Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Crossover Wednesday - Titans vs Jaguars pt. 2

Episode Date: November 20, 2019

Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a crossover Wednesday. We do have Tony Wiggins back on the show who is the host of the Locked on Jags podcast. So he is going to ask me some questions in our first segment. I'm going to ask him some questions in our third segment and then we are going to do a little bit of a prediction for the game and the score. Before we jump into our conversation with Tony, I do want to talk about Derrick Henry again today. Not just his contract situation and how that's going to play out as we discussed yesterday, but I do want to talk about just his play on the field and what we should expect from him the rest of the season going forward. So we kind of talked

about his contract and everything that will happen in the all-season for him. I want to get back to the football field today and talk about what we should expect from him for the end of the season and how that impacts this team and the success of this team and their ability to get into the playoffs. So we'll do all that today. Really excited to get into the conversation with Tony though. I always enjoy his back and forth and his banter. Clearly he has a healthy hate for the Titans as most of us do for the Jags. So I really enjoy those conversations as well. So we'll get into that. Before we do, of course, we'll talk about Derrick Henry.

Excited to get into the show with you guys. Let's get it. Your Tennessee Titans lead story. Yesterday we talked about Derrick Henry's contract situation. Today we need to focus on what Derrick Henry is about to do on the football field for the last six games of the year. Let's have a refresher. Last year, in the last four games of the year, Derrick Henry went on a tear, an absolute tear in the last four games, starting with a home game against the Jaguars. 238 yards and that historic 99 yard touchdown run that will be one of the most iconic plays in not only Titans history but NFL history and one of the greatest runs in the history of the sport of football that propelled Derrick Henry to the success he had the very next week against the

Giants 170 yards on 33 carries two touchdowns to go along with the four he had against the Giants, 170 yards on 33 carries, two touchdowns to go along with the four he had against the Jags the week before, against the Redskins the week after, 84 carries, a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in week 17. Although the Titans did take a loss, and that was the only loss that they had during this four-game stretch last year. Derrick Henry still had 16 carries for 93 yards. He still had a great game, even though Blaine Gabbert was playing quarterback, and clearly the Colts could play defense a little bit differently than most teams had been able to the previous three weeks. So we saw Derrick Henry do that as what was aptly named DeHember, I believe, by Mike

Miracles of the FWords podcast. So will we be getting a repeat performance of that? It's hard to tell, but with the matchups that the Titans have available, there's a pretty good chance that Derrick Henry could rip off another big run here in the remaining six games. So, just as last year's game started with a home victory against the Jags that Derrick Henry just went insane with, that is setting up here again. The Jaguars right now are one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. They gave up 264 yards on the ground to the Colts last week

with Marlon Mack actually getting hurt during that game. So they had a backup running back in. Williams, who was able to get 116 yards on the ground. Jonathan Williams, I do believe, to go along with Marlon Mack having over 100 yards on the ground. The Jags right now are giving up 134 rushing yards per game. That's 29th in the NFL. Everything about this game, not to mention that Derrick Henry is from close by to Jacksonville and feels some sort of relation to that area of Florida being his home

area. So clearly he always gets, you know, jacked up to play the Jags, has some great moments against the Jags. This is just a perfect jump off point for Derrick Henry, just as it was last week and a really must win game for the Titans as well. So hopefully Derrick Henry having the beginning of his late season explosion along with the Titans getting a must-win game against a division opponent just seems like a perfect storm for them it's something that I mentioned with Tony that this is set up for Derrick Henry to really start to get back on that late season run and the reality is late in the year like this people are beat up people are tired it's been a long season a lot of football a lot of practice all the way from training camp through the preseason to now into the week 11.

