Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Crossover Thursday Conversation: Titans v Lions, Playoff Clinching Scenarios & More

Episode Date: December 17, 2020

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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, this crossover Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by Pepsi. This football season will be different and Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch. Pepsi is the refreshment you need

to power through game day and become a member of the League of Football Watchers. These passionate fans are the real generational talent that Pepsi fuels. Because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game, it's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football watching. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from

Pepsi. And it is time to begin our preparation for this weekend of football. We have a game against the Detroit Lions. The Lions currently sit at 5-8, but we know that the Tennessee Titans make every game more difficult than it has to be. So I expect a close matchup. But also, there's a lot of playoff scenarios that are going around this weekend. A lot of different results matter to the Tennessee Titans and their playoff chances.

So we are going to start off today's show by taking a look at all the different playoff scenarios, the clinching scenarios for the Titans. The Titans can't win the division this weekend, but they do have the ability to clinch a playoff spot. So I'm going to talk about all the different scenarios that could lead to that. And then we will dive into our crossover Thursday conversation with Matt Derry from the Locked On Lions. Going to get somebody with boots on the ground in Detroit to give us the most up-to-date

information about critical injuries that the Lions are facing. Also, what will we see from the Lions on offense and defense? And then, since we don't get to talk to Matt very often from Locked On Lions, I ask him what he wants to see from the future of the Lions now that they are going to be changing head coach and general manager. So I really appreciated that opening portion of our crossover Thursday conversation. And then I get in the hot seat. Matt asked me some good questions about what we expect to see from the Titans this week.

You won't want to miss this conversation. So playoff scenarios and a crossover Thursday conversation. Let's get it! The Tennessee Titans head into Week 15, currently 9-4 and leading the AFC South. And with only three games left in the season season the Titans are getting closer and closer to locking up their third playoff appearance in five years and heading into this game against the five and eight Detroit Lions the Titans will have three possible scenarios that will allow them to clinch a playoff berth this weekend. And of course, none of these possible scenarios lead to the Tennessee Titans clenching the AFC South.

That is still off the table as the Colts continue to be just as good as the Tennessee Titans. They currently sit at 9-4 and are only behind the Titans due to division record tiebreakers. So the Titans cannot clench the AFC South, but they can punch their ticket to the playoffs overall, and that would mean guaranteeing themselves a wild card spot at the minimum. But in fairness, these avenues are not the most simple. So let's dive into the three possible options the Titans have to clinch their playoff spot this weekend based on how likely or how possible it is for them to do it. Option number one, the most simple, the most likely, the Titans have to win their game against the Lions. All three of these avenues will require that the Titans beat the Lions.

Of course, that is only logical. So option number one, the Titans win in Detroit and the Baltimore Ravens lose. Now the Baltimore Ravens this week are taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars. So it's very unlikely to see the Ravens losing that game. But in the NFL, anything can happen. So the Titans would in fact need to win, and then they would need Baltimore to lose to the 1-12 Jacksonville Jaguars. Now that is unlikely because of Baltimore's opponent, but it's the most likely avenue

that the Titans have. Let's go to avenue number two for the Titans to clinch a playoff berth, and of course, step one of that process is a Titans win. Step number two would be the Vegas Raiders losing to the Los Angeles Chargers. Now the Raiders will be at home on Thursday night football on a short week. So a lot of things point in the direction of a Raiders win, but the Raiders certainly aren't anywhere close to the team that we thought they were after they beat the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the year, and the Chargers, although being 4-9, are weighed down by the terrible coaching that dooms them week in and week out.

The Chargers have a lot of good talent. They have Justin Herbert, Austin Eckler, Hunter Henry, Keenan Allen, Joey Bosa, Hayward on that side. So they have a lot of talent on their team. So it's definitely possible the Chargers could win this game. But like I said, at home, Thursday night football, short week, the Raiders definitely should be the favorites in that game. But they could lose. And if they do, that would be step two for the Titans. Step number three in Avenue number two would be a Miami Dolphins loss.

