Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - CROSSOVER THURSDAY - Titans v Bengals: Bengals O Line, Defensive Coverages & Titans Offensive Weapons

Episode Date: January 20, 2022

It is CROSSOVER THURSDAY!! The Tennessee Titans take on the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs!! Tyler is joined by James Rapien and Jake Liscow to get ready for the matchup. First, Tyler goes over the latest injury report. Jackrabbit Jenkins did not practice Wednesday, but Tyler provides optimism. Then, the CROSSOVER begins! How will the Bengals handle the Titans defensive stunts upfront, is the Bengals run game reliable and how is Joe Burrow creating explosive plays?? Finally, Tyler answers question about the Titans offensive weapons and how will the defense decide to play the Bengals!!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.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus. 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 crossover Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. On today's show, we are going to have Jake Lisco and James Rapian from the Locked on Bengals podcast on to break down everything you need to know from the opposite side of the spectrum for this playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and the Cincinnati Bengals. We're going to talk about defensive coverages and personnel packages. We're going to talk about the Bengals' explosive offense.

So very excited to have those guys on the show today for a Crossover Thursday conversation. Also, we are going to talk about the most recent injury report and the Tennessee Titans saw a starting defensive player added and not participate in practice. So that is something to watch going forward. I'll tell you who that is and more on a Crossover Thursday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it.

You are Lock locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, it is a crossover Thursday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast, and it is presented by OnlineGambling.com, the place to be for all the latest gambling news and tips throughout the NFL playoffs. Visit OnlineGambling.com slash NFL to get the edge you need over the competition throughout this year's playoffs. Also, do want to thank you guys 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. Check out the Locked on Titans YouTube channel as well. Subscribe over there. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. If you're watching on YouTube right now, go ahead and hit that thumbs up button for me. It is appreciated. Check me out on social media at TicTacTitans on Twitter and the show Facebook page at LockedOnTitansPod. I am the only Tennessee Titans content creator that is going to be putting out daily,

Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content, not only during the season, not only during the playoffs, but all year long. So again, make sure that you are locked in to the LockedOnTitans podcast. You can find it everywhere and always free. But we got to talk about this injury report from Thursday for the Tennessee Titans. And like I said, there was a critical defensive starter for the Titans that was added to the injury report. We're going to talk about that last, but quickly want to go through here. Defensive lineman, Tyre Tartt with an ankle was limited both on Tuesday

and on Wednesday. Defensive lineman, Naquan Jones with with an ankle, was limited both on Tuesday and on Wednesday. Defensive lineman, Naquan Jones, with a knee injury, was a full participant both days. That's very important for the Titans' run defense. Buster Screen, who is the Titans' passing down slot cornerback, has a hamstring injury, but he was a full participant both days. Derek Roberson was undesignated on Tuesday didn't have any issues in practice but then did miss practice on Wednesday but it was non-injury related. As for that Tennessee

Titans defensive starter that missed practice, that is Janoris Jack Rabbit Jenkins missed practice with an ankle injury. Concerning. The Titans are going up against maybe the best group of wide receivers

they've gone up against all year long. And also, Titans backup cornerback Greg Maben was put on the COVID list. So that could quickly turn into an issue for the Tennessee Titans. But, but, I come with good news. As expected, and I kind of said this on Twitter, but there was a ton of rain in Tennessee on Wednesday, and the Titans practiced outside in the rain.

Well, in week 18 18 Jackrabbit was limited on the first day of practice, did not practice at all on the second day of practice which would have been Wednesday based on the schedule and then was a full participant on the last day of practice of the week which will be Thursday. So Jackrabbit Jenkins should be a full participant on today's practice, which is Thursday. Of course, I'm recording on Wednesday evening. So that's good news because it looks like the Titans' maintenance plan

for Jackrabbit is mirroring what it was in Week 18. And if you needed any more positivity, Ian Rappaport from the NFL Network tweeted, sounds like Jackrabbit Jenkins should be okay. He put out a tweet with a bunch of different practice updates, injuries, talking about Packers, David Bakhtiari, Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, Jackrabbit, Clyde Edwards, a layer from the Chiefs,

and he retweeted that to say, sounds like Jackrabbit Jenkins should be okay with the little bunny emoji. So that should give you guys optimism. This maintenance plan for Jackrabbit is mirroring exactly what he did in week 18. So although he did not practice on Wednesday, I don't think that is anything to be majorly concerned about.