People don't want to tackle someone like Derrick Henry right now this late in the season, and they're all beat up, and that's going to continue forward. Take a look at Oakland. Oakland gives up over 100 yards per game on the ground. The Texans, the Titans have two games against the Texans, who are giving up over 100 yards per game on the ground. These teams are susceptible to a good running offense, and that should help out the entire Titans offense. Now, playing against New Orleans in week 17, they only give up about 85 yards on the ground per game. That's third best in the league. The Colts give up 96. That's

ninth best. So definitely two tough games against two run defenses there, but the Titans can run against the Colts. I have no worry about that. That's something that they should be able to do. In week two, when the Titans lost to the Colts 19-17, Derrick Henry had 82 yards and a touchdown, so he did have a successful day. Now, the Titans' offensive line was nowhere near in the shape that it is now. Dennis Kelly was starting at tackle. Jameel Douglas was still in at guard, so the Titans offensive line is improved. The offense in general is improved with the play of Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. So you add all those positive factors together with the fact that Derrick Henry went for 82 against the Colts already. Well, I have faith at that moment in time that Derrick Henry will be able to have a more successful day, get over that

100-yard mark, and help the Titans win a football game. So it does seem like Derrick Henry will be able to have a more successful day, get over that 100-yard mark, and help the Titans win a football game. So it does seem like Derrick Henry will have the opportunity to repeat the same success that he had at the end of the season last year, and it will be vital for the Titans to do that if they plan on making a playoff push. That is going to do it for our first segment. Before we jump into our crossover Wednesday discussion with Tony Wiggins from the Locked On Jaguars podcast. I do want to remind you guys

that Away creates thoughtful products designed to change how you see the world. For $20 off a suitcase, visit awaytravel.com slash locked on and use promo code locked on during checkout. Listening on the go, if you can't visit Away right now, you can find this and all our other offers

from Locked On sponsors at LockedOnPodcast.com slash offers. Also, I just want to apologize. My dog said hi during our conversation with Tony. I tried to cut him off as quick as I could, but just in case that startles anybody or hurts your ears or anything like that, I'm sorry. I try to make sure that he stays quiet, but we all have pets, so I'm sure you guys understand. So let's jump into that conversation with Tony right after this. Fellas, let's talk about the bedroom. Ever wish you could increase your performance or

maybe just need a little confidence boost in bed? Well, listen up. BlueChew.com. That's blue, just like the color. Blue Chew brings you the first chewable with the same FDA-approved active ingredient as Viagra and Cialis, so you know they work. You can take them anytime, day or night, even on a full stomach, and since they're chewable, they work twice as fast as a pill, so you're ready anytime you need to be. But hear me out. It's not just for guys who can't perform. It's for any guy looking for a little extra to enhance their performance. You hit a lead-off home run, guys. Blue Chew helps you go deep again in the second at-bat. Blue Chew is prescribed online, shipped straight to your door in a discreet package.

No in-person visits, waiting at the pharmacy, and best of all, no more awkwardness. They're made in the USA, and since Blue Chew prepares and ships direct, they're cheaper than a pharmacy. Right now, we've got a special deal for our listeners. Visit bluechew.com and get your first shipment free when you use our special code LOCKEDON. Just pay $5 for shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-C-H-E-W dot com. Promo code LOCKEDON to try it for free. Welcome to a crosstalk edition of Enemies. That's right.

Mortal Enemies. I call them the ingrown toenail of the Jacksonville Jaguars. That is the Tennessee Titans. I'm blessed to be on with my man Tyler Roden from Locked On. Tyler, what's going on, man? Not much. Just ready to... The Titans were obviously on a bye last week, and while it's

good to have a little bit of a break in the season, at this point in time, I'm ready for some football, ready to get my Titans back on the field and have a game to of a break in the season. At this point in time, I'm ready for some football, ready to get my Titans back on the field and have a game to watch this weekend. All right, so look, everybody has a lot at stake, the Jaguars and the Titans. I put in my podcast today that I find it ironic that the Jaguars have to actually go to Tennessee, which is the mortal enemy of this franchise, and you can go all the way back to the late 90s to find out why.

It's almost as if this would be a fitting way for the Tennessee Titans to kick the Jaguars in the lower back and say, bye-bye, get out of here. The Jaguars really, really need this win. They needed the last two, and they didn't get them. But they really, really need this win. They needed the last two and they didn't get them, but they really, really need this win this week in Tennessee and Tennessee actually needs this win in order to keep that pressure on those two teams in front of them.

