Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Can Will Levis Lead Tennessee Titans to a Road Win, Attacking Buccaneers Secondary & Game Predictions

Starting point is 00:00:00 Now that Will Levis is the Tennessee Titans starting quarterback, he will lead them to their first road victory of the season. We're going to break it all down on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. 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. What's up and welcome into this crossover Thursday episode of Locked on Bucks and Locked on Titans,

Starting point is 00:00:47 your daily podcast covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Tennessee Titans, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. I am James Yarko, one of the hosts of Locked on Bucks, joined by Tyler Rowland, host of Locked on Titans, and you can check out both of us on these shows five days a week, as well as on Twitter. I am at Jay Yarko underscore bucks. He is at Tic Tac Titans. And this crossover Thursday episode is brought to you by price picks.

Starting point is 00:01:13 The easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to price picks.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL, all lowercase for a first deposit match up to $100. Biggest matchups, most important players coming up for you in just a little bit. But Tyler, let's start things off with the biggest stories surrounding these teams. And I'm going to defer to you to kick things off. What is the biggest story in the land of the Tennessee Titans right now? Well, that's smart, James.

Starting point is 00:01:42 Number one, you always defer, In my opinion, you always defer. You win the coin toss, you defer. The biggest storyline for the Titans is clear. What's Will Levis going to do now? You know, it's been this big storyline. Will he start? Is he over Tannehill? Will we see the young quarterbacks? Is this team tanking? All this stuff. And now we see it. All right. Levis is the starter going forward. Levis, for all intents and purposes, I know the Titans are only one and one. He's made mistakes. He's made bad decisions.

Starting point is 00:02:15 We've talked about it on the Locked on Titans podcast, my everyday or snow, but he looks like he's the guy for the future and he looks like he has enough talent. He has a skill set that you can build around. So now it's all about how you improve. Can the Titans get some wins? Will his talent allow them to be even better? Now it's all about, okay, Will Levis, you got the spot. What are you going to do with it? So I want to see how Will Levis can improve,

Starting point is 00:02:33 how he's able to lead this team. It's not just the physical stuff. I mean, we talk about the arm strength, and we talk about the velocity on the throws, the pop, the athleticism in the pocket, all that, but can he improve decision-making, which is something you should realistically improve with experience, right? Can he learn how to read the defenses and take what's there?

Starting point is 00:02:53 There's something that I keep saying, and it's an old quarterback thing, James, I'm sure that you've heard it too, take the profit. You know what I mean? Take the profit. Will Levis, in his first two games, hasn't necessarily been a guy who wants to take the profit all the time. He wants to drive the ball downfield. And while you want that aggressiveness, I always say, I would rather have a guy who's too aggressive and I got to be like, whoa there. You know what I mean? Then have someone who's not aggressive enough and try to fire him up. So I'm happy with Levis's aggressiveness, but it's all about calibrating

Starting point is 00:03:20 when to be that aggressive, when to take those shots, when it's more important to take the little check down or to take the underneath route that's open. And there were circumstances in the last few games where he didn't necessarily make the right decision, in my opinion. So now that he's got the spot, the big storyline is how quickly can he improve? How quickly can he get better at some of the things that you want? I mean, it's been two games. You don't mean to be too critical of the guy.

Starting point is 00:03:42 But still, there are things coming out of college and that we're seeing here that, you know, are things that he'll need to improve on to be the player that Titans fans want him to be. So now that he's got the spot, what will he do with it? This is a defense that is tough in some areas and maybe not so tough in some other areas. And that may lend itself to Will Levis getting back on track.

Starting point is 00:04:03 And that's what every Titans fan will be looking for here is you got the spot now. What will you do with it, rookie? Yeah, David and I talked a lot about Will Levis during the pre-draft process because there was a lot of speculation that he was the one quarterback that the Buccaneers would have liked. And David and I weren't big fans of Will Levis coming out of college. We didn't think he was going to transition. And so far, he looks pretty good.

