Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Cam Ward COMPLETELY FAILS TEST as Tennessee Titans FALL FLAT against San Francisco 49ers This Week

Starting point is 00:00:00 Cam Ward was terrible in the Tennessee Titans preseason opener against the 49ers, and it's clear that he and the team failed their test in San Francisco this week. I'll break it down on today's edition of Locked-on Titans. You are Locked-on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans. On today's show, we are going to break down what has been a terrible week in San Francisco for the Tennessee Titans.

Starting point is 00:00:43 They get pushed around in the joint practice then in the preseason game. Cam Ward looks terrible. The secondary get shredded. The Titans simply were not ready for the challenge that they faced this week. And I think that's the number one thing that annoys me the most is the Titans simply got punched in the mouth. and they were not ready for it. I mean, obviously, we start with this game. Cam Ward was terrible.

Starting point is 00:01:07 And I know what happens any time that I'm honest like this, anytime that I give real criticism as you guys assign long-term meaning to what I'm saying. So when I say Cam Ward was terrible tonight, and we talk about that, some of you are going to hear, oh, you think Cam Ward's a bust. I'm not saying that he's going to be a bust. I am telling you he was terrible in that game tonight.

Starting point is 00:01:28 And when I tell you that the Tennessee Titans failed the test against the San Francisco 49ers this week, the joint practice and the game, the week itself, the Titans failed. That does not mean that I am saying that the Titans are going to be bad this year, panic, batting down the hatches, it's going to be awful, everybody to tune it. That's what people are going to say that I'm saying, but it's not the truth. The reality is the criticism that I am giving of the Tennessee Titans right now is about what we just saw and what we just saw was not good enough. I said it online and I'm going going to say it here, we're going to be honest about what we saw tonight.

Starting point is 00:02:04 I'm not going to sit here and sugarcoat it for you guys and try to make you feel better and tuck you in at night. What we saw was the Tennessee Titans starters play to a 7-7 tie with the 49ers second and third stringers. We saw Dizan Shribling, a rookie wide receiver, have the most catches for a rookie wide receiver in the first half of a preseason game since 2015 against the Titan starting cornerbacks. We can't sit here

Starting point is 00:02:34 And oh, it's the preseason I'm not, I can't We've been concerned about the secondary All off season two They were a quiet concern They were the second biggest concern behind the O line So when they come out and they struggle We can't just wish everything away

Starting point is 00:02:51 And again, just because I'm saying That the Tennessee Titans perform this way Doesn't mean that I'm saying that the season is ruined But we have to be honest about what we saw What took place this week? The Titans were not ready. They got punched in the mouth by a better football team,

Starting point is 00:03:08 a more physical football team. And they did not respond well. Like, we could talk about that practice. Do I think that it was as bad as it seemed from the reports? No, we talked about that. But at minimum, we are fighting for the Titans played them close. Nobody is saying that the Titans won that scrimmage. Nobody is saying that the Titans won that scrimmage.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Nobody is saying that the Titans won joint practice. We heard that the 49ers came out and got real physical with the Titans. And the Titans started throwing punches. And couldn't stop Brock Purdy, which again, the secondary concerns. Like, we can't just wish everything away when it's bad. What happened this week wasn't good enough? And then you come into the game. And again, this isn't just the Titans as a team.

Starting point is 00:03:57 Cam Ward failed his test too. Make no mistake about it. Cam Ward was not good enough this week. What Cam Ward did today is not good enough. And when I say that, it doesn't mean that it can't get better. And there are going to be people who want the Titans to do bad or don't like Cam Ward, who are going to be a, he's a bus. See, I told you, this is proof.

Starting point is 00:04:18 This is not proof that he's a bust. But it's proof that he isn't good enough yet. And he's got to be better than this. Against the backups for the 49ers? And that's my big problem with what Cam Ward did tonight. It wasn't just the offense as a whole that wasn't good enough. It was Cam. He had on the first drive, easy throw out to Wondale Robinson, sales it outside.

Starting point is 00:04:42 On the second drive, easy throw, or it might have been the third drive, easy throw to Cornell Tate on the out route. Those have to be layups. They're wide open. They give you second and five, second and four, help you gain rhythm, give confidence to the offense, keep the offense on the proper schedule. not continuously miss these layups. And they were problems for him last year.

