Last Sunday, Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars defense for 228 rushing yards on 24 carries -- 9.8 yards per carry, and a long run of 89 yards. An amazing 40 percent of the Titans' yards on the ground come after 10 yards this season, and that's just about all on Johnson, who leads the NFL in rushing with 824 yards. He also leads the league in big plays from a back -- 10 runs for over 20 yards and five runs for over 40. Once he gets past your front four, Johnson is a major problem to bring down -- especially when he's facing a team like the Jaguars, whose defense is emblematic of the NFL's current trouble with tackling. It seemed that every time Johnson hit the edge against the Jags, there was safety Reggie Nelson(notes), ready for another whiff. And Tennessee's underrated offensive line pushed Jacksonville's front four around all day.

However, Johnson's got a bigger challenge this week -- the days of "four-lane highway" rushing lanes and missed tackles might be over in the short term. The Titans face the San Francisco 49ers today, and this is a defense primed to stop the big play on the ground. They've only allowed three rushes of 20 yards or more, and no back has gone for 40 or more on them this season. San Francisco has speed on the perimeter and the ability to clamp down on speed backs. According to Football Outsiders, the Niners rank fourth in yards per carry allowed to the left end (2.52) and fifth in runs allowed to right end (2.42). Johnson will face additional challenges in that San Francisco's defense doesn't have much incentive to back into coverage with Vince Young(notes) under center. In fact, because Young rolls out so much, and is so much better as a passer when he does, the Niners have all the reason in the world to guard the edges above all else.

So watch San Francisco's edge defenders -- the always underrated Justin Smith(notes) at end, and outside linebackers Manny Lawson(notes) and Parys Haralson(notes) -- especially on those breakout plays in which Johnson tries to bounce outside. Last Sunday, the Niners negated Indy's rushing attack, and the ubiquitous stretch play, limiting Joseph Addai(notes) to 62 yards on 20 carries. True to the ethos of head coach Mike Singletary, these guys arrive at the ballcarrier in a very bad mood. Can they stop Johnson, the single most dangerous ground threat in the league?

Is Hines Ward(notes) simply a guy who likes to play hard or a cheap shot artist? According to NFL players, it's the latter.

Sports Illustrated asked 296 players who they thought was the dirtiest player in the league and the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver was a resounding victor, earning nearly double the votes of the next highest player. 

I was always on Ward's side when it came to the dirty/hard argument, but his block on Keith Rivers last year swayed me to the other side. It's a gray area though; if Ward was on my favorite team I'd defend him to the death.

Below is a partial list of vote-getters, their percentage of the vote and a brief description of their dirtiness. You'll find that there is literally nothing surprising about the results of the poll, other than that Vince Young(notes) got a vote. (What, he throws his clipboard at people?)

1. Hines Ward (11.6 percent): One of two players on this list to have a rule informally named after themselves, Ward is known for lighting up defenders with a bit too much gusto after an interception or fumble.

2. Albert Haynesworth(notes) (6.0 percent): We can safely assume that Haynesworth earned the vote of Andre Gurode. 

4. Roy Williams (5.1 percent): Even though the horse collar rule was made to protect the league's quarterbacks from the former Dallas Cowboys "star", I had never really thought that Williams was dirty. I just figured he did it because he couldn't tackle.

7. Richie Incognito(notes) (3.7 percent): You know that famous baseball-related bar trivia question that asks how many ways a batter can reach first base? Incognito's dossier reads like a list of all the possible ways to accrue a personal foul.

Even though he retired last spring, former Chargers safety Rodney Harrison(notes) received three votes, thus showing that dirtiness can live on in perpetuity. 

Vince Young(notes), Quarterback, Tennessee Titans. I wouldn't say that Vince Young was the reason that the Titans won yesterday, but Young did everything that could've been asked of him. 15-of-18 for 125 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions? Jeff Fisher will take that every time. Of course, he it helps if you have a running back that goes for 228 yards and two touchdowns (thank you, Chris Johnson), your defense gets two interceptions and you get to play from ahead (something Kerry Collins(notes) rarely got to do). Did VY's presence in the line-up spark this kind of performance from the rest of the team? Things like that have been known to happen.

