Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans 10/18/17: More Winning Reactions, Quick Look at the Browns

Episode Date: October 18, 2017

Today we put a bow on the Titans' win over the Colts. We'll also start to look ahead to the Cleveland Browns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you tonight? Doing good. What's going on with you? Not too much. Obviously still feeling pretty good about the Titans' win over the Colts on Monday Night Football, getting themselves into a three-way tie for the division lead, heading to a game against the Browns this weekend before the bye week.

So a good place for the Titans to be. Again, we talked a little bit about the schedule and all that stuff last night. But, you know, you've got to be pretty pleased with where they are at this point. So, you know, still just feeling good about that win last night. We heard a little bit from Mike Malarkey today. He had his normal – was normally a Monday press conference, but obviously it was Tuesday since the Titans got on Monday night. Off the top, the two injuries that we've been talking about this whole time,

Jonathan Ciprian and Corey Davis, have both been ruled out pretty much for this week, which is not really a surprise. We kind of had a feeling with the bye coming up, that gives them two full weeks if they don't play this week and hopefully uh the times will be able to get them back when they come out of the buy you know after next week and then um on demarco you know it said he had some tightness his hamstring which is kind of what we what we suspected last night when we were talking um so i mean you'll look for him they they kind of what we suspected last night when we were talking. So, I mean, you'll look for him.

They kind of gave him a normal workload last night. I think Henry got a few more carries than he probably would have if DeMarco wasn't having any issues. But it doesn't look like it's going to make him miss. And I think the same thing with Marcus Mariota. I think he's still going to be limited in this game on Sunday, but no reason at this point to expect that he wouldn't be able to play. Yeah, set a light load, and they're going to take it easy.

Unique week for sure. Like you said, with the Monday night game, you kind of lose a day of preparation. Malarkey talked about that today. So another light week of practice for Mariota. And again, I don't know if you hit on Derek Morgan. He was day-to-day with an abdominal strain. So that's something to watch there. We saw really Eric Walden play a bunch down the stretch.

So still relatively healthy at this point. Just need really Corey Davis and Jonathan Ciprian to come back. But that bye week definitely seems like the target now to get those guys back. Yeah, and it's looking like it's going to come at a good time, like you said. I mean, they can't really complain with the amount of injuries that they've had. And then you've got those two guys. And with Mariota and DeMarco still ailing, it'll be good to get them a week here before you go into that,

you know, the second half of the schedule. And then a couple other things from today. Talked a little bit about, you know, Eric Decker and the role that he played last night. So that was good. It was good to see kind of him get on the same page as Mariota. And I think some things will open up for him once you get Corey Davis back. the same thing as Mariota.

And I think some things will open up for him once you get Corey Davis back. And I think you can see you'll be able to see just the offense be able to do something different when they have that deep threat, in addition to Taewon Taylor. And hopefully we'll see more of him. We saw what he can do last night. So, I mean, I think it was good to see Decker get more involved last night. But I do think that if they're going to go on a little bit of a run here, I think they do need him to be a productive member of the offense.

I'm not saying he's got to go out and catch eight or nine balls for 100 yards every week, but they brought him in to be a consistent presence on third down in the red zone. We hadn't really seen those two guys be in sync yet, but it looked like last night for the first time, Mariota and Decker were kind of on the same page. Yeah, and last night was why he was signed. I mean, you could tell that Mariota for the first time kind of saw that trust build there.

Those were some tough grabs he had over the middle on some slant routes with some tight coverage. And, you know, you saw Mariota throw to some spots, and Decker ended up in the right place. You really didn't see that in the first few weeks. You saw some errant throws from Mariota where it might appear to be inaccurate, but maybe it was the receiver out of place.

Like we said on preseason, chemistry was a big thing that was missing for the Titans because they just didn't have the bodies in place to really get perfect, get where they wanted to be. So it's still a work in progress. But at least with Eric Decker, him and Mariota are starting to get on that same page. What else stood out to you from what Malarkey had to say today?

