Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - 2021 Tennessee Titans-Coaster Part 1: Complete Recap of Weeks 1-6

Episode Date: February 2, 2022

The Tennessee Titans took us all through a wild journey in 2021. 18 games were played and it is time to recap every up and down from the season that was. Tyler begins a three part series called "2021 Titans-coaster" covering the season week by week. Part one goes over the first six games of the season! A major letdown to start, a big time comeback, a disgusting upset loss and one of the biggest wins of the season! Tyler goes over it all!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.GetUpsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code TOUCHDOWN to get 25 cents per gallon or more cash back on your first tank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Wednesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And on today's show, we are going to begin a three-part series that I am calling the 2021 Titans Coaster. We are going to go through all 18 games that the Titans played this year in order and go through all the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs from the season. We're going to talk about the big time matchups.

We're going to talk about big time individual performances. And I'm going to give you guys a reminder of what the emotions of the fan base were through each week. So the first six games of the season will be discussed on today's part one of the 2021 Tennessee Titans coaster. Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, it is a Wednesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.

Part one of the Titans coaster that was the 2021 season. We are going to go through all 18 games. Today will be the first six, and the next 12 games that we discuss will be on Thursday, the next six, and then Friday, the next six. So be fun to go through this season one last time and go through all the emotions and the highs and lows. Before we get into the first six games of the year,

do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily Monday through Friday Tennessee Titans content

not only during the season, but all year long. So make sure you subscribe. You can find the Locked on Titans podcast everywhere and always free. If you want to check out the show on video, make sure you go to the Locked on Titans YouTube channel, subscribe over there, smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live.

Throw a thumbs up on the video. If you're watching on YouTube right now, check me out on social media at TicTacTitans on Twitter and at Locked on Titans pod on Facebook. So let's dive in to a week one matchup for the Titans against the Arizona Cardinals. So going into the season, felt real good about the Tennessee Titans being the best version of themselves that we've seen

since they got Ryan Tannehill. Some concerns about Arthur Smith, concerns about the defense, but most fans felt that the Titans had righted some issues like the pass rush at Julio Jones, and the Titans were primed for a big-time run, and those people weren't necessarily wrong with the way that the roster looked throughout the year, but that led into a week one matchup against the Cardinals

that caught a lot of people by surprise, to say the least. It was a 38-13 drubbing at home, and obviously the big takeaways from that game, Kyler Murray was running all over the field making plays, making plays outside of the pocket, second reaction, moving around in the pocket. He had five total touchdowns on the day, and Titans fans were thinking, oh, here we go again,

another terrible defensive season. Good thing that we were all wrong about that. On the other side, Chandler Jones absolutely dismantled the Tennessee Titans. He had five sacks on the day, part of six sacks that the Cardinals had. The Titans offense, which was a little bit of foreshadowing, had two fumbles and interception, two turnovers on Dowd. So essentially five turnovers in the game, a sign of things to come, as we know now. The Titans started the game scoring on only one of their opening six drives, so no shocker there.

The slow start, the turnover, we should have known. We should have known, but coming out of that game, it was like, oh, this team is maybe the best team that we've seen in a long time here in Tennessee. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The collective fan base was like, oh, no. Did we get this entirely wrong? Are the Titans actually going to be worse this year?

Well, we were wrong about that, but a very scary start to the season. Week two, though, with the Titans 0-1, started out in a similar fashion. The Titans got down big to the Seattle Seahawks in week two in Seattle. Titans come out flat. Shocker. But luckily for the Titans, Julio Jones steps up in a big way. Goes for over 100 yards. He's making a ton of plays in that first half. He has a 50-plus yard catch in the first half. Should have had his first touchdown of the year before he was robbed in the back of the end zone, but that led to the Titans

getting three field goals in the first half, and the Seahawks just came out ready to go. 24-9 at halftime, and at that time, I remember I sent off the tweet that the Titans didn't even deserve to be on the same field with the Seahawks. And with that first half, that was the case. But man, the Titans really realized we can't go down 0-2 here. We just can't start the season in that way. And they responded. They responded after a 63-yard touchdown to Tyler Lockett, a Ryan Tannehill fumble that set up a Seahawks touchdown in the 10-yard line to Chris Carson. Another Chris Carson touchdown in the second quarter. I mean, in that second quarter, the Seahawks just went nuts.