Greg Mattison, Defensive Coordinator, Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens played, by far, their best game of 2009 against the Broncos yesterday. They were strong, they were physical, they were tough and they had the right game plan. They decided that they would tee off on the Denver running game and short passes, and if Denver wanted to beat them by going vertical, then hey, have it it, Kyle Orton(notes). He couldn't do it. Denver's biggest play of the day was a 39-yard pass interference call on the Ravens. Outside of that, the Broncos had just one play all day that went for more than 20 yards, and it came in garbage time.

Ted Ginn, Special Teams, Miami Dolphins. Note that it doesn't say, "Ted Ginn, Wide Receiver." Ginn didn't catch a ball (though, it should be noted, neither did his replacement, Brian Hartline(notes)). That didn't stop Ginn from just about singlehandedly winning that game for his team, though. That Miami offense was doing nothing yesterday, Wildcat or no Wildcat. But they got one defensive touchdown, and two special teams touchdowns from Ginn, both of which were "Man, that guy is crazy athletic" moments.

DeAngelo Williams(notes) and Jonathan Stewart(notes), Running Backs, Carolina Panthers. This result -- a 34-21 Panthers win over the Cardinals -- I did not see coming. The Cardinals were on the come, and the Panthers looked to be in trouble ... and then this happens. And the reason that the Cardinals were on the come was their run defense, and the Panthers plowed through them for 270 yards on the ground. They were so effective that Jake Delhomme(notes) only had to throw the ball 14 times, and that fact is not at all coincidental to the fact that the Panthers won.

Shawne Merriman(notes), Linebacker, San Diego Chargers. Shawne Merriman actually affected a game yesterday. His presence was actually noticeable on the field. It started a little bit with the game against the Chiefs last week, and then exploded this week. He had two sacks against the Raiders and wreaked havoc in their backfield all day.

It's come out that Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams, figuring he's got nothing to lose at 0-6, wants head coach Jeff Fisher to start quarterback Vince Young(notes) this Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. "I have been wanting (Fisher) to play Vince Young more because (Kerry) Collins has been having his problems out there,'' Adams recently told the Tennessean. "I just think we need to find out how well (Young) can do. If you don't play the guy and lose all your games, it is hard for you to see what he can do for you. Vince has won a lot of games for us.''

Fisher has to be under the gun, despite his status as the NFL's current longest-tenured head coach, and having the guy who owns the team come out and start exercising his right (whatever it may be) to make personnel decisions can't be a step in the right direction. Young "won" 17 games for the Titans in 2006 and 2007, but quarterback wins is a shady stat at best. The Titans finished near the bottom of the league in 2006 in passing first downs, attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and net yards per attempt. It was the same story in 2007. Placing too much credit on one player is a very dangerous enterprise in a team sport like football, and that's never more true than when your team is built on a running game and defense.

In mop-up duty for Kerry Collins(notes) in 2009, Young is 0-for-5 with an interception, and he's going to ding the team to the tune of a $14.2 million cap hit in 2010. So it makes sense to see if Young has anything left in the tank, though I suspect the football minds in Nashville already know the answer.

If Young bottoms out and Collins is at the end of the road (both likely scenarios), that puts the Titans in the pole position to draft (and perhaps overdraft) a quarterback in 2010. Colt McCoy of Texas and Florida's Tim Tebow have questions about their abilities to fit NFL offenses, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma now has shoulder injuries that will likely take him out of the top 10 unless he revolutionizes the quarterback position at the 2010 Scouting Combine, and Washington's Jake Locker is just learning the NCAA version of the pro-style offense, never mind the real version. Due to their current quarterback situation, the Titans could set the market for quarterbacks in the 2010 draft -- and then get upended by it.

Sooner or later, Jim Zorn's going to get canned like some cheap tuna. It could happen at any time, really. It could be at the end of the season, or it could be before I hit "publish" on this post, but it's happening.

According to one report, it would've happened already if Mike Shanahan was willing to take his job right now. Thomas George at FanHouse quotes "a Redskins management source" who says that the Redskins have already made a play for Shanahan, but that he didn't want the job in mid-season.

