Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 9/11/19: Crossover Wednesday with Locked On Titans

Episode Date: September 11, 2019

On today's episode, it's time for our second installment of Crossover Wednesday. As you all know, this will run each Wednesday throughout the regular season and now we're onto the Titans. How will thi...s latest chapter of this AFC South battle go?Kicking off the show, we dive into the Titans' angle featuring talk on their stunning blowout over the Browns, Derrick Henry, Marcus Mariota, the absence of Taylor Lewan at left tackle, and much more. From the Colts' POV, stopping Henry will go a long way towards a victory.Then, the host of Locked On Titans peppers his own questions about the Colts featuring discussion on Marlon Mack, their offensive line, up-and-coming pass rushers, etc.Finally, we close out the show with our three main keys to the game from each side before unveiling predictions. Will the Colts move to 1-1? I'm pretty confident, but what say you listeners? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, everybody. Welcome back into the second edition of Crossover Wednesday. I know you guys listened last week to our show, but this week we are back with week two of Crossover Wednesday featuring Locked On Titans and their host, Tyler Rowland. How are you doing today, Tyler? I am doing pretty good. Doing pretty good. Thank you. No problem. I'm glad to have you on the show today. We're going to talk about the Colts versus Titans here, which will be taking place on Sunday in Nashville. Go from all angles here. We'll start off with the Colts side of things and go to the Titans. Then we'll wrap up today's show talking about the overall predictions
Starting point is 00:00:29 of the game, what we think is going to happen here. So, Ty, let me ask you this, because I know a lot of Colts fans are interested in this. What was your thoughts on the game last week where the Titans kind of stunned the Cleveland Browns who were one of the hotter teams as far as the offseason goes, 43-13? Clearly you have to be excited about that. Just Titans fans feel neglected by the national media in general, it feels like.
Starting point is 00:00:51 So anytime you're able to come out having a national spotlight shined on you for whatever reason and really show out, it definitely is an exciting time for the fan base. Yeah, that seems for sure. They won 43-13. And let me ask you this as well, because it seemed like it was a game that was really tied up as far as it was a close game and it blew up in the fourth quarter there. What was your expectation going into that game? Because
Starting point is 00:01:14 I know many didn't expect the Titans to do what they did on Sunday. Well, I got to be honest with you. On my show on Friday and my prediction in general, I felt like it was going to be a really tight game. A lot of people thought the Brown like it was going to be a really tight game. A lot of people thought the Browns maybe were going to blow them out or something like that. I know the Titans' defense is good, whether people know it or not. The Titans always have a pretty solid defense in half for the last few years. So I expected a close game.
Starting point is 00:01:37 I figured 24-17, 24-21 right in there. I did not expect the Titans to blow it, though. I can't say that. Yeah, that's for sure. It was really surprising to say the least. I know the Colts lost in their overtime throw in LA 24-30. They had a valiant comeback in the second half there in LA. But as far as the Titans go, Tyler, what did you also, looking ahead to week two now, what do you think the game plan is going to have to be as far as going against this Colts team? I know there's no Andrew Luck anymore. He's 11-0 against the Titans there.
Starting point is 00:02:05 He kind of owned them for a little bit there. What do you think is the plan as far as no luck? And this team is kind of the same outside of that. Well, I will definitely have some questions for you in that regard as well once we get there. But just my interpretation so far is I expect the Colts to play much more complimentary football, almost similar to what the Titans do.
Starting point is 00:02:27 I am high on Jacoby Brissett. I think he's a solid starting quarterback in the league, but he's obviously not the talent that was Andrew Luck. The Colts could throw it around a little more when they had Luck. You've got to be put into a little bit better position in terms of being ahead of the chains and things like that with Brissett. So I think it's going to be important to stop the run. As you saw, the Colts, you know, Marlon Mack went off for about 170 yards.
Starting point is 00:02:51 So definitely that offensive line hasn't gone anywhere. So it's going to be important to stop the Colts, stop the run. But other than that, I think there are ways to attack in the passing game. So I'm hoping that the Titans take advantage of those two things. Stop the run and maybe get going in the passing game a little more. Yeah, it's certainly I think it's going to be a lot more closer than Colts
Starting point is 00:03:14 fans are expecting here. I know we've Colts fans are used to as far as going in Nashville and really the last times when Andrew Luck's been a quarterback, they just go in and win the games a lot pretty easily. But I think it's going to be a very close game as far as Sunday goes because you have Derrick Henry, who's been a force, underrated kind of guy in the NFL over the past couple years.
