Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - CROSSOVER THURSDAY - Titans v Giants: Biggest Storylines, Key Matchups & Game Predictions

Episode Date: September 7, 2022

CROSSOVER THURSDAY IS BACK!! Week 1 approaches and the Tennessee Titans take on the New York Football Giants. What is the biggest story for the Giants as the season kicks off? Can the Titans offense get back to their better days? Tyler is joined by Patricia Traina from Locked On Giants to breakdown the hottest talking points. Next, what will be the key matchups to watch? Tyler explains why the Titans most win in the trenches against the Giants and Patricia goes over the Giants losses at linebacker and how it will affect Derrick Henry! Finally, both give their final prediction for who will win the game and what the score might be!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedonPrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONTuroDitch boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.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's time for our first crossover episode of the year. Locked on Giants, Patricia Trena, the legend, is going to join us on the show today as we go over the biggest story for both teams, the key matchups to watch from both perspectives, and give our game and score prediction.

So all of that on a crossover edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Football fans, it's that time again. Time for another Crossover Thursday, and that means that the NFL season is back. I got to tell you, I couldn't be more excited to kick off another season of Crossover Thursdays than to start it off with Patricia Trena from Locked on Giants.

I am Tyler Rowland from Locked on Titans. We're going to be previewing this game for you guys. Before we dive into it, do want to let you know that today's Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players, and if they score more or less

than the PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match, up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepix.com, promo code LOCKEDON. Also, thank you for making the Locked On Titans and Locked On Giants podcast your first listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream

for Monday through Friday daily coverage of your team every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream for Monday through Friday, daily coverage of your team every day. Also check out the Locked on Titans and Locked on Giants YouTube channels and throw a thumbs up on the video if you guys are watching over there right now. Patricia, this is an interesting game to start. The Titans look a little different and things feel a little different after that playoff loss to the Bengals. The Giants obviously have a new coaching staff, new regime in there, so things are different from there. What would you say is the biggest story for the Giants heading into this week one matchup with the Titans? Basically, Tyler, first of all, I've got to say,

I'm ready to run through a wall after that introduction. I am so psyched about the football season. The biggest storyline, I think, from an overall perspective for the Giants is just how far has this team come? Now, you know, you look at teams like the 49ers a few years ago, the Bengals last year, teams that went from basically worst to first. And people say, OK, what about the Giants? Could they maybe be like that? I'm not so sure that they can because, you know, a little different scenario, a little different set of circumstances, a lot of questions still on the Giants. You know, what is this offense going to look like? Can Daniel Jones be the guy? Is Saquon

Barkley really going to be Saquon Barkley of 2018? What about this defense? Can this defense, you know, stop anybody? They let go of Blake Martinez their inside linebacker they had to cut James Bradbury who was their top cornerback so they've got some question marks there so what are we going to get and and above all you know it's funny I wrote an article recently for Giants country and I said look welcome forget about victory Monday welcome to overreaction Monday because as Joe Shane said to us last week in the media briefings, you're never as bad as you look on the first game and you're never as good as you look. So somewhere in the middle, the Giants are going to fall.

Where that is, I couldn't tell you, but I'm sure anxious to find out. Yeah, I hear you. And that is, I am excited to watch the Giants this year. It's a team that I've kind of been looking at quite a bit in the offseason just because all the changes and what they're going to do at quarterback and how certain players bounce back. But I've been saying all week that I think the Titans got lucky here because they're getting the Giants in week one before, you know, maybe that the coaches have a good understanding of where they want certain players in the system. Maybe before the players have a great understanding of what they're trying to do.

I think the Giants will be a better team later in the season, so I do think it's advantageous to the Titans to play in this game. But I think the biggest story for the Titans coming from me, Tyler Rowland, locked on Titans, great answer, from Patricia Trena from locked on Giants. I think the biggest story for me is what the Titans' offense will be this year. Derrick Henry, is he healthy? Is he still

a top back in the NFL? I know everyone's ready to bury Derrick Henry and move on to the new golden child, Jonathan Taylor, but can Derrick Henry still be the Derrick Henry, the king, you know, the 2K rush or the 1500 yards? Can he still be that guy coming off the injury? When, as you know, Pat, the media consensus on running back says, oh, major injury, he's cooked, he's done. So can Derrick Henry still be the guy? And that is kind of a microcosm of the bigger question about the Titans offense. Can Ryan Tannehill bounce back from the rough performance the end of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals? The Titans pass catchers without A.J. Brown, can they be up to snuff to help the Titans keep with their winning ways over