And if you have a national reporter coming out and saying something like that, well, that should hammer it home even more for you guys. Jack Rabbit is going to be just fine. Now, as for the Bengals, the one player that we were really paying attention to here is edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who led the Bengals with, I think, 14 sacks.

He's an excellent player. Had a concussion in that game against the Raiders. He was limited on Tuesday, but he was full on Wednesday. And as I've said throughout the week, there is 0% chance that Trey Hendrickson was not going to play in this game. He was going to play all along, no doubt about it. So that is the injury updates that you guys need to know for the Tennessee Titans and for the one critical Cincinnati Bengal who everyone was paying attention to. Still great news on the health front for the Titans, the healthiest that they have been

all year long. Now, it is time to get into a crossover Thursday conversation between me and the host of Locked On Bengals, Jake Lisco and James Rapian. Very excited to get into that conversation. Those guys really know their stuff about Cincinnati. Now before we get into that conversation though, I do want to tell you guys a little bit more about our title sponsor, OnlineGambling.com. We're all looking for the edge these days.

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in the early aughts don't matter to this game right now. But the 49ers have a really talented team. And the Titans saw that firsthand. So that would be my upset pick of the week. If you're thinking about backing an underdog in the divisional rounds, make sure you head to OnlineGambling.com before you do. OnlineGambling.com gives bettors the edge they need

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We have another Crossover Thursday conversation ahead, but it's not just any regular Crossover Thursday. No, this is an NFL Divisional Round Playoff crossover Thursday. One of the most exciting games of the weekend between an excellent team in the Cincinnati Bengals and then, of course, my team, the Tennessee Titans. I am Tyler Rowland. Got Jake Lisco, James Rapian from the Locked on Bengals podcast. We're going to be getting you guys ready to go for this game.

Before we dive into the conversation, I want to thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans and the Locked On Bengals podcast your first listen every day. Big announcement, the Peacock and Williamson NFL podcast is going on the road to LA for Super Week. Follow the Peacock and Williamson NFL show today to get the most comprehensive coverage of the big game. It's free and available on all platforms. But fellas, thank you for joining me here the most comprehensive coverage of the big game. It's free and available on all platforms.

But fellas, thank you for joining me here to talk about this game. Like I said, it's a very exciting matchup. And really, we got to start with the Cincinnati Bengals offense. I mean, just absolutely fantastic to watch. Tons of talent all over the place. An ascending quarterback in Joe Burrow, who, in my opinion, is definitely a top 10 quarterback

and working his way to being a locked top five guy, depending on, obviously, what happens this weekend and going forward. But I want to talk about keeping Burrow upright. Now, I know that he's been sacked 55 times this year, and through that, he's still been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But the Tennessee Titans do things a little bit different with their pass rush. They're definitely a twist and stunt-based defensive line. They don't do a lot of just straight rush one-on-one.

That's not how they win. So I guess my question for you, we know that the Bengals' offensive line has struggled with pass protection. It hasn't killed the team though so what are your guys's takes on the straight how the offensive line holds up against a straight rush against how they handle twists and stunts do you think that the the titans philosophy there is going to give them any more trouble than normal or it's just you know business as usual for the bangles offensive line? I think it'll depend on which guys are dealing with the twists and stunts. Tyler, the left side of the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line, Jonah Williams and Quentin Spain, a little bit more

senior in terms of experience, especially Quentin Spain, of course, is a veteran at this point. Jonah Williams on his rookie deal still. Yeah. You guys know his work well. He's playing closer to the Titans level than the Bills level at this point, especially as a pass blocker. The snatch trap has been a joy to watch this year from him putting defensive linemen on their faces. It's just really funny to see that happen at any point in time. But those two guys have a really good relationship at this point

in terms of handing off stunts and twists between the two of them. good relationship at this point in terms of handing off stunts and twists between the two of them. I think Trey Hopkins has gotten back more and more to his pre-ACL form as well. He tore his ACL last January for the early part of the season, was certainly dealing with those effects, and more recently has looked a lot more healthy. On the right side, the guys are just inexperienced between Isaiah Prince and Hakeem Adenoji. And at times, stunts have been an issue for them, especially against the Raiders. For example, there's one example that stands out to me where Isaiah Prince doesn't get enough depth in his set. He doesn't set vertically enough. He kind of doesn't get deep enough in the pocket to give Hakeem Adenoji an option to pass off his guy so the defensive end crashing upfield on hakima denigi is is to a point

