Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Crossover with Locked on Patriots

Episode Date: November 8, 2018

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Hey there everybody, welcome on into a special Locked On NFL Podcast Network crossover event. My name is Mark Schofield, I am the host of Locked On Patriots, and I'm happy to be joined right now by one of the hosts of Locked On Titans. He is Jimmy Morris at J. Morris MCM. He is one of the hosts of Locked On Titans and the head blogger over at Music City Miracles. We're going to help try to get everybody ready for this huge game, a divisional round rematch between the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots. Jimmy, sir, how are you doing this fine evening? I'm doing awesome. How are you? I'm doing well, my friend. I'm doing well,

and I'm excited to talk to you. I'm excited to talk about this game because there are a number of storylines we can get into. I figure we can start maybe with the Patriots on offense, but first, I know Patriots fans are very curious about three names, three names that have been associated with the New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel, Malcolm Butler, Deion Lewis. How have those guys done so far this year? Yeah, so we're all really excited about Mike Vrabel. You know, he's been a breath of fresh air here.

Mike Malarkey did a good job in changing the culture here. But it was pretty clear last year that he wasn't going to change the way that he ran an offense. And what we saw last year was basically the ceiling under him. So he made the change. Mike Rambles come in, fired up the fan base. The team has played motivated under him. They've done a good job of game planning to different things.

They had a lot of injuries early in the season. And they won a game against the Texans and a game against the Jaguars early on where Marcus Mario didn't play in one of them, had to come in the game against the Jaguars because Blaine Gabbert got a concussion early in the game. Marcus couldn't feel two of his fingers. They just did a good job of game planning and being able to win those games. Everybody's pretty excited about that.

Deion Lewis has taken over really in the last couple of weeks as the feature back. We had Deion Lewis, Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry just has not been very effective as a runner. And so they've gone to, you know, mainly Deion Lewis. He had a big game on Monday night, you know, 120 total yards and a touchdown in that game. So I think you're going to see a lot from him in this game.

His numbers aren't great. The offensive line hasn't played very well. If you look at those things that I guess is the espn stats and info uh tweets out a bunch yeah dion lewis like leads the league in yards after contacts i mean he's he's like last in league in yards before contact so having to create a lot on his own and he's just a lot better at that than derrick henry is malcolm baller's been pretty terrible i'm not gonna lie you know they they've had issues with him uh he got beat a couple times on monday night his double moves are killing him.

He's looking at the quarterback, not looking at his guy. They've talked about that in press conferences. It hasn't changed. They gave him a bunch of money. He's still on the field for now. I would assume that the Patriots will test that early in this game, and hopefully he learns his lesson. But, I mean, you've seen some stats about him.

I mean, he's like per PFF, statistically the worst corner in the league so far. So that's been a little bit of a struggle, but the other two guys we're really happy with. Yeah, and let's kind of take a step back now and look more at the Titans defense and start to get ready for this game. Looking at this Titans defense, number one scoring defense in the league.

How has Tennessee been able to sort of establish themselves on the defensive side of the ball? Yeah, they've done a good job at, you know, kind of that bend but don't break thing. They'll give up some yards, but they've been really, really good in the red zone. I think they're number one in red zone defense.

I mean, you know, that'll get you the number one scoring defense. Really the only issue they struggle with is giving up big plays. You know, like I said, Malcolm Butler's giving up three or four really, really big plays. And then the game in London's giving up three or four really, really big plays. And then the game in London against the Chargers, the only two touchdowns they gave up in that game were both kind of broken coverages, guys getting over the top. So they've done a good job.