Starting point is 00:04:31 And I've already had to eat my crow on C.J. Stroud. I'm a big, you know, don't draft Ohio State quarterbacks because they never work. And don't get me wrong, there's still time for C.J. Stroud to blow this, but he absolutely looks fantastic. And the same can be said in a very very small sample size about will levis and his performances so far so it'll be interesting to see how that continues to transition and if nothing else you know with the way the titan season has gone thus far you know going into the future after what will levis does this season if he's going to be a guy that you can

Starting point is 00:05:05 build around and like I said small sample size but so far he looks pretty good I'm going to talk about the biggest story you know surrounding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that is what in the world is going on both on the field and off so they're coming off the 39 to 37 loss to the Texans that snapped a streak of 35 consecutive wins when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had scored 37 or more points I said it on my episode yesterday the last time the Buccaneers lost when scoring 37 or more was October of 1985 1985 against the Miami Dolphins. I was four months old when that happened. So Todd Bowles is in jeopardy of losing his job. If the Buccaneers don't snap out of it, he's not going to be fired in season.

Starting point is 00:05:57 It's not something that the Glazers have ever done because once you fire the head coach in season, now all of a sudden everybody else on the coaching staff starts to check out. They're looking for what could open up for them down the road. Yeah, and Bowles being fired has that ripple effect, right? Does that mean that Dave Canales is one and done as an offensive coordinator? What's going to happen with Baker Mayfield? Does it cause a complete revamp of the defensive side of the ball,

Starting point is 00:06:24 meaning you're going to let Devin White walk you're going to get rid of Shaq Barrett you're going to get rid of Carlton Davis does Mike Evans look at another coaching change another restart another rebuild and say I love you Tampa I love you Bucs fans but I'm going to look for a chance to win another Super Bowl so in the NFC South the Buccaneers aren't out of it, but if they can't get the win on Sunday, and no one within the fan base has any confidence in Bowles or the team to figure out how to get the job done and get the win, but they're not out of it if they can beat the Titans,

Starting point is 00:06:58 and after such a solid start, the Bucs are a complete dumpster fire after that bye week. Yeah, yeah. I mean, they're in a weird position. Like the Titans, the Buccaneers were a team that's like, hey, maybe do we reset this before the season? They come out hot. They impress some people early and then kind of come back down to earth

Starting point is 00:07:19 a little bit. I think it's a precarious situation to be in. And to compare it, you know, at least with the Titans, they have Will Levis now. So it's like, yeah, all those same kind of questions. Do we need to revamp the defense, the coaching staff? What do we need to do here? But at least there's that glimmer of hope of, hey,

Starting point is 00:07:35 we got our guy at quarterback probably. Tampa Bay in a weird spot there, you know, with Baker. You know, Baker's a good quarterback in the NFL, but is he a long-term guy that energizes a fan base? Probably not. So I get where you're at. It's a tough spot for him. Yeah, no doubt about it. And look, Baker Mayfield has played really well this year, you know, 12 touchdowns, four interceptions. He's avoided a lot of sacks. He's made plays with his legs, but if you're going to fire the head coach, if you don't hire a defensive head coach that maybe

Starting point is 00:08:05 sees what Dave Canales has done and believes in what Dave Canales can do, you're looking at a complete revamp of the offensive side of the ball too. So it's a very, very delicate situation in Tampa right now. And a lot of what the future holds hinges on this Sunday's game. But Tyler, the biggest matchups that are going to decide this football game is coming up next on a crossover Thursday, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Did the game go to a timeout?

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Starting point is 00:10:10 Thank you again for making Locked On Titans and Locked On Bucks your first listen or view every single day. Football season is here, and Locked On is kicking up our coverage with Locked On NFL Kickoff Live each Friday. Locked On will go live at 2 p.m. Eastern on every Locked On NFL YouTube channel. Hosts Tanitra, Jarvis, and Kyle are going to break down every game on the NFL slate to get you ready for your team's matchup, your fantasy lineups, your betting angles, and more. Plus, you get in-depth local analysis from our stable of NFL hosts across the country

Starting point is 00:10:37 who know these teams better than anyone else. Find Locked on NFL Kickoff Live every Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern time on any Locked on NFL YouTube channel. Every game is going to boil down to a few key matchups. And for the Titans to get the job done on the road for the second time with Will Levis under center, what is the key matchup that you're looking for against the Buccaneers? I'm looking for the Titans passing game led by Will Levis and DeAndre Hopkins against this Tampa Bay Buccaneers secondary. I think by most measures, it is fair to say that it's one of the worst