Well, the Titans come out in the third quarter, start out slow again. But then, with the score at 30-16 in the fourth, Derrick Henry busts a 60-yard touchdown down the sideline to bring the Titans back within one score, change the entire momentum of the game to start off the fourth quarter. Then the game goes into overtime, of course, after Ryan Tannehill leads the Titans down and gets a touchdown on the board.

He was dinking and dunking to all the running backs all the way down the field. But then in overtime, after the Titans punt, Ola Adani with probably his biggest moment of the entire season, almost gets a safety on Russell Wilson, gets the sack on the one-yard line, gives the Titans great field position. They march right down a couple of yards and kick the game-winning field goal. Randy Bullock, first game as a Titan, game-winning field goal. So you love to see that 33-30 win for the Titans in week two. And after that, it was like, okay, a bad start to week one, but guess

what, baby? We back. We back. Everybody was feeling good after that. Okay. We saw some slow starts. We saw some things not going their way, but Julio showed up. Derrick Henry with a big run. Tannehill brought him back. Randy Bullock makes a kick. Here we go. Things aren't over yet. So, the reaction to that first week, very disappointed, very

worried, but week two for the Titans to come back in that fashion, again, that was foreshadowing of the resiliency of this team. So, that was the first two weeks of the year. We're going to go into week three and week four after this, and that included a big divisional win, but also probably the Titans' worst loss of the season. Well, at least one of the bottom two.

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Titans fans, let's continue our ride on the 2021 Titans coaster. We are smack dab in the middle of part one, the first six games of the year. We just talked about week one and week two, a devastating loss early to the Arizona Cardinals, but a big rebound comeback win to the Seattle Seahawks. Now we're going to move into week three, where this turned out to be one of the most important wins of the year. Before I get into it, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform that you do stream. You're going to find the Locked on Titans podcast there and always free. But a week three game at home against the Indianapolis Colts. The Titans won that game 25-16. But I got to be honest here. The big takeaway and the big theme of the game was Carson Wentz was on bum ankles. And we saw, even though Carson Wentz can give it and he can take it,

he was still a much better player in that week eight matchup in Indianapolis. So we saw a watered down version of the Indianapolis Colts. Wentz couldn't move at all. The Titans were doing a good job getting pressure, but he wasn't trying to extend plays, wasn't trying to be mobile, was throwing the ball at the ground. The Titans, of course, as they did all year long and would eventually be their undoing, had three turnovers in the game,

but they ran the ball well. They ran for 180 yards. Derrick Henry had a pretty good day going over 100 yards, had about 113. Colts get a touchdown, but their only touchdown was off of an interception. So not a great day for the Colts offense. The Titans defense really stepped up.

Another guy who really stepped up was Ryan Tannehill. This game was ugly. The Titans offense didn't look awesome all the time, but Tannehill scrambled for 58 rushing yards in this game, and it wasn't designed runs that he was taking advantage of. quarterback on the other side of the ball really couldn't do much of anything. A big win for the Titans. Turned out to be even bigger as you got down towards the end of the season. 2-1 for the Titans after three weeks. And the collective attitude after that was great. We beat Indianapolis. Always tough to do it.

Wasn't pretty. Was kind of ugly. But we take those 2 and one with how the season started to Arizona for the Titans to come back with two wins, one against the Colts, and then that crazy comeback against Seattle. We all right. We all right. That was the collective mood. Okay. Things are settled now. The Titans are who we thought they were. Good team. Got to clean things up. It's early in the season, but generally speaking, we all right. And that's where the collective attitude was for the Titans and the Titans fan base. And that brings us to a week four, let's call it nightmare.