The comment about the run game was interesting. He basically said the run game, as he expected, took a while to try and establish. But he expected it to take over late. So, you know, that kind of matches up with the Titans' slow starts. You know, they want to establish the run game. And I'm sure Malarkey wants to come out here and blow guys

off the ball and really establish four or five yards of carry. It hasn't been the case, but it has worked in the second half. You saw it against Seattle, Jacksonville, and Indy. So, it's kind of interesting. We were talking about this before the show are you supposed to be okay

with that now i feel like that's what this team is built to do it's to kind of take over the line of scrimmage and run the football but at the same time you've got marcus mariotta um and so it's kind of hard to stick to that that power run game jumbo sets with such a piece like Mariota sitting there under center. It's working, but at the same time, I feel like there's room to grow. Yeah, and I think that's the thing for me.

Like you said, I get what they're built to do, and we've seen in the games where it's worked like they wanted it to work, how successful it can be. But at the same time, to me, you play that type of game, one, if you have a really, really good defense,

two, if you have a quarterback you're trying to hide, so like Blake Bortles and Jacksonville. That's what they want to do. They're fine with not getting a lot going early on because they know the more carries that Fournette gets, the more he wears on that defense. Second half, they're going to be able to pull away. They don't want their quarterback throwing the ball anyway.

They have a really good defense. The Titans have a really good quarterback and don't have a very good defense. So to me, it seems like it would make more sense to maybe try to throw first and get a lead in games and then try to milk the clock away with the running game. Like, you know, that would kind of be the approach that I would take there versus, you know, just kind of relying on it, relying on it, relying on it and hoping that eventually it gets you to where you want to go. I don't know.

It just scares me a little bit that that's the offense that they want to play just because I feel like they're going to be games or their team's going to score so much early that they're not going to be able to do that. And then how much are they able to do on offense when that wasn't what they planned on coming in to do? I mean, we all have – I mean, at least not all of us, obviously. We talked last night and we've seen some stuff today about there are still people that don't believe in Mariota, which blows my mind a little bit.

But you and I have all the faith in the world in Mariota being the guy and that he can overcome deficits, and he's the type of guy that it's not that big of a deal if they do get a little bit behind. But just game plan-wise, it just concerns me a little bit if that's what they're planning on doing because it seems like with these slow starts, sometimes the defense, they don't hold up their end of the bargain, and then you're way behind, and they look kind of lost at that point. Yeah, but, you know, we say all that, but the results are there.

So in games that Mariota has played fully, the Titans have 16, 37, 33, and 36 points. So you can't argue with that. You can't be upset with that at all. Again, some of that is not totally on him. It's not totally his doing. But still, the offense is working. And, you know, that game against the Texans kind of points to what you were talking about, about getting down and not being able to run the ball,

which, you know, the Titans started moving the ball late in that second half. The defense just didn't get off the bus that day. It just wasn't happening from the beginning. But for the most part, the offense is scoring points. But it is interesting to kind of see what they're doing and how they're doing it and kind of sticking with this run game. But, I mean, if it's not broke, I guess you don't need to fix it. But it is interesting the way that they're going about it

considering you have Mark Smarietta. Yeah, and I think that's just the thing that bothers me is the fact that, I don't know, I just think that they're not maybe utilizing him fully. Like you said, they're putting up points. And in the game that he's been able to play all the way through, the stuff that you want is there. And, you know, even that Texans game, I mean, they got off to a slow start, but in the second quarter, the offense looked like it was going to be able

to at least put something together and maybe at least, you know, keep the game competitive. Yeah, I'd say Marcus scores probably 30 points in that game if he finishes, no doubt. Yeah, because it really felt like it was another big kickoff return, which is another thing that Malarkey talked about today, about the problems they've had with that coverage. But they had kind of made it a ball game,

and they got the big kickoff returns anyway. Yeah, so this is something to keep an eye on. Like you said, as long as they're scoring points, whether we like the way they're doing it or not, I guess it doesn't really matter. So all that being said, I look forward a little bit to the game on Sunday against the Browns. I think at this point the Browns haven't confirmed necessarily

who their starting quarterback is going to be they went to hogan last week kevin hogan after you know deshaun kaiser has started the year um hogan didn't look good in the game on sunday so i mean there's a thought they might go back to deshaun kaiser but um it sounds like it's more than likely going to be hogan the titan's face but vegas is apparently not all that concerned about it uh line came out today It sounds like it's more than likely going to be Hogan, the Titans' face. But Vegas is apparently not all that concerned about it. Line came out today. Titans are about a six-point favorite with a total in the game of 46.5.