Starting point is 00:05:04 They were problems on his college tape that he just doesn't stay mentally locked in long enough and have his McKinney. He thinks it's an easy throw because it is an easy throw. But if you don't take the proper care on the easy stuff, it's not going to be easy forever. And this is what ultimately got Marcus when Marcus got thrown out of his starting job. And I'm not saying that that's a thing that's going to happen to Cam this year. But I'm just telling you what ultimately doomed Marcus when they went to Ryan Tannahill was because Marcus couldn't hit the layups.

Starting point is 00:05:37 The little easy dump off to Delaney Walker, the throw out into the flat to the running back on first and 10 when there's pressure to get six or seven yards and keep it. Marcus started missing those layups consistently. And then you're ruined. You can't run an offense like that. So Cam has to clean that up ASAP. And then the bigger problem to me is the turnover.

Starting point is 00:05:58 worthy plays. Cam has too many turnover worthy plays. He cleaned it up at the end of last season. And maybe it's where he just has to get into the rhythm of the game to properly be able to calculate the risk involved. But on the second drive where he got the intentional grounding and he's going backwards and just holding the ball forever and then just runs around, gets hit, and slings it out. That could have been a fumble. I mean, in a game, if that That's at the wrong angle, which we've seen him do before. It's a fumble. They scoop it up.

Starting point is 00:06:33 It's an easy score. You just can't keep doing stuff like that. He should be smarter than that by now. Those plays should never happen. And I said before the game, when we talked about my expectations, I said it needs to be 10 to nothing. And Cam can't make any stupid bad turnover worthy plays like exactly what that was. And then he almost has the interception when he's trying to force the sling.

Starting point is 00:06:58 into Cornell Tate on the final drive, that should have been a pick. So that's two turnover worthy plays. And the only good plays that he made were the little drop-off on the drag route on the mesh concept to Calvin Ridley, which was a yak play for Calvin Ridley. And then the little quick screen to Gunner Helm,

Starting point is 00:07:18 which, you know, Mitch Trubisky or Levis could have thrown that little two-yard screen to Gunner Helm, and then him ran for 16 yards to convert a long opportunity. So it's like there's really nothing out there for me to look at what Cam didn't say it was good enough. It wasn't. And again, when I say that, there is a portion of the people listening who are going to say, oh, so you think Cam's a bust.

Starting point is 00:07:42 That is not what I said. But I'm also not going to lie about what we saw tonight. And he was not good enough. And not only was he not good enough, it was concerning the accuracy on the layups, the turnover worthy plays. Like this isn't just, I remember what it was it last year against the Buccaneers or maybe it was two years ago against the Buccane with Callahan, where the Titans offense played three series,

Starting point is 00:08:09 and they eventually scored a touchdown on their third series. And it was in the second, early in the second quarter. And it was like, all right, they did it. You know, like, they did it. They got the score. But like, it was ugly. Tonight was not pretty. From Cam Ward's perspective.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Now, there are things about tonight that I like. like the first string offensive line in the run game, and we'll talk about those in a second. But like, the big takeaways that we need to take from this week is, Cam Ward failed his test. He is not good enough yet. The Titans failed their test as a team against San Francisco. They aren't close to the 49ers yet.

Starting point is 00:08:51 And they have to be better than this soon, because the season is right around the corner. and they're about to play Seattle next week. And they won the Super Bowl last year. They're better than San Francisco. They're healthier than San Francisco. And they're going to get absolutely rolled. And like I worried about last year,

Starting point is 00:09:12 if they get their heads beat in too often and they get belt too often, their confidence is going to wane and they're going to be like, man, are things actually different here? We still aren't anywhere near competitive with these teams. Oh, no, things aren't getting...

Starting point is 00:09:28 So we need to see some improvements against Seattle quickly. Or I know these are good teams, but if we want the Titans to be a better improved team this year, it's got to be better than what it's been. Because right now, just based off one week in San Francisco, this team hasn't gotten that much better yet. And that's discouraging. And again, I am not here to tell you,

Starting point is 00:09:51 the season has lost, throw everything away, and all these long-term proclamations that people are going to assign to what I'm saying. But if you're coming out of this, like, I'm worried or, you know, that's fair. It's fair to be worried. This team has won three games in back-to-back seasons. It's fair to be worried.

