Raiders @ Titans grades.

Slightly worried about the opener against Oakland, I was relieved to see the Titans dominate the Raiders on both sides of the ball en route to a 38-13 blowout. Here's my grades for the game and a look into next week against the Steelers.

Quarterback: A-

- Guess who's leading the NFL in quarterback rating right now? Not Peyton Manning, not Drew Brees, not Tom Brady; Vince Young is. He had an outstanding game to start the season, going 13-17 for 154 yards and two scores. His command of the offense is much improved and his accuracy was spot on for almost every pass. The incompletions came off a Justin Gage drop, a route where Gage should have came back to the ball, a thrown away pass because of pressure and a batted down pass intended for Marc Mariani. He ran the ball well also, evidenced by the first offensive play for Tennessee with the option. The grade is a A- though because he fumbled away the ball early on a sack.

Runningbacks: B+

- Looking at the stats, you'd say that Chris Johnson had his typical game. However, he was bottled up for most of the contest, as the Raiders stacked the box against him. He had a solid game but he'll have to play a lot better against Pittsburgh. Javon Ringer ran really hard and bumped up this grade. He needs to get more carries in order to keep Johnson fresh down the stretch.

Receivers/Tight Ends: B

- Are Nate Washington's drops a thing of the past? Let's hope so. The former Steeler had a nice game, catching three passes for 88 yards and a 56-yard touchdown. In addition to the long score, he made a nice sliding catch in the second and found the hole in the zone for a first-down first quarter catch. Bo Scaife and Craig Stevens did well at tight end. Kenny Britt was a non-factor and Justin Gage had a rough outing.

Offensive Line: B-

- This group looks like it'll miss Kevin Mawae just a little bit this season. The line gave up two sacks and missed a few blocks that bottled up Johnson, but they also provided near-perfect blocking on his 76-yard touchdown run. Not a huge concern of mine though, unless one of the starters gets an injury.

Defensive Line: A+

- Jim Washburn was right when he said this line was going to be a great group. I can't hype them up too much because they were playing Oakland, but I'm really confident in this no-name corps. Jason Babin was a terror of the edge, Derrick Morgan had a real nice sack (although it was called back because of the Tom Brady personal foul rule), Jacob Ford was a monster, and Dave Ball batted a few balls at the line. Tony Brown looked good, Jason Jones got some pressure inside and Jovan Haye had a nice stretch of plays.

Linebackers: B-

- Will Witherspoon played an excellent game after losing his mother earlier during the week. Stephen Tulloch was his typical self and Jamie Winborn didn't mess up at all, so I can't fault him. However, Darren McFadden caught too many passes over the middle, which concerns me. I'll be alright with this group when Gerald McRath comes back from suspension.

Secondary: B+

- Cortland Finnegan was treated like Nnamdi Asomaugha yesterday, which is promising considering his performance against New Orleans in the pre-season. Jason McCourty played pretty good; I'm upset that I didn't see rookie Alterraun Verner in there at second corner though. Vincent Fuller did a nice job when called upon at nickel and Chris Hope had an interception. Michael Griffin was back at '08 form, which will be a key if we expect to make playoffs.

Special Teams: A-

- Rob Bironas hit his only field goal and did a good job kicking the ball off. Brett Kern punted well, and the two new Titans - Tim Shaw and Patrick Bailey - each were in on every kickoff and punt. Mariani didn't do anything special, but he fielded every punt cleanly and was a shoe-string tackle away from breaking a long kick return.

Coaching: B

- Mike Heimerdinger called a good offensive game and Chuck Cecil did a great job dialing up blitzes on third down; the defense was so much better than the Oakland offense. However, Fisherball reared it's head again in the second half, as we let off the gas again and went to the typical "run, run, run, punt" formula. It's not a huge deal though.

Player of the Game: Michael Griffin, FS

- I can't say enough about his performance; he truly was a ballhawk out there. He statistically was the worst safety in the league last season after being one of the best in 2008, but the injuries and off-the-field problems are gone and the '08 Griffin is back. He unleashed some devastating blows, played nice coverage and had one of the best tackles I've seen in a while when he brought down Rock Cartwright a yard short of the first-down marker.

Early Prediction: Titans 17, Steelers 10

- The Steelers did some things really well on Sunday that have me worried about this game. That defense looks back to top form with the return of Troy Polamalu, but the offense is erratic under Dennis Dixon. He threw a few passes that should have been picked, but had his moments as well. Atlanta's defensive line had their way with Pittsburgh's offensive line, which has me really optimistic about our line. If the game was in Pittsburgh, I might be inclined to go the other way, but Tennessee will get the win in front of a loud home crowd at LP Field.