the last few years? I think in this scenario with some of the pieces that you mentioned on the Giants that are gone now, I think it gives the Titans a chance to get off on the right foot with those offensive questions, but that's something that we'll obviously talk about in the matchup section that's going to be coming up in just a moment. But yeah, I think clearly the biggest question for the Titans is what will the offense be? What can the offense do? I think those are the real questions that the Titans will have. So for the Giants, obviously it's what you're going to get with this team

with a new scheme and new faces. And for the Titans, what will this offense be now after the Henry injury, the Tannehill dud in the playoffs and A.J. Brown gone? We're going to talk about the matchups in this game after going over some of the biggest stories. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you about our friends over at Turo. Turo is a great service, in my opinion. Think about some of the buyer-to-buyer direct services that we've seen get hot here recently in the market. I think about a place like Airbnb. Apply that logic to renting a car. Turo is the world's largest car sharing marketplace. With Turo, you can book any car that you want wherever you want it from a community of

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and exclusions apply. Ditch that boring rental car and find your drive at Turo.com. Football fans, we are continuing this crossover Thursday here. I am Tyler Rowland from Locked on Titans with Patricia Trena from Locked on Giants, an absolute legend in the journalism game. Anytime I get to work with Patricia, it's always an excellent time, and I feel honored to be on the same stage. But we just talked about the biggest stories. Now we want to get into the biggest matchups in this game. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again

for making Locked on Giants and Locked on Titans your first listen every day. We are going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, content on your team, on all platforms, all year round. So make sure you subscribe to Locked on Titans and Locked on Giants on YouTube or whatever platform you do stream.

But Patricia, you kind of kicked us off last time with your biggest storyline. I'm going to kick us off here with the matchups that I'm really focused in on. And people who watch my show know as a son of a football coach, I will always say the game is won in the trenches. And that's why both of my matchups to watch are in the trenches.

I am going to start with the best player on the Tennessee Titans. People may talk about Derrick Henry. Kevin Byard deserves his shine as first team all-pro safety. But Jeffrey Simmons, the interior defensive lineman, other than Aaron Donald, who's maybe top five all time on defense, Jeffrey Simmons is the best interior defensive lineman in the league, in my opinion. He's incredibly disruptive. You saw that three-sack performance against the Bengals.

You saw another three-sack performance against the Rams during the regular season last year. He is blossoming into the best defensive lineman in the league up there with the Watts and the Miles Garretts and another guy on the Giants who I'll talk about in just a second. But from the Titans perspective, I see some issues on the interior offensive line of the New York Giants. I'm looking at different options that they're going through right now with some injuries. And I can't say that I see anybody who has a chance to stop Jeffrey Simmons. I believe Feliciano is an option for the Giants right now. I know Mark Lewinsky came over from Indy, and he's had some matchups with Simmons in the past.

But at that other guard spot, just real quickly before I continue, who do you think is going to be manning that other guard spot on Sunday? That's the million-dollar question. I think right now, hey, Coach Brian D'Abel doesn't really know. I think you can make an argument with one or three guys. And those three guys would be Ben Bredesen, who's been with the team all summer long, rookie Joshua Izuru, who I was happy to see was not on the injury report this week, or Jack Anderson, a guy that they picked up off waivers, who was with Dable up in Buffalo. I think they want to put a guy in there who has familiarity with the system. If I had to take a guess right now, I would think maybe Bredesen is going to be the guy, but that decision has not been made by Brian Dable just yet.

It probably won't be made until Friday. And even when it's made, he won't tell us. But just doing logic here and applying logic, that's how I think it's going to go. I think it's going to be Bredesen, who is the veteran. Izudo, he missed some time because of injury, says, did Bredesen, who, you know, is the veteran. Izudu is, you know, he missed some time because of injury, says, did Bredesen. Anderson just came down, so it's a matter of learning, you know, the verbiage and whatnot. So you got to go with experience, I think, at this point. Yeah, and I got to tell you, Patricia, I wanted to make sure that the audience is as informed

as possible, but I don't think it really matters who you pick out of those three because Jeffrey Simmons is going to dominate that matchup. And what the Giants do to help there is going to be key to keep Jeffrey Simmons from completely dismantling the game. But I have to say, I do think that Simmons will win that matchup. Will it be enough to win the game? I don't know right now, but I do know that Simmons has to dominate that matchup against a banged up and just maybe not a league best interior offensive line group.