where if he's past isaiah prince essentially he's he's deeper than isaiah prince there's no way to hand that off on the right side crosby loops around they get a sack that way but that said i mean the raiders don't blitz a lot or yeah they they don't blitz at all. I think they blitzed once in that game. A lot of just beach or man style stuff from the Raiders, especially with Max Crosby and Yannick and Gawkway. But there were some twists and stunts in that game and the Bengals dealt with it pretty well. I'd say that where you can bother the Bengals protection the most is when you get a free

rusher up the middle. You confuse protection, get them to full slide one way or the other, especially if they're not in a split back look, especially if you're dropping a creeper in there, you're sugaring A gaps or doing anything like this, anything exotic with your front. And at times you can get a free rusher. But at the same time, that's really been cleaned up, I think,

as the season's gone on. It's become less and less frequent. And Joe Burrow, to his his credit has become much better, especially in the last six weeks at evading guys in the pocket, extending plays and making plays when those free rushers come. So can I just say, Jake real quick, I was rewatching that game and there's a specific,

maybe you remember it from the, from the end zone view, but there's a specific rush where the pockets kind of collapsing on Burrow. He literally jumps with two feet through to a new spot up in the pocket and then gets out to the right side. And I had to clip it and just for my own private collection and just be like, man, this is just absolute elite pocket movement.

That was just absolutely incredible stuff. The pocket movement is really taking a huge step in the right direction. I think for burrow looks a lot more like LSU burrow than it, especially early this season when he was dealing with the knee and the Bengals were trying to protect him a little bit more, doing more run game. And lately, it's been a lot more let Joe cook in most situations. Yeah. James, I guess I can ask you this next question here. So Joe Mixon was third in the NFL in rushing.

He had 1,205 yards, but the Bengals as an offense overall were only 23rd in yards per game with 102.5. What is the disconnect there between Mixon having the third most rushing yards in the league, but the Bengals as a team, not really ranking very highly in the rushing game? I think part of it is, you know, the past or the last probably six weeks of the regular season, maybe it's five to six weeks. It oddly correlates with when Joe Burrow took off and took another step. It felt like athletically off the knee and it just seemed like the passing game took a step, but they haven't been able to run the ball,

you know, consistently last week, Joe Mixon, think, averaged 2.8 yards per carry against the Raiders. And so that is something. I mean, going into this game against the Titans, I think it's pretty simple. Joe Burrow is going to have to be the main source of offense. It's going to be on his right arm. It's not going to necessarily be on Joe Mixon's legs. Now, that doesn't mean that they're not going to run the ball with Mixon or hope to average for a carry or league average or something like that. But if anybody in Cincinnati, at least,

is expecting Mixon to carry them to victory, I think that's unrealistic. And it ties back to your first question that Jake answered. The interior specifically of the Bengals offensive line, it's not winning, right? It's not going to win enough in the run game. I think they're better pass blockers than maybe they've been given credit for in Burrow can hide some of that. But yeah, I think part of it is that they're just not as good running the ball as they were earlier in the year. Part of that also could be with just all of the, let's see, we got one, two, four starting right guards throughout the season. Riley Reif was that right tackle to start

the year and was playing well and is a veteran. So part of it is certainly that, but they'll run it. I think Mixon will probably still have 15 carries on Saturday, but it's going to come down to Joe Burrow's arm for sure. Well, you can tell the way that Zach Taylor is manufacturing the run game, all those perimeter runs. He doesn't want the interior offensive line going up against interior defensive lines. He's getting them out on the perimeter, pulling them out to take on DBs. I think that's really smart, which leads me to my next question about the way that Zach Taylor is manufacturing the passing game. So the Bengals led the NFL this year. They had 21 touchdowns of 20 plus yards or more. Uh, what is Zach Taylor doing in the passing game to get these guys open all the time? Oh, there's nothing Zach Taylor's doing. I want

to, I want to come back to this. Uh, I think that you're referring to the Raiders game and the, the Bengals tried to attack the perimeter quite a bit. Very perimeter based run. Yeah. Yeah. That was the same as week 11 against the Raiders. They found success with the toss game, lead toss, crack toss. They found success with the jet sweep game in that game. I think you'll probably see them get back to more wide zone. This team still majors in wide zone. They did not major in wide zone last week against the Raiders. So we'll see what kind of holds true.

