Nashville's sports teams are offensive in the worst way

by Dirk Hoag on Nov 28, 2010 4:45 PM EST in Discussions

This weekend the city of Nashville has seen its three major sports teams hit major lows all at the same time on the offensive side of the game. Consider:

The Vanderbilt Commodores, with the 113th-ranked (out of 120) scoring offense in college football, dumped head coach Robbie Caldwell just before getting stomped at home by Wake Forest 34-13. It was the first time all season the lowly Demon Deacons had given up less than 23 points to a Division I opponent.
The Tennessee Titans, starting Rusty Smith at quarterback, looked horrible in a must-win, 20-0 loss at Houston. Even when they had a shot at a late touchdown, Randy Moss couldn't be bothered to jump up and try to catch a ball thrown towards him. Chris Johnson amassed five rushing yards all day.
The Nashville Predators, having scored a whopping 5 goals in their last 5 games, can't solve their lingering problems on the power play, and their leading scorer, Cal O'Reilly, is tied for 116th in the league. The only two teams with more anemic offenses in the NHL are the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils, both of which are absolute train wrecks at opposite ends of the salary cap system.

So what's a Nashville sports fan to do these days? Vanderbilt's season is over, and the Titans are pretty much cooked, too. The best hope for the Predators to get rolling is for their lineup to get healthy, but Matthew Lombardi's timetable is completely undefined at this point, and David Legwand has been "day-to-day" for over a week now. And let's be realistic, we're only talking about 40-50 point guys returning here, there aren't any All-Star caliber snipers waiting in the wings.

Right now, then, which Nashville sports team represents the weakest scoring threat in their league?

Poll

Which team has the most anemic offense in Nashville right now, relative to their sport?

Nashville Predators

66 votes

Tennessee Titans

91 votes

Vanderbilt Commodores football

122 votes

279 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Hard to pick Vandy when their season is done.

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by Patten on Nov 28, 2010 4:59 PM EST reply actions

Preds, Titans, Doors.

I didn’t really know how to vote. All three are either in or headed for the basement, but the Predators have the most chance of moving up and getting better.

by Darren Yelton on Nov 28, 2010 5:01 PM EST reply actions

Wait, let’s try to find some light in the gloom. The Music City Roller Girls won more than they lost this year (and hit a lot more often than the Dores, Titans or Preds).

by Hockey Hillbilly on Nov 28, 2010 5:36 PM EST reply actions

I don't know

The lose can’t be placed solely on Smith, every time we moved the ball, the positive play was negated by a stupid Oline penalty + the receivers didn’t catch anything.

The Preds just need to stop with the mental breakdowns and pressing.

Never been a college fball guy but I don’t remember Vandy ever being a powerhouse team.

by Ryan Bukowski on Nov 28, 2010 5:45 PM EST reply actions

Preds

Went to the game against the Blues. It was just sad. I love my Preds, but at time I felt like I was watching a D league game (at best). At one point I told my husband they looked like my Never Ever team. Agrrrrrrrr! Let’s pray they can work a breakout better on Tuesday. I hate seeing them fall. They have to communicate better as well. If you aren’t playing together well enough to know what is going to happen in response to what you do, you have to talk more. Get in synch guys—fast. Oh, and find something new for PP’s ‘cause what is happening now ain’t gettin’ the job done.

by JennClare on Nov 28, 2010 6:29 PM EST reply actions

Titans

Vandy has scored points at least, and beat one decent oppenent (Ole Miss), and 2 years ago won the bowl game.
Preds may not score often, but when they do, they lose by a little or force overtime, therefore still garnering points. (plus they won playoff games, NOT SERIES, just games)

Although its like asking if you’d rather die by fire, drowning, or choking.

by predhead33 on Nov 28, 2010 10:41 PM EST reply actions

And you argument against the Titans?

In the whole scheme of things I say Vandy. They average an abysmal 16 points per game. 16. That’s just a little more than 2 touchdowns, and really bad.

Preds are known for still winning despite their lack of offense, and I have faith they’ll get out of this slump.

