Paper or plastic? Titans look to up sack total

How many sacks can the Tennessee Titans fill?

Questions along those lines have been the norm for Titans fans from the day defensive end Kevin Carter was acquired from the St. Louis Rams during the off-season.

Speculation on the subject has merit, considering that the Titans already possessed defensive end Jevon Kearse, who set a rookie record with 14.5 sacks in 1999 and followed with 11 in 2000. Carter, a six-year veteran, had a personal-best 17 sacks two years ago.

A suggestion aimed to the print media for a game-by-game "sack watch" shows just how enthused some fans have become.

The NFL team record for sacks in a season is 72, held by the 1984 Chicago Bears -- led by right defensive end Richard Dent's 17.5 total.

Coach Mike Ditka said of his Bears earlier in the 1984 season: "In life, there are teams called Smith, and teams called Grabowski. We're Grabowskis!"

It was his way of paying homage to a blue-collar city, a blue-collar image.

The Titans engineered a franchise-best 54 sacks last season, or 3.375 per game. They would have to average 4.5 sacks during the 16-game regular season to tie the mark. Inspiration may reside in the knowledge that the Bears had just 51 takedowns in the season prior to making history.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher may not witness an eclipse of the record, but he knows how the template was set. Fisher was a safety and return specialist with the Bears from 1981 to 1985.

The Bears' defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan, impressed Fisher with his "46" defense to the point where Fisher became a lifelong devotee of its philosophy and primal pieces.

While any given sack may have a minimal impact, a high overall total does not necessarily equate to a juggernaut season either. With a record sack total, and a defense still talked about as maybe the best ever, Da Bears posted a rather modest 10-6 record in 1984 and lost 23-0 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title match.

Still, it could be those frenzied pass rushes, and warrior-like defenses aimed at stopping such swoops, which will provide the pivotal battle stations in deciding who comes out alone in the AFC Central -- where top-heavy territory is defined exclusively by smothering and swarming defenses.

Any chance of challenging the all-time team sack record would, of course, require increased production from all defensive fronts, backs and sides. It would also require a special effort from sackmeisters Kearse, 6'4", 265 lbs., and Carter, 6'5", 280 lbs., the tandem most proficient and quotidian in the ways of flattening opponents.

Kearse, Fisher has said, will move to the right side (a position he prefers), leaving Carter to anchor the left defensive end slot -- switching at times to keep offenses off balance. Also, Kearse now has the green light to play a more free-wheeling and less structured type of game, one befitting his superior athleticism.

Focusing on and rooting for the two defensive ends may mean restraining some pent-up hostilities for many of the Titans faithful. The state's beloved Volunteers, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, reigned unchallenged for years as a football fiefdom. Now the Titans are in the mix. UT fans in recent years have developed a severe dislike for the Florida Gators, the alma mater for both Kearse and Carter.

Paper or plastic?