I think with a penetrating defense that the Raiders presented them last week, they were trying to go more gap-based, get outside and punish the uphill or downhill penetration from the Raiders defensive line. We'll see if that's still the case this week or not. I expect them to try to do a little bit more wide zone, but at the same time, it depends how much they want to put Burrow and Gunn because the reason they're getting that ball downfield and they're and they're so explosive is is nothing to do again with zach taylor it's jamar chase if if you press jamar chase if you press up on jamar chase and you're single high if you're cover one and you're pressing on the outside the ball is going to jamar chase 95 of time, and he's just going to try to get an

outside release and get vertical on you. And he's shown a knack all year to get that late separation. Joe Burrow's been deadly accurate. I think you mentioned this in your show yesterday, Tyler, the back shoulder. Maybe it wasn't your show. Maybe I'm confusing shows. The back shoulder throw to Jamar Chase has been great this year. And then Tee Higgins in the last six, seven games has really stepped up and has started mossing dudes. Wasn't as present against the Raiders. It was a very Jamar Chase-focused offense, I'd say, in that game by comparison. But Tee Higgins is going up over guys, winning two-on-ones, beating double teams,

and just using his size the way you would expect T Higgins to use his size when you draft T Higgins. So I think that's been a big element as well. Both of those guys are winning downfield in different ways. Yeah, that, that makes a ton of sense. And you could see that I want to move to the defensive side of the ball for

the bangles. They were fifth in the NFL and run defense, 102.5 yards per game, or I'm using the defensive stat there, and run defense, 102.5 yards per game. I'm using the defensive stat there, but they were the fifth best rushing defense in the NFL. But the yards per carry is 17th best in the NFL at 4.3. So is that just the simple nature of teams can't run the ball a lot against the Bengals because the Bengals get up and they have that explosive offense?

Or what do you think? Kind of like with the offense, you know, we're seeing some good stats, but some bad stats. What's the kind of the disconnect there between total yardage or yardage per game and then yards per carry? Yeah, they've been really good against the run for most of the year. Now, last week against Josh Jacobs, that wasn't necessarily the case. And the good news for most of the year now last week against josh jacobs uh that wasn't necessarily the case and and the good news for them is they were leading so the raiders couldn't necessarily commit to the run right right but but regular season wise i'm trying to think it's outside of i think it's week eight against the browns where nick chubb ran all over them he had a 70 yard

touchdown run though that kind of they had 155 rushing yards in that game and 70 came on one play. Yeah. And it, but, but it was, you know, outside of that game, there was never really in Jake, do you remember a time where it was like, Oh man, they just can't stop. It was, it was, it was the chiefs because they just put six in the box, the whole game and said, if you want to run fine, you can have it. And they just gave it to him. Sure. Okay. Well, yeah.

But that doesn't apply here because the offenses are much, much different with all due respect to the Titans. So, yeah. I mean, there haven't been many times where I was worried about the run defense this year. And it starts with EJ Reeder, right, at nose. He's playing great. I can't believe he wasn't a pro bowler or a pro bowl alternate.

And so starts there. The linebackers have played much better this year. Logan Wilson has taken a step forward. Jermaine Pratt is taking a big step forward. And so you look at those two guys, Sam Hubbard on the opposite side of Trey Hendrickson is really good in the run game. And these cornerbacks are good tacklers as well. And we were talking about it on our show, Tyler going up against Derek Henry. It's not just, you know, the interior defensive line, like he's going to get

out to the edges and all of these, you know, you know, the front seven and the secondary, all these guys are going to have to be ready to go and ready to gang tackle. So they're going to be tested for sure on Saturday. Well, the last question that I have for you guys before we move on to the next part of the conversation is just about the pass coverage. I watched a couple of games for the Bengals, but you guys watched every game and obviously are breaking it down on a daily basis and doing a great job there. What I saw from the Bengals was a lot of man coverage, a lot of cover three, a little bit