Starting point is 00:10:10 And nothing that happened this week against San Francisco should make you feel more encouraged about the team. That doesn't mean that it can't get better, but again, we're going to be honest about what just happened this week. And it wasn't good for the Titans. They were not good enough. to be better. But with that in mind, one of the big surprises of this first half is that the Titans offensive line was mulling in the run game. Do want to let you know that today's episode

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Starting point is 00:12:37 Let's continue today's edition of the Locked-on Titans podcast again, breaking down the first half of the Tennessee Titans preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. Cam Ward failed his test. It doesn't mean that he's a bust or he's not going to be good enough long term, but he did not play well enough in this game and he has to be better. Same with the Titans this week against the 49ers at large. They failed their test this week against the 49ers, and they better get better and get better in a hurry.

Starting point is 00:13:21 But do want to let you know, I started recording this show at halftime of the game. On Sunday night's show, we'll have more of a full recap on everything on the third stringers, but like the conversation about the players on this team that actually matter and the things that are really going to determine wins and losses, like, I just couldn't take it anymore. I just, I couldn't keep my thoughts in anymore.

Starting point is 00:13:43 I couldn't wait until, after all these third stringers and fourth stringers play. Like, I just had to come out here and get it out because I'm so annoyed with what we saw, with what's happened this week, with how Cam looked, the plays that he made, some of those bad throws. Like, it's just, it's just annoying.

Starting point is 00:13:59 And again, it doesn't mean this, that for the long term, but it just wasn't good enough. But the offensive line, the Tennessee Titans offensive line, did look pretty good. Now, the problem is, is the bad stuff is bad because it was against backup.

Starting point is 00:14:15 so it makes it extra bad. And the good stuff was also against backup. So even the good stuff, people aren't going to appreciate. But I thought that the Tennessee Titans offensive line was absolutely bullying the 49ers front in the run game. Like they were moving bodies. J.C. Latham was pushing people around. All right.

Starting point is 00:14:34 Now, backups, backups, you're going to see it in the chat. But that's what it should look like against backups. Is that first drive where they ran for 50-some rushing yards and had easy dump-off throws because the offensive line was just locked in. And Latham, coming off of that practice on Tuesday, we talk about how bad the practice was or how, you know, it wasn't good enough is probably the best way to say it. But all indications, I think it was Ramon Foster,

Starting point is 00:14:59 is talking about how great J.C. Latham was in that practice. And Brad Hopkins, my guy from the Titan Squad Show, also talking about how good J.C. Latham was in that practice. And Latham was absolutely excellent in this preseason game as well. Fernando Carmona played with the first string offensive live all three drives. Fernando Carmona is your starting right guard folks.

Starting point is 00:15:22 Like they're telling us right then and there and he had some good moments. Now there were some plays that weren't great, you know, some plays where he had one-on-one blocks that he lost and stuff. He is a fifth round rookie at the end of the day. But I think it's excited that Fernando Carmona has won that starting right guard job.

Starting point is 00:15:39 Again, it's not official. But if he's out there for every single driver of the first team in the first preseason game after getting the majority of first team snaps in the joint practice against San Francisco. Don't we kind of need to know all we need to know? Now, I'll say this, Dan Moore, giving up a pressure

Starting point is 00:15:56 that got bailed out by a holding call on the backup defensive backs for the 49ers. But Dan Moore, man, I'm telling you. Killing me out there. Gosh, but regardless, I think overall, the offensive line was a positive. Now, just like I told you when we talked about the negative stuff,

Starting point is 00:16:18 just because I'm here telling you that the Titans' offensive line was a positive against the 49ers' backups, does not mean that the offensive line is going to be better than we hoped. We can't assume that they could still be as bad as we have worried about, but at least, at least, they did a positive job. At least the O line, the biggest word we've had, all offseason did an okay job to give us something positive. Fernando Carmona to give us something positive.

Starting point is 00:16:49 And the way that Tony Pollard and Tage Spears looked explosive out there and Nick Singleton in the second quarter looked good running two with the second stringers. Again, we're going to dive more into all the individual performances when I break down the tape over the next couple of days and then Sunday night, I'll have like a full recap episode of everything from all the halves. This is more big picture talk right now, but I'm pretty excited about Fernando Carmona and how the offensive line performed.