Starting point is 00:11:19 secondaries in the league. At least statistically speaking, they've given up a lot of yards. They've had a lot of trouble and we saw that on display against C.J. Stroud. While I think C.J. Stroud is a very good player and will be a very good player, I think Nico Collins is a good player as well. It's not like the Texans have a terrible cast of players. At the end of the day, it's not the most impressive cast of players either and they were able to dice up the secondary Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay's pass rush hasn't been quite what I expected it to be or maybe I'm sure what Tampa Bay is expecting it to be. So without the presence of a dominant pass rush and with some weaknesses in the secondary,

Starting point is 00:12:00 I think Will Levis, that arm strength, that velocity, being able to push the ball down the field, challenge defensive backs, let DeAndre Hopkins win one-on-one. I think the Titans passing game has the opportunity to really lead them in this game, which most people would think of the Titans as a run game. I think you let the passing game set up the run game, really try to attack that secondary early and see if they're able to hold up. That is probably the biggest matchup I'm watching for on offense is just,

Starting point is 00:12:28 can Will Levis take advantage of that secondary like the Texans were able to? And I think they have the ability to do it. That is the exact matchup that I have as well. It's the Bucs secondary against the Titans pass catchers. And look, Derrick Henry's probably going to get his his but eliminating the deep ball against deandre hopkins who proved two weeks ago that he can still do it now granted my son's theory is that they were wearing the oilers uniforms he thought he was still in houston uh you know and all of a sudden decided to perform but he also did it with will levis and that's going to be a big part of this game so will

Starting point is 00:13:04 levis 500 yards four touchdowns and interceptions since taking over. And the Bucs just let another rookie have potentially what will end up as the best game of his career and break single-game rookie passing records. But since the bye, the Buccaneers have allowed 353, 250, 324, and 470 yards through the air. They also only have nine sacks over that same span. So the pass rush isn't closing nearly often enough and quarterbacks are having a lot of time to find open receivers and move the ball. And with the way Carlton Davis played last week, it's hard to find any faith in him to shut down DeAndre Hopkins, but they're also dealing with concussion issues for Jamel Dean, Christian Isian. That brings in Zion McCollum,

Starting point is 00:13:52 who looked good before the bye in relief of Carlton Davis and Jamel Dean when they were dealing with injuries, but he didn't look good against the Texans. And then you have Ryan Neal, who got benched at halftime he's been abysmal all year and Dee Delaney stepped in which really isn't much of an improvement so you're asking the Bucs to stop a deep ball with Antoine Winfield Jr. alone and Winfield has been an all pro this season and I will die on the hill that he is the best safety in the National Football League in 2023 but he's not actually going to receive those accolades because of how bad this defense has been. So this is the matchup that will decide

Starting point is 00:14:32 the game is the Bucs secondary being able to go against the Titans wide receivers. But Tyler, who is your most important player in this game? For me, it's Will Levis. Again, I think both of these, I think this is actually going to be a high-scoring game where I normally would pick the Titans in these low-scoring battles. I think both of these defenses are super susceptible in the pass. So I think for me, it's which quarterback leads their team better, which quarterback plays better is going to win the game because I think the other aspects are going to be

Starting point is 00:15:11 pretty similar. I think the Titans are going to be able to get some pressure on that Bucs offensive line. I think the Bucs are going to be able to get a little bit more pressure on this bad Titans offensive line. I think there are good wide receivers. I mean, the Buccaneers have far better wide receivers than the Titans. Don't get me wrong there, but the Titans have enough against this secondary and the Titans secondary is, has been God awful as well. So to me, I think both of these teams are kind of similar in terms of their talent level and what they can do. And I think whichever quarterback plays the cleaner game, plays the better game and dices up the secondary that's vulnerable on the other side of the ball. That plays the better game, and dices up the secondary that's

Starting point is 00:15:45 vulnerable on the other side of the ball, that is the team that's going to win. It feels cool, James, to tell you the truth, to say this, to be like, yeah, it's all on the quarterback. The Titans quarterback should lead them to this win and elevate the team. But I think that's a possibility here. It's nice to say that. It's nice to have that hope. And I really do think that Will Levis is the better quarterback in the game. And I think Will Levis will be able to lead the Titans to victory. But I think it's going to be back and forth. And at the end of the day, which quarterback makes the big play to elevate their team at the end? And I think Baker Mayfield's capable. I have faith in Will Levis here, but I think Baker Mayfield's capable. I love the fire he plays with.