Starting point is 00:03:30 And he looks like he's back up on track again this year. He might be taking another leap like Marlon Mack is this year. Just from a Colts fan standpoint, what's your overall thoughts on Derrick Henry as a running back? Because, I mean, from our vantage point, it seems like he's a very underrated running back and a powerful running back who usually gives a cold spit sometimes well it showed in the Browns game as well um Derrick Henry is a second half runner he takes his toll on a defense so as a Titans fan it's frustrating sometimes uh early in the game it doesn't seem like he's going very you
Starting point is 00:04:02 know every carry is one yard two yard three he'll get a six here, but nothing big. But by the time the end of the third quarter rolls around, the fourth quarter rolls around, quite frankly, it's just human nature. People don't want to tackle him anymore. So he starts to get those chunk plays, those 18s, those 22s. And the next thing you know it, he's running down the field for a 60 yarder and now the game is over. So I do like Derrick
Starting point is 00:04:25 Henry, but I would like to see him start a little faster and have a little bit more intensity at the beginning of the game, and that played out last season. At the beginning of the season, he was almost non-existent, and then we saw the last, you know, five games, six games of the year, he rushed for almost 800 yards. So I would just like to see him get started a little bit quicker against the Colts than he did against the Browns and then he did last season. But I do like him as a runner. He just takes some time to charge up, I guess. Do you expect as far as Sunday goes in Nashville, it's going to be a hot one. I've seen it's around 94 degrees and pretty humid down in Nashville over there before.
Starting point is 00:04:59 So it's going to be a really hot one for the Colts on Sunday in Nashville. What do you expect? Do you think it's going to be a lot of like pounding the run at first? I know it's usually the Titans MO with Derrick Henry, but especially in a game where it's going to be pretty hot, there might be a lot of cramping going on. Do you think it's going to be a lot of Derrick Henry earlier in the offseason? Well, I honestly think the Titans should go the opposite route. I know that it's conventional wisdom that the Titans are a run first football team, they are and that will be key but I think early on the Colts are really stout in the front seven they're linebackers they're well coached up front so I think it will be important to get going on the outsides with Corey Davis and A.J. Brown and get some easy passes and completions going some slants some
Starting point is 00:05:43 outs some comebacks and curls just get some easy passes going early on going, some slants, some outs, some comebacks and curls. Just get some easy passes going early on, and that will open up the run game for the second quarter into the second half so Derrick Henry can get going. I think it's really important for the Titans to be successful with short and medium passing early on. I know one area that Coltrane took advantage of against the Chargers last week was their offensive line there, missing Russell Okung at left tackle. And Kamoka Ture and Justin Houston really took advantage of that, getting the Phillip Rivers early and often. I know it didn't show much in the box score there, but they did a lot of pressuring against him.
Starting point is 00:06:16 And it's probably going to be a lot of the same this week without Terrell LeJuan. What do you expect with the offensive line? Were you also surprised against Cleveland that LeJuan's absence really wasn't missed that much? But I feel like LeJuan is, again, another one of those underrated left tackles in the league. I know his pay grade kind of shows the top five left tackle in the league anyways. But Tyler, what do you think about Taylor Luan overall and his absence on Sunday? Well, I would say that the Titans are consistently underrated, the team, the players. So you could almost say that about
Starting point is 00:06:42 all of them. But I will say one thing that helped the Titans deal with their woes on the offensive line, Taylor, the one's obviously missing, but we're also missing our starting right guard, Kevin Panfield. Now the backup Jameel Douglas did a fantastic job. Jack Conklin seems to have returned at right tackle to his all pro form that he was at his rookie season after an ACL tear kind of hindered him for about a year and a half. So that helps to have that right side really shirred up. Olivier Vernon, the edge rusher for the Browns, was basically
Starting point is 00:07:15 non-existent against the Titans because of Jack Conklin and his domination on the right side. So it helps to have one side taken care of. On the other side. It allows you to use your running backs and your tight ends. The Titans use tons of multiple tight end formations and rotated four different tight ends last week. So I expect to see a lot of heavy tight end formations and a lot of bunch formations where the Titans wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends are able to help Dennis Kelly, our backup left tackle, and chip those edge rushers just to give the quarterback an extra second or two to make a read, make a play, or set up a screen. We usually were able to have someone there to help chip Miles Garrett to kind of get him. No one is going to be able to stop a player like that, but it's important to have
Starting point is 00:08:01 running backs and tight ends and wide receivers help chip on the line of scrimmage to give you that extra second that you need when you have a less than starting offensive line. Last one I have for you, Ty, before we go on to the cold side things, you can ask me whatever questions you have. But Marcus Mariota, I feel like he's kind of overrated. I know he's really not talked about that much, but I'm really not a big Marcus Mariota fan. What's your thoughts just watching the Titans for the last couple of years? And Mariota is now in a contract year, I believe. How big of a year is this for Mariota? And also just what's your overall opinion of him?
