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Panthers' defense won the day against Titans' offense

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- I stuck with the Titans’ offense as it went against Carolina’s defense Wednesday at the joint practice.

And the advantage definitely went to the visiting team, with a strong showing from the defensive front and linebacker Luke Kuechly buzzing around.

From my vantage point it was a largely disappointing effort by a team looking to return to its identity as a physical, run-first offense. The ugly loss in New York to the Jets was supposed to be a wake up call, but this performance wasn’t that much better.

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Part of it may have been the Titans’ first look at a 4-3 front.

“There's definitely change,” coach Mike Mularkey said. “There's a couple different schemes, some different line calls. Nothing drastic, but it is different. The combination blocks are different. Tight ends, it's not just the line, the tight ends, the backs, where they fit on specific plays. It's good for us.”

DeMarco Murray had a good run at the start of all three team periods. But the run game sputtered from there, especially with the high ranking units on the field. Carolina generally got people to the ball carrier in a hurry. There was no tackling of course, and guys stay on their feet and continue to run even after they would have been tackled.

Khalfani Muhammad, late in periods working with and against third- and fourth-stringers had some success.

Marcus Mariota threw two picks that resulted from high passes tipped by his target. Delanie Walker was the guy on the first, and I thought safety Colin James collected it with a dive though a friend later told me the officials had ruled it incomplete.

Another was aimed for Derrick Henry, popped up and was snatched by lineback Shaq Thompson who easily took it back for a score.

A couple additional notes and points:

--In Titans offensive line one-on-ones and combination blocking drills against the Panthers, several Carolina guys slipped or had footing trouble, which I thought had an impact on the tempo of the period. Center Ben Jones had the best snap I saw, holding up defensive tackle Eric Crume and then doing well to stay between the defender and the spot a quarterback would have occupied. Crume is listed as a third-teamer, so Jones should beat him most of the time.

--On The Midday 180, Greg Cosell of NFL Films told us he was surprised how many tight formations rookie Taywan Taylor lined up in against the Jets. Independent of that and before the interview, I took note that the Titans were lining up that way a lot. (I wasn’t noticing whether Taylor was involved in those or not.

--Matt Cassel fumbled a snap from rookie center Corey Levin. Cassel was also intercepted on a pass for Jonathan Krause.

--Rishard Matthews got sandwiched by corner James Bradbury and safety Damian Parms as he went up for a Marcus Mariota pass and couldn’t come down with it. He may have been hit early. All involved were checking in to make sure everyone was OK after the collision, as was Kuechly.

href="https://twitter.com/PaulKuharskyNFL/status/897860432819519491">August 16, 2017

--In addition to the two passes the Titans couldn’t corral that resulted in turnover, Krause and Matthews had drops.

--Akeem Judd lost a fumble near the goal line that the Panthers recovered in a big victory for Carolina’s defense.

--Offensive tackle Steve Moore was flagged for a false start that killed a fourth-and-short and forced the Titans to try a field goal.

--Taywan Taylor had some good and some bad in one-on-ones. See below.

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