So obviously this is a game where the Titans should go there, dominate from the jump, come out, establish what they want to do, score points on offense, play good enough defense against a bad offense. But, I mean, how many times have we seen this game where we feel like that's what the Titans should do and then that's not the way that it ends up playing out? Countless.

Last year, we talked about the 2015 game where everyone thought the Titans, with their shiny new rookie quarterback in Marcus Marietta, were going to go and roll the Browns, and they ended up losing to Johnny Manziel. And then you had the whole thing last year where the Titans would play down to opponents' talent, and they'd play up to opponents' talent.

So just go dominate a game. Just go win the line of scrimmage. It's the team you should run over. It's a team that turns the ball over a lot. Kaiser's thrown nine picks. Hogan threw, I think, three last week. So capitalize on those opportunities and go out and run the football. And really, Mark Smart should have to do a whole lot to beat the Cleveland Browns.

If he does, that says something. But, I mean, the Browns are 0-6. They don't really have a pulse to this point. And, you know, you've already seen the – I think it was Ed Werder that tweeted out that the Browns were already thinking about blowing everything up and resetting the franchise for the, you know, however many years in a row they've done that. So, go get yourself an easy win.

For once, don't make it interesting. Yeah, and that's the thing. If they're going to be the team that most people expect them to be at the beginning of the year this is not this is a game that they have to go and just look like the better team from the opening kickoff to the last whistle um and we we haven't seen them be able to consistently do that um over the last however many years um so you know i think they're in a good spot right here. I think that they've got enough guys that have been around this franchise

long enough that know the history and know that kind of stuff. So, I mean, I don't think that it will be a result of them not being focused if that is what plays out. And, again, you know, we've seen some weird stuff in the NFL this year. I mean, just look at this past Sunday with the Giants going to Denver and winning with no receivers. With the

Dolphins going to Atlanta and beating the Falcons. I mean, so there's weird stuff that happens. But if you want to take that next step, then this is a game that you have to go and you have to dominate. And Cleveland hasn't been good in any facet of the game. Their offensive line was supposed to be a strength,

but it's been a little bit of a disaster the last couple of weeks. So this should be a good get-right spot for the defense. And, again, we saw them play a lot better in the second half on Monday night, and so hopefully they can kind of continue that and then rest up for the the the stretch run um you know it would be good for them to have Derek Morgan out there you know you said at the beginning he's day to day um it'll hurt if he's not there but um because they just haven't been able to generate a consistent pass rush at least without you know sending extra guys

at this point um need him out there but, but more important really to have him healthy later on in the year. So I guess that will kind of factor into their decision. But this would be a good game to see the defense come out and just play really well the whole game. The defense hasn't put together a whole game really at this point. Probably, I guess they did in Miami, but that offense is so bad. It would be good just to see them put together a whole game and a win.

Yeah, and keep the pressure up. You saw Tickle that had pretty good success in the second half last night, getting after Jacoby Brissett, dialing up some blitzes. So keep that going with whoever plays. It's not going to be a good quarterback. It's an easily – it's a situation they should be able to take advantage of. You know, the Browns are starting Ricardo Lewis, Rashard Higgins, Kaysen Williams.

Kenny Britt can't even get on the field for the Browns. So it's just a bad, bad team. And it's a potential, you know, get-right spot for this defense. And, again, it's just a team that the Titans should handle. Yeah, and they need to do it. We need to see them do it. One thing on the Browns, our old friend Jason McCourty is playing with the Browns and has had a bit of a career resurgence.

