Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - CROSSOVER THURSDAY: Titans v Colts - Trench Warfare, Indy's QB Uncertainty & Score Predictions

Episode Date: September 23, 2021

It is CROSSOVER THURSDAY and that means it is time to begin your preparation with this week's matchup. A divisional rivalry, the Titans host the Colts this Sunday so Evan Sidery from Locked On Colts joins to discuss the game. Who will play QB for Indy and what does it change? What is wrong with the offensive and defensive line for the Colts? Then, Evan asks Tyler questions about the Titans like how the defense is looking and if the superstar trio on offense lives up to the hype. Then, the guys give their key matchups to watch and throw out a score prediction!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube page: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.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.ManscapedFellas, don’t gamble on shaving your balls with the wrong tools! Choose MANSCAPED™, Your Balls Will Thank You™! Get 20% off + free shipping with the code LOCKEDON at manscaped.com. 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. And in just a moment, I am going to bring on Evan Sidery from the Locked On Colts Podcast to help me break down the first iteration of this rivalry for the 2021 season. So we are going to dive into a crossover Thursday here on the Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it. It is time for another edition of Crossover Thursdays.

You have me, the host of Locked on Titans, Tyler Rowland, here with my esteemed colleague, Evan Sidery, from the Locked on Colts podcast. Another installment of this rivalry back again. It was a one-to-one last year. Both teams are in strange places to start the season. The Titans coming off the win, the Colts coming off two losses, but I feel like both teams are still relatively in the same ballpark in terms of talent and what they can accomplish this year.

So it'll be nice to get into a conversation and get you guys ready for the matchup that lies ahead this weekend. First and foremost, Evan, nice to have you on. How are you doing? I'm doing great, Tyler. How about yourself? I know it's a huge game already for the AFC South. This game could really go a long way when we get closer to playoff time.

Yeah, I agree with you. I don't think that the team that wins the AFC South is going to get much more than 10 wins at this moment in time. So every single one of them does really matter. And we are going to dive into every aspect of this game. Before we do, though, I do just want to remind you guys about the Locked On NFL Draft podcast. It relaunched on Monday.

This Monday, actually, with brand new hosts. You have Eric Crocker for the scouting aspect. You have Ryan Tracy for the analytics aspect. Make sure that you check out the new Locked On NFL Draft podcast on whatever platform you stream, on YouTube, the Odyssey app. Wherever you get your podcasts, you can find the Locked On NFL Draft podcast there. But diving in, we are going to start. I want to get your take on where the Indianapolis Colts are right now.

And the very first question that has to come up is the quarterback position. Carson Wentz dealing with some injuries. If you have any additional information on Wentz's status right now, that would be great. But if he's unable to go, which in my opinion seems like the case, what are your thoughts on a guy like Jacob Eason, who there was optimism for him during the preseason, but two for five, 25 yards, an interception last week,

not really a great spot for him no matter which way you want to slice it. But I guess what's your level of optimism if Jacob Eason does play in this game? If Jacob Eason plays, I think my optimism might be.5, 1 on a 5 scale. It's not good. And just with the way the Colts have played in the first two weeks of the season, my confidence level in this team is pretty low, to say the least. And it's disappointing because if you would have thought the Colts would be 0-2, you wouldn't be surprised at the teams they've played, Seattle and Los Angeles.

But the way they've lost, the offensive line, the defensive line, the team has built in the trenches. And they've been dominated exactly where Chris Ballard built this roster out, which I think is the most disappointing aspect. Carson Wentz hasn't been far from the issue. He's been one of the best strengths of this team so far. And actually, Carson Wentz spoke to the media today on Wednesday. And he spoke about his ankle injuries.

He has a high ankle sprain on one ankle and then a low moderate ankle sprain on the other one. And when you're a mobile quarterback like Carson Wentz, you need to be able to scramble outside the pocket. And I would be stunned, honestly, Tyler, if Wentz does play on Sunday. But what's interesting to me is the line's going down a little bit as far as the betting lines go from what we got on the air. It was five and a half points.