Starting point is 00:08:32 Well, I have to be honest, regardless of what Titans fans want to believe, I don't think that the outcome with Marcus can go more positive. Like the cap on it right now is we franchise tag him for one more season and make him prove it again. At this point, even if he has a decently successful 2019 season, you can't erase the injuries and the up and down performance of the past few years. Now Titans fans will scream every reason in the book of different coordinators,
Starting point is 00:09:01 bad weapons, and those are all correct too. But I just think at this point in time, we know that he's not going to be Aaron Rodgers level, up there with the elites like Drew Brees and Carson Wentz, things like that. I think we know that, but I still think he can be serviceable enough and manage the game and be smart and use his legs and athleticism to be a solid quarterback in the NFL that can win you a Super Bowl if you put the pieces around him. Even in the Browns game, he had a few overthrows, about three or four, that cost the team. Luckily,
Starting point is 00:09:37 the defense was so dominant, we were able to have multiple cracks at offense to get some points. But I would say I can't be as positive on him as maybe some, maybe I lean towards more how you feel. I'm kind of in the middle, but if he can stay healthy, I think he has the weapons this year. Most people around the team feel he has the weapons in the offensive line necessary and the coaching necessary to be successful. So it's just on him to stay healthy. And I think that his performance will lead him into probably getting franchise tag next year. If he's able to put together another better than average healthy season,
Starting point is 00:10:13 then he'll probably stay long-term. But that's pretty far down the road. He's just got to stay healthy and be consistent. I think that's all the Titans need right now. Yeah, I think if I was in the Titans fans' shoes here, I'd be watching closely the quarterbacks in the top of 2019 class, just in case, like Tua Tagovailola, Justin Herbert. Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:10:31 Those types of guys, I think if they somehow luck into one of those three or four quarterbacks, Jake Fromm as well from Georgia, they could be in a really good spot long-term. Mariota isn't the answer there. But Tyler, what's your thoughts going into this game from the Colts' side of things? Can't find a workout that keeps you engaged? Peloton is an immersive cardio experience with real-time features that will always keep you coming back.
Starting point is 00:10:50 Get $100 off accessories when you purchase the Peloton bike and get a great cardio workout at home. Go to onepeloton.com and use promo code LOCKED, L-O-C-K-E-D, to get started. Guys, let's have a chat real quick. Remember the days when you were always ready to go? Now you can increase your performance and get that extra confidence in bed. Listen up. BlueChew.com. That's blue at the color blue. BlueChew brings you the first chewable
Starting point is 00:11:12 with the same FDA-approved active ingredients as Viagra and Cialis, so you know they work. You can take them anytime, day or night, even on a full stomach. And since they're chewable, they work up to twice as fast as a pill, so you can be ready whenever an opportunity arises. Again, that is BlueChew.com and your promo code LOCKEDON to get you all the latest information.
Starting point is 00:11:29 Well, just some questions I have for you. Looking forward, last week Malik Hooker had a great interception that kept you guys in the game, but you got down early. What do you think will be the plan against the Titans to get a lead early rather than falling behind and having to come back? I think for that, they're trying to establish the run early on and wasn't surprised really because they were going against Bosa and Ingram, those lethal passers from L.A.
