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Last Sunday, the Titans Radio booth was informed that Clifton Dawson scored a touchdown for Indianapolis. One person verbalized what we were all thinking:
"Who in the (heck) is Clifton Dawson?"
So, we are getting our background done on the ENTIRE Indianapolis roster. With that in mind, here is some information on Clifton Dawson, who we are guessing that you will see on Sunday night...
Clifton Dawson was born in Jamaica and grew up in Scarborough, Ontario. Dawson was highly-recruited and signed originally with Northwestern. Saying that the demands of big-time football and big-time academics didn't mix, Dawson transferred to Harvard.
Dawson fashioned four, 1000 yard seasons for the Crimson and became the Ivy League's all-time leading rusher, breaking the 35 year old record held by Ed Marinaro. He also graduated with a degree in economics.
Ranked by Titans Radio draft guru Mike DeTillier as the #44 running back available for the 2007 draft, Dawson was not picked. Indianapolis signed him as an undrafted free agent on May 4. He played well in the preseason, rushing 12 times for 48 yards, but the Colts still waived him on September 1.
Cincinnati claimed Dawson off of waivers and kept him until September 25. Indianapolis immediately grabbed Dawson back after the Bengals released him.
Dawson carried eight times against Tampa Bay on October 7, seven times at Baltimore on December 2 and ten times for 21 yards and a touchdown against Houston last weekend. He currently has 28 carries for 56 yards.
Now, it's great that you are up-to-speed on Clifton Dawson. But Sunday night's game probably won't come down to Clifton Dawson. Or Jim Sorgi. Or Dallas Clark. Or even Peyton Manning.
Sunday night's game will likely come down to what Tennessee does against Indianapolis's #3 ranked defense.
The Colts' defense won't seem like they are playing a lot of backups on Sunday night because they don't have a lot of backups.
Heck, they've been playing the backups all season.
Defensive tackle Anthony McFarland has missed the whole campaign. Linebacker Rob Morris missed most of the season. And defensive end Dwight Freeney — one of the most disruptive players in the NFL — is done for the year, as well.
Yet, the Colts just plug in some different guys, keep running around like crazy and continue to make plays. They are giving up just 275 yards and 16 points per game and stand +17 in turnover ratio.
So, yeah, some Indianapolis defensive "starters" won't play on Sunday. Big deal. The Colts will just stick the next guy in and expect him to keep making things happen.
With that being said, Vince Young and the Titans' offense will need the good stuff to pull out win #10. Tennessee must take care of the football. Tennessee must run the football. Tennessee needs some big plays from their quarterback.
Young has played well in all three career games against the Colts. He has also played well in two primetime games this season. It is the type of setting, against the type of team, in the biggest of regular season games that the Titans need VY to put on one of his patented shows.
No matter who plays for the Indianapolis' offense, the Colts figure to make some plays and score some points. They are just a good team that has a really good offensive system.
One figures, however, the Titans defense will do the job. After all, Manning and company have posted 53 total points against Tennessee in the past three meetings.
It may well come down to the Tennessee offense. Can they take all of offensive coordinator Norm Chow's lessons about execution and consistency and apply them against a defense that goes out of their way to make you work extra hard for scores?
That's the question because, no matter who lines up on defense for the Colts, the Titans are going to get Indy's best.
Even if you don't know all of their names.