Yeah, I would say that's the case. Both teams have to win this game if they want to continue to be relevant in the playoff discussion. That's kind of the bottom line at this moment in time. The Jaguars don't have a lot of division games left. I believe you have one more against Indy and then this one coming up on Sunday. And the Titans do have a lot of those division games left,

but that just shows the importance of this going forward. I think both teams need to focus on trying to win the division. It's still obtainable for both. So obviously a must-win situation for the Jags and the Titans. Yeah, it is a must-win situation for the Jags and the Titans yeah it is a must-win situation and uh is that hatred reciprocated by the way I keep mentioning the fact that everyone here we we call them ingrown toenail we call them mayonnaise people and all that by the way I'm gonna end up asking you what's with the mayonnaise because I don't quite get that

but you I'm sure you can explain it to me but the thing is, is the hatred or is the thought that that's the big rival, is that reciprocated? Do Tennessee fans think of Jacksonville the same way? Yeah, I would say so. And I think the reason for that is the Texans lately, since they've been a franchise at least recently here, they've been winning the division. They've been competitive every year, even with rotating quarterbacks.

The Colts, obviously, over the rest of the division, have a lot of bragging rights with the success they've had as a franchise. So I think that kind of leaves the Titans and the Jags as kind of the two that are fighting to be that third best team here recently. I know with our going back past the Texans history, that would kind of cancel that out. The Titans and the Jags have been around longer and everything. But I think the Jaguars and the Titans are similar franchises,

and they're kind of both fighting for that third place of respectability against the other teams in the division. So I do think it's reciprocated. I think me personally, I want the Titans to beat the Jags more than I care about the other two teams in the division. So I do think it's reciprocated. I think me personally, I want the Titans to beat the Jags more than I care about the other two teams in the division. And I would say I speak for the fan base that the Jags just happen to be the Titans' most hated team, even if some other teams we've played more and had bigger games against.

There's something about the Jags. I agree with you. It's reciprocated on our side. Well, it's a 4 o'clock game. By the way, Nashville is a great city. Our fans love going there. And we actually have videotape of one of our biggest fans, my man Cal, actually punched somebody in the face in the bathroom

when he was – he didn't start it but he finished it and he had perfect form with that so you know the fans here they love the fact that they have this built in rivalry it's one of those rivalries that aren't one of those obviously that go 50

years like the Redskins the Cowboys or the Redskins and the Giants because you know of reconstruction and the Giants because of reconstruction and the league being the way it is. But I often remind people around here that the Jags were 15-3 one year. And that one year, they lost three games to the Tennessee Titans. That's right. So there's a player that's from 15 miles north of Jacksonville named Derrick Henry.

He's a big part of what you guys do. Are you guys salivating when you see the fact that the Jaguars gave up two straight 100-yard runs, two in one week, by the way, to Indianapolis? Yeah. Two guys got 100 yards last week. Are you guys salivating at the the the fact that Derrick Henry has had success against Jacksonville and Jacksonville is struggling right now it as as a Titans fan and someone who covers the team it seems like a perfect storm for the Titans

to continue the momentum that they've had since Tannehill took over as you mentioned the Jaguars struggled mightily last week against the run they're're giving up 134 yards per game, 29th in the NFL right now on the ground. If you're a Titans fan and you're a Titans team, I would imagine the coaches as well. Just with that rivalry in the past few years, the way Derrick Henry has dominated, combined with how the defense is setting up for the Jags right now, I do think, and me personally, I'm expecting a lot from Derrick Henry this week. And he has been the heart and soul of this team. He's fifth in the NFL right now with 132 yards rushing,

kind of like how Leonard Fournette is for you guys. He's the heart and soul of the team and the team kind of goes as Derrick Henry is going. So you hope that with the struggles the Jags have had, you know, stopping the run combined with what the Titans offense wants to do in the history of success, that it'll be a good opportunity for Henry to have a big game. That's a great point that you make because I've often said that if the Jaguars want to be successful, Leonard Fournette needs to be what Marshawn Lynch

was to Seattle. And that is the heartbeat of the team. That means offensively and defensively, everyone feeds off of him. Now, I've got to get to the quarterback position, and then in our next segment, I'm going to let you grill me and ask me a bunch of questions. But Ryan Tannehill, obviously, you know, replacing Marcus Mariota, who just hasn't really panned out as the number two pick overall. Ryan Tannehill has actually come in here. And believe it or not, no matter what we think of his shortcomings, he's kind of been a pretty good fit in terms of it.