of cover two mixed in there. Does that kind of fit their profile or what? What are the Bengals prefer to do with their coverages on defense? That's a very week to week thing, I would say. I think a lot like the Titans, you're going to see the Titans do different things. I know they play a little bit more single high than two high, but it looks like they do a little bit of both. And I would not say that they're a cover three team the way the raiders are a cover three team by any stretch of the imagination i would say the bengals are the same against the raiders twice this year i

think they've played probably more man than they played the rest of the year when they've been a more zone heavy team and i think they they really are it's cliche i think they're truly multiple group i think that their corners are a little bit better in zone outside of Chidobe Awuzie, who I think can play in zone or man equally well. And I think that their safeties, Von Bell and Jesse Bates, both are relatively flexible, although, you know, we were also talking about it with respect to Derrick Henry and run defense more than coverage. But, you know But Jesse Bates is a guy that if you see him in the box and you're the Titans, you're probably going to try to run at him.

And the Raiders punished that a couple of times as well. But both those guys are pretty admirable in their jobs. From a scheme perspective, though, they're going to be pretty variable, I would say, in the secondary in terms of what they do. They're going to try to confuse Tannehill and muddy the picture for him. I know he's a veteran at this point, but it looks like he's had some ball security issues this year at the very least. I looked like one Texans game in particular was a bit egregious in terms of putting the ball in harm's way. But, uh, you know, I, I think that the Bengals will try to change the picture post snap, but to me it's, it's a game script game, Tyler. I know you asked specifically about coverage, but to me it's, it's a huge, both these teams really want to play with the league game

so they can do what they want to do on offense. Right. Yeah, absolutely makes sense. And, you know, that'll be something really interesting to see what the Bengals do because teams all year going back the last multiple years, teams play tight man coverage against the Titans. That is what teams do to take away their passing attack.

And it'll be interesting to see what the Bengals decide to do. But that's all the questions that I have for you guys. We're going to move into the next portion of the conversation where I kind of get in the hot seat and answer your guys' questions about the Tennessee Titans. Before we get into that, do want to tell you guys about TurboTax Live. People think unusual circumstances mean complicated taxes, but for TurboTax Live experts, that's what makes things interesting. Maybe you inherited a condo and are renting it out, or maybe you're getting paid in crypto and aren't sure how it's taxed. For TurboTax Live experts, an interesting life can mean an even

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Into it, TurboTax Live. Let's keep things going here on Crossover Thursday. Tyler Rowland from Locked on Titans, along with James and myself here to continue talking Bengals Titans as we gear up for the divisional round and Tyler obviously the the headline this week for the Titans is Derek Henry's return I think that maybe overshadows the fact that this entire offense is as healthy as it's been all year have have there actually been games I truly don't know the answer to this

question I didn't get this far yet this week. Have AJ Brown, Julio Jones, and Derrick Henry played in games together in 2021? Only 120 snaps out of 1,130. Were they on the field together at the same time? So the vision hasn't had a chance to come together. And now in the playoffs, you're going to see a chance for that to come together. What's that going to look like? I know the Titans in previous years like to get Derrick Henry going, like to get the play-action pass going with Ryan Tannehill,

keep him really efficient. Is that what we should expect to see this week with these guys healthy? Yeah, 100%. And because of the Titans' threat in the run game, you see a ton of stacked boxes. I mean, it's eight-man boxes pretty much every snap, which when you talk about eight-man boxes, that means you're going to get a three-person shell. You're going to get a cover three shell with the two outside corners, and then you're going to get the high safety. Well,

that works into the Titans' advantage, and they took advantage of that a lot against the Texans in Week 18, obviously. The Houston Texans are not the Cincinnati Bengals, but the idea remains the same. On one circumstance, the Titans went with a play-action fake out of 12 personnel with Julio on one side and AJ on the other. AJ Brown runs the deep post, and what's the deep safety going to do? That's AJ Brown. I'm going with him, and that leaves a one-on-one opportunity with Julio Jones on the other side, and Julio's been a disappointment this year if you look at the raw numbers, but if Julio Jones can make plays in the playoffs, it'll make the trade worth it entirely. And Julio's looked great here recently. He had, in my opinion, his best game of the year in week 18. So I think when you