Starting point is 00:16:23 His teammates do believe in him when he's going. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Cade Otten, Rashad White, I mean, they have good offensive talent there in the skill positions. So I think it's going to be close. I think it's going to be tight, but whichever quarterback makes a big play, sheds off the sack, rolls out, makes a second reaction, all-schedule play in the fourth quarter, whichever quarterback lifts their team up at the end of the game and makes the big defining play, that will

Starting point is 00:16:48 be the most important player here. And for me, I think Will Levis can do that and make it happen. Yeah, I don't want to downplay some of the good that Tannehill has done since he got there because he has been impressive overall up until recently. But you probably really haven't been able to say that about a Titans quarterback since Vince Young's rookie year, right? Yeah, I would say that's about, I mean, Taylor Hill in 2019 and 2020 was magical, but you knew he had AJ Brown. You knew the offense with Arthur Smith, the O-line was better. Definitely a combination of things, but yeah, and you're hitting on some heartstrings,

Starting point is 00:17:30 James, because I sure do love Vince Young. I still contend he would have been great with a more modern coach, but yeah, I think that's where it's at, and it does feel nice to say that, but again, we'll see if I'm right in thinking that or if I'm wrong in thinking that, but what about on your side of things? Who's the player that's kind of going to define the game for the Buccaneers? To me, and Locked On Bucs listeners are going to cringe when I say this, it has to be Devin White. He had a good first half against the Texans, but he disappeared along with the rest of the defense in the second half, and that's kind of been his M.O. this year.

Starting point is 00:18:07 He had a phenomenal first game against the minnesota vikings but since then he hasn't shown up there haven't been splash plays there haven't been those you know marquee moments for devin white that that bucks fans become accustomed to and i've gone so far as to say that devvin White this season looks like a flashier version of Quan Alexander and and that's not complimentary in the slightest um you know Quan was a huge fan favorite because of the splash plays that he did make but he was a liability in past coverage Devin White is the same thing he would have disappearing acts and got carried by Levante David a lot. That is going on right now with the Buccaneers. And if the Bucs are going to limit Derrick Henry, you can't stop him, but you can limit him. And they're going to force these third and long situations against Will Levis. White has to be at the absolute top of his game

Starting point is 00:19:03 and be a big part of that. Levante is going to be Levante. Vitavia is going to be Vitavia. And Henry, we know, doesn't go down on the first hit. So Devin has to be a guy that swarms to the ball and is a big part of this group tackling effort to minimize Henry's output because we know if Henry gets past the initial line, he has that explosiveness in him where he can just rip right through the second and the third levels and house a 60-yard run in the blink of an eye. And if Devin White isn't there, if Levante isn't there, if Vita isn't there, Derek Henry is going to be the one to dictate this game.

Starting point is 00:19:44 It won't be about Will Levis. It'll be all about Derek Henry. And I, I jokingly mentioned on, on my episode yesterday and, uh, you know, I'm, it may have been brought up on your show before fantasy footballers listeners are going to know, check the forecast in Vermont. If there's snowfall in Vermont, Derek Henry is going to run wild. It doesn't make any sense, but it is science. So, you know, that's something to definitely keep an eye on. But this matchup, it could very well, like you said, come down to the ability of the quarterbacks. But to me, watching this from a Buccaneers point of view,

Starting point is 00:20:20 you have to have Devin White be the guy that everyone knows he can be. He just hasn't been. That is a big integral part of slowing down Derrick Henry's output. Yeah, 100%. You need your linebackers at the second level to fire forward quickly. Hit Derrick Henry before he gets a head full of steam and gets into that second level. Really need good play from the linebacker shooting gaps when you play against Henry. That's for sure.