Now it's down to five. So maybe that makes me think maybe something down the road, maybe people believe Carson Wentz is going to play. Frank Reichman may have seemed like he could possibly play, which is stunning to me. I think it's honestly a bad idea to put Carson Wentz out there this week because if he does re-injure his ankle, he's going to be out

for a really extended period of time. That's really going to bury the Colts before they even get off the ground here. I'd rule Jacob Eason if that's the case. I would not risk it with Carson Wentz. But in such a big game for the Colts where if they do get to 0-3 and they lose to Tennessee, first time in 10 years you start 0-3, you're digging yourself a huge hole to get out later on in the season. So this could be a do-or-die moment already in the season for this Colts team.

And if Carson Wentz does play, it helps their odds a little bit. But I mean, this matchup overall is just really rough. And when you toss Jacob Eason into the mix, it gets even rougher. Yeah, I agree with you there. And it is kind of crazy. I mean, I know that it's a really, really difficult open to the schedule with the Rams and the Seahawks. Obviously, the Titans will have to play both of those teams.

But pretty surprising, I have to say, from just a human being aspect, having both of your ankles sprained sounds awful. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's the maximum amount of ankles you can possibly sprain. So I feel pretty bad for Carson Wentz there. But you talked about the trenches and how that's kind of been a little bit of a letdown for the Colts early on, and that's what I want to talk about next. The Colts have experienced some injuries along the offensive line. They just got Eric Fisher in the lineup in Week 2, and I'm sure there's an adjustment period as people who follow the Titans

with their left tackle situation know the adjustment does take a little bit of time when you come back from a major injury. But six sacks allowed in two weeks. All three of their stud running backs, Jonathan Naheem Hines Marlon Mack all under four yards per carry what exactly is the root of the issue is it just everybody's banged up or are you seeing maybe some slippage in terms of talent at certain places yeah I think a lot of it is due to cohesion these guys have barely been together throughout training camp the OTA period even the offseason the Colts were on the lightest teams as far as OTAs go.

Really no hand-on-hand practices. Very light as far as Frank Reich wanted to do that. And then training camp, Eric Fisher missed his time due to Achilles rehab. And then before he gets back on the field, COVID. If he wouldn't have gotten COVID, he might have been out there week one of the season. Braden Smith, he's dealing with his own issues. He has a foot injury right now that he suffered in week one. He missed time in training camp as well.

Mark Lewinsky's really been the only main guy out there. Quentin Nelson missed all training camp, most of preseason as well due to his foot injury. And then Ryan Kelly, he was out for three to four weeks in training camp with an elbow injury. He didn't play at all in the preseason either. So this line has been super banged up already, but the slippage across it's really been surprising. Ryan Kelly has not like a top five center that he looks like right now. He's been pretty much bullied in the interior, which is really surprising to me. Brian Smith in week one was dominated by Darrell Taylor, a second year pro who's making his debut. He used to not look good in week one either. Mark Lewinsky going against Aaron Donald.

Anyone's going to be really struggling against him, but he really struggled last week. And then Quentin Nelson's really been the only mainstay there. Even with a bum foot right now, he's holding up. He's only allowed, I think, two pressures in a couple of games. Outside of Quentin Nelson, it's been really rough. Eric Fisher didn't play well, but they were splitting reps with him with Julian Davenport on the left side. I do wonder with Eric Fisher officially off the injury report this week, he'll probably get the full amount of snaps there at left tackle. So Julian Davenport probably does slide over to right tackle. I'd imagine Braden Smith does miss the upcoming game.