I hear your dog telling me we need to go to break, but we're not going yet. But he was more of a Mariota fan anyway. Yeah, I hear him. I hear him, right? I got my dog, too. I love my dog, my dog Lexi. But listen, Tannehill was a wide receiver. He's gritty.

He's athletic. You saw him in the Kansas City game, and I watched it. It just seems like the team kind of responded to him a little bit more from an attaboy or from an athletic standpoint than they did with Marcus Muriel? Is he the long-term answer? And if he's not, is he the short-term answer to get them to the playoffs this year? You know, there's a lot up in the air with that, I would say, through the next six games.

Me personally, if I'm the one making the decision, I am not counting on Ryan Tannehill as being a long-term option. But I do think that it would be wise to extend him past this year probably on a two-year deal somewhere between 15 to 20 million dollars a year a bargain for an NFL quarterback and then go ahead and draft a rookie whether you do that this year with the kind of class that's coming in this year you wait until you get some guys like Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields the year after that. Either way, I think the wise move from right now, because you look at Ryan Tannehill, I mean, he's been a top half of the league quarterback in his

four starts. It's just four starts, I realize, but at this time, I think it's pretty clear that you want to extend Tannehill for a couple of years, probably one or two more at a decent rate, and then draft your rookie and try to get him ready to go as soon as possible. All right, we're talking Tyler Rowland from Locked On Titans. This is Tony Wiggins from Locked On Jaguars. Buckle your seatbelts. We've got some more stuff. When we get back, Tyler's going to ask me a bunch of questions

about this Jaguars team, and then we're going to make a prediction at the end of that segment of this week's game. We'll do that in the crossover edition of Locked on Jaguars and Locked on Titans. We are back here in our crossover Wednesday event. I am your host of the Locked On Titans podcast, Tyler Rowland, here with Tony Wiggins of the Locked On Jaguars podcast. Tony, we were talking in the last segment,

you were asking me some questions about the Titans team. So I just want to kind of turn that around and ask you some questions here. Get your thoughts on the Jags so far. The big thing that stands out to me, I guess, when I'm taking a look at the Jags and how they've progressed since our meeting in week three is obviously you guys have gone back to Nick Foles. I thought Gardner Minshew did a pretty good job while he was in for his circumstances being a six-round rookie and everything like that. What are your current feelings right now, or what are Jack's fans feelings on on the quarterback switch? And who should honestly be this team's quarterback going forward? I think it's split about 7030. And the 70% of the people says that you probably

should have stayed with Gardner Minshew. Now a lot of that is emotional. These fans have looked for something to hang their hat on. They've looked for something to grasp on because the bottom line is the Jaguars have had like four or five great seasons in 20 years. So what the fans here have been wanting is something they could

grasp on. And they saw that mustache and they saw those headbands and they saw that improvisation and they said, that's it. it seems fun right right the bottom line is tyler they paid 88 million dollars for nick foals the people like me that stood on the sideline at training camp when there weren't a bunch of fans out there and and on days when they weren't fans at all, Nick Foles was better than Gardner Minshew, period. There were some of us that thought Gardner Minshew was fighting for

the second string spot with Alex Magoo, who's now the backup in Houston. So I think what happened with the Jaguars, they got too happy this week. They only ran Leonard Ford at nine times. They ran the ball nine times total.