Now, the Dolphins are 8-5, a playoff team at this moment in time, but they go to play, well, they're staying at home in Miami, but they play the New England Patriots who are 6-7, and although the Patriots are having a down year by their standards, Bill Belichick has a tendency to eat rookie quarterbacks alive, and we saw that earlier in this year when they whooped Los Angeles Chargers by about 35 points. So the Dolphins are a better team than the Patriots this year, but Bill Belichick against

a rookie quarterback, there's always a chance that Bill Belichick could come out on top in that sort of pairing. And then the final step, the fourth step for Avenue number two, would be the Cleveland Browns to win or tie. And this week, the Cleveland Browns will be taking on the New York Giants. So the Giants are maybe missing Daniel Jones, at the minimum a banged up Daniel Jones, although the Giants are a lot better than people thought they would be before the season, with their starting quarterback really banged up, especially a mobile guy like Daniel Jones.

Going to be tough sledding for the Giants against a good Cleveland Browns team, but you never know what could happen in the NFL. The Giants are certainly good enough to knock off the Browns. So that is Avenue 2, a Tennessee Titans win, a Raiders loss or tie, a Dolphins loss, and a Cleveland Browns win or tie. The final possibility for the Titans to clinch their playoff spot A Raiders loss or tie, a Dolphins loss, and a Cleveland Browns win or tie. The final possibility for the Titans to clinch their playoff spot is the most unlikely of them all, and that is a Tennessee Titans win, a Raiders loss or tie, a Dolphins loss, and then the Titans or the Browns will have to clinch strength of victory tiebreaker over

Miami, which would take a multitude of different dominoes to fall this weekend to do that there are so many different things that need to happen for the tiebreaker for strength of victory that I can't even possibly get into that spider web so those are the three possibilities that the Titans have to clinch their playoff berth after week 15 but we are going to continue diving into this Week 15 matchup with our Crossover Thursday conversation. Excited to bring on Matt Derry from the Locked on Lions podcast to help us get ready for this matchup

and also give us a window into the future of the Detroit Lions. So excited to dive into that conversation with you guys. Before we do, I want to remind you of a few things. Tomorrow is our Football Friday game preview. Make sure that you're locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast and subscribing or following on whatever platform you do stream. Remember also next week, we got a game recap Monday, Tic Tac Tuesday, Rewatch Wednesday,

another crossover Thursday, which will be getting you ready for the Packers contest, which is a huge game, maybe the biggest game on the NFL schedule left. And then we'll be back for a game preview next Friday as well. So don't miss any of the content I'm putting out Monday through Friday, not only in the season, but the entire year. So excited to jump into this crossover Thursday conversation before we do want to tell you guys about Built Go. The best tasting and best working energy gel out on the market.

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So make sure that you visit BuiltGo.com today and use promo code LOCKED. Once again, that is promo code LOCKED and you'll get 20% off at BuiltGo.com. Let's go. And it is time for our crossover Thursday conversation for, boy, how the season has flown. Week 15. And we are here with Matt from Locked on Lions. And obviously, I am Tyler with Locked on Titans, ready to begin our preparation here for this game.

And going to dive right into the Lions side of things. The number one thing that Titans fans are going to be asking about or going to be worrying about is the health of some of the Lions' top players, specifically Matt Stafford, who's dealing with, I believe, a rib injury. are going to be worrying about is the health of some of the Lions top players, specifically Matt Stafford, who's dealing with, I believe, a rib injury. And now we're getting the news of the fractured throat from Ragnow, the starting center, who's one of the better interior linemen in the league. So I guess, Matt, first things first, what kind of information might you have on these

injuries and what will the Lions do on offense at those two spots if those guys can't go? Yeah, Tyler, appreciate it, man, and good talking to you. You know, I think with the Lions and how this has gone, it seems like Matthew Stafford, unless he's having surgery or, like, is really, really, really hurt, he toughs it out and tries to play. He's not going to practice, I don't think, at all this week. He's still in a little bit of pain. But I wouldn't rule out Sunday for him.