He's still out with a foot injury. So it does leave the Colts still. We're into September. Going to probably be close to October when these teams have been together for almost two or three months at this point. And the Colts, their offensive lines maybe had one or two press together as a full unit. And that's pretty rare just to have all these injuries across the board, all these COVID issues. So I think a lot of it's cohesion, but guys like Ryan Kelly,

guys like Brian Smith have not played close to the salary that they're making. Yeah, and honestly, from the Titans' perspective, that makes a lot of sense. We saw the Titans, too, starting interior offensive linemen, Nate Davis and then Ben Jones both be out 10 days with COVID. Ryan Tannehill was out 10 days due to COVID. They also were one of the teams that did not take the preseason

and training camp very serious in terms of trying to get guys practice reps. And I think it's hurt both teams starting out to the season in terms of that cohesion. Now on the defensive side of the ball, that's been the bedrock for the Colts. No matter which quarterback they had, they always had that defense that they could rely on. But right now, especially the run defense, last year they only allowed 90 yards per game. They're at 120 yards per game allowed through two weeks.

The pass rush, I had some concerns about the pass rush for the Colts, but still, Quiddie Paye, DeForest Buckner, there's a lot of talent there, but only four sacks so far. They're at the bottom of the league in quarterback knockdowns, hurries, and pressures. What do you think is preventing this defense overall from playing up to what we have expected from them over the last few years?

Yeah, I think a lot of it is due to who they've played in the first two weeks. This Matthew Stafford, Russell Wilson, we've now seen three and a half years now this Colts defense, very bend but don't break. When they go against that top 10 elite quarterback, though, more often than not, Tyler, they always break against his elite quarterbacks. It's usually just a really rough game.

And I could see the same thing happening on Sunday with Ryan Tannehill, who's had his success against this Colts defense as well. And Darius Linder, I want to hit on him for a second because he's not 100% right now. He had his surgery in training camp, and he is just now getting back. He looks nothing like himself so far in the first couple weeks, and the Colts bye week is until week 14. So it might be a while until we actually see Darius Leonard as his full self.

DeForest Buckner, too, he's still doing his thing in the middle of the defensive line, but so much pressure is on Buckner to be just an elite Aaron Donald-like disruptor because some of these young guys, Quidi Pei as a rookie, you shouldn't expect to get 10 to 12 sacks from him right away. Kimoko Ture, Taekwon Lewis, unproven guys, Ben Biannigou as well. Those guys played 84 combined snaps on Sunday, zero QB hits, zero pressure, zero sacks. That's just not going to cut it next to the Forrest Buckner.

If they don't have that pressure on the edge, Buckner's kind of relegated to just being a guy just in the middle. It's not going to be doing much for you because you need to get that outside pressure. Add in Darius Leonard not being 100%. It's so much pressure on an unproven secondary, too. Julian Blackman is a really good free safety, but Corey Willis has been being abused in

coverage. He's a great tackler in run coverage, but not really so in pass. Same with Rocky Asin. Kenny Moore has not looked like a pro Bowl type of nickel cornerback so far in two weeks. Tyler Lockett and Cooper Cupp have had their way against him. So it's a lot of unproven talent and guys who are not 100%.

The Colts are betting so much on Quidi Pei, Kamoko Ture to take big leaps this year. And I just don't think it's happening right now. I think it's fair to say it might have been a little overzealous of the Colts to expect that so soon from these young guys. And losing Danico Autry, losing Justin Houston,

who were so critical on run defense to anchor the edges, that's probably why the Colts have been abused on the running game because those edges aren't properly sealed anymore. Yeah, and that's a big part of run defense, firming up the edges, pushing everything back inside to Darius Leonard, to DeForest Buckner. And Derrick Henry has had his success against the Colts, I believe it's only three times since Matt Eberflus took over the defense, have the Colts allowed a 100-yard rusher,

and all three of those are Derrick Henry. So if you see Darius Leonard banged up, the defense not up to snuff, that could be blood in the water for the Titans. But this game is always close. It's always close no matter what. And we're going to keep breaking it down as Evan asked me some questions about the Titans. Before we get into that,

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reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. rockauto.com We are back for segment two of our AFC South Cross. We're going to have a huge week three matchup between the Annapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. It's a huge one. I think for both sides here, especially Tennessee getting off to a rough start in week one with Kyler Murray in that offense.

