Wiedmer: Josh Dobbs, Falcons and Titans all having their preseason moments


              Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90), left, continues to try to get past Atlanta Falcons tight end Eric Saubert (85) after losing his helmet in the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Fred Vuich)
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90), left, continues to try to get past Atlanta Falcons tight end Eric Saubert (85) after losing his helmet in the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Fred Vuich)

The Atlanta Falcons are 0-2 for the exhibition season after Sunday's 17-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Tennessee Titans are 1-1 after Saturday's 34-27 win over Carolina. Former University of Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs is now 2-0 as the Steelers starter, though he isn't likely to remain that much longer.

The question is this: In honor of the late Jerry Lewis and his timeless comic masterpiece "The Nutty Professor," could any of these three - the Falcons, Titans or Dobbs - be better if they had some of the magic potion Lewis used on himself to go from awkward, goofy professor Julius Kelp to lounge lizard Buddy Love?

Let's start with the Titans, who are coming off a somewhat surprising 9-7 season and want much more this time around.

After Saturday's win over Carolina - which never would have been that close if the subs hadn't gotten early work - offensive tackle Taylor Luwan, never guarded with his opinions, shared this one: "When you're playing at the level we were playing at today, that's what makes football so much fun. This showed we're capable of continuing the trend we started last year."

And they no doubt are. Against a typically tough Carolina defense, the Titans not only collected 22 first downs, they spread them out evenly between the pass and the run. Moreover, they accomplished this with starting quarterback Marcus Mariota playing but 17 snaps.

photo Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Joshua Dobbs will get the chance to start in the team's first game of the 2017 preseason Friday night against the New York Giants.
photo Tennessee Titans running back David Fluellen (32) scores the winning touchdown on a 3-yard run against the Carolina Panthers in the second half of an NFL football preseason game Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. The Titans won 34-27. (AP Photo/James Kenney)

With the third-year pro seemingly completely healthy after breaking a leg last season, this could be the season he becomes one of the top five or six QBs in the league, evenly dangerous running or passing.

This team doesn't need Kelp's magic tonic unless it will assure Mariota of being healthy all season.

As for the Falcons, let's point out the Birds led 13-3 at Pitt on Sunday before basically emptying the bench and subliminally letting the Steelers know that if this had been a regular-season game, Atlanta could have rolled to victory.

The concern during this offseason was that Atlanta might never emotionally recover from its meltdown in the Super Bowl after leading New England 28-3. And that may yet prove true when the games matter and the score gets tight and a mistake or two forces flashbacks of that monumental collapse against the Patriots.

But right now, Atlanta looks more like a team supremely hungry to prove it far more closely resembles the team that peppered the Pats for three quarters than the one that blew the largest lead in Super Bowl history.

And if quarterback Matt Ryan - who has thus far gone 6-of-8 for 88 yards, a touchdown and a 123.6 passer rating through two preseason appearances - looks good, the Falcons' starting defense looks as if it could be even better in Dan Quinn's third season in charge. That is especially true with first-round draft pick Takkarist McKinley of UCLA finally healthy enough to see the field for the first time this preseason.

"We are encouraged by his first time back, and I know he was excited to get going," Quinn said.

Whether Dobbs is going well enough to make the Steelers' roster once starter Ben Roethlisberger and backup Landry Jones return to good health is less certain.

Dobbs was 10-of-19 for 70 yards and an interception against the Falcons. He wasn't mentioned by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin until late in his postgame press conference, when a reporter specifically asked about Dobbs.

"I thought he did some things well and did some things he needs to improve on," Tomlin said. "It was a good learning experience for him, and I'm sure he will."

Translation: Dobbs is still no lock to make the regular-season roster as either a backup or practice player, so he could richly use some of Kelp's secret potion to put a little more zip and accuracy on his throws.

Then again, the Steelers probably drafted Dobbs as much for his character and brains as his football skills. Which brings us back to the original Nutty Professor and brief speech delivered by Professor Kelp after it's revealed he's also Buddy Love.

Said the good professor: "I don't want to be something that I'm not. I didn't like being someone else. At the same time I'm very glad I was cause I found out something that I never knew. You might as well like yourself. Just think about all the time you're going to have to spend with you. And if you don't think too much of yourself, how do you expect others to?"

There's nothing nutty about that. And two weeks into the preseason, neither the Titans, Falcons nor Dobbs is attempting to be something none of them is. That alone should make them like themselves just fine moving forward this football season.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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