So I'd say if I rank the worst games of the season, this is probably number two, not necessarily the worst, but it's right up there. the worst, but it's right up there. And it's a week four loss on the road to the New York Jets, 27 to 24. And the Jets were playing terrible football at the time. They couldn't do anything offensively. So the only thing that was, or the most offensive thing was the Titans losing this game. Now, ultimately didn't matter. The Titans got the number one seed. They got the buy, weren't able to capitalize on that anyway. But at the time, I mean, this was just devastating. And when it took a long time for people to believe in the Titans,

nationally speaking, even some in the fan base, it's this game that a lot of people go back to. There was a ton of red zone mess-ups early in the game for the Titans. They allowed a bunch of sacks in this game. Seven sacks in this game. Seven sacks in this game. Wow. Just awful. Just the epitome of the Tennessee Titans

pass protection issues in 2021. Not only did the Titans give up a big sack on the first drive that took away their chance to score a touchdown, but Aaron Brewer comes in for one snap and snaps it over Ryan Tannehill's head on the second red zone possession. So just a terrible start.

The third red zone possession. The Titans get sacked on third down again. Three field goals on the Titans' first three red zone opportunities. Just not good enough, and it let the Jets get confident. It let the Jets get their foot in the door and feel like they could win the game. And then the Titans' defense let Zach Wilson get outside of the pocket and he went nuts. Probably one of his best games of the entire year.

I don't cover the Jets, so I'm not going to give you the Zach Wilson breakdown. But I struggle to think that he played a better game than the game he played against the Titans. He was bombing the ball down the field. Corey Davis, revenge game. He had four catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. It was just true misery seeing Zach Wilson make all those plays against the Titans while the Titans wasted so many opportunities.

Now, do got to mention that there was no A.J. Brown, no Julio Jones, and we saw what not having those guys could do to the Titans' offense. But even when the Titans were down late in the game, Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry collectively led them all the way back, got the Tennessee Titans to overtime a touchdown late in the game, gets the game to OT. The Jets kick a field goal to make it 27-24.

The Titans get the ball, drive down the field. They're sacked on the drive again as they get close to a touchdown, aren't able to score a touchdown. Settle for a field goal and Randy Bullock misses. Tough situation for the Titans. An unbelievable loss and when you look at that, your only thought after that game is, Jesus, maybe this team is terrible again. I mean, great wins, but the Seattle comeback

had to be a comeback. They didn't play their best. Indy, the Titans got a little lucky with Wentz being on two bum ankles. That's a maximum amount of ankles you can have hurt. Maybe this team is more like the 38-13 against Arizona than they are the comeback against Seattle. This was a tough loss. This was a gut punch. And I remember throughout the week,

I was saying, guys can't take this Jets team lightly. I just have a feeling this game is going to be close, closer than we want it to be. I didn't think in any realm that the Titans would lose the game. I mean, that wasn't on the table, but ultimately, that's exactly what they did. Now, the loss didn't kill them in the end. They still got the number one seed, like I mean, that wasn't on the table, but ultimately, that's exactly what they did. Now, the loss didn't kill them in the end.

They still got the number one seed, like I said, but just ugly. And the pass protection issues, the turnovers, the red zone. I mean, it's just one of those games where I was like, okay, this is what this team is capable of. And what you would hope is that the Titans would be such a good team that they weren't capable of that sort of letdown, even without the two wide receivers outside. So a tough loss, probably the second worst loss of the season for the Titans

and had the fan base just going, Jesus Lord, this is going to go off the rails. And the Titans fall to 2-2. But they rebound in a big way in the next two weeks. But before we get to week five and week six, do want to tell you guys about the best tasting protein bars in the galaxy from our friends over at Built Bar. It's a new year.

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going through the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows of the Tennessee Titans season as we go from week one all the way to the playoff loss against the Bengals. We talked about the first four weeks of the season, a big drubbing by the Cardinals at home to open the year, a comeback win against Seattle, an ugly victory but an important victory against the Colts in week three and then a major letdown. One of the worst games of the year to the New York Jets. But week five,

the Titans got a get-right game as they do twice a year against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Titans went down to Florida, played the Jags, and they went to 3-2 on the back of a 37-19 victory. So this game started out with a bang. The Tennessee Titans forced a fumble. Kevin Byard picks it up and takes it to the house. So the Titans come out and are up 7-0. But Jacksonville doesn't go quietly in the first half. They do some pretty good things.