They've been solid against the run. Dean Pease has dialed up a lot of blitzes. So they've been, you know, being able to get good pressure on quarterbacks, forcing them into quick throws, that kind of stuff. They're good in the secondary besides Malcolm Butler. Logan Ryan, a guy you're obviously familiar with. Adoree Jackson this second year has been really good. Kevin Byard was a guy that was an all-pro safety last year,

continues to get better in his third year. Kenny Vaccaro has come in. They were lucky enough that he was still available when Jonathan Ciprian went down in training camp with an ACL. They brought Vaccaro has come in you know they were lucky enough that he was still available when Jonathan Ciprian went down in training camp with an ACL they brought Vaccaro in he's been good so really I mean the back end has played really well the the front has been so I'm really I mean it's just kind of been a whole for they know they don't have any like little superstars and even I'd say besides Byard and Jarrell Casey up front but they've just played solid and like I said they just they're really good.

They tighten up in the red zone. And it's been just kind of that thing where they'll give up some yardage, but keeping teams out of the end zone for the most part. And that's kind of been the recipe for their success. Jimmy, in trying to get ready for this game, I took a look back at some of my notes on this team from last year from the division-around game. And I was noticing that at least last year,

the Titans seemed to be primarily a cover-one, cover-three team. Has that sort of continued into this year, or have you seen some different coverage looks from the secondary? No, they've mixed it up more this year, different defensive coordinator. And so they've played a lot of cover-one, and I think that's been what they've been in for the most part. But I guess primarily primarily more of that.

They're doing more of that than they did last year. And so they've had success with it now. I mean, you know, we obviously have some concerns, you know, with this Patriots offense coming in, you know, and saw what they were able to do to this team last year. The personnel is not all that much different. So there's obviously some concerns there. But, yeah, they've kind of been. And Braywell came in, you know, basically,

and he said we want to be multiple on defense, we want to be multiple front, multiple coverages, that kind of stuff, kind of confuse teams. And so I think they've done a pretty good job of that. But they do have the athletes on the back that they can play a lot of man coverage. You know, Jimmy, traditionally Blitz and Tom Brady has been a recipe for disaster for defenses. You know, over the years, Brady seems to put up great numbers against the Blitz. You go back a couple of years and, you know, you're looking at, you know, quarterback ratings in the 110s or so. But this year, he's actually one of the worst quarterbacks against the Blitz. Looking

at NFL matchup on ESPN, they just put out a tweet today. You know, his quarterback rating against the Blitz is just 63.3. That's Joe Flacco territory, believe it or not. And given what you said about Pease dialing up pressure, do you think that's something Tennessee's going to try to do this week? Yeah, you know, that's probably the most interesting thing that I want to see on Sunday because I saw that dude today in the top five in the league as far as, you know, percentage of times they blitz.

And then the Patriots, I think, are number one. Like teams that blitz against them less than anybody else in the league. So, like you said, I mean, traditionally you want to play coverage and do that kind of stuff. You know, I don't know. Maybe if they've seen something they think they can do. I mean, I think the main reason the Titans have done it so much is because they haven't really been able to get a whole lot of pressure just with with the with the normal rush um you know they've got Derek Morgan's hurt uh Brian Arakpo is just I mean he's still a he's still a side player but he's not the

dynamic player that he was earlier in his career they got Harold Landry who's who's done a good job trail case is a good pass rusher but their their pass rushers up front are not that good so they've had to do a little bit more of that. So I don't know. It'll be interesting to see. But, I mean, if what he's done through the first eight weeks of the season is any indication, then I think they'll be pretty aggressive in this game. You know, a big question going into every sort of game for the Patriots,

and when you're looking at the other side of the ball, is who's going to draw that Gronkowski matchup? Now, whether he goes is a question mark, which we'll find out later in this week, I guess. We just don't know if he's going to go. But if he does, is that sort of the, you know, you're going to take Bayard and you're going to put him on him? Is that for Kenny Vaccaro? Who do you think draws that Gronkowski assignment?

Should he go on Sunday? Yeah, I mean, you would think it would be Bayard. Bayard struggled against him a little bit last year in that playoff game. But, I mean, that makes the most sense. You know, maybe they try Kenny Vaccaro, like I mean, you would think it would be Bayard. Bayard struggled against him a little bit last year in that playoff game. But, I mean, that makes the most sense. You know, maybe they trumped Kenny Vaccaro, like I said, because Bayard did struggle last year. But, yeah, I mean, I don't really know if they have another option. I don't think you're going to take one of your corners.