"Shanahan told the franchise there was little he could do in the middle of the season for them and that changing coaches during the season in the NFL rarely works,'' a Redskins management source told FanHouse. "Several people that Dan Snyder trusts have suggested, if he makes a move, he should turn it over to secondary coach Jerry Gray. That could still happen."

And what a treat that would be for Jerry Gray.

I don't know if I believe the report or not, but it doesn't seem unbelievable. Then again, there's not much that Dan Snyder could do that I would find shocking. It wouldn't shock me if he hired Shanahan. It wouldn't shock me if he hired Wayne Fontes. It wouldn't shock me if he took over as head coach himself. It wouldn't shock me if he traded for Vince Young(notes) and named him player/coach.

The Redskins play the Eagles on Monday night, then head into a bye week. My best guess for the timing of Zorn's firing is Monday night around midnight.

The Desperation Index features disappointing teams thought to be in the hunt at one point (excluding your Lions, Chiefs, Browns and Rams), but are now struggling to save their seasons after rough starts in 2009. Who is most on the hook for a win this week?

Desperation Index: 10.0 -- Tennessee Titans (0-4): Right now, the only thing keeping the Titans on this list if the fact that they were the NFL's 1-seed in 2008. They look nothing like that team in 2009. It could have been argued that they were the NFL's best winless team until last Sunday, when they were convincingly beaten by the Jaguars, 37-17. Now they're one more loss away from done, and the specter of the "Hey, let's see if Vince Young(notes) can actually play quarterback in the NFL" discussion again. Eek.

Desperation Index: 10.0 -- Carolina Panthers (0-3): Similarly, last year's 2-seed in the NFC can't buy a win. Before their Week 4 bye, the Panthers lost, 21-7 to the uneven Cowboys. They haven't had a 100-yard rusher in a single game yet, which is very bad news for their smashmouth offense. Why the Kats are playing keep-away from their running game is a mystery, but if they have any hope of salvaging their season, it's time to load up the tight ends and get back to power against the Redskins today.

Desperation Index: 10.0 -- Seattle Seahawks (1-3): Last year, their 4-12 record was more about a historic number of offensive injuries, and the front office got a pass. Now, team president Tim Ruskell is one loss away from a dead season and a great many questions about his tenure. He's the guy who ran Mike Holmgren out of town, and has failed to find necessary replacements for Matt Hasselbeck(notes), Walter Jones(notes), and Shaun Alexander(notes). Another sub-500 season in the Emerald City could lead to a much-needed rebuild.

Desperation Index: 9.0 -- Arizona Cardinals (1-2): Last year's NFC Champs were blown out by the Colts in Week 3, and they've had the bye week to fix a running game that has failed to produce a single player going over 30 yards in two of their three games. More distressingly, Kurt Warner(notes) is not hitting his downfield targets -- his Yards per Pass Attempt is down from 7.7 in 2008 to 7.1 in 2009, which is his worst since 2003. They need to figure it out against the Houston Texans, a team that can actually outgun them these days.

Desperation Index: 8.0 -- Washington Redskins (2-2): What a lovely week it's been for the Beltway Bunglers. First, Danny and Vinny pulled Sherm Lewis out of the bingo hall to "oversee" Jim Zorn ("Okay, now call B-1!"). Then, there was defensive coordinator Greg Blache's insistence that he wouldn't talk to the media for the rest of the season, which is a real shame, as he's the most quotable coach in the NFL. Then, the catfight between Clinton Portis(notes) and Mike Sellers(notes) over Portis wanting Sellers pulled because of his blocking. This is one week, folks. The Panthers may have problems, but at least they're not an ongoing soap opera. If the Redskins dip under .500 by losing to Carolina, what will NEXT week look like?

Desperation Index: 8.0 -- Miami Dolphins (1-3): The Dolphins finally got their first win of the season against the Bills last week, a 38-10 shellacking that actually put them with more points scored than allowed for the season. They've lost two close games -- one to the Colts where they had the ball for 45 minutes, and one to the Chargers in which San Diego exploited Miami's holes in their red zone defense. Now, they have a chance to crawl back to relevance against the Jets on Monday night, but they're facing Rex Ryan -- the same guy who ran the Baltimore defense that shut down the Wildcat last year.