Starting point is 00:11:55 They're getting some one, two, three throws, really quick reads for Jacoby Brissett to get it out of his hands. But they're kind of getting locked down early in the running game, as we know now with Andrew Luck gone and Jacoby Bursette under center. It's going to be a lot more of Marlon Mack as the future piece of the offense. And in the first half of that game, Marlon Mack only rushed for 27 yards. But in the second half of that game, he rushed for 152. So it's a completely different story as far as the script goes from first,
Starting point is 00:12:16 second half. I think if they're able to establish the run early on, they're going to be able to succeed earlier. But I think for them, it's going to be really open at the playbook even more for Jacoby Bursette. I think it's going to really have to be more of some deep throws. Devin Fentch is already out for this week. He's out for the next eight weeks as well with a broken collarbone.
Starting point is 00:12:32 I think they opened the system a little bit more for them as far as wide receivers go. Deion Kane, Paris Campbell, T.Y. Hilton, also the tight ends. I think a lot of it, though, is going to rely on the running back, and it's Marlon Mack. And if they can get the running game going like they saw in the second half of that game, the offensive line, they kind of just went on Quentin Nelson's big shoulders and just let him down the field or just go behind 56,
Starting point is 00:12:51 and he'll be five, six yards every time. So I think if they're able to establish the run early, it's going to be a not easy day, so to say. I think it's going to be a lot of easy, free-flowing offense for this team, and I open the playbook more for them. So speaking of the offensive line, you guys didn't have as much success running the ball in the first half, as you said.
Starting point is 00:13:10 Who do you think needs to step up on the offensive line, other than big Quentin Nelson, to help you guys get started a little bit faster in Nashville? I think the left side did pretty well overall. The Costanzo, Nelson, and Kelly to include the center. I think the right side's the big question here.
Starting point is 00:13:25 Mark Lewinsky, he struggled early on that game, but he really rebounded the second half of that game. But also Braden Smith, the right tackle from Auburn, who's his second year. He was drafted as a guard, but he transitioned to right tackle pretty easily last year. He struggled pretty badly against Joey Bosa, and a lot of right tackles would against Joey Bosa. But I feel like against Cameron Wake, who had two and a half sacks last week
Starting point is 00:13:44 in his safety, I believe, I really think he's going to be lined up on the right side a lot against Brad Bosa, but I feel like against Cameron Wake, who had two and a half sacks last week in his safety, I believe, I really think he's going to be lined up on the right side a lot against Braden Smith, and he's going to be tested a lot by him. So I know Bosa is a lot – maybe it's a tier or two above Wake, but Wake's not a slouch himself, and he's one of the better passers in the league. I think if he's able to rebound in that area and go against Cameron Wake, they'll be able to do well there.
Starting point is 00:14:03 But I think if Wake gets pressure on Bursette and maybe stipends the run game a little bit on the right side, it might be a little bit of a tougher day for him. Yeah, absolutely. On that note, you guys have Marlon Mack, Naheem Hines, who seem to rotate in the backfield. The Titans like to bring a lot of complex pressures and coverages with bringing linebackers from different angles, bringing safeties on blitzes and cornerbacks on blitzes. Who do you think gives you the best chance, or do you think both running backs give you a chance to kind of help your tackle out there, Braden Smith, and pick up some of those pressures? How do you foresee the running backs and the Colts offense
Starting point is 00:14:40 helping with blitz pickup? I think they're both actually really underrated in that aspect. Merlin Mack's a really good blitz pickup guy. I know Naheem Hines is kind of small for his size, around 5'9", but he's a very good stout blitz pickup as well, even though sometimes he's inconsistent in that route. But I think for the Colts, it's interesting how they go about doing this chipping philosophy because it's usually not the running backs.
Starting point is 00:14:59 I mean, it is sometimes, but most of the time, they might be like Jack Doyle or Malay Cox, one of their blocking tight ends on that side. And they usually go if someone's struggling or not, they just do two-on-one against the guy and see what happens there. A lot of 12, 13 personnel. And that wouldn't surprise me to do it again against the tight ends on Sunday because if Karen Wake is getting going early and often,
Starting point is 00:15:17 I think it's going to be a day where you see Jack Doyle lined up on the right side helping him out. But I think for the running backs, though, the one where you're asking there, Tyler, I think Marlon Mack and Naeem Hines are underrated in that aspect. I think they could be able to help there. But we'll have to see, of course, because I think they're going to have to do a little bit of scheming
Starting point is 00:15:32 themselves if they get some struggling early on. Absolutely. Okay, so just a question for you about the Colts' defense here. Obviously, we saw Justin Houston make an impact already with the sack last week. Who are you counting on other than Justin Houston to consistently get pressure from the defensive line to disrupt this Titans offense? I think for me it's one of the guys who's starting to get a little bit more buzz, and it's Kamoko Ture, the second-year pass rusher out of Rutgers.