Now, if you look at big picture, there's no reason with some fractures, you know, and everything else that he might have in his ribs, and the x-rays were negative, but if he's got even a small fracture in there, and they're calling it muscle, you're never going to get information from the Lions on what exactly this is. But the bottom line is he always wants to play, and they've always allowed him to play. Maybe now that you're going to have a new regime next year, you're going to have a new general manager and a new coach.

They added Chris Spielman to the mix to be in the front office. There's no reason to put him out there. They're 5-8. Now, Darryl Bevel, the interim head coach, has said, we still have 1% chance of making the playoffs. We're still hanging around. We're still playing to win. But to me, I would play Chase Daniel this week, next week,

and the week after, and let Matthew Stafford heal. But there's a pride factor with him. He's been here 12 years. And it wouldn't stun me if he didn't practice all week, but somehow with a flap jacket or something, was out there playing on Sunday. Yeah, that's the one thing about Matt Stafford. He's actually one of those guys that me personally, I've always been a big fan of Stafford.

I think that his talents are a little bit underrated, and obviously the circumstances he's been in throughout his career, I feel like maybe he could have had more heights and displayed that talent a little bit more in a better circumstance. But either way, he is one of the tougher guys in the NFL. And that's obviously at the quarterback position, which is the biggest thing of concern. But there are other injuries, like I mentioned, Ragnow, like I mentioned on the show earlier this week.

Kenny Galladay has missed a lot of weeks in a row here. What do you think the Lions might do on offense to attack this Tennessee Titans defense that is not very good in their own right, whether healthy or not? Yeah, this should be a high-scoring game if Stafford plays. Ragnow, by the way, you mentioned fractured throat. Amazing, he played through it.

Why? I got injured, Tyler, in the first quarter of the game this past Sunday against the Packers couldn't talk and just thought he was hoarse or something. And it turned out his throat got fractured, but man, he's been a top. He's been a top five center in the NFL this year. He's great. Yeah. If you believe PFF and he and Taylor,

Taylor Decker on the offensive line have been very good. The rest of not. But I think if Stafford is healthy and somehow plays, with DeAndre Swift coming back, the offense has been pretty good. And that's without Kenny Galladay. T.J. Hawkinson, the tight end, has had a really nice year. So I think they'll score some points. If Chase Daniels is playing, that's a huge drop-off.

It's not as big of a drop-off as it was a year ago when the Lions had no backup quarterbacks and Stafford got hurt. Daniel's better, but Galladay, I don't think is going to play. He hasn't played in 45 days. I mean, he's been out a while with this hip injury. He's also in a contract year as a free agent. I don't anticipate him getting back out there for these last three games. So attacking the Titans defense, I think it'll be through the air. The Lions haven't shown a consistency running the football much, but with Swift, that's a guy that I think that will run the ball, catch the ball to the backfield, throw in Hawkinson and tight end,

and Marvin Jones a receiver. Those are the guys probably to watch for Sunday. Yeah, and quite frankly, that's enough talent on the offensive side of the ball. I think even without Stafford, even if Daniel does play, that's enough talent to take advantage of this porous Titans defense. And speaking of defense, going to kind of flip the conversation over to the Lions defense. And, you know, just in my brief tape study that I started this week, obviously you're the expert on the team. So I want to get a little bit more context with you, but it doesn't seem like this Lions team blitzes very often. It seems like they prefer to just send their four,

maybe try to sit back in coverage. They have some of the least amount of sacks in the league this year with only 18. So why are they not doing more to send pressure, or do you think that that is the right route to go by sitting back in coverage? Why are they playing defense that way, and do you think that they'll do that against the Titans as well?

Well, first off, Tyler, the defense stinks. All right? It's not very good. And you take in the equation now, their best pass rusher in terms of their highest paid, Trey Flowers, has been out. He won't play Sunday. Everson Griffin has COVID, so he's out.