consider what that creates one-on-one opportunities for Julio Jones and having Derrick Henry back, because people have compared, and maybe you guys saw the yardage for the eight games with Derrick Henry compared to the games without Derrick Henry. The yardage was almost identical, but it's the scoring ability. Deontay Foreman's going to take it for 12 yards if it's blocked right. Derrick Henry's taking it to the house. So the points are totally different, not necessarily the yard. So having Derrick Henry back with what they're seeing from Julio Jones

and those one-on-one opportunities, it just creates an opportunity to score much more points for the Titans. So I think that they're hoping that they can finally put it all together. But, you know, from the negative perspective of things, there's no chemistry there. There's not a lot of reps there. So you don't want to be ironing things out in a divisional playoff game. So that's something to monitor, of course, as well.

Two things. Is Julio 100%? I would imagine he played Week 18, had okay. And he looked at, I saw some videos. Heck, you might have tweeted him. I saw some videos of him. He looked pretty good. Giant man, freak athlete.

Yes. Speaking of freaks, Derek Henry looked good. I know Vrabel talked about, he needs to take contact and stuff this week. Do you imagine full workload? Because even if he isn't 100%, you know, if you lose in the playoff, he's got plenty of off season to recover. So I imagine full workload for him this week. Yeah, that's what I'm expecting. And this is kind of my philosophy with it. They've been kind of holding Julio back throughout the year, limited reps, even when he played. And in my opinion, from watching on the tape, I've seen him go a little bit harder in certain times than he's going at other times.

So I think there was a general plan that they were going to kind of keep the Lamborghini in the garage or just take it for a spin around the block, not take it 120 down the highway. And like with Derek, the point is for me, it's time to take the Lamborghini out 120 miles per hour on the highway with Julio. And like that, there's no looking back. If you lose this game, Derek Henry gets the rest for multiple months. You know what I mean? If he is able to play, he needs to be out there. Everybody's real happy about Deonta Foreman and I get it.

He's been a solid fill-in. But we're talking about a guy who was on the couch halfway through the season. Derrick Henry is most likely a Hall of Fame running back. If he's healthy enough to play in the game, he's healthy enough to get the full workload, and the Titans need to go with that. So my expectation is 25 to 30 carries for Derrick Henry. I have a kind of follow-up question, I guess, that's related there.

It's two questions and one's kind of a hypothetical, but let's start with a simple one. If you win the coin toss and you're the Titans, do you defer it or do you make a unconventional choice and take the ball to try to get Derek Henry going before you could potentially be down seven points? No, you absolutely do not. You defer every time, always, no matter what. That is my philosophy and that appears to be Mike Vrabel's philosophy as well. And I just want to say this quickly and let you get to your next question. You know, there's this theory that if you get the Titans down, you know, they can't run the ball. They can't, it's just simply not the case. The Titans were down 24 to nine against Seattle in week two, and they stuck to who they are and

stuck to the plan and came back and won that game. So the Titans don't change their philosophy when they get down by a touchdown or they were down 10 to nothing to San Francisco in the first half, and they stayed with who they were. And that allowed them to come back in the game. If you just try to go all out and pass the ball with Ryan Tannehill, he's not that guy. You know what I mean? So you're going to get yourself in a worse spot. So even if the Titans get down seven to nothing, because the Bengals score on the opening drive, I don't think that would deter the Titans from, you know, sticking with what they do. Certainly not early in the game at the very least, or there obviously comes a point when, you know, second half, if you're down 14, you can't necessarily stick with the run at that point. And I guess you kind of

answered the other part of this and the hypothetical where the game script doesn't go the Titans way that they are down, say 10 points midway through the third quarter. Does the offense change at that point? Or is it going to be, we're going to keep running Derek Henry, even if we're down in the second half? I mean, obviously outside of extreme desperation mode, what's the tipping point, I guess, for the Titans offense when the philosophy does change? Sure, I would say three scores. Three scores in the second half.