I know some teams do that sometimes and stick them on Gronkowski. I don't think that the Titans will do that. So, I think it will be one of the safeties. And that's what I was going to ask you. I mean, you've got those guys, Sonny Michel, Rob Gronkowski will do that. So I think it'll be one of the safeties. And that's what I was going to ask you. I mean, you've got those guys, Sonny Michel, Rob Gronkowski, all that. What do you think the chances are that they suit up? I mean, I would imagine the one that would probably go would be Gronkowski. I think Michel now with the knee injury that he's had, you know,

they seem to be sort of taking him along slowly. You know, I think with Gronkowski, it's been, you know, a back and an ankle. He's been dealing with the ankle for a while now. But the back sort of emerged during practice. So that was kind of a strange issue that popped up out of nowhere. We're told that it's unrelated to the multiple back surgeries that he had. It's more of a back spasm type thing. Now, the Patriots did release an injury report today. Gronkowski was at least on the field for a portion of practice. He's still

listed as limited participation in practice as well as Sonny Michel, but we all know that the Patriots tend to be a little cagey with injury stuff, so limited participation, that doesn't really tell us much. So, I would consider them both to be sort of game-time decisions. Some people say Michel is going to be expected to play. Others are more hesitant about it. Gronkowski is sort of considered week-to-week, depending on who you talk to. But their status, I still think, is

kind of going to be up in the air. Yeah, and so I guess they've moved Cordell Patterson, a guy that you know most fans around here are very familiar with he played you know college at Tennessee I guess he's been playing primarily running back how's that worked out you know Jimmy it's been an interesting little move and what's been fun to watch about that is you know you look back at his time in Minnesota you look back at his time at Oakland and there were fans of both of those teams who were clamoring

for him to get more snaps or running back than say wide receiver because it seems like he might more be naturally suited to play that position his running style is very unorthodox as a running back it's very upright the pad level is high if we were sort of scouting him you know coming out of college you wouldn't say this was a guy that was going to make the transition but he's a very strong tough runner finishes a lot of runs moving forward, gets some decent yardage after contact. He's able to run through arm tackles and things like that. So it's been an interesting transition,

but it's sort of that typical Patriots fashion, Jimmy, where next man up, do your job type philosophy. And so if Michel can't go, I'd imagine that they're going to see him, you're going to see him make some James White and Patterson again running the football. Yeah. What about Josh Gordon? I mean, obviously, you know, an intriguing guy.

Everybody knows the history off the field. But when he's been on the field, he's an unbelievable player. How has he settled into this offense? It seems like he's picked up this offense better than other sort of newly acquired receivers picked up this offense. Now other sort of newly acquired receivers picked up this offense now part of that is probably due to his talent level where you know you could still do some things with him even if he doesn't have the full playbook at his disposal to make him an effective part of your offense but you know when you look back at that game last week you know

against the Packers there were some adjustments and conral conversions that he was making that made it seem like he had been in this playbook for years some reads that he was making some you know times where he would sit down in the right areas of the zone and so the on the field stuff has seemed to transfer really well obviously you still have your fingers crossed for the off the field stuff we saw a couple weeks ago there was a report that he might not start the game because he would have been late apparently that was either a false report or mix of signals or something, but you still sort of have your fingers crossed that, you know, if the off-the-field stuff works out, it seems like he's really sort of ingrained himself into this offense.