He's been a nice pickup. They don't bring a lot of pressure. That was the Matt Patricia way, kind of rush three, drop eight. It's been a little bit more now that Patricia's been fired. Corey Unlin has done a little bit more blitzing, but not that much. It's not like they're Blitzburg here or anything like that. They just don't have the horses. You know, Romeo Alcuarez had a nice year, but if you believe PFF, he's only the 67th best edge in the league. I don't know about that.

Watch it. If you watch the tape, it's hard to come out of that thinking he's a 60th, you know, ranked defensive end. He's had a nice year. He's had a nice year, but a lot of it comes in bunches. They just don't get to the quarterback. They haven't gotten to the quarterback in years consistently. You know, Aaron Rodgers had all day to throw last week. And then you throw in Jeffrey Okuda, Desmond Trufant, two of their top corners out. It's been rough sledding. The linebacking core, not named Jamie Collins, is not very good.

So there will be – if you're the Lions and you're like, wait a minute, Derrick Henry, I mean, that dude could go for 200 this week, easy. You take Danny Shelton out of the mix, he's also hurting on IR. He's their best run stuffer at no tackle. It could be a long day for the Lions defensively. Yeah, yeah, and honestly, you know, you're reminding me of all of the pieces that they are missing right now. I think any Titans fan listening to this is thinking in their head

that the Titans should win this game. But if the Lions are able to win this game against the Titans, what do you think that game would look like? Probably a miracle. I mean, it would have to be a special teams play. Maybe Jamal Agnew with a return. Lions have blocked a couple of punts this year. You'd have to win the special teams game. Jack Fox has done a great job as a punter in pinning teams back. It would have to be a turnover type game and a game where the Lions got the run game established and Stafford played it. I honestly, Tyler, don't see if Stafford doesn't play any chance of the Lions winning this football game Sunday. Tennessee is a superior team and the Lions are on the road. Yeah, and all of that makes sense.

And I'm not going to sit here and act like what you're saying isn't the case. But what I do know is that the Titans, for some strange reason, have the ability to play as bad as possible against teams they should beat and as good as possible against teams they should lose to. So while everything you said is true, I would not rule out that miracle that you were talking about. But Matt, one thing that is for certain is we don't get to talk very often with you being in the NFC and me being over in the AFC. So while I have you on the line, and we may not get to talk this offseason either since our divisions won't be playing next year,

while I do have you as we get out of this first segment and head into the other portion of our conversation, what would you like to see for the future of the Detroit Lions at head coach? What do you think that they do now moving away from Matt Patricia? I really like the news yesterday of Louis Riddick interviewing for the team on Friday. I've been a big Louis supporter for years. I pushed for him to be the general manager four or five years ago before Bob Quinn got the job. Five, six years ago, excuse me.

Head coach wise, I think Robert Sala from the Niners, a Detroit guy is gonna have an excellent chance at this thing. But the bottom line is it has to start from the very top. Ownership, President Rod Wood, now Chris Spielman. They've got to get it right. They've got to be on the same page.

They've got to find a good talent evaluator in here. Who can bring in the scouting staff? They need to blow up what's currently there and get on track. And I also think they have to move on from Matthew Stafford and draft a young quarterback. It may be ugly the next couple of years, but at least you're building something. Bob Quinn's drafts over the last few years have not worked out,

and there's not a lot of good young talent on this years have not worked out, and there's not a lot of good young talent on this team. There's some, but there's not enough. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and I also am a really big fan of Louis Riddick. I would be upset, though, that we finally got a decent Monday night football booth, and then they're ripping out Louis Riddick right out of that trio. So, just from my perspective, selfishly, that's how I see it. But I think that would be a fantastic pick. We are going to move into the second portion of this crossover Thursday. I am going to get in the hot seat,

answer some questions from Matt about the Tennessee Titans. This football season will be different, and Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch this season. For me, it's three TVs in the living room with a 12-pack of Pepsi. Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through game day and become a member of the League of Football Watchers. These passionate fans are the real generational talent that Pepsi fuels.

Because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game, it's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football watching. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. Matt Derry, Tyler Roland with you. Locked on Lions, locked on Titans. It's the Thursday crossover. Detroit going to Tennessee, where, of course, the Titans are tied for first place at 9-4 with the Colts.

