Titans @ Giants grades.

Another ugly game, but this time it ended in good fashion as a Titans fan. Here's some grades for the game.

Quarterback: A-

- I should actually put an incomplete here, but I'll give Vince Young the benefit of the doubt. I won't get into too much about the first half performance of his (spoiler: there's a rant coming in a later section) but he looked very, very good in the second half. That touchdown pass to Kenny Britt was a thing of beauty and reminded me sort of the ending touchdown on the 99-yard drive last year.

Runningbacks: B

- Again, a skewed grade because of other factors, but 125 yards is 125 yards. Chris Johnson didn't play particularly well (spoiler: I go into this later) but he ran for a tough 125 yards and two touchdowns. Javon Ringer had some nice carries when he was in.

Receivers: A-

- Nice performance by the receivers when they got the chance. Justin Gage had a nice sliding catch in the first half and Kenny Britt's two catches were things of beauty. He fought off Terrell Thomas on a nice thrown ball by Young, then just a few plays later, got his Madden "Rocket Catch" on, skying up to catch another good thrown ball.

Offensive Line: C

- One sentence describes this group. We miss Kevin Mawae.

Defensive Line: C

- There were some positives and some negatives of this group. We had a Ball sack (get your mind out of the gutter, I was talking about Dave Ball) and some nice stops behind the line of scrimmage from Jason Babin. However, they were very inconsistent on getting pressure on Eli Manning, which worries me because that wasn't a great offensive line they faced. Jacob Ford was definitely missed, and William Hayes was a non-factor coming back from injury.

Linebackers: C

- Once again, there were some positives and negatives. Will Witherspoon seemed to be in on every play and Stephen Tulloch was his typical self. Jamie Winborn is godawful though; I'm surprised Rennie Curran wasn't activated today in case Winborn was struggling. Gerald McRath will help this unit out tremendously when he comes back from suspension.

Secondary: D+

- Almost 400 yards passing? I don't care that he had to throw for most of the third quarter and all of the fourth, that's terrible. Jason McCourty had an interception, then left with an injury. Cortland Finnegan was inconsistent. Alterraun Verner saw some time and played alright. Michael Griffin was flying all over the field once again, recapturing that '08 form. But still, almost 400 yards? We need to clear that up, pronto.

Special Teams: A

- What a performance. If Brett Kern didn't shank one punt, this is an A+. Rob Bironas made his field goals and booted a few kickoffs deep. Marc Mariani was dangerous once again as a returner. Then you have the play of the game, when Griffin stopped his momentum and downed a punt inside the one-yard line, which ended up being a safety just a few plays later. That completely turned the tide of the game.

Coaching: F

- It's rant time. Let's look at a number; the number 4. What does that number stand for? That was the amount of pass plays we ran in the first half. I don't care who the hell you have at quarterback, you don't pass the ball four times in the first half, especially when your ground game isn't doing anything. CJ had 17 carries in the first half...17! He's going to be beat up mid-season if we keep on running him like this. We need to trust VY more and pass it at least 20 times a game, then balance the run plays between CJ (give him 20-25 carries a game) and Ringer (give him 5-7). Ringer is fine change-of-pace back, use him please! Just horrendous playcalling today, it almost cost us and it will cost us if we do that again.

Player of the Game: Michael Griffin, FS

- He's back to '08 form, it's official. What a game by the free safety as he picks up another Woy's Word Player of the Game award. (I'm sending him a trophy as we speak.) I already documented his great special teams play on the punt, but in addition to that, he led the team with 11 tackles and forced a big fumble on Ahmad Bradshaw in the red zone to preserve the lead. He's back to his ballhawking self, and that'll make this defense so much better.