And more importantly, I think, he's earned himself into that Tom Brady circle of trust. You look at some third-down throws, some fourth-down throws. It seems to be like, you know, usually that would be Gronk time or Edelman time. Tom Brady seems to be looking in his direction. that tells you how much Tom Brady trusts him already yeah and the last thing I had on the offense you know Edelman obviously missed the beginning of the year um and it seems like the I mean just what kind of watching from the outside the offense has been more efficient

since he's been back what differences does it make having him on the field well there was sort of a trickle-down effect I'd say to the offense at the first start of the year and then when you get edelman back and you get gordon into the mix because when you're going without gordon you're going without julian edelman who for for years has been sort of the straw that stirs the drink that is the patriots passing game you know when you go without those guys you're asking guys like chris hogan and philip dorsett to run those sort of option routes those juke routes over the middle where the quarterback and receiver have to be on the same page read the coverage the same way read the leverage in the secondary the same way and make the right decision and the same decision to execute the play that's an unfamiliar role for

both Dorsett and Hogan they weren't used to running it and so a lot of plays and incorporated that route in the scheme they weren't hitting on but now you get Edelman back and so there's that sort of relationship between him and Brady and the other trickle-down effect is you know Chris Hogan's a great wide receiver against you know your your third corner you know but when he's drawn corner one he's drawn cb2 you know that's a tough situation for him to win those one-on-one matchups and so it had that sort of effect on the offense where nobody was getting open now where Hogan's going up against other corners edelman still got the ability to get open against you know db1 db2 type same for josh gordon it's had that sort of effect on the offense mark scofield jimmy morris we're doing a little you're learning something from what we're talking

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And Jimmy, I think, you know, when you bring up the Titans offense, the first name on everybody's mind is obviously Marcus Mariota, a quarterback that I really loved coming out of college. A lot of people were high on him. And it seemed at least watching that game Monday night against Dallas, I just broke that game down today to get ready for this week. That might have been the best I've seen him play in a while. Is that sort of the feeling around the Tennessee Titans right now? This is the Marcus Mariota we were hoping to see? Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, listen, I have a reputation as a Marcus Mariota apologist.

That's why we're friends there. There you go, yeah. So I just think that you can't just look at the stats. And I think that's what a lot of people do. You know, we as Titans fans have a little bit of a little man syndrome complex here because it's a small market and all that kind of stuff. But, listen, so Marcus Mariota, you knowota has been in the league for four years now. He's had really four different offensive coordinators.

He's had three different head coaches. It's just been a constant change around him. And so now we're finally at a place where you have Matt LaFleur as the offensive coordinator and a guy that's going to come in and is going to move the offense to Mark Mariota's strengths. Terry Hrabisky and Mike Malarkey last year, they were going to run what they were going to run. And, you know, they were going to, Marcus was going to fit into that.

And that's just not, you know, that's just not a smart way to play the game anymore. And so, so we were all really excited about a Matt LaFleur offense, a guy that's, you know, been under Sean McVay, been under the Shanahan's, comes from that kind of tree. And then they haven't been good to start out the season. Now, again, if you just look at the numbers, it hasn't been good. But Marcus in the game against Miami in the week one game got hit in the elbow and got a nerve issue. And like I said, basically couldn't feel the last two fingers on his hand now on his right hand his throwing hand so they held him out in week two against the texans

like i said week three they were planning on holding him out again blind garb got a concussion they had to go to him and so for ever since that game all the way through the london game two weeks ago he was wearing this like half glove type thing where he he just had the glove on that those in that second or the the last two fingers on his hand okay so his ring finger is pinky and he had basically said you know he would wear that as long as he couldn't feel those fingers and then he came out Monday night without it on so we're under the assumption now that he's fully healthy so you can imagine how hard it would be to throw a football without being able to fill those two fingers,

especially against an NFL defense, right? But, you know, people that don't know that, that just see the numbers, they haven't been good. And the offense is struggling at times. He's missed throws. They've had drops. I mean, there's been a lot of different things going on. I really think that what you saw Monday night is what he can be.

I think that that's the guy that we're going to see for the rest of the year. Now, again, assuming he's healthy, and that's been the biggest thing with him throughout his career, he's had the injuries that have, you know, he hasn't been able to play a full season, all that kind of stuff that has slowed his progress. But I think now that he's finally got an offense that's suited to his strengths, and if he can stay healthy on the field, I think that's the guy you're going to see. I still am confident that he is a franchise-level quarterback, but we are getting to the point now, I mean, it's year four, where we need to see that consistency before he can really be in that conversation.