And if he can do that, that'll help the Titans out majorly. The last matchup that I'm really focused on is on the other side of the ball. And I hinted at it earlier, but Leonard Williams, a guy who, funny story for Giants fans, back in 2016, I wanted the Titans to pass on quarterback and take Leonard Williams. The Titans had some good moments with Marcus Mariota, so I won't say that it was a bad decision. But I'm a big fan of Leonard Williams. The Titans have a new starter at left guard, Aaron Brewer.

Brewer is a solid guy. Mike Vrabel says he's tougher than a $2 steak. And that may be great, but he's about 7'1". Just a little under 300 pounds. He is a very small offensive lineman. And if you can get Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams up against a 6'1", 290-pound offensive guard, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure in Tannehill's face in the middle if the Titans don't have something schematic ready

to help Aaron Brewer. I'm worried about that matchup. And like with Jeffrey Simmons, I think collapsing the interior of the pocket against Aaron Brewer, that matchup could be a major determining factor in this game for the Titans. But with that being said, Patricia, what are some matchups or a matchup that you're really focused on? Well, I think you got to start with Derrick Henry.

I mean, that guy, Wink Martindale, the Giants defensive coordinator today compared Derrick Henry to the great and legendary Jim Brown. Okay, you don't get any higher compliment that I don't think, you know, than that. And, you know, Derrick Henry, he's so powerful. He's built so big

and he could just run over people, but yet he runs with a degree of finesse, you know, that quick, one quick cut, that jump cut that he has really difficult to bring the guy down to stop him. I don't think he can stop him. I think you've got to slow him down. Definitely got to try and keep him out of the second level of the defense, try to force them back towards the big guys. I fully expect the Giants are going to have a lot of heavy packages out there. You're going to see a lot of the big boys playing in the trenches and whatnot. And you just kind of stop Derrick Henry from exploiting the edges and getting into the second level where he can easily roll over some of those smaller guys. So that's definitely one matchup that I would say is the marquee matchup that's definitely one matchup that I would,

I would say, you know, is, is the marquee matchup. Now the other one, and I apologize, I'm going to probably butcher this young man's name, but the right tackle Nicholas Pettit Frere. Is that how you say it? Petit Frere. You can tell I flunked French, right? I messed it up for about two months when he got drafted. I call him Frere, Frere when it's just Frere, you know what I mean? So, hey, it's a complicated name. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So anyway, we call him NPF. If you just want to go with NPF, that makes it a lot easier. How about I just call him the right tackle or the kid is right tackle. But anyway, anyway, so here's the situation. The Giants, the two edge rushers, their projected edge rushers,iz ojolary and cave on tibideau

i'm not sure if they're going to play right right which would be a benefit i think for the titans i mean they were limited in practice on on wednesday i don't know though that they're going to be ready now that said you know you've got the right tackle and Nicholas. Yes, good enough. You know, good enough, exactly. So the Giants are really deep at that edge rusher spot, which for the first time I can say that. I couldn't say this in the past.

So if Ogilary and Thibodeau don't play, you've got Jihad Ward, who's a big guy, who can probably, you know, school the young man. You've got O'Shane Ziminez, who's got a quick first step. I would not be surprised if the Giants elevate Quincy Roche, who's on their practice squad, who's very, very physical. Last year, he was probably the most physical outside linebacker they had. I would be curious to see how they're going to exploit that right tackle spot to get pressure on Ryan Tannehill.

Because remember, Wink Martindale's game, the name of his game, is pressure the quarterback. Let's be a pest to the quarterback. Let's get him off the spot. Let's force him to make some throws before he's ready. Let's impose our will on the quarterback. So that's going to be, I think, the gateway, if you will, to accomplishing that.

Yeah, I think that's a great astute observation because I think one of the big questions here is what are you going to get from the Giants schematically? Yeah, you saw Dable in Buffalo. Yeah, you saw Martindale in Baltimore. But is it going to be exactly the same? And I got to say, if I had to put my money on it, I would say Wink Martindale is going to blitz and bring pressure. And we're not going to see too many schematic differences from Baltimore to New York. But that is going to be if they can get to Tannehill, ruffle his feathers.