Starting point is 00:17:19 Now, on the flip side of that, what was the second biggest concern that we had all off season? The secondary, and the Titan starting cornerbacks got roasted. Cordell Flot got bullied by Dazon Stribling. Marcus Harris with a pathetic tackle attempt on that touchdown drive,

Starting point is 00:17:39 trying to push Dazon Stribbling out of bounds. He bullied those, he looks legit. I didn't like that draft pick. I thought he was over-drafted. The 49ers might have got us all wrong. He looked good, man. He looked good. But anyway, point being, Alante Taylor wasn't as bad as

Starting point is 00:17:59 Flaught and Harris, but we have worried about this secondary. I told you, I like Alante Taylor as a player. I do. But paying him $20 million per year and taking him out of the slot and making him an outside corner. Whether I like him or not, that's a risky move. Cordell Flott, decent player from New York,

Starting point is 00:18:22 to pay him what you did, that's $35 million per year and two outside cornerbacks who you don't have, like, I always bring up this point. When the Titans traded for Ligerius Sneed, Ligerius Sneed was considered a better cornerback than either Cordell Flores.

Starting point is 00:18:41 or Alante Taylor are considered right now. Like when the Titans traded for Sneed, he was considered a top five cornerback in the NFL. Nobody thought Alante Taylor or Cordell Flot was anywhere close to a top five cornerback in the NFL. And Sneed still didn't work out. So there's no guarantee that you can pay Alante Taylor $20 million to play a new position and then take Cordell Flot

Starting point is 00:19:02 and pay him $15 million. And both of those are going to work out like how Sneed and Cheeto didn't work out. You know what I mean? Like there's no guarantees. And I said when all the, the signings happen, that the most risky signing of them, oh, in my opinion,

Starting point is 00:19:15 was the cornerback signings, and particularly the Cordell fought when I was like, I guess, you know, like solid second corner, but 15 million, man, it's just a lot. And Marcus Harris, I have talked about how I am shocked that the Titans never brought in competition for Marcus Harris.

Starting point is 00:19:35 They never brought in real veteran competition in any way, they just gave him the spot. And I don't necessarily, know that he's earned that. Maybe if he won the spot, but to run unopposed as the slot guy, that doesn't match up with the competition. Mantra that this team is trying to be all about.

Starting point is 00:19:55 We're competitive at every spot. You didn't give Marcus Harris any competition at slot, and now you're stuck with him as your only real option. And what if he's not as good as they hyped him up to be all season? He was a sixth round rookie. There's no guarantee that he's supposed to. to be good. It's not like he was a third round guy with that pedigree. So it is slightly insane.

Starting point is 00:20:18 And I get that they couldn't fix everything. They couldn't do everything. But like, if you're worried again, people are going to say selling doom and gloom this and that. It's early, Tyler. Bub, blah, blah, blah, this and that. Well, the secondary has been something that we've been concerned about for months now. So now that they actually do look concerning

Starting point is 00:20:37 against the 49ers backups, you can't say, oh, it's early. I'm not just starting to be worried about the secondary. We've been talking about it for months. So we can't act surprise or act like, oh, it's early, don't worry about the secondary. It's no big deal yet. I've been worried about it since before games we're going to be played. So now that it looks like the thing that I've worried about,

Starting point is 00:20:58 I'm not supposed to worry, that you're allowed to be worried. You're not a bad Titans fan. If you're worried about the secondary right now. Period. So that's all there is to that. but the O-line at least gave us something to be happy about. The secondary was a major concern.

Starting point is 00:21:16 Some individuals, again, I thought Tadier Spears looked explosive. Wondale Robinson is going to catch a million passes if Cam Ward can just be a little more accurate. Femi made the tackle for loss. James Williams got in with some penetration. Germaine Johnson had nice penetration and a hit in the backfield. Tommy Townsend is a very good punter. Joey Sly made the field goals but had the out-of-bounds,

Starting point is 00:21:40 Kick-off? Oh, man, I just don't know. But either way, again, my overall point here, that's more important than anything, the big picture take is the Titans are not good enough yet.

Starting point is 00:21:59 They are not good enough yet. And if you can't be honest about what happened this week, I don't know what to tell you. They didn't play well enough in the practice. They weren't physically ready for the fight that came to them. the ones tied the 49ers second and third string. Cam didn't look good. The secondary looked worrisome.

Starting point is 00:22:19 That doesn't mean the season's over, but that is all true. And we have to acknowledge what we saw. It wasn't good enough. And they have to get better. But will they? I guess we will see. That remains to be determined

Starting point is 00:22:35 and I will be here to break it all down with you guys. That's going to do it for me today though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Cam Ward COMPLETELY FAILS TEST as Tennessee Titans FALL FLAT against San Francisco 49ers This Week

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