Trevor Lawrence is making plays outside the pocket, getting the ball to Marvin Jones, getting the ball to James Robinson. James Robinson had a crazy 58-yard run down the sideline for the Jaguars. The Jags offense came out looking good. Titans fans are rolling their eyes going, this defense, this defense. When people talk are rolling their eyes going this defense, this defense. When people talked about the Titans bad pass defense, it's games like this that stuck in their mind. Trevor Lawrence having success in the first half, the Titans allowing a bad team to

kind of keep things close in the first half. But ultimately the defense clamped down completely in the second half. They had an interception. They forced a fumble, had two turnovers on downs. Derrick Henry, as he always does in his home state of Florida against the Jacksonville Jaguars close to his hometown of Yulee, put up big numbers, had three touchdowns, 130 rushing yards, and the Titans did what they were supposed to do, handled business against the Jags 37 to 19 to move to three and two and get back on the winning side of their record and that led us

into one of the best games of the season week six Monday night football at home against the Buffalo Bills, a game that the Tennessee Titans won 34-31 in dramatic fashion. Maybe my favorite play of the entire season. We will get to that in just a moment. But as the Titans are wont to do, they came out super slow. Punt, punt, interception. Now, the defense, as they were wont to do, held Buffalo to only six points throughout that terrible slow start.

And then, the King himself. And all you people who were talking about trading Derrick Henry last week, just think about this. Be logical here. The Titans are down six to nothing, can't get anything going. Open up the second quarter

Derrick Henry 76 yards to the house the king in a big spot getting the Titans on the board getting them back to good quite frankly

because things were looking ugly to start which I guess we're just used to with the plague that we call Todd Downing Kevin Byard gets a pick shortly after that off a tip pass at the line. A scrimmage come through.

So many of these games, it's, oh, Kevin Byard made a play. I mean, I know the Titans got drubbed in week one, but Byard had an interception in that one. The fumble to the house against the Jags. Week six, a big interception to get the Titans right back into that game. It sets the Titans up for a touchdown. They only had two touchdowns in the first half, so thank you, Kevin Byard. 20-17 at halftime, the Titans are losing.

But they battle back. A.J. Brown, seven catches, 91 yards. Julio Jones had three catches for 59 yards, and that crazy catch on the sideline that's tipped off a helmet. That was insane. So those two were basically doing their job and Derrick Henry again.

Derrick Henry again. He was just in his zone at this part of the season. 143 yards, three touchdowns, gets the Titans a lead 34-31. The Bills drive all the way down the field, and then it's fourth down, essentially at the goal line. Jeffrey Simmons manhandles an offensive lineman and puts Josh Allen on his back for the win. The crowd goes crazy. The players are running all over the field.

Jeffrey Simmons is going nuts, flexing on everybody. It was kind of a coming out party for Jeffrey Simmons, really getting his name on the map, and then, of course, followed up in the next few weeks by that game against the Rams that really solidified who Jeffrey Simmons was as a player on a national level. But this is one of those plays that stick out in people's minds when they're like, oh, Jeffrey Simmons.

Oh, remember when he stopped Josh Allen on that goal line stand? That was pretty crazy. And of course, there's no better team in the NFL at defending one blade of grass than the Tennessee Titans. And just another example of that. In that game against Buffalo, the Titans win 34-31. They moved to 4-2 on the year. This was the first game in that super difficult five-game stretch

where the Titans really just announced what kind of team they were going to be. So after that game, yeah, you had the loss to the Jets in Week 4, the bad game in Week 1. But with the comeback against Seattle, winning against Indy at home, taking care of business like they should against the Jags, and then pulling that game out against the Bills on Monday night football on national television, I mean, it was a celebration. At that moment in time, it was like, okay, okay, here we go. And everybody kind of believed at that moment like, wow, this really is the team that we thought they could be the best team in the AFC.

A chance to go to a Super Bowl, this team is that good. And that game was one of those games that really proved the Titans had the ability, even if ultimately they didn't take advantage. But that's going to do it for part one of the 2021 Titans coaster. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow for part two as we go through the middle of the schedule. And then, of course, on Friday, we will cap off the Titans coaster with the last six games of the year. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked

on Titans.