If the Titans are down 17, the Titans are down 21 in the second half, then you have to change your philosophy. It's just simple time management at that point. That's what you would have to do. So if the Titans are down three possessions in the second half, I think that would, um, require a change in philosophy, but you know, obviously the Titans are hoping that's not the case. So, so no major concerns with, with past protection that I'm just looking at the splits, roughly six to five run to pastor run plays this year for the Titans past protection. When you're, when you're on your script, not a huge issue, but Ryan Tannehill has actually

been pressured at a higher frequency than Joe Burrow this year. Is that a concern at all for you? Yeah, it's absolutely a concern. And I mean, we can talk about the Bengals offensive line all we want, but the Titans allowed 47 sacks this year. They've been hideous and pass protection. Quite frankly, there's no way around it. So if you've gotten to a situation where the Titans had to abandon their typical

game script and go, you know, with a more pass heavy approach, I think that would be a major concern because now, you know, not only are the Titans getting away from what they do, but now the Bengals can say, oh, okay, it's time to pin our ears back. We don't got to worry about Derek Henry in the run game. We're getting after the quarterback. And if you have Trey Hendrickson or Sam Hubbard going one-on-one against David Questenberry over and over with no threat of the run game, Tannehill might as well just dial 911

now. So, yeah, I think pass protection is an absolute major concern. The Titans have been doing a ton of chipping with the tight end, keeping the back in. That obviously puts more pressure on the wide receivers to get open because there's not as many guys out in routes. But yeah, it's absolutely a concern,

and that's why it's not just important for the Titans to keep the game close because they want to stay with what they do, but they're going to be extremely vulnerable if they have to change what they normally do because of those pass protection issues. So again, the Titans have to be hoping that they don't get themselves in that position. And if you look at Mike Vrabel, Mike Vrabel's 8-0 with extra preparation time in his head coaching career, whether that be coming off a bye or coming

off a Thursday night football game, the margin of victory in those games is nearly 17 points. So I think right now, if you put the Titans brass on true serum, they would tell you there's not really a chance they're going to be down by that much. But me, someone from the outside looking in with this Bengals offense, it's absolutely on the table. Yeah, let's stick with Ryan Tannehill before you switch gears and talk about Mike Vrabel's defense. Ryan Tannehill, what has he done best this year?

Is it the play action and stuff like that after Henry gets going or they get that running game going? And what's he been worst at? Because, you know, is it turnovers or what is it? Because obviously there are tiered quarterbacks and you mentioned that Ryan Tannehill's good, but, you know, he's not on that tier where it's like, all right, we're down 17. Let's unleash him. Well, I think one thing that he's been doing is he's just taking what the defense gives him.

He's done a lot of dump offs to running backs. He's hit the tight end after a chip. Things like, especially with all of the injuries the Titans have had at wide receiver, they've been running practice squad wide receiver groups out there for a lot of the season without Julio, without AJ, lost Marcus Johnson, lost Cam Batson. So Tannehill's just taken what the defense has given him, and I think that's been something that I like seeing from him. On the other side of things, we talk about Joe Burrow's pocket movement

being elite. Tannehill's just awful in the pocket. He has no feel for the pressure. Fans are screaming, step up and run, step up. It's just not what he's going to do. If you get him on those bootlegs and you get him on read option, he can get out there and run on the perimeter but Tannehill just does not navigate the pocket very well you have to give him a clean pocket for him to operate so that's one thing and

especially this year with the struggles and pass protection that's been illuminated even more that man Tannehill really struggles to kind of navigate and move around in a muddy pocket he doesn't do that very well so those are kind of the the best and the worst from this strange year because the Titans have just been missing so many of their weapons for so long. He's taken what the defense has given him when he doesn't have weapons open downfield because of the lack of talent, and he's been pretty bad in terms of his pocket movement. But hey, that's been the case with Tannehill since he came into the league.

He's always had bad pocket awareness and bad pocket movement. But what do you expect when you get, you know, basically a guy who is supposed to be, everybody talks to Tannehill was a wide receiver. They bring it up every single game. It feels like, well, sometimes he plays quarterback like a wide receiver. I guess if you get the wide receiver snaps, you can take the position off the label, but you can't take the position out of the guy. I don't know. That's not a very good way to put it. I get where you were going with that. Let's flip over to the defense for the Titans real quick here before we wrap up. The big question for me is we talked about it a little bit in the earlier segment.

The Titans very multiple on defense. What are you expecting this week from a coverage perspective? Are they going to look at what Denver did, look at what Oakland did and play off and try to cloud one side of the field and try to keep everything in front of them? Or do you see this as a game where they're going to try to get creative and try to send guys and say, our dudes can hang with your dudes?