They bounce back with a huge win in Seattle. The Colts out here 0-2 and they could potentially fall into a pseudo two game hold of the Tennessee Titans if they were to lose on Sunday. So, Ty, let me ask you a few questions about this Tennessee team here in segment two because this defense, I want to handle that first. They've allowed over 30 points in the first two weeks. What's going on with that unit? Because we expected them to be a little bit down like they were last year, but they did go out and get Bud Dupree.

They got Danico Autry and Free NC. What's gone wrong for them in these first two weeks? Or is it more so just like the Colts defense where they've just gone against some really elite quarterbacks in Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson? Well, I think I wouldn't say that it's just they've gone against elite quarterbacks. That definitely is a part of the story. But what I will say is part of the problem

with the defense for the Titans was the Titans offense. In the first six quarters of this season, the Titans offense was putrid. They couldn't get anything going. They couldn't sustain drives. They couldn't put points on the board. And I think that had a domino effect down to the Titans defense in both games, week one and week two, the opposing offense has gotten the ball within the five yard line due to a turnover by the Titans offense. So I think that the numbers, the points, those things, they're a little skewed because of how poor the Titans offense was doing.

We saw the Titans offense get things going and get things on track in the second half against Seattle. And the Titans defense only allowed six points in that half. And I don't expect the Titans defense to jump and be spectacular this year after being one of the worst defensive units in the NFL last year. But the big problem with the Titans defense last year was pass rush. They had the second least amount of sacks of any playoff team in the modern era with only 19 last year.

And they had 15 going into the final week of the season against Houston. So it could have been even worse. This year, it is not like that. The Titans defensive line has been doing fantastic. They put pressure on Kyler Murray. He's just excellent at evading pressure and running around. They put pressure on Russell Wilson. They were able to get six sacks in the first two games. They're top 10 in the NFL in pass rush win rate right now. Bud Dupree's not getting a lot of sacks, but he is constantly collapsing the pocket and collapsing offensive tackles.

A guy you know, Danico Autry and Jeffrey Simmons, are doing games and twists and stunts up front at defensive tackle that are really helping. Harold Landry is one of the most underrated players on the defense. He's just a purely athletic freak on the edge. So the Titans are doing a great job getting pressure with their front four guys, which is completely unbelievable compared to what they were doing last year and how inept the pass rush was.

So the Titans' coverage is better with a guy like Christian Fulton and Jackrabbit Jenkins on the outside. The up front pass rush and front four is better this year, and that's going to help the Titans be more of a league average defense than an absolutely terrible defense, at least it seems like up front. But right now, that is the story. It's more of the offense not being able to pull their weight and put the defense in bad situations. And then, of course, the Titans secondary, because of the youth, has blown a few coverages,

literally just blown coverages that have resulted in a few touchdowns as well. So although the defensive numbers look bad still, I think that the Titans defense based on performance and what you see on tape is a little bit improved because the pass rush is improved. That's a really good point. Obviously, Jeffrey Simmons, I'm a huge fan of watching him. He makes so much magic happen in the middle of the defensive line. But let me flip over to offense now. Arthur Smith is now the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, the former Titans offensive coordinator. Todd Downing is now the offensive coordinator.

For Colts fans who are going to be watching this Titans offense for the first time this season, potentially, is the offense look any different than what we saw last year with Arthur Smith and Todd Downing, or is there maybe some wrinkles in there? I wouldn't say that it looks much different. I wouldn't say that it looks much different. What I will say is I think that Todd Downing is a more creative play designer in the passing game.