And they threw it 49 times. That's getting too happy. And that's a problem. You can't expect a guy. I don't care if he's Joe Montana, Tom Brady. You can't let a guy be out nine weeks and then let him throw the ball 49 times and think he's going to win. That's not going to work. Yeah, that seems like that wouldn't be a smart game plan there,

and you would hope that the coaches will have a more realistic game plan against the Titans going forward. One question I do have for you, though, where the offense is struggling and obviously the Jaguars will have to correct this in the second half of the season, is in the red zone. They're last right now in the red zone in the NFL and converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns. What is it about the red zone that's kind of causing them

to have that 34% conversion rate and not being able to put the ball in the end zone when they get an opportunity? Now, that I will revert back to Gardner Minshew. That's the inexperience. That's where being a six round pick and, and the, you know, he has a lot of moxie and he has a lot of good stuff. The one thing he doesn't do is play on schedule. He plays better when he's off schedule.

That's that whole Mike Leach reading the field. He's almost like a coach on the field. The problem with that is this. When you get in the red zone, you're not playing 11 people, you're playing 12. The 12th man is the boundary in the back. Now, all of that stuff that you do, the improvisation,

you have an extra person, per se, with the boundary line in the back of the end zone that you have to deal with so that's that whole number that's pretty much in my opinion on the fact that it's Gardner because he's more comfortable playing off schedule than he is on schedule and you know when you get in those areas you really have to be on schedule and understand exactly what it is you're trying to do yeah you have to execute um pretty perfectly in the red a lot, which is one thing I can't say.

I have to be happy with the Titans since Tannehill took over. They're 10-10 in the red zone. I'm not quite certain how it's all happening, but they seem to be having success. That's a big part of it. Yeah, definitely will hope that Nick Foles and his high level of experience will be able to help that going forward. On the defensive side of the football,

the Jaguars obviously have a great pass defense. That's something that's carried over. But when I saw the trade of Jalen Ramsey and some of the turnover on the defense, I figured that the passing defense would be what started to struggle on that side of the football for the Jags. But it seems that the rushing defense is actually what's hurting the most right now. As I mentioned earlier, giving up 134 yards per game on the ground, the front seven doesn't seem

to have changed very much from the previous years of dominant defenses. Why do you think the front seven all of a sudden is struggling with run defense so bad? Well, there's a few things. One is when you lose Jalen Ramsey, you can look at the stats and justify the fact that, okay, they don't miss him. But when you look at football and understand, it's like fantasy football versus real football. Real football, people understand that he's not over there, okay? So Trey Herndon has three interceptions since Jalen's been gone. You know why Jalen doesn't have any interceptions? People don't really come at him like that.

Right. So that is one thing. The other thing is this. The Jaguars are built to rush the passer. The Jaguars aren't built to stop the run. And the one guy that they had that could really do both was Marcel Darius. Marcel Darius is out. He's on IR right now with a core injury he had surgery for.

So now you're looking at a bunch of pass rushers, a bunch of three techniques, and a linebacker core that spends 70% of their time in nickel. You got Miles Jack in the middle, which most people think he's better suited for a real linebacker spot. They're just a void right in the middle of their defense because 70% of the time they're playing small. They don't play a big nickel where they bring in an extra safety.

They actually bring in an extra corner in D.J. Hayden. So the bottom line is this. They're susceptible to the run, and teams are going at it. Carlos Hyde had 163 yards two weeks ago in London. Last week, they gave up almost 250 yards, and it was to two different backs. Marlon Mack had over 100 yards. He broke his hand and left, and then some dude came into the game,

and he had only had one yard coming into the season. He ended up with 100. So now teams are licking their chops saying, we're going to run. The Jaguars are going to have to make those adjustments. Not having a superb corner like Jalen Ramsey on the back end is now going to hurt them because now teams are going to start hitting with a bunch of body punches just to see if they can take it. And if they start moving people up to try to supplement that,

you're going to see them get hurt over the top. Get taken advantage of in the play-action game too, absolutely. Well, one thing I do want to ask you about, you talk about losing Jalen Ramsey. That is a superstar on your team. But one guy I want to mention who can definitely wreck the Titans if things go in the Jags' favor is a superstar that it does seem like you guys have developed,