Starting point is 00:15:58 He was actually graded number one edge rusher on Pro Football Focus last week at 95.6. Should have had two strip sacks last week. One was called back due to an offsides from Justin Houston. He did really well against the L.A. Chargers, and I think he's a guy to watch for on second and longs and third down pass rush situation. When Trey comes in the game, they usually move Justin Houston to the opposite side or even inside defensive tackle
Starting point is 00:16:17 alongside the Nico Autry. So it really gives him more versatile looks on defense there. If Trey is able to utilize his speed and his pass rush ability. I think it could be a type of day where he could feast a little bit. Also, Ben Banneger, the rookie out of TCU, the draft and second round this year, he had a pretty good day against the Chargers himself. So if those two young pass rushers can also get going alongside Justin Houston,
Starting point is 00:16:38 it could be a day where we see a lot more sacks, even though they had four last week against LA. Yeah, absolutely. My last question for you is pretty simple. I'm looking at, you know, the Colts defensive back. Malik Hooker is obviously a talented high pick, but not a lot of huge names. Rakia Sin, obviously a high pick as well.
Starting point is 00:16:56 Corey Davis wasn't able to get going much for the Titans last week, but like I said, a lot of that was due to overthrows when he was open. But he is a talented player. Who do you expect to spend most of the time on? Corey Davis, because I would imagine the Titans will try to get him involved after his slow start last week. And if you don't see an exact matchup, does that mean that the Colts typically will just handle each side of the field
Starting point is 00:17:21 and not really do any matchups with the wide receivers? Yeah, what's interesting with Matty Perfus's system, I think they have to change it a little bit because Phil Perfus kind of exposed it this week. They run a lot of zone. They did a lot of zone last year where they just have cover two most of the time. But that leaves wide open space in the middle of the field for guys like, let's say, Delaney Walker, A.J. Brown.
Starting point is 00:17:39 They could be in for big days if they don't adjust as far as that goes because far too often, Phil Perfus would just see the middle of the field. It would be 20 yards of open field in the middle just with Malik Hooker and Kari Willis or Clayton Gallagher. It's 20 yards deep. The linebacker is about seven yards off the field. So that's about 10 yards of separation between those two guys. And that's a problem, I think.
Starting point is 00:17:57 I think they need to adjust that. And I think I trust in the cornerbacks because Rocket sends an aggressive corner. Malik Hooker is obviously a ball of safety. Pierre Desir is no slouch as well. And Moore is a really good Nick cornerback but I think the scheme overall I think we need to see some adjustments from Matty Rufus there because if not even though Mary isn't the best quarterback if he's able to see those zones and see those easy holes for Walker or AJ Brown who I really like out of the draft this year I think those two guys could be in for big days for them maybe Corey Davis might have a day himself but I think more
Starting point is 00:18:24 so Walker and Brown could be those two guys you have to watch for if you're from a Colts hand perspective. Absolutely. Absolutely. If you found $100 on the street, would you pick it up or keep walking? Of course you'd take the money. So why do you keep picking winners and not betting on them? That's why I go to MyBookie.