I think his route combinations that he uses, how he attacks certain coverages, I'm seeing some things I really like there. Now, Arthur Smith just had the mold. He knew when to call the plays what plays to call not just the passing game but in the rushing game as well in week one and the Titans were down early but one thing Arthur Smith knew is even if you're down in the game you can continue to run the ball and play action off of that the Titans didn't play action very much they were one of the least amount of play uh least amount of play action passes run in week one. And even if

Arthur Smith would have been the offensive coordinator at that moment in time and bit down, he would have kept to the plan. Todd Downing kind of abandoned it, started going to the passing game. And that's not where you want Ryan Tannehill dropping back every play, trying to toss it around the field. That's not what he does well. So I would say that once Todd Downing kind of got his bearings together and in that second half against Seattle, he started calling the game exactly how you would want to call it with the addition of some additional creativity

in the passing game with the route concepts. I expect Todd Downing to work in some more RPO, which is something Arthur Smith never did. Todd Downing is more creative with his shotgun formations, and I think that's something that's going to help the Titans, not just in the passing game, but running the ball with Derrick Henry out of shotgun. But outside of those things, yeah, I mean,

it's basically the same offense, and Todd Downing would be a fool to come in and change the fabric of what this offense is after the success they had the last two years. So I would say the offense from a Colts fan perspective is going to look exactly the same. You can just expect maybe some more creativity in the passing game on third and long situations, second and long situations,

but pretty much following the same exact formula. And we give all the credit to Arthur Smith, and he deserves it, but he just kept Matt LaFleur's offensive system, which comes from Sean McVay's offensive system and down to Shanahan's offensive system further down the line. So I think Arthur Smith deserves a lot of credit for what he was able to do, but the foundation is there, and as long as Todd Downing doesn't try to reinvent the wheel,

we should see similar production from the Titans offense. Let's tell these weapons for a second, Tyler. You obviously see Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, A.J. Brown, that's one of the best trios in the NFL as far as just pure weaponry goes. And we saw on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in the second half, Derrick Henry just absolutely went off. He had 182 yards in that game, three touchdowns, over five yards per carry.

So Derrick Henry's not slowing down anytime soon. Julio Jones looks great as well in the Titans offense. A.J. Brown is A.J. Brown, one of the best young wideouts in the NFL. How has those three looked together so far, Tyler, in this offense? And obviously we hit on in the last one with Derrick Henry's success against this Colts team. But I think Julio Jones, A.J. Brown against this Colts secondary, like pick your poison, in my opinion. This Titans offense really at this point where the Colts are at right now, it looks like a really bad matchup for this Colts defense.

It may look like a bad matchup overall, but I'm a person who's been following the Titans for multiple decades, and I know well enough now. I've seen this movie enough times. I don't care who plays at quarterback, what the Colts looked like the first two weeks. This is going to be a close game, even if it seems like a bad matchup. But for that trio of stars, we saw what it could be in the second half in Seattle.

A.J. Brown had some drop issues in that game, but Derrick Henry gets going. And you've got to watch for this play. It's the Titans' favorite play to run. They play action to Derrick Henry out of 12 personnel. That's two running backs, a fullback and Derrick Henry, one tight end. They'll have A.J. Brown on one side and Julio on the other side. Julio runs a deep post.

A.J. Brown runs that deep in over the middle of the field. You hit the play action fake to Henry. You hit A.J. Brown a few times over the middle. The defense creeps up. That deep safety starts to creep up to take away A.J. over the middle. And then they hit the deep post to Julio Jones behind him.

So their skill sets complement perfectly. If A.J. Brown doesn't have drop issues, he should be able to break out. And A.J. Brown's had some pretty good games against the Colts during his career. So I'm sure that Titans fans and A.J. Brown himself are hoping that he can get things back on track this week

against a team he's had some success with. But overall, as advertised, at least in the second half of that Seattle game, and you have to be hoping that that's what the Titans offense shows you going forward as well. Yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see this Titans offense. Obviously, just a weaponry across the board that the defense looks improved as well, a little bit like we hit on before.

