FanHouse Keith Bulluck

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. " We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Let's rewind back to March 2008: I joined a couple buddies of mine for a Spring Break excursion to Las Vegas. We had an outstanding time, and the day we were to leave, we headed down to the sportsbook to lay down some futures bets. One of my friends had an interesting wager. His Super Bowl bet? The Tennessee Titans.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the...
Team with lots of unhappy talent. After Vince Young's injury and subsequent meltdown, he's cried loudly that he wants the starting quarterback job again. The team signed Kerry Collins to a new deal, so that won't be happening any time soon. LenDale White wants more touches and shorter buffet lines. He solved the buffet problem by working out and dropping 20 pounds during the offseason, but the playing time issue won't be solved with Chris Johnson in the backfield. White and Johnson are great complements to each other. They each have distinctively different running styles and the "Smash and Dash" approach will do great things for the Titans offense, but limit both running backs to under 300 carries.

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Keith Bulluck sat down with the Tennessean for a Q&A this week that covered a lot of topics: his favorite Titans team, his best teammates, his toughest loss and his best game. It's not meant to be, but it almost read like a farewell speech.

Bulluck is heading into the final year of his contract. The Titans have not made any moves to re-sign him. He has already said that he expects to be playing elsewhere next year, although his wish is to remain with the Titans. And when you consider the Titans track record, that's not surprising.

When Keith Bulluck and LenDale White went to town on a Terrible Towel in the waning moments of the Titans' beatdown of the Steelers in Week 16 last season, they had just clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. So, sure, they had every right to celebrate.

Plus, no way a team full of grown men would take offense at the defacing of a yellow hand towel, right. Uh, not quite. The reaction was swift, and last month, Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan even called it unacceptable.

Earlier this week, JJ pointed out that Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan admitted that defacing the Terrible Towel wasn't "... what this coach is about, that's not what our team is about. You do it in between the lines ... the rest of it is unacceptable."

He was referring to this, when teammates LenDale White and Keith Bulluck went to town on a Terrible Towel in the closing minutes of their Week 16 beatdown of the Steelers. Myron Cope's spirit was not amused. Tennessee would lose to Baltimore in the divisional round of the playoffs, and Pittsburgh would win their sixth Super Bowl in team history.

Keith Bulluck has long been one of the leaders of the Titans defense, but he was just called out by teammate Cortland Finnegan.

In a chat on NFL.com, Finnegan was asked if we will see more Terrible Towel stomps this season--something Lendale White and Bulluck did after the Titans' regular season win over the Steelers last year. Finnegan made it clear that not only does he not expect to see it again, but he's pretty upset that any Titan would do it.

As the Patriots continue to rebuild their front office and coaching staff following another offseason exodus, the team has announced the hiring of former Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans general manager Floyd Reese as a senior football advisor. According to the team's official press release, he will work alongside director of player personnel Nick Caserio and head coach Bill Belichick in "various football-related assignments, including contracts."

Here's what Patriots owner Robert Kraft had to say on the hiring:

"We consider ourselves fortunate to have the opportunity to add someone with Floyd Reese's NFL experience and expertise to our staff," said Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. "Floyd will be a tremendous asset serving Coach Belichick in an advisory role."

Maybe to soften the blow of being overmatched on the road against the Titans, Steelers fans focused their ire not on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (two interceptions, three fumbles) or the offensive line (five sacks), but on the final 16 seconds of the game. You know, after the outcome had long been decided and Tennessee's LenDale White and Keith Bulluck went to town on a Terrible Towel.

Myron Cope does not approve, and apparently neither does former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher whose salivary glands were almost certainly armed and ready as he watched the horror unfold from the CBS Pregame studios.

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 16 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory. (Disclaimer: This will only be for the Sunday games, since you probably can't even remember the Thursday gaes at this point.)

Studs

Matt Cassel, QB New England (20-for-36, 345 yards, 3 TDs) -- If you had to grade Cassel's performance this season after being tossed to the wolves, I'd say it is an "AAAAAA+++++++." Sure, he has looked mediocre at times, but when Tom Brady went down in the first week of the season, every Patriots fan I know mailed in their playoff or Super Bowl hopes. His game against the Cardinals in the snow was his second straight with three touchdowns or more and his fourth in the last six games with a passer rating of 103 or more. Whatever happens next week with the Jets-Dolphins, one thing is quickly being a certainty -- Cassel could make Washington/Chicago/Minnesota a pretty scary team next season.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: If you can say with certainty that you know whether Vince Young is going to take a big leap forward this year, or stumble into mediocrity, I want to hear your stock tips. The Titans say they're happy with the way Young has improved his drops and his accuracy during training camp--we just haven't seen much of it in games. Kerry Collins is a very solid backup, but with the group of receivers these two are going to have to throw to, it's hard to know how much blame they deserve if the passing game struggles. Heat Index: 5.