arm and his scrambling. It's hard to ignore his 8 rushing TDs this season when setting up a defense, but his running shows up more when he can roll out of the pocket and buy his receivers time to get open.

Defensively, the key to the attack is the defensive line, led by Jevon Kearse. I do not say this lightly, but I have never seen a more naturally-talented athlete than Kearse. Linemen often make the mistake of assuming that he's out of the play when they've blocked him past the quarterback, but probably half of his forced turnovers and rookie-record number of sacks have come from dragging the QB down after the lineman has assumed that he was out of the play. He goes solid from snap to whistle on every play, even running down receivers after pressuring the quarterback. I kid you not--he's a treat to watch, and a danger to every opposing offense.

The Titans are deep at every defensive line position. Linebackers are solid, and all of the secondary is mobile. They don't rely on huge linebackers, but ones that can make quick plays. However, they have a tendency to give up quick slant passes down the middle--this is the defense that made the 49ers look good this season, too. At corner, Denard Walker, Samari Rolle, and Dainon Sydney are also inclined to take some stupid penalties--Riemersma is a huge target for them and may be able to get some big plays down the middle of the field.

Currently the weakest Titans defensive position is at safety. FS Marcus Robertson is questionable after a motorcycle wreck last week, and Anthony Dorsett is not nearly as versed in the defense as Robertson. SS Blaine Bishop has been hampered with a broken thumb, and he's given up a couple big plays because of the injury. Moulds & Price could have some success against him. Craig Hentrich is (still, I think) the best-paid punter in the business, and deservedly so. His career-best 78-yard punt (!) against Pittsburgh last week was great, and he's the key to the field position battle. Al Del Greco is nearly automatic from 40 yards in.

With special teams, I always get the feeling that the Titans are just about to do something huge but they never seem to. They always look solid, but I expect them to make better plays than they do.

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