In the whole scheme of things, since people forget the Titans were actually good before becoming the worst team in the league in these last few weeks. The Titans are actually 13th in the NFL in points per game, with 23.4, after leading the league in that stat for the first 5 or 6 games.

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by Aditya T (smashville) on Nov 29, 2010 12:24 AM EST up reply actions

That they managed NO points this week, and only 3 field goals (and a SP TD) last week. Essentially if you count TDs as goals and FGs as assists, its 2 consecutive shutdowns.
I agree that the Titans were good before they hit this wall, but its polar opposites.

by predhead33 on Nov 29, 2010 1:47 AM EST up reply actions

The answer to the poll question is.........

All of the above. I’ve been saying that for years. The Titans and Predators have become infected with Vanderbilititis. Nashville is truly cursed to have three major sports programs that couldn’t score with a pencil and a blank scorecard. But if you think the Titans and Predators are bad, they’ve got nothing on Vanderbilt athletics. The Titans and Preds have only been here a little over ten years; Vanderbilt teams have been stinking it up for decades. Even on those rare occasions when they had a decent team in whatever sport. I grew up in Nashville and still live in Middle Tennessee. In my lifetime, no sports entity anywhere else has been more adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory or just generally screwing up. Vanderbilt has made coaching changes every so often with the same sad results. The Titans and the Predators have each had the one and only coach since coming to town. None of ‘em are getting it done, so what’s the answer?

by shoot the puck on Nov 28, 2010 11:15 PM EST reply actions

Vanderbilt athletics

apart from football we’re actually rather successful across the board. The real shame is that in the South, colleges really only get credit for their football team.

Anchor of Gold

by KingJamesIV on Nov 29, 2010 10:28 AM EST up reply actions

I vote for Vanderbilt....

There was so much hope and optimism after the Music City Bowl win two years ago to see the complete collapse of the program is stunning. The loss yesterday to the ACC bottom feeder Wake is the final nail in this year’s coffin of mediocrity. But at least WAKE has won a conference championship in the last fourty years (2006 won the ACC went to the Orange Bowl) so their fans have had something relevant to cheer about. Vandy is at bottom of the smart schools list as it comes to football. Stanford (11-1) and Northwestern (7-5) have at least figured it out enough to stay competitive in their conference. Both schools are respected. On the pro level, change is needed at Baptist Sport Park. Today, it looked like the Titans have quit on Coach Fisher. To get shut out by the worst defense in the league is pitiful. I felt the same way Friday afternoon when the Preds mailed it in at Minnesota. But defense, determination and discipline returned Saturday night at home. If they can find a way to score some goals, I’m ok with the current coaching staff.

by jmkiii58 on Nov 29, 2010 1:02 AM EST reply actions

As a Vandy fan

At the very least I have basketball season, which is currently successful (and which almost all VU fans look forward to over football anyway).

We’ve already beaten UNC this season, though I’m not sure that’s quite the achievement that it used to be.

Predators would probably be next in line for worst.

Not sure the Titans aren’t done. I specifically wrote that with as many negatives as a could, to reflect their suckitude.

Anchor of Gold

by KingJamesIV on Nov 29, 2010 10:26 AM EST reply actions

I suppose

it should help for me to read the entire post.

Vanderbilt’s offense in football is dreadful. But the Titans still have the fastest player in the game, so they get the top spot.

Anchor of Gold

by KingJamesIV on Nov 29, 2010 10:29 AM EST up reply actions

I second that.

EASports' NHL 11 doesn't suck; in fact, it's really damn good! Wait, what!?
Go Predators!!!

by Poiju on Nov 29, 2010 8:24 PM EST up reply actions

I voted for Vanderbilt, but...

…at the end of the day, I’d rather them turn out good brain surgeons rather than good football players.

My dad had a tumor removed from the nerves in his ear many years ago at Vanderbilt Medical (he is still with us today). I will always be a fan of what they do…sports/medicine/children’s services/etc.

by rusherman on Nov 29, 2010 11:00 AM EST reply actions