I don't know that the Titans have the receiving options right now that can get open consistently. So that could be an area where the Giants can really take advantage if they find a way to win this game. But speaking of winning this game, it's time for us to make our game and score predictions. We are going to talk about who will come out victorious in week one in just a moment. All right, Giants and Titans fans, it's time to cap off this first crossover Thursday of the year. It's been an excellent episode so far, talking big stories, talking matchups.

Now we got to get into our game predictions. Who is going to come out victorious in this week one matchup? Before we get into it, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans and Locked on Giants podcast your first listen every day.

Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. You're going to get daily Monday through Friday content on your team, on all platforms, all year round. You can't beat that. So stay locked in to the Locked on Titans and Locked on Giants podcast where it's your team every day.

Patricia, I have an idea how I think this game is going to go. I've been saying for months since the Lions came out for week one, check out betonline.net, I would take the Giants and the points. I think the Titans do win this football game because of a late turnover that sets up an easy score for the Titans offense. I think the Titans defense finds a way to get a turnover on Daniel Jones, which wouldn't make them special in that regard.

But at home with Jeffrey Simmons causing pressure, the two ball-hawking safeties in the back, Kevin Byard, the first-team All-Pro, and then Imani Hooker, one of the more underrated players in the NFL. I think the Titans find a way to get that turnover late that swings the game in their direction. I'm going to say that the Titans find a way to get that turnover late that swings the game in their direction. I'm going to say that the Titans win this game 27 to 23. That is going to be my final prediction for the game and a tight one that's close, but ultimately a turnover swings it towards

the Titans in the end. Well, I don't disagree with you on who's going to win the game. I don't know that the Giants are ready. They had a bunch of injuries coming out of the back half of training camp in the preseason. So there's still a matter of gelling. And I don't know how far along they've come in that regard. But I think there's still some room for them to really, you know, pull it together. There's a lot we haven't seen with the Giants offense, a lot of stuff that they purposely held back. But I'll tell you what, one thing I've liked about the Giants from the preseason is they have been able to score points. Now, people will say, yeah, but it came against mostly second and third and fourth string players, many of whom aren't even on rosters anymore. Okay, I get that.

But you got to start somewhere. You got to build up that confidence and that chemistry. So, you know, in the past, for the Giants to score 20 points, that was like pulling teeth with a piece of string. It just doesn't happen. I do think the Giants are going to score at least 20 points. And I do think the Giants are going to score at least 20 points. I'm going to say they scored 23, but I'm going to say the Titans out-duel them and beat them by a touchdown. Okay, so 30-23, that's not too far off.

I think maybe I just have some PTSD from the Titans getting their doors blown off in week one last week or last year against Arizona. The Titans don't play a lot of their guys at all in the preseason. And I have a theory that maybe they're not necessarily ready to play coming out in week one. So maybe the Giants take advantage of that. Maybe it goes the opposite direction and the Titans do come out there and play a good game. Either way, like I said, I'm excited that the Titans got to play the Giants early rather than late. I think the Giants will be a much better team later in the year

after everything kind of gels together. But just to kind of put a bow on everything, we got a great week one matchup coming. New York Giants at Tennessee Titans. Patricia talked about all the new faces coming in from a front office and coaching standpoint and trying to see exactly what we're going to get from this New York Giants team.

The Titans, on the other hand, can they bounce back? Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill, no A.J. Brown. Can that offense bounce back from that embarrassing loss against the Cincinnati Bengals? We talked about some matchups out there. Can the Giants and their new linebackers and their edge rushers, who are a little beat up, take on Derrick Henry, slow him down in the trenches. Can Jeffrey Simmons dominate an interior offensive line matchup

against the Giants and Leonard Williams? Can he find a way to win a matchup against the Titans' new guard, Aaron Brewer? Those are the matchups to watch. Those are the biggest stories that we're looking for. I see the Titans winning 27-24. Patricia going with 30-23, Tennessee Titans. Either way, Patricia, I don't get to talk to you a lot. We don't get a lot of interaction with you being over there in the NFC.

It was great to talk with you and kick off this crossover Thursday season talking to you up front. If we talk to each other again this year, I think some crazy things happened in Tennessee and New York. So I guess if I don't get to talk to you the rest of the year, which is probably the expectation, can't wait till we get to speak again here in the coming seasons. It was a great episode.

Yep, enjoyed it. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans and the Locked On Giants podcast your first listen every day. We're going to have game three previews for you going through the rest of the week. And, of course, instant reactions to the games on Sunday night into Monday morning. Thank you.