They've got the tiebreaker right now. Tyler, what's the mindset down there about what's going on with this Titan team? From afar, you look up and you go, man, they go into Indy and just dominate the Colts. Derrick Henry, Tanny Hill, they look great. That's the best team in the South. And then a week later, you know, the Browns pulverize them at home. And so it's been an up and down year yet. Here they are. They've still won nine games. They've got a coach that many felt

the Lions should have hired a Mike Vrabel. What's the mindset right now with three games to go? Well, I think overall, if you asked a Tennessee Titans fan, they would tell you they're satisfied. They're happy. We came from a very rough five, six, seven-year stretch before John Robinson, the Titans general manager, took over this team in the offseason of 2016. So for the last five years, the Titans have had a winning record. It's been nine and seven with two playoff appearances and a deep playoff run before. This year, people were expecting the Titans to take that step forward, become a division winner. The Titans hadn't won the division since 2008. Become a division winner, have a home playoff

game, and that might give you the extra bump you need to get over the Kansas City Chiefs Hill in the AFC. So the Titans are still on track for that, but I think a performance like you mentioned with the Browns, going back, hearkening back to that loss against the Bengals, which is just staring the Titans in the face of something they could not allow to happen, and now they're neck and neck with everyone else in the AFC and the Colts and the division. So what the Titans have proven is while they are a good team now, they're a consistent good team, a playoff team pretty consistently, whether that be a 9-7 wild card, 10-6 somewhere in there.

The reality, though, is after seeing games like the Bengals, games like the Browns, the Titans aren't a great team yet. They're not with the Chiefs. I know the Steelers have looked rough lately, games like the Browns, the Titans aren't a great team yet. They're not with the Chiefs. I know the Steelers have looked rough lately, but I have faith that they'll get things back on track before the playoffs. The Steelers, the Packers, the Saints. I wouldn't put the Titans in the top number one tier of teams, that top five or six teams,

but I think they're in the tier right behind that. And then any given day, they can go up to the top of that tier. They can go all the way down to the bottom of that tier so that's the general feeling here but if the Titans are able to utilize some of the some of the help that they might be getting in the secondary this week or next week then maybe they can improve on defense enough to to jump into that top tier of teams heading into the playoffs but right now the general feeling is the Titans are a pretty good team but they're not a great team you mentioned the defense and you talked about it in the last segment. Mike Vrabel has always been a defensive-minded coach. They've been a physical

defense for years. Guys flying around the football. What's the problem this year? Yeah, so it's a combination of factors as any football fan would know. You can't just pinpoint it's this, it's that that one or the other but early on in the season it was everything the Titans were struggling in coverage they didn't have the personnel on the outsides due to injuries they had Jonathan Joseph who's 36 years old and should be out of the NFL quite frankly they had Chris Jackson who was a seventh round rookie who while he was actually playing was graded as the worst cornerback in the NFL, 115 out of 115 per pro football focus.

Again, however much stock you put in their player grades. But I think that grade was accurate, in my opinion, based on the tape as well. So the Titans didn't have a lot in the secondary that allowed them to play good enough coverage for their pass rushers like Harold Landry, like Jadavion Clowney at the time to get home. So coverage was an issue. But then the Titans had to cut Vic Beasley, which is justified. I think they should have done that. I'm not calling that a mistake.

The mistake was signing him. Jadavion Clowney went on injured reserve with a knee injury. Again, I don't think it was a mistake to sign Clowney. That was the right move. It's just unfortunate he couldn't stay healthy. So you lose two pass rushers there. The rest of the pass rushers outside of Harold Landry are essentially no names for the NFL community outside of Tennessee. So what happened was halfway through

the season, it flipped. The Titans got Desmond King with a trade to play slot cornerback. They brought in Breon Borders, who was a practice squad guy, but ended up playing very well in his time. Now the Titans got Ty Smith in, who's been in the organization for a few years, and he had a great game on Sunday. So when the Titans improved in the secondary, they started doing worse and having less bodies in the pass rush. So they can't get pass rush and coverage to be good both at the same time.

