Tennessee Titans: OC Chris Palmer Rightfully Under Fire After Week 1 Thrashing

By Raj Prashad
Senior Writer

Back in 2011, when the Tennessee Titans coaching staff received a massive overhaul under new head coach Mike Munchak, the LP Field faithful warmly welcomed offensive coordinator Chris Palmer and his through-the-air play-calling.

But one week into the 2012 season and it looks as if the love fest for the former quarterbacks coach has come to a close. This after a 34-13 loss in which the once enigmatic Chris Johnson rushed for four yards on 11 carries.

Johnson also happens to be coming off the worst statistical season of his tenured career, where the Titans have seen him fall from once eclipsing 2,000 yards in 2009, to just over 1,000 yards last season.

Palmer, who was the quarterback coach for the New York Giants in the 2007 championship season, has been under fire for his lack of creativity when using Johnson in the Tennessee offense.

He’s been with 20 separate teams throughout his tenure in the league, including a stint as the offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans from 2002-05.

Palmer has been phenomenal in the development of second-year quarterback Jake Locker, but should it be taken at the loss of a solid running game?

“When you’ve got a guy like C.J., you know he’s going to draw a lot of attention,” guard Leroy Harris told the Tennessean after the loss. “So (the Patriots were) going in there and trying to push us lateral in all aspects — pushing the linemen lateral and then trying to corral him. We’ve got to get where we’re getting our foot stuck in the ground and getting downhill.”

Whether Palmer is on thin ice or not remains to be seen, but you would assume time has to be running out on his test run as offensive coordinator yet again.

Follow Raj on Twitter: @RajPrashad

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