As I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry regarding preseason games, this game was unusually cheap to obtain tickets for.
Why?
Because the Jets are projected to be a terrible team this year. Most people seem to think that they are serious candidates to be the very worst team in the league, or darn near close to it, at least.
So, why did I choose this game, specifically?
Well, that one is easy. First of all, it was cheap, and it is enjoyable to go to these games, for the reasons mentioned yesterday. But this game in particular featured the Tennessee Titans, and they were the only team entering this season that I had never seen even once on the football field at any point. So, when I heard that the Jets were going to host the Titans during the preseason, and that the tickets were selling for so cheap? You can understand why I wasted no time obtaining these, which I did in July.
Also, the Titans are an interesting team, and I suspect that they are generally on the rise. They have their stud young quarterback in Marcus Mariota, who is still only 23 years old! Yet, already he has made his mark with a fairly impressive rookie season, and then a hugely successful and promising sophomore season last year, leading the Titans to their first winning season in a long, long time, and making a serious run to qualify for the postseason, although they fell just short in the end.
Still, Tennessee has to be considered a team to watch for the near future.
Yet, there were questions regarding this game, and probably no questions were more pressing than how young Mariota would handle the intensity of NFL game action, which he has not actually experienced since he broke his leg late last December against Jacksonville.
Also for the Titans, it would be interesting to see how rookie cornerback Adoree' Jackson would handle his first NFL action. It will be as smooth a first test as possible, because the Jets wide receivers are supposed to be...well, not so good. Finally, how would second year outside linebacker Kevin Dodd do? He rather disappointed last season, so the Titans obviously hope for better things for the upcoming season. Will he produce? This was his first chance to show his team what he is capable of, following his rather forgettable season last year.
In the first quarter, Robby Anderson, the new deep threat for the Jets, nabbed a 53-yard pass from Josh McCown, who many feel will be the starter for the season opener in a few weeks. Moments later, McCown hit Charone Peak for a short touchdown. McCown only played that first series, but he was impressive, at least, completing three of four passes for 72 yards and that touchdown.
That was it for the scoring on the Jets end, and the Titans offense was even less impressive, only managing a field goal in the third quarter. That accounted for all of the scoring in this game, in which the final score was 7-3.
Mariota played, and that was the biggest news for the Titans. At some point, he got sacked, too. But he got right up, and went back to work, which was as encouraging a sign as there could be, really. So, no major great news for either team, although no bad news or disasters, either.
As for my son and I, we sure had fun. Again, I got these tickets a long time ago, at some point in July, for fairly cheap. They were clearly not the best seats that I had, although they were a lot better than the seats we had for the Giants game the night before.
Ultimately, it was a fun game. There were more fireworks than the previous night, and having much closer seats also helped quite a bit. My son is only mildly a fan of football, but he got to enjoy the evening that we shared together. I felt absolutely blessed to have been able to spend some quality time together during this fun event.
In the first quarter, Robby Anderson, the new deep threat for the Jets, nabbed a 53-yard pass from Josh McCown, who many feel will be the starter for the season opener in a few weeks. Moments later, McCown hit Charone Peak for a short touchdown. McCown only played that first series, but he was impressive, at least, completing three of four passes for 72 yards and that touchdown.
That was it for the scoring on the Jets end, and the Titans offense was even less impressive, only managing a field goal in the third quarter. That accounted for all of the scoring in this game, in which the final score was 7-3.
Mariota played, and that was the biggest news for the Titans. At some point, he got sacked, too. But he got right up, and went back to work, which was as encouraging a sign as there could be, really. So, no major great news for either team, although no bad news or disasters, either.
As for my son and I, we sure had fun. Again, I got these tickets a long time ago, at some point in July, for fairly cheap. They were clearly not the best seats that I had, although they were a lot better than the seats we had for the Giants game the night before.
Ultimately, it was a fun game. There were more fireworks than the previous night, and having much closer seats also helped quite a bit. My son is only mildly a fan of football, but he got to enjoy the evening that we shared together. I felt absolutely blessed to have been able to spend some quality time together during this fun event.
Titans vs. Jets: 3 things to watch Jason Wolf, USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee Published, Aug. 11, 2017:
My son standing in the still empty parking lot well before kickoff.
The Jets starting running into the locker room after practicing on the field.
The Tennessee Titans are introduced and come out. It looked like there were about 100 players in Titans uniforms for this game!
The Jets are now about to be introduced. They had some fireworks, they had an inflatable jet, tons of cheerleaders and two big Jets flags. A lot of hype.
Marcus Mariota runs during one of the first plays that the Titans offense ran.
This picture came out a bit more dark than expected, and it is hard to make things out here. But there are giant screens everywhere in and around this stadium, including on the outside. There is a small patch of makeshift field, presumably to show people what the field feels like. There were a lot of people sitting and enjoying picnics and downtime with family, watching the game on the big screen seen pictured here (although the people themselves are mere shadows in this pic).
It is a nice looking stadium, especially when it is lit up at night like this. Could not resist snapping a few photos.
Those seats actually don't seem bad at all. I'm glad the Jets won that bizarrely low-scoring game, even if as you mentioned this is expected to be a bleak season for the Jets. Supposedly this is the "bottoming out" year of their rebuilding phase, though – from what I gather they're planning on trying to get a franchise quarterback in next year's draft. Hopefully that will mark the beginning of their really turning things around, because it's about time. À propos of nothing at all, Sébastien looks so different now that he no longer has that Fifth Beatle 'do. Glad you guys had fun.
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