And what happens there is basically both things fall apart simultaneously. So I think the Titans have also had some coaching issues with alignment. You know, you're talking about pressing up on wide receivers, which guy's going to be back, which guy's going to be forward, down in distance. You know, why are we playing 12 yards back on third and four? An easy out completion for five yards gets you to first. So there's coaching problems.

There's issues with the talent in the pass rush, and there's issues with health in the secondary. Those are the main three reasons why the Titans are struggling on defense. Tyler Rowland, the voice of Locked on Titans. Matt Derry, Locked on Lions, the Thursday crossover. We talked about it before. I mean, Derrick Henry is having another monster year. To me, if you're Tennessee and,

you know, their offensive coordinator is a guy that many people feel could be a head coach in Arthur Smith very soon. I would think, looking at what the Lions do against the run, that this is going to be the Derek Henry show on Sunday. What do you think? Yeah, I mean, at this point in time, we are to a point in the season where you get to stop worrying about managing his load. You get to stop worrying about carries and, you know, spelling him. Now is the time. The season's on. And where the Titans are at and how tightly contested the AFC is,

the Titans are 9-4 leading the AFC, but one bad week could have them out of the playoff picture and looking in. If the Dolphins win a game, if the Browns win another game, the Colts win a game, Baltimore wins another game, the Titans are two weeks away from being out of the playoffs completely, despite the way things look now. And they put themselves in that position. So with that in mind, you can't mince any words. You can't hold anything back. You've got to put all your chips out on the table and go all in, and that includes giving the ball to Derrick Henry 30 to 35 times,

if that's what it takes. I'm not one of these guys who does the, oh, if he gets to this many carries, when Derrick Henry rushes for 100 yards, the Titans are this record. To me, they're able to run the ball because they're winning, not they're winning because they run the ball. But that's a different philosophical debate for a different day but I think the reality is the with the way that the Lions defense is like you talked about Danny Shelton being out Everson Griffin being out Trey Flowers being out major key parts of their front seven in their defensive line the Titans have no reason to go away from Derrick Henry here the

Lions are better than the Jags but they're still not good enough to stop the best running back in the NFL, especially in what Titans fans like to call D Henber. So yeah, I would expect to get a heavy dose of Derrick Henry, which includes a heavy dose of tight ends. The Titans have four really solid tight ends. Anthony Ferkser, who's more of a pass catchingcatching guy. Jonu Smith, who does it all. Jeff Swaim and also Michael Pruitt, who are kind of versatile guys, utility guys who do a little bit of everything.

Expect to see a lot of the Tennessee Titans tight ends in this game to go along with Derrick Henry running the ball. Well, that'll be troublesome for the Lions, who've had their issues with tight ends over the years. Like I said, the linebackers, just not great cover people and neither are the safeties. Tyler, it was a lot of fun, man. Thank you.

Yeah, excellent, and I appreciate all of the information. Don't talk, obviously, with you, Matt, a lot. So anytime we can get together, talk some ball, and learn a little bit more about either's team, it's a great time. Appreciate it. Tyler Rowland, locked on Titans. Matt Derry, locked on Lions. It's a great time. Appreciate it. Tyler Rowland at Locked on Titans. Matt Derry, Locked on Lions. It's the Thursday crossover. I hope you all enjoyed

that crossover conversation with Matt Derry from Locked on Lions and ya boy, Tyler Rowland from the Locked on Titans. I literally just repeated exactly what Matt said before I cut off the interview, so I'm sure that your ears loved hearing the same thing twice in a row. On that note interview, so I'm sure that your ears loved hearing the same

thing twice in a row. On that note, I think I'm going to get out of here. I will be back with you guys for a Football Friday game preview edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. Make sure that you don't miss it. And right now, right now, go to my Twitter, watch, it's time to play the Swaim. I made my favorite film breakdown video of all time. Shout out Jeff Swaim.

And that's going to do it for me today, folks. I am the mayor of Swaimville, your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.