Starting point is 00:18:39 It's fast, it's easy, and they pay when you win. Let's face it. Where you're betting on is just as important as who you're betting on. I wouldn't be telling you guys to bet with them if they weren't the best. Do the smart thing. If you're going to bet this football season, bet with my bookie. Did you know you can also bet on games after a kickoff? If by the second half it looks like your bet is going to lose,
Starting point is 00:18:56 you can always take the other side and make your money back. If you're the kind of guy that likes to bet a little, win a lot, try a parlay. If all your picks come through, you'll multiply your winnings. No matter how you bet, the NFL season is the best time of the year. Join now on MyBookie with double your first deposit. Use promo code LOCKEDON to activate the offer. That's promo code
Starting point is 00:19:14 LOCKEDON and visit mybookie.ag today. You play, you win, and you get paid. Alrighty, let's dive in now to our preview. We can maybe go over our big three keys of the game from each side. Tyler, I'll start with you. What do you think Tennessee's two or three biggest keys to this game are if they want to pull off a win at home against the Colts? Okay, so my three keys, it actually covers all three sides of the football. I think the Titans do need to establish
Starting point is 00:19:39 the passing game early and not even deep passes, intermediate, short passes, get Marietta feeling comfortable. Everyone will expect us to come out and try to establish the run. I think at some point you got to flip that on its head and try to get a couple quick passes to Adam Humphreys, who didn't have a lot of action last week, A.J. Brown, Delaney Walker, even Johnnie Smith. Get them going early in the intermediate routes. Make the Colts defense think about the pass, and then that'll allow some open holes for Derrick Henry to get going,
Starting point is 00:20:11 and that'll help him get going earlier rather than later. I think people are so keyed on the Titans run game at the beginning of the game that that can contribute to Derrick Henry's slow starts, so if we open up and are able to hit some quick, short passes to supplement the running game early, it should open those holes for Derrick Henry. My second key is going to be on defense. Without the talent of Andrew Luck, once again, not saying that Brissette is a bad quarterback. I'm high on Jacoby Brissette. I think he's a great quarterback for the type of roster the Colts have, but he isn't the talent that Andrew Luck is. So it'll be important to stop the run for the Titans. They were able to do a good job against the Browns with that last week
Starting point is 00:20:49 and limiting Nick Chubb. But the Browns offensive line is not the Colts offensive line. So it'll be important for the Titans up front, even the rotational defensive linemen, Daquan Jones, Isaiah Mack, Brett Urban, Jarrell Casey, even Rashawn Evans, a linebacker who plays a lot of defensive tackle in passing situations that could turn into draws and things like that. I think it's important for those Titans up front to slow down Marlon Mack and not allow Jacoby Brissett to get a lot of good looks off play action and set up the passing
Starting point is 00:21:21 game. So the last key that I have will be on special teams. It is my opinion that the Titans have one of the top three special teams units across the board in the NFL. Brett Kern is in the discussion for the best punter in the NFL. A 70-yard missile punt last week turned directly into a Titan safety. That's complementary football, and that's what the Titans want to do. So I think another big key will be making sure that the Titans play the field position battle and making sure that Brett Kern is successful on his punts and the coverage teams are successful on their coverage to not allow the Colts to make a big play on special teams. The Titans have to win the special teams field position battle to win this game because it will be so tight. Even without Andrew Luck, Colts fans should not or Titans fans should not feel any
Starting point is 00:22:05 relief because the Colts are very well coached. They have a very talented roster and a division game will always be tough, even at home. So those are my three keys to the game at the moment. Yeah. From the Colts side of things, I'm going to throw in a bonus one here because since you brought special teams there, I think it should be noted that Adam Benatieri probably had his worst day as a kicker on Sunday. Yeah. very strange. It really was, and hopefully it's not the age catching up to him because he's 40. He's mid-40s. It could be one of those times where maybe this is kind of father time catching up to Adam Vinatieri here, and that'd be a worrisome sign for them. So if he has another bad week, it might be time to look for a new kicker here, to be honest. But if he is able to rebound here, it's going to help out
Starting point is 00:22:41 a lot because if Vinatieri didn't miss those kicks, the Colts would have pulled up the upset in LA. But I think we should be talking about that real quick, just because it feels like Vinatieri is one of the better kickers in the NFL. But hopefully, fire times, I'll catch up to him there. But for my main – Best kicker of all time for my money. Oh, absolutely. That's for sure.
Starting point is 00:22:57 I think just his Patriots and Colts career goes to show that. But I think for my three keys here, the first one revolves around Derrick Henry. It's stacking the box against the Titans and making Marcus Mariota beat them. I'm not confident in Mariota. Really, if you want to have Mariota beat them, I'm not really scared of that as far as that goes because he's shown in the past that he's not really the best deep thrower, not really the best reader of the field.
Starting point is 00:23:16 So if they're able to just disguise some coverages, put eight or nine guys in the boxes, have Mariota beat them, maybe put like Darius Leonard on Delaney Walker, maybe just have someone shadow A.J. Brown. I'm not that worried if they're able to stop Derrick Henry, because if not, though, Derrick Henry's going to have a really big day against this team. And we saw last year that when that happens, it's really big trouble
Starting point is 00:23:36 as far as opposing teams go against Derrick Henry. But my second key to this game is actually the opposite side of that. It's running the ball. It's riding the hot hand with Marlon Mack. He had 174 yards this time last week in L.A., and I think he's going to have to do that again this week. Not like 174 yards, so to say, but I think maybe around 75 to 115 yards. That would be a really good sign for them.