I think that, and this is a compliment to the Cincinnati Bengals offense, but I think the Titans are going to play this like they do when they play the Bills or the Chiefs. I think they're going to say, hey, Joe, take your five, six yards. You know, go ahead and matriculate the ball down the field, 12, 15 play drives. And guess what? We think you're going to make a mistake.

We think we're going to get you into the red zone, and we think we're going to be able to hold you to field goals, which if you look at the game last week, the Bengals had to kick four field goals. So if you're the Titans, you're thinking, Hey, our defense is way better than, than Vegas. We should be able to hold the Bengals to some field goals. But like I mentioned that the stat earlier with the 21 plays of 20 plus yards for a touchdown, you just absolutely cannot let this Bengals offense hit explosive plays and get big shot plays down the field. You're in trouble if that happens. So the Titans are going to say, hey, we're going to play off.

We're going to play too high shell. And we're going to see if you can make these 12-15 play drives and score touchdowns and be perfect all the way down the field. From a coverage standpoint, you're right. The Titans are super multiple. They run cover one man. They run, you know, cover one with a robber over the middle. They run a lot of cover three, especially on early downs.

But one thing that they do mix in is cover to invert. And I personally think that is a very smart plan because one thing I noticed is the Bengals offense likes to use vertical routes on the inside with the tight end and the slot wide receiver to open up digs and open up slants to T. Higgins and Jamar Chase. And you can't put yourself in a bad spot where, you know, like last week, the Raiders, they had a linebacker who would just run vertically with a guy and it would just open up a huge hole in the middle. The Titans can't allow that to happen.

So if you go with cover to invert and you have the cornerback that's on T. Higgins playing a deep half and then you have one safety playing the other deep half, you can take your other deep safety, which is typically going to be Imani Hooker, and slide him into kind of the honey hole or the hole in cover to that middle hole in the middle. And then your linebacker, who's your underneath defender, doesn't have to run with the vertical route. You can pass that off to Imani Hooker and let him take it, and then the linebacker can stay in that second-level range to try to take away those quick slants and those ends

from the outside wide receivers. So that's one specific coverage that the Titans have run throughout this year that I expect them to use in this game, but they're going to do it out of cover two or out of a too-high shell, and I would expect that to be the plan going forward, make them do those 12, 15 play drives and earn everything that they get. Yeah.

So let's say they, they do convert on a couple of those, you know, let's say first two of the first three drives, Joe Burrow takes them on two double digit play drives. They, they end in scores. We'll be able to adjust a lot.

Cause the Bengals defense, for example, I know they'll adjust, they'll change things up on the fly if they need to. Is it, will they, let's say chase has eight receptions, you know, midway through the second quarter. Do you think they'll, they'll cloud him then in, in, in just say, all right. Or you think they'll press them a little bit and cloud them and say, all right, we're going to do this instead of what we've been doing? Yeah, I would think they would have to at that point. And one thing that I think helps the Titans a little bit,

while these players are different, obviously, the Titans played Jalen Waddell in Week 17 with the Dolphins. And the way that they played coverage, it was almost like they split the field down the middle all the way. And they said, Jalen Waddell's side, you get four guys. The other side, you get three guys. And the Titans were playing different coverages on different sides of the field. And they were saying, we're not letting Jalen Waddell beat us in this game. We're going to do everything we can to avoid that.

So I would say that if Chase just starts absolutely roasting the Titans in that way, I would expect the Titans to absolutely adjust and try to take that away because Rabel's not just going to sit there and let one guy kill you over and over again. A page out of Bill Belichick's book there. Absolutely. Different coverages on different halves of the field. Remember reading Chris Brown's Smart Football about Bill Belichick's defense years ago. Tyler, appreciate the time and thoughts.

Should be a really fun game. I think that the three-point line that Vegas has given is pretty interesting. I think that it's, you know, being in Tennessee does throw a little bit of an X factor into things for the Bengals, where Joe Burrows made good use of the hard count. So it's going to be really interesting to see how this one plays out on Saturday. So appreciate the answers and the insight into how things are going in Nashville. And that's going to do it for this episode. Thanks for listening to the Locked On Podcast Network and have a good one.