Starting point is 00:20:45 Absolutely. All right. So what has to go right for each team to get the win? And what are our score predictions? That is coming up next here on a crossover Thursday episode of Locked on Bucks and Locked on Titans. We spend a lot of time talking together, you and I. We get fired up together on wins and losses, who starts, who sits.

Starting point is 00:21:07 I'm thankful for that connection that we have. And today, I want our chat to be just a little bit more personal. Whether you're on extended travel, bracing for a major weather event, or limited by yet another supply shortage, you are covered, my friend. Thanks to our partners at Jace Medical, life-saving antibiotics and a long list of daily medications can be ordered in a one-year supply. Even ED generics for Cialis, Viagra, and Revatio prescriptions go online right now at jacemedical.com

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Starting point is 00:22:54 We've talked about Derrick Henry. We have not talked about a Sean Murphy bunting revenge game, but we have talked about quite a bit. And for the Tennessee Titans, what needs to go right in this game for them to come away with a big road victory? Well, let me just say this first before we go. You're probably not going to get it

Starting point is 00:23:15 because Sean Murphy Bunting injured his hand. He's got a thumb injury. Or as Titans Twitter knows it, a thump injury from a little typo from the Titans team there when they released the injury report a few weeks ago. But yeah, Murphy Bunting probably not going to play. He's doubtful. According to Mike Brayboy, he's got a bad hand injury. So wouldn't expect to see him Bucs fans, which may be good or bad for Bucs fans, depending on how they feel about SMB. I can see how the. It's an emotional revenge game. We'll say that. Right.

Starting point is 00:23:46 But I think for me, you know, we talked about how I think the Titans need to attack in the air. We talked about Derrick Henry and all that. For me, I'm going to flip to the other side. The Titans have to get back to stopping the run. And against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that does not run the ball well, you would think that this would be a good opportunity to do that. Basically, through the first four weeks of the season dating back to last season as well

Starting point is 00:24:10 the Titans were on a historical 17 game run of run defense. It was the best 17 straight games of run defense since like the mid 2000s and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like it was incredible. Well, you look at that and then you look at the last four games. Week 5, 193 rushing yards to the Colts. Week 6, 139 rushing yards to the Ravens.

Starting point is 00:24:33 Falcons, 140 rushing yards. Last week, Pittsburgh, 166 rushing yards. What happened to the Tennessee Titans' run defense? The Titans' whole entire philosophy here is get teams into third and long because we have a great run defense, and then we can run our stunts, our twists, our games up front in the pass rush to allow us to get pressure on the quarterback. The Titans don't have a lot of great one-on-one in a phone booth pass rushers.

Starting point is 00:24:59 They're more the sum of the total parts. You know what I mean? They can run these loop stunts and these twists, and that's how they get it done. But when they're not stopping the run, you don't get third and long. And when you don't have third and long, you can't do these exotic twists and stunts

Starting point is 00:25:14 and coverage disguises because you've got to go quick and you've got to get there quick because the quarterback's going to be able to get the ball out quick on a third and short. So if the Titans allow the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to run the football here, which the Buccaneers have, uh, trying to take off the top of my head, one of the lowest, you know, rushing totals in the NFL here. They're one of the worst run teams in the NFL. If you can't stop the run against the Bucs, who average 78 rushing yards a game.

Starting point is 00:25:46 If you let them get over 100 and run the ball with success, then something has just changed in a way that cannot be repaired, basically. So for me, we talk about all the other stuff, but the simplest thing for me is if the Titans can't stop the run against a team that can't run the ball, then they're doomed. They're doomed, period. So that's what I'm watching for't stop the run against a team that can't run the ball, then they're doomed. They're doomed, period. So that's what I'm watching for is stopping the run, and that will help everything else.