But let's dive into our last segment of the show, talking through our predictions, looking over the betting line as well. Before we do so, we want to hit on BetOnline, which is one of our sponsors for today's show. BetOnline is back and better than ever. All eyes on the grid on our teams are back on to start the football season. As always,

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Like you said, the betting line has moved a little bit. It was five and a half. Now it's down to five, you say? Is that the most accurate line? Yeah, as of right before we start recording, I made sure to check it out. It's gone down from five and a half to five, which really did surprise me a little bit.

Yeah, I mean, here's where I'm at with that. I like to reference betting lines when you talk about sports discussions and everything, but the end of the day, they are truly trying to get even betting on both sides. So I bet they put that five and a half line up there and people started hammering the Colts, which if you pay attention to the Colts-Titans rivalry, it doesn't matter who plays quarterback for the Colts. They always play tough. As a man who was in the stands when the 0-14 Colts and Curtis Painter beat the Titans for their first win of the season, I was

at the game. You can never rule out the Colts when they're playing their little brother, the Titans. So I'm sure that a lot of people put money on that five and a half and that's starting to push the line down a little bit. I bet it probably settles at about four and a half ultimately. Just from a purely betting standpoint, before we talk about matchups, which side would you be leaning on if you had to place a bet gun to your head? I mean, this might surprise some people, but I would be hammering Tennessee right now. I would definitely take the points.

Just because I just think this is such a bad matchup. Just with the vibes I'm getting from this Colts team, the injuries right now, they're in a really bad place right now. I would definitely take the points just because I just think this is such a bad matchup just with the vibes I'm getting from this Colts team. The injuries right now, they're in a really bad place right now. I think this might be one of the worst starts I've seen through the Colts season in a very long time just as far as injuries go and just the way they're playing on both sides of the football. So if I was a betting man right now, I'd

be smashing that five right now if I was just watching this game from a pure betting standpoint. Right. I think it's funny that both of us are in a state of fear. You know, we're like, it doesn't look good. It doesn't look good. So I'm going to stay away from that one with you as well. But while we're talking about the line,

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But let's dive into some key matchups here. And for me, I think the matchup that matters the most is going to be the Colts' defensive line against the Titans' offensive line. I think the Titans' offensive line, who's probably going to be missing Taylor LeJuan, probably going to be missing Roger Saffold in this game. I think the Titans' offensive line does well within the system and what they're asked for. It's a very offensive line-friendly system that the Titans run. But even though the Colts have struggled a little bit early on,

if you get DeForest Buckner against Nate Davis, who struggled so far this year against Aaron Brewer, the backup left guard for the Titans and undrafted free agent from last year, you get Quiddy Pei going up against a guy like Ty Sambrello. If the Colts' defensive line can kind of live up to some of the hype, even 75% of the preseason hype, I think they could really disrupt what the Titans do, similar to what the Cardinals did to the Titans starting in week one. So my big matchup is, can the Titans' offensive line continue to have success like they did against the Seahawks?

Can they keep Ryan Tannehill upright? Can they open holes for Derrick Henry to allow the stars on this offense to do what they do best? I know that it hasn't been a great start for that defensive line, but I'm still pretty concerned about that matchup between the Titans offensive line and the Colts defensive line. What is the matchup that you're looking at the most? Yeah, I'll flip it right over to the same, the trenches. We're going to stay right in there. Colts offensive line versus Titans

defensive line. Probably going to be missing Braden Smith, their right tackle on Sunday due to a foot injury. It did not look good with Julian Davenport on the right side. Matt Pryor really traded for with a six-round pick at cutdowns. He will probably get some reps as well if Davenport struggles. I think the leash with Davenport's pretty low at this point. 13

pressures he's allowed in two weeks. It's not going to cut it with how he's looked so far. But Eric Fish is coming back from his Achilles injury. He looked pretty solid. We'll have to see against Bud Dupree, Harold Landry. Inside, you have Danico Autry and Jeffrey Simmons going against Mark Lewinsky and Quentin Nelson. Ryan Kelly as well in the middle of that offensive line.

