Quick: which team ranks top five in the NFL in total offense through three weeks of the pre-season?

Yes, you guessed it: the Tennessee Titans.

I know. I am as amazed as you are. The Titans rank fourth averaging almost 360 yards per game.

Meantime, top ten offenses from a year ago like New England, Cincinnati, Jacksonville and Green Bay sit in the bottom of the pre-season rankings.

What led me to this discovery? It seemed as though in watching scores from across the league during this pre-season that offensive and point production had become as rare as rain has been across the mid south this last month. And the stats do not lie.

Only 12 teams have averaged more than 20 points during their pre-season games. That’s a sort of benchmark among NFL coaches – score 20 points or more and you will have a good chance to win football games. And yes, most teams are falling far below that number in the pre-season.

At the end of the 2007 regular season, 21 teams averaged 20 points or more. Only one team that averaged fewer than 20 points last year made it to the playoffs.

Yep, you guessed it, the Titans.

The league’s six best teams when the regular season ended last December were tallying better than 25 points per game. That’s why Jeff Fisher and Mike Heimerdinger are so focused on improving the offensive production heading into the Jacksonville opener.

Back to the 2008 pre-season.

Only 13 starting signal callers have tallied two or more touchdown throws so far in the pre-season, led by Drew Brees’ four passes. That’s less than a touchdown throw per game. Only one starting running back has more than one touchdown run, Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams. Touchdown machines like Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans, Larry Fitzgerald, Santana Moss, Terrell Owens, Reggie Wayne and Kellen Winslow have been held out of the endzone.

The Titans are not the only team struggling to score in the pre-season.

Why?

Missing players is a contributing factor. Of those six teams that scored 25 or more per game last season, three are missing key components. No Tom Brady. No Peyton Manning. No Brett Favre.

Scheme is a big factor. You understand just the advantage that defenses have over scheme-less offenses when you watch a pre-season game. Defenders simply have to read and react and make plays. It’s basic football. If you’ve watched the Titans during this pre-season, for example, you’ve seen very little motion by receivers. Guys have simply lined up on one side or the other and run routes. That leaves defenders to just play basic football.

The reason: teams do not want to show opposing regular season defensive coordinators anything. Pre-season offense has become more vanilla than vanilla.

None of this is to say the Titans do not need to be concerned about their lack of offensive production thus far this pre-season. The team can obviously run the football, ranking second behind only the Seahawks. Though Chris Johnson has spent the pre-season in the spotlight, Lendale White has averaged over five yards per carry.

But running the football will be much tougher in the regular season. The passing game remains a work in progress. The receivers have not shown up at all. Neither Vince Young nor Kerry Collins has put up impressive numbers.

What the stats prove, however, is the Titans are not alone.