Starting point is 00:26:12 It'll be a domino effect that allows the defense to be better, get off the field quicker, give the ball back to the offense more. The offense has more opportunities. It all comes together, but it starts with making sure you stop the run against a team that can't run the ball well I'll I'll say this about the Buccaneers run game and I'm not going to make excuses for it because it's terrible but when they have Keyshawn Vaughn Sean Tucker or Chase Edmonds on the field they are averaging one and a half yards of carry it does not get worse than

Starting point is 00:26:43 that now Rashad White has started to look better running the ball over the course of the last couple of weeks he had a really really great game against the Texans but what the Buccaneers have started to adopt and this is something for for Titans fans for sure to watch out for is they're they're going to that Aaron Rogers Packers running through the air model where Rashad White is getting a lot of these one-yard passes and letting him create plays with his legs in space. He's getting dump-offs at the line of scrimmage or within six feet of the line of scrimmage,

Starting point is 00:27:18 and that's kind of how they've evolved running the ball. So the run stats are not great, but they've kind of switched over to this new model in order to try to get that, get Rashad White to be a bigger part of the game. And he certainly has, you're looking at, you know, over a hundred all-purpose yards twice out of the last three weeks, one week he had 99. Um, and then he gets into the end zone twice. So it's, it's certainly a big concern for the Bucs and Bucs fans. They can't run the ball.

Starting point is 00:27:47 They stick to it. They just can't do it very well. But something to look out for is still the usage of Rashad White and what they do in that run through the air kind of game. But what has to go right for the Buccaneers in this one is they have to stop this bend don't break nonsense on defense and force punts they cannot rely solely on turnovers and now because of the Bengals big week because of the Jets inability to hold on to the football the Buccaneers have

Starting point is 00:28:16 dropped to second in the NFL in turnover differential where they are plus eight whereas the Bengals and the Chargers are both plus nine. But they cannot keep allowing teams to convert on these third downs over and over and over. Now, you go back to last week and you go, James, the Texans were only three for 11 on third downs. Well, that's because they kept getting first downs on first and second down. They didn't face a lot of third downs in the second half.

Starting point is 00:28:44 But early in that game, when the Bucs had a 17 to 10 halftime lead, they were getting off the field on third down. They were taking the ball away on third down. This bend don't break stuff against the Titans, allowing them to get into field goal range, allowing them opportunities to score, only continues to snowball and create more problems for the Bucs down the line because then all of a sudden when they do need to stop they can't muster up the ability to do it and you just see third down conversion over and over and over the offense showed that it can put up points and get the job done and I don't expect them to score 37 points again this

Starting point is 00:29:21 season but the Bucs defense has to be able to get off the field consistently to not allow what happened last week to happen again this week. So Tyler, we've taken a look at this game from all types of angles. How do you see this one shaking out? I'm going to go 28 to 24 Titans in this one. Again, I do think it's a little bit more of an offensive game. I think both defensives, both secondaries will struggle. I think it'll come down to who can stop the run, who can run the ball, since both teams have their struggles with that at times. I think that the Titans will ultimately be able to be a little bit more consistent

Starting point is 00:30:03 in the run game, and it'll give Will Levis the opportunities to take advantage downfield. And I do think the Titans run defense comes around a little bit and not get absolutely gashed. I don't think it'll be beautiful run defense lockdown like we thought the Titans could do from the first couple of weeks of the season, but I think it'll be a close one. It'll be tight at the end. Again, I think a big play from a quarterback who elevates his team, whether that be Baker, whether that be Will,

Starting point is 00:30:29 will make the big difference. But I'll say that Levis makes the big play at the end and finds a completion with DeAndre Hopkins to give the Titans a win. I'll go 28-24 Titans. I see this one as a little bit lower scoring, but I'm also going to take the Titans. Until the Buccaneers show me that they can get their heads back in the game

Starting point is 00:30:47 and actually win one, I can't bring myself to pick them. So I am going to take the Titans with a road victory 20-17 over the Bucs. But that is going to do it for this Crossover Thursday episode of Locked on Bucs and Locked on Titans. Make sure

Starting point is 00:31:03 that you are checking both of us out five days a week on those shows. And of course, you can follow everything on Twitter. I am at JArco underscore Bucks. Tyler is at Tic Tac Titans. Hope you all have an absolutely outstanding day. Stay safe, stay healthy. And thank you so much for joining us right here on a crossover Thursday here on the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Can Will Levis Lead Tennessee Titans to a Road Win, Attacking Buccaneers Secondary & Game Predictions

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