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That statement is half-right.
The Titans do need to score touchdowns on more than 32% of their possessions inside the opponents' 20. Their red zone touchdown percentage needs to be 50% to 60%. If it was in that 50% to 60% range, a couple of tight Titans' wins would not have been close.
That being said, the number that does not need to change is the number of Titans' trips inside the opponents' 20 yard line. Twenty-eight trips into the red zone rank Tennessee #3 in the AFC behind New England and Indianapolis. It constitutes four trips into the red zone per game.
That number means that you are moving the football (also likely controlling the football). It also probably makes a good case for your defense making some plays to set up easy scoring chances. Whatever the path to the red zone, Tennessee is doing a good job of getting there.
And now for how they finish the drives...
Everyone associated with the Titans keeps using the word "execution" and it's obvious that they are right. You are going against great athletes in a tight space, so you cannot make mistakes. A lineman missing a block or a back missing a hole is obvious. So is a quarterback missing a throw or a receiver dropping a pass. All of these things have happened to the Titans at times this season. An execution mistake in the red zone usually means that Rob Bironas is on his way into the game.
Yes, execution must improve, but execution is not the key word in that sentence.
"Improve" is the key word. And it's not just about the red zone offense.
We are halfway through the 2007 season. Some things are beginning to shake out. We think that we know who the best teams are and we think that we can already count some teams out. History shows that some good teams fall and, like the Titans in 2006, some teams rise out of nowhere. Injuries take their toll, young players blossom, older players run out of gas, a coaching staff finds the answer — all of those things will occur and what we think we know in Week 9 does not turn out to be what we find out for sure in Week 17.
Tennessee is 5-2 and has the look of a playoff team. The Titans have three road wins already, with one coming in one of their toughest road games (Jacksonville). Five games remain in Nashville, where Tennessee is usually formidable. The Titans have put themselves in a pretty good place.
How good the place is will be determined by how much this team improves as the year progresses. The Titans don't need the level of improvement that they exhibited during the 2006 season, as the climb now is less "leaps and bounds" and more incremental.
It's little things. It's big things. It's special teams. It's the red-zone offense. Nothing is off of the table.
Experience shows that improvement comes by simply doing the job professionally.
Last year, Tennessee's veteran players showed the youngsters how to handle the day-in, day-out job of being a professional football player. The result was consistent work throughout the season and big improvement in the second-half of the campaign. The young players learned from the vets that EVERYTHING matters and that no detail is too small---on or off the field.
It sounds like simple coach-speak, I know. And no, I'm not going to say that "I have to see the tape" before telling you how Halloween went.
But this is so true in the NFL.
At this point in the season, there are few secrets left. Everyone knows what everyone else has and does. In November and December, it's no longer about scheme as much as about simply playing the games.
That's why improvement is so vital.
In 2005, Indianapolis was the best team in the NFL's regular season, but Pittsburgh was the Super Bowl champion. In 2006, San Diego was the best team, but Indianapolis was the champion. Simply put, the champs kept improving down the stretch, while "the best teams" lost their edge.
The Titans won six of their last seven in 2006 because they played well. They executed and put themselves in positions to make big plays.
The '07 Titans have played well in many areas in their first seven games. But November and December games are simply tougher because you must play better and produce---in spite of being banged-up and tired.
This is the time of the year when the multi-million dollar players make their cash.
And this is when the best teams start to make their move.
The move comes largely from continuing to get better in every single area.
