NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chimere Dike has a 226-yard lead atop the NFL’s all-purpose yardage list.
He’s been a brilliant returner, with 359 yards on punts and 1,413 on kickoffs. As a receiver, he’s been fine, adding another 301.
But the Titans have failed him in two specific ways this season: their insistence on feeding him the ball on trick-play jet sweeps and end-arounds, and their use of him as a screen target and on what they call run solutions — areas where he’s been almost completely unproductive.
Dike has taken 10 handoffs for 11 yards.
He’s caught 10 screens for 38 yards.
And on plays designed as runs that were checked to quick throws amounting to screens, he’s caught four passes for 13 yards.
That’s a lot of effort for very little return.
“Some of those are situational calls,” Nick Holz said. “Some of those are third-and-very long and we’re just trying to survive the down. There’s a third-and-20 in there, a third-and-15 -- get it out of our hands, catch it, maybe he hits one and gets us into range, but we’re not going to have a bad experience — throw a pick, take a sack, something like that.”
They probably haven’t been the best calls, Holz admitted.
Holz said the offense has improved, but isn’t there yet with its perimeter blocking, second-level blocking and releases off the line on called screens. On a screen Sunday, Chig Okonkwo's blown block killed any chance of success.
There is some oversall positivity there, he said, but it needs to turn into production.
“Right now we’re going to get better at it," Holz said. "We’re looking at finishing these next few weeks, getting a few more good ones.”
On Dike’s carries, the trend is clear. He had three rushes for 18 yards in the Titans’ first two games. Since then, he’s had seven carries for minus-7.
Play-caller Bo Hardegree tends to call end-arounds or jet sweeps early in games -- sometimes when things are going well, and they often slam the brakes on the offense.
In Santa Clara against the 49ers, Dike took a handoff on the Titans’ 11th play from scrimmage, on first-and-goal from the 5. He was dragged down for a 7-yard loss, and Tennessee ultimately settled for a field goal.
“There’s a mix of why you do them,” Holz said. “The one in this game was the exact same play 
Cam scrambled on where he scored the touchdown at home (against Seattle). It’s kind of got a read element to it. We probably could have executed it better against the Niners.
"To legitimize the fly motion and the other things, you’ve got to hand it off now and again. Some of that happens. One of the first plays of the game, we fake the fly motion, four guys go with it, and all of a sudden Tony (Pollard) gets a big crease. Some of them are a necessary evil to open up other stuff and legitimize the motion. But we expect more production out of them.”
I'm glad Holz helped explain why the Titans are using Dike the way they are.
It’s still painful to watch.
