FanHouse Kyle Vanden Bosch

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.

---

---

When the Titans host the Ravens on Saturday, it appears they won't be stuck bringing the B-team defense to the game.

Albert Haynesworth (knee injury) and Kyle Vanden Bosch (groin) will return to practice today and should be ready to play on Sunday. Haynesworth missed the Titans season finale, while Vanden Bosch hasn't played since Dec. 7 in an injury-plagued season.

It's not that Jason Jones and Jacob Ford haven't been very solid replacements, but with a spot in the AFC Championship game on the line, and the Ravens' relying heavily on their running game, Haynesworth is probably the most important player on the Titans team this week. If he can shut down LaRon McClain and Willis McGahee, the Titans' secondary should be able to handle Joe Flacco--they picked him off twice in their regular season win.

The bigger injury concern seems to be center Kevin Mawae. Mawae is questionable with an elbow injury. Backup Leroy Harris is physically talented, but asking him to figure out the infinite combination of Ravens blitzes would be a very difficult job in only his second career start.

This game wasn't supposed to matter.

If Tennessee had beaten the Texans last week, this would be a rehash of the preseason. Tennessee would have the No. 1 seed for the playoffs wrapped up, while the Steelers would have locked up the No. 2 seed.

Instead, we now have a game that means something (although there is some debate as to how much), which means that both teams have reason to try to prove who's the best team in the AFC, while also saving a little something in the back pocket in case they meet again next month.

Tennessee limps into this game without defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, but the Titans also have an outstanding offensive line that has allowed only eight sacks all season--which is 19 less than Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley have racked up this year. If Tennessee can shut down the Steelers' pass rush, it will give Dick LeBeau plenty to worry about.

This game will mean a lot more if it happens again in January, but as for now, it means more for the Titans. Tennessee needs to prove that they didn't play their best football in September and October, while the Steelers, who just beat the Patriots, Cowboys and Ravens in the last three weeks, could shrug off a close loss as a minor setback.

So it's easy to tell that it's been a bad week for the Titans when this qualifies as good news: Albert Haynesworth will miss the next two games with a sprained knee, while defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch is also sidelined for the next two weeks after having surgery on his groin.

Sure it is good news if you compare it to the potential catastrophe that would have been the alternative: Haynesworth and KVB out through the playoffs, but it's never a good thing when two of the team's best players will be trying to get back into the flow of things during a playoff game.

"Any time he is not in there it is definitely a problem,'' safety Chris Hope said. "Our guys have come in and played well ... but consistently without Albert Haynesworth it is definitely something we have to be concerned about.''

Jason Jones will replace Haynesworth in the lineup while the Titans have gotten plenty of experience at playing without Vanden Bosch, who has missed four games and parts of a couple of others already. In fact Jacob Ford (six sacks) and Dave Ball (four sacks) have produced nearly as much of a pass rush as Vanden Bosch.

But the key is to get Haynesworth back. WIthout the big man in the middle, the rest of the Titans' defense is not nearly as frightening, but with Haynesworth destroying double teams, everyone else's job gets a whole lot easier.

Yes, we'll just get this outta the way immediately, before all the polite commenters tell me what I already know: I'm a Bears homer.

Here's what else I know:

1. The Titans aren't really playing for much. Does it benefit them to head into Weeks 15, 16, and 17 undefeated -- look at their schedule after this game -- and have to decide whether or not to try and go undefeated or rest the starters to avoid injury? The Patriots went for broke last year. While they didn't get anyone hurt, they showed their hand to the Giants in Week 17, aggressively going for the win. Maybe the Super Bowl would have turned out differently for the Pats had they lost a game earlier in the season and just rested starters in Week 17.

Someone won every regular season game last year, so it's not like the Titans would be shattering some long-standing record. The prize for the Titans is a Super Bowl championship. Jeff Fisher knows this. I'm not saying they won't play to win. I'm just saying the Bears have a lot more riding on this game. The AFC South is already virtually locked up for Tennessee, and they're playing on the road.

As we get ready for the week two matchup of the Titans and Bengals, Jimmy Morris from SB Nation's Tennessee Titans blog Music CIty Miracles was kind enough to offer some insights on Nashville's finest for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Tennessee beat Jacksonville in a key AFC South opener. Here's my look at who were the heroes and goats of the season opener.

Stars Of The Game

1. Titans Defensive Line

It's hard to understate how dominant this group still is. Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch get most of the credit, but Tony Brown, Justin Jones and Jevon Kearse all helped out as the Titans completely shut down one of the best running games in the league. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew were held to 31 yards combined as the Titans forced Jacksonville to give up the running game. They also combined for six of the Titans seven sacks.

2. Titans RB Chris Johnson

In a game where most offensive stars were swallowed up by the defenses, Johnson was the best skill player on the field. The rookie showed outstanding speed plus more power than you would expect. Johnson had five plays of 10+ yards, while the rest of the Titans team had four.

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.

Bryant McKinnie's four-game suspension couldn't have come at a worse time.

There's never a good time to lose your above-average left tackle, but Artis Hicks is going to have to face Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers and Kyle Vanden Bosch. Four weeks, four Pro Bowl defensive ends. Could you draw up four tougher tests for the new left tackle?

The good news is that KGB is battling a knee problem and may miss Monday's game--which would give Hicks a week to get comfortable before a trio of tough tests, but it is safe to say that Hicks' success or failure will play a large role in determining if the Vikings get off to a fast start.

The Vikings will likely to a lot to help Hicks--Jim Kleinsasser might get some extra playing time for some double-team help and the Vikings will likely chip the defensive ends with a running back. Tarvaris Jackson has a lot of weaknesses, but his escapability will come in very handy over the next four weeks.