The ink starts at Chris Johnson's neck, with wings tattooed just above his collarbone, reminding the world that he is the NFL's most recent member of the very rare club of 2,000-yard rushers. The Tennessee running back also has "Cause IM A Star" perched just above a red star in the middle of his chest.

The Tennessee Titans enter the 2010 season with the optimism that they are the team that closed the year 8-2 after an unexpectedly dreadful 0-6 start in 2009.

But that optimism has to be tempered with the fact that the Titans have questions aplenty that have to address on both sides of the football.

Offensively, the team is centered around extraordinary running back Chris Johnson, who became only the sixth player in NFL history to run for 2,000 yards in a season. But as amazing as CJ2K is, he may not be the player that holds the key to success in his hands.

That “honor” falls to quarterback Vince Young, who reclaimed the starting position last year after the 0-6 slide and played better than nearly anyone could have predicted.

Now, it is up to Young, as he…

The dreaded “running back by committee” has left the number of viable #1 fantasy running backs few and far between. 

There are only a few clear cut No. one, non-time share, top-tier running backs: Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Michael Turner, Steven Jackson and Frank Gore.

PPR or non-PPR, most people would anoint Chris Johnson the No. one running back this year.  Even if he is only half as good as last year, we are looking at 1,250 total yards and eight TD—that alone would make him a good No. two on your team.

Much has been written about the year after a 2,000-yard season. Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis and OJ Simpson all had significant declines the following season. 

The most similar to Johnson in that group were probably Sanders and Simpson: both of them made their living with moves as opposed to power.

In addition, all the other running backs, aside from Eric Dickerson, ran for 2,000 yards in their fourth year or later. That’s a few more years of pounding than Johnson has received.

It’s possible that Chris Johnson had his career year during his second season, but do you really want to risk the chance that this is just the beginning?

Like we did with the Receivers, let’s examine the No. two Running back.  There is one distinct difference in assessing the No. one running back: is it a PPR or non-PPR league? This distinction can really change the balance of power.

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By TERESA M. WALKER AP Sports Writer

Thursday night will be the last game time action the players will see before the season opener against the Raiders on September 12.

How fitting that the last preseason game comes against the Saints, the defending Super Bowl champions.

The first round of cuts have already passed with five players being waived on Tuesday, most notably the young wide receiver Bobby Sewall.

This game will be the last chance for many players to show the coaching staff that they deserve a spot on the 53-man roster.

There are still a lot of questions that are unanswered for Titans fans and more importantly the coaching staff.

There will be plenty of things to watch out for in the preseason finale against the Saints, and here’s ten of them.

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 Chris Johnson is the consensus pick atop 2010 Fantasy Football drafts. The Tennessee Titans’ franchise player is lightning quick possessing 4.3 speed, coming off of a prestigious campaign, and entering the prime of his career.

While all of the above make Chris Johnson a popular choice as the first player taken in fantasy drafts, there are quite a few factors working against CJ2K in 2010.

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Try naming the one player on offense the Tennessee Titans may not be able to live without. Quarterback Vince Young? All Pro running back Chris Johnson? The answer is Craig "Cat" Stevens — the two-year veteran with only one NFL catch. "If Cat got hurt, we'd be in big trouble," Titans offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger said Tuesday.

Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan returned to practice today for the first time since suffering a…

Tennessee veteran cornerback Cortland Finnegan returned to practice Monday after missing the past three weeks and the first three preseason games with an injured groin and hip flexor. Finnegan has started 47 of his 61 games in his first four seasons, and the Titans are counting on matching him up against opponents' top receivers this season.

Well we know one thing after Saturday night’s preseason matchup between the Titans and the Panthers; both team’s have durable punters.

On the surface this game was tough to watch, but there’s two ways to approach the 15-7 loss to the Panthers.

One of those is that the offense still needs a lot of work with very little time to do so. Even the positive plays on offense were often sloppy.

The Titans had six punts in the first half coupled with the Panthers punting the ball five times and fumbling inside the redzone, which was recovered by Stephen Tulloch.

To paint the picture even worse, the Titans only had 50 yards of total offense in the first half with most of the starters in the game.

If you’re a glass half-full kind of person then there are contributing factors to this offensive nightmare.

First and foremost the Titans were coming off an extremely busy week with the Monday night game against the Cardinals and a scrimmage on Wednesday.

Also, the Titans didn’t dress Nate Washington, Justin Gage, or Bo Scaife. That’s a huge chunk of the offense that Young was missing in the passing game.

Young also avoided the big mistake which is always a promising sign.

When you look at the game from a defensive perspective then things get a lot more positive.

The Titans defense matched the Panthers defense each and every possession until some of the backups began to enter the game.

It’s also important to note that the Panthers kept starting quarterback Matt Moore in the game up until the fourth quarter.

Jason McCourty had his best performance of the preseason so far as he recorded two impressive tackles and a couple pass deflections.

The Panthers offense stayed away from Alterraun Verner’s side of the field as much as possible. That says a lot for a rookie who only has two preseason games under his belt.

Verner still managed six tackles and a pass deflection.

The defensive line looked great from start to finish with the Titans first overall pick Derrick Morgan finally getting his debut this preseason. He recorded only one tackle but was in the backfield numerous times hurrying the quarterback into bad throws.

The Titans defense did an excellent job at extending the Panthers’ touchdown drought this preseason.

The player who made the biggest statement in this defensive slug-fest ironically came from the offensive side of the ball with Marc Mariani.

Mariani made two veteran-like catches in the 2nd half with Kerry Collins under center.

One of those was a leaping catch along the sideline where Mariani managed to get both feet in bounds. The other one came on a slant route that led to Mariani breaking a couple tackles and carrying a couple defender on his back before being pulled down for a 37-yard gain.

That huge catch led to a nice touchdown pass to Jared Cook from Collins.

With that performance by Mariani it’s now almost guaranteed that he’ll make the team and possibly be a crucial component in the Titans passing game.

It also became even more apparent that Chris Simms may not be on this team when the regular season rolls around. He didn’t participate in a single snap in this game and hasn’t performed well in the previous two preseason games.

Rusty Smith is the guy pushing him out and even though Smith has made his own share of mistakes under center, he’s still shown that he can move the offense down the field with third-string players blocking for him.

At first glance the Titans looked horrible, but for a short week there was no reason to have expected too much more than what the Titans showed us.

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