Starting point is 00:23:55 They're able to establish the run and keep it balanced because they were really close to being 50-50 last week. I think they had 195 passing yards and about 205 rushing yards. So if they're able to do that, it's really big for them moving forward. I think riding the high hand with Marlon Mack, about 20 to 22 carries would be able to suffice for a guy like Marlon Mack. I think that makes a lot of sense for them to just keep pounding the rock with Marlon Mack.
Starting point is 00:24:14 And I think that's a really good recipe for success if the Colts want to go into Nashville and win. And then my final key of this game is forcing more three and outs because against LA on Sunday, they only had one three and out. And that was the first possession of the game for the charters where they had that strip sack with Kamoko Ture. And for them as well, the Titans offense is not really as talented or as close to the talent that
Starting point is 00:24:35 the charters have. And I really want to see them get more three and outs because if that's the case, I really believe that they're in a chance to go in there and upset the Titans because I actually checked the odds here. The Titans are three point favorites right now in Vegas. So if the Colts are able to establish that also incorporates more play action passing concepts, but with the feel of the mortgage code reset, I think it makes for a day where I think the Colts go in there. If they handle their business and don't make any mistakes, they could
Starting point is 00:25:00 go walk out of there with a win. Yeah, I think the line is pretty spot on. Being three points, that's just the standard home field advantage in the NFL. If they think the teams are even and one's at home, typically they'll just give them three points. And I think that's pretty fair. I don't think that the gap between Marcus and Jacoby Brissett is big enough. And both the rosters, in my opinion, are excellent top 10 NFL rosters and they're both well coached so I think that being the case the Colts absolutely have a chance to go in there and win although we can get to our game predictions eventually and I'll tell you how I see it coming out. Yeah might as well close out the show here Tyler what is your prediction for the game on
Starting point is 00:25:39 Sunday? Yeah I have to say I felt this time, I want to make sure that I'm respectful of the Colts. I'm really impressed by them. And I think they can definitely challenge for a playoff spot, uh, this year. I think that they'll be successful against the Texans because they're better coached. But, uh, I see this shaken out as 24 to 21. Uh, I think both teams will be able to score some points. I can see it even being 27-24,
Starting point is 00:26:05 but I think defenses will keep the points below 25 for either team because I think both defenses are pretty solid. So I'm going to say 24-21, Titans win, Vegas is right, and it's a really close game throughout. I think for me, I'm predicting a Colts bounce back here. I think it's actually going to be not that close to be honest. I'm going to go a little bold here to close out today's show, Tyler. I'm going to go 27-16, the Colts winning over the Titans here.
Starting point is 00:26:30 I think they're going to stop Marcus Marietta. They're going to stop Derrick Henry. I think they're going to open up the offense a little bit more for Jacoby Brissett. If they can establish the run, do some more play-action concepts, like I mentioned in the last segment, I think they're in for a good day against this Titans defense. They're an underrated team, but I feel like the Colts just have the Titans number. And even though there's a new quarterback,
Starting point is 00:26:47 I really believe the Colts can go in there and handle their business and pull out a win, even though it is an upset, as Vegas says in Nashville on Sunday and make them one-on-one in the season. The Colts have had success against the Titans, quite frankly. So I understand your confidence there. I'm hoping that the Titans are able to turn a new leaf this year and start off 2-0. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:27:07 This has been a fun show, guys. If you want to go listen to any more Titans coverage, you know AFC South, we love to talk throughout the year. We'll be talking twice with you and Tyler here as our crossover Wednesdays
Starting point is 00:27:16 commence throughout the year. But go ahead and subscribe to Locked on Titans on whatever platforms you're using. Also, if you're not already subscribed to Locked on Colts, Titans fans are listening to this. Appreciate it.
Starting point is 00:27:25 But Tyler, hey, thanks a lot for doing this. We'll be talking, I imagine, again later this season. Yeah, Evan. If we aren't talking later this season for Crossover Wednesday, it's probably bad news for both of us. So hopefully we do get to talk later in the season. I look forward to it. It's been a pleasure talking with you.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.