This is, I think, a huge statement game for this Colts offensive line because after the game on Sunday, Ryan Kelly and Quentin Nelson spoke to the media, and they're like, hey, these two losses are on us. I think it's time for us to get back to how we should be. This is probably going to be a game early on. The Colts are going to try to establish the run with Jonathan Taylor, try to establish this Colts offensive line.

Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly, if you are all talking about this, go ahead and make it happen. So I think we're going to be seeing the offensive line try to make a statement early on in this game. If the Colts can win the trenches on both sides of the football, more often than not, the formula does show the Colts win that game. But if this offensive line does struggle, we've seen six sacks allowed, 21 QB hits so

far through two weeks. It's not Colts' offensive line standard. If that continues in week three for either Jacob Eason or an immobile Carson Wentz, who will be like Phil Rivers back there with two ankle injuries. It's going to get really ugly really quick. So this offensive line has to step up. They have to establish the run. They haven't been able to the first two weeks.

So we're staying in the trenches here, Tyler. I think the trench battle on both sides of the ball is really going to decide this one. You know, I've got to be honest with you, Evan. I am slightly aroused over here. I don't know where exactly you are located, but it's starting to get chilly here in the Midwest as fall starts to begin. I'm making chili this weekend, and I can almost smell it right now. You're talking about establishing the run, battling the trenches.

It is football time. God, it gets me going. But let's go into these predictions. And I do think this is going to be a very close game. I think it's going to be, I wouldn't say low scoring, but not as high scoring as maybe we have seen from the Titans offense or expect from the Titans offense at minimum. My prediction for this game, and I do think the Titans find a way to win,

but I'm going to say 24-23. I think it's a battle. I think it's very close. I think the Colts get a few touchdowns, but get a lot of field goals. The Titans get a couple touchdowns, miss a field goal, get one field goal ultimately.

I'm going to go 24-23. The Titans win, but it is a nail-biter, and I can see it going either way. Yeah, if you love football, if you love trench play, this game is for you because it's going to be established on both sides of the line here.

I'm not as optimistic as you are for the Colts, I have to say. I know 24-23, that's a great score, but even if it's an immobile Carson Wentz back there, I think Carson Wentz are going to maybe try to push him in this game because it's such an important game for the Colts season, just already be on the line at this point potentially. But if I was a betting man, I would say Jacob Eason probably starts this game. And if that's the case, I think Tennessee's defense,

this could be a get-right game for them. Just disguising coverage on Jacob Eason. He's a very aggressive quarterback. He's not seasoned. He's not ready at this point. Probably throws a couple interceptions. If they can't establish the run, it's going to be a really ugly game. I think John Taylor has an okay game.

But I think Tennessee, Derrick Henry has had success against his Colts team. Julio Jones and A.J. Brown is a huge mismatch for a wounded Colts secondary without Xavier Rhodes. I think this could be a really ugly game for the Colts. I'm not going to go out and say it's a 20-point loss, but I'm going to be pretty close there. I'm going to go 24-13. I think it's a really bad time for the Colts to play in this Titans team. I think this is a really bad time for the Colts to play in this Titans team. I think this is a game for Tennessee where they can really get right on both sides of the ball here, make a statement, and kind of cruise a little bit for the next couple weeks as the Colts are kind of

wounded and falling off their feet a little bit. Yeah, it would be a big win for the Titans from that aspect. They have some winnable games ahead in the next few weeks, and then they go into a really difficult stretch of the schedule in the middle, so it would be a big thing for them to get this win, but Evan, what a great crossover, our first crossover of the year. We are going to be back again for the second matchup, but I can't think of a

better way to get ready for this game for our listeners than listen to the crossover episode that we just had. Thank you so much for coming on. I am Tyler Rowland from the Locked on Titans podcast. He is Evan Sidery from Locked on Colts. Make sure to check out our respective shows. You can find them on any platform and always free.

That's going to do it for both of us. Thank you for tuning in to Locked on Thursday Crossovers. We will catch you guys on Friday.