and that's DJ Chark. He's got 51 catches, close to 800 yards receiving, eight touchdowns on the year. I mean, he just looks like an absolute stud. What's happened? It seems like with the first game of the year with Foles, he was great too, and he was just great with Foles again, so it doesn't seem to matter who the quarterback is. What has allowed Chark to become basically a star wide receiver for you guys? I think Keenan McCardell needs to get a lot of credit for his development,

the wide receivers coach for the Jaguars. Keenan, last year when I saw Chark, and look, I'm not a pro talent evaluator, but it always looked like his lower body wasn't as strong as it needed to be. People could knock him off his line a little bit. You can't do that now. He's confident. You can't knock him off his line. If you throw a 50-50 ball, he's going to catch it.

He also has the awareness to catch those back shoulder throws. And then he's a 4-3-5 guy. So if you watch the game the other day, he'll catch a crossing pattern and he'll split that defense. He scored a touchdown like he did the other day for 30 yards. I think D.J. Sharp right now is a top 10 receiver in this league, and I think him along with Gardner Minshew and along with Josh Allen might be the reason that general manager Dave Caldwell keeps his job

because you definitely can't fire a guy if he's picked guys in the last year or two that are panning out the way that those young kids are panning out and they just might save him even if it doesn't save everybody else yeah yeah I mean when when you're developing talent you're finding talent like that you definitely have to give that general manner manager a chance to build out his roster. And that's one thing that I'm happy that the Titans allowed John Robinson to do over time. Well, I guess we can jump into some predictions here. Just see what we think the game is going to play out like, some final scores.

What do you kind of think you see this game playing out like? And what do you think your final score prediction is? I don't know what the weather is in Nashville, but I know what it's been like around here. I'm guessing that a 4 o'clock start won't benefit Jacksonville. It'll be a little bit cooler. It'll be a little bit ugly, which will take the air out of the ball, which probably benefits Tennessee a little bit. So I'm going to go 23-17 Titans.

Even though I want Jacksonville to win, I got to be realistic, and I got to keep it true to my people. What you got? You know what's crazy is my score prediction isn't too far off there. I think that it'll be ugly early, and then there will be some mistakes in the second and third quarters. I think both teams will have a turnover uh just I I think that's the way it'll be and I see the Titans

pulling it out 24 to 20 I think the Jags will be down probably 24 13 and then score a touchdown with you know five six minutes left put the pressure on the Titans which would be a smart move if you put the pressure on the Titans offense they they've come up lately, but I can't count on them week to week to make sure they're always there. So if the Jags are able to put some pressure on them in the second half, they might be able to pull out a victory. But 24-20 with Derrick Henry having some success and kind of salting the clock away at the end is how I would see it playing out. All right, so if I make a trek to Nashville,

I know you got a good steakhouse for me, right? And I love tequila, so can we hang out? Oh, yeah, absolutely. We can catch a steak. Or for me personally, I'm a simple guy. I love some barbecue. So, you know, we can get some barbecue. We could get a steakhouse if that's what you're into.

I'll be drinking gin. You have some tequila, and we'll have a good time. All right, Tyler. Tyler Rowe from Locked on Jaguar. I'm not on Locked on Titans. Tony Wiggins, Locked on Jaguar. Tyler, it's been fun, man. Absolutely.

And I'm sure we'll see each other soon. Maybe whether it's at the Senior Bowl or at the draft, we'll get in contact with each other. But I'm glad our fans had the chance to enjoy this. So that was my conversation with host of the Locked On Jaguars podcast, Tony Wiggins. Really enjoyed chopping it up with Tony, talking about the rivalry. We always have a good time. I hope you guys have a good time when you listen to the Crossover Wednesday event from

the feedback I get. It seems like you guys do enjoy those just as much as we hosts do. So be ready to have another one of those next week for you guys. But before we worry about that, we've got a game this weekend against those Jaguars tomorrow. I will jump into the film room again for another Tic Tac Titans segment with you guys, and we'll talk about how the Colts were able to demolish the Jags on the ground and what the Titans can do to repeat that same thing.

So really excited to get to tomorrow's show. Hope you guys enjoyed this one. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.