So I think it's been a bit of a surprise to see how well he's played. And good for him. I mean, Jason McCourty's a good dude and was a great guy in this locker room for a long time and played on a lot of a surprise to see how well he's played and good for him. I mean, Jason McCord is a good dude and was a great guy in this locker room for a long time and played on a lot of bad teams here. Um, so I mean, you know, I'm,

I'm happy to see him have success where he is. Um, you know, we were kind of talking at the beginning, we, we kind of suspected all, all along that Jason McCord, he wouldn't be on this team,

um, just be really good at the contract. And he hadn't been very good the last couple of years. But, you know, I think now looking at the way that they've used these cornerbacks, if you'd have told me, and this is, you know, what you had said before the show started, that we would see this much Bryce McCain, then, you know, I would have preferred they stick with Jason McCourty.

Yeah, that's just a weird call because you're essentially saying Bryce McCain is better than Jason McCourty. Yeah, that's just a weird call because you're essentially saying Bryce McCain is better than Jason McCourty. And I know the money plays a factor into that, but still, just a weird move. Looking back on it, if you're going to play McCain, which, like we said, we didn't think McCain was going to see much any playing time at all. I thought he might even get cut, but apparently we were wrong. You saw him playing on T.Y. Hilton last night, and you saw him take on DeAndre Hopkins quite a bit a couple weeks ago.

But, yeah, good for McCourty. And, you know, it sucks that he has to play on another just terrible team that's going absolutely nowhere. So you hope that a guy like that is turning heads and maybe he can get flipped to a playoff roster at the end of the day or maybe next season. But 92.0 grade from PFF, that's wild because he didn't put up anything like that in his years in Nashville. I think he topped out around 78 per PFF. So interesting, and it's a guy that's probably going to handle Rashard Matthews,

so that's a matchup to watch. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's just crazy at this point he's putting up the best numbers in his career. But like we said, good for him. Anything else tonight before we jump out? I think that's all I've got. Oh, just cleaning up real quick. We talked a lot about the punt, having two guys back to field punts.

Mark basically said that the Colts had two types of punts. He said they had a normal punt and they had a kind of a boomerang punt that would take off and go the other way. So he said there was nothing crazy about having two guys back there. He simply just wanted to field it and kind of stop the ball from rolling. So it sounded like the Titans weren't really interested in returning a punt last night. They were just more interested in fielding it and not letting it roll.

It's really interesting. I need to go back and watch. It's never really fun to go back and watch punts from games prior. Yeah, I'm not sure I've ever heard of anything like that. Yeah, it just sounds – it's something. Yeah, but it makes sense. Like you said, just catch the ball and save yourself you know yards as far as the ball rolling so if that if that's truly the case then i mean you know good on his part uh yeah

so tomorrow night we will uh dig a little bit more into the browns uh talk about some specific matchups where we think the titans have some advantages and uh maybe some spots that could be possible trouble another guy we didn't talk about it's on the Browns revenge game, Kenny Britt. You've got to keep an eye on there. He's on the team still, I think. He's been a healthy scratch. Shockingly. He's being Kenny Britt, if you can believe that.

My mind's blown that he got paid and just kind of shut it down. I can't believe it. We'll talk a little bit more about the Browns tomorrow night. Thanks for tuning in I can't believe it. But anyway, anyway, so we'll talk, we'll talk a little bit more about the Browns specifically tomorrow night. But thanks for tuning in. I did mention it from the top,

so I should say we still have the thing going with PFF, Pro Football Focus. If you rate and review the podcast on iTunes, leave your Twitter handle in the review.

You'll be entered to win a year-long subscription to them. A lot of cool stuff from that side. I'm sure most of you are familiar with them. You can follow us

on Twitter. I'm at jmorrismcm. Terry is at teamlambertfb. And you can check out more of our work on musiccitymiracles.com. So for Terry, this is Jimmy saying thanks for listening to Locked on Titans, and we will talk to you again tomorrow.