Next question I got, Jimmy, is actually from one of our listeners through the Lockdown Patriots Slack channel, Huzifa Patel, who asks, who are the most influential weapons in the pass offense? I haven't looked at the numbers, but I'd imagine Corey Davis is first. Who is next and what routes and situations do they typically get used on? Yeah, so that's been the issue, right? I mean, at the beginning of the year, you had Delaney Walker. You had Corey Davis, your number one receiver.

Rashard Matthews, your number two receiver. And they were going to kind of figure it out behind those guys. He breaks his ankle in week one. He's out for the year. Rashard Matthews decides that he doesn't want to play here anymore, and they release him. So now you're down to Corey Davis as your number one. Taewon Taylor is your number two. Tajay Sharp is your number three, and I'm sure people that are listening to it from the Lockdown Patriots side are like, who the heck are those people? Yeah, I mean, that's kind of been the issue, right? And then you've got Jonu Smith as a tight end who they had high hopes for,

but the development's been kind of slow. So, basically, he's been, I mean, again, Mark Smart, apologies coming out here. He's been playing with, I mean, the weakest supporting cast in the league, or at least it's in the conversation. I know there are a few other teams that have a lot of issues. So, you know, right now, Taewon Taylor had been running at number two with Corey Davis

being number one, but Taewon Taylor hurt his ankle in the game Monday night. I doubt he plays. Tajay Sharp then probably moves into that number two role. He's a guy that was a fifth-round pick two years ago, or three years ago, I guess. Played his rookie year and then missed his entire second year. He's a good route runner, generally has pretty good hands, not a burner, a fifth-round pick, a good player, but nothing that keeps the coordinators up at night.

And then you've got behind him, you've got Darius Jennings and Cameron Batson, undrafted guys that they brought in that have been productive at times but have also had big drops. So the weapons are the issue here. Like I said, I don't think Taewon Taylor is going to be able to go in this game. So I think you're looking at Tajay Sharp running number two. You know, I think that you're going to have – they're going to have to use

Deion Lewis a little bit more in the slot in this game just because they're just so thin at that position. We were all dying for them to make a move at the trade deadline. You know, prices got high and all that stuff. So, I mean, it's understandable why they didn't end up doing that. But the weapons have been a big issue for this team. You know, Jimmy, you mentioned the offensive line not playing well. What have sort of been some of the issues on the offensive line?

Because I remember back in this divisional game, the Patriots, they got back-to-back sacks at one point in the second half against that left side. Now, I know Quentin Spann was banged up in that game, had a back injury, I believe. But what have been the issues on the offensive line so far? Yeah, I mean, the interior guys have been the issue. You know, Josh Klein, they gave a bunch of money to another guy

that's from the Patriots. He's been okay. He had a really bad game against the Ravens, and they gave him 11 sacks in the Ravens. That game was just a disaster all the way around. really bad game against the Ravens. And they gave up 11 sacks to the Ravens. That game was just a disaster all the way around.

The center, Ben Jones, he's just kind of in the twilight of his career. He's still okay sometimes, but against, you know, really good interior pass rushers, he just can't hold up against those guys. Spain's been better. You know, Jack Coughlin tore the ACL in that divisional game last year. He came back, I guess, three or four weeks ago has been okay now he's the concussion protocol this week i kind of doubt he plays again you know that's just kind of a day by day thing see how it goes didn't practice today um so i wouldn't be surprised to see dennis kelly

out there right tackle he's serviceable he's okay uh taylor one left tackle is really good so it really is just been they've been the offensive line has been in flux i mean like i said conklin was out for the first month. Taylor LeJuan missed the game. He got a concussion in week one. Clines missed the game. Spains missed the game. So, I mean, they've just said they've had some of those kind of issues.

But they really need a little bit of help. And they need to upgrade at center and maybe at one of the guard positions. They're just kind of not talented enough right now. But to have it all five guys in the field would be nice, but it's really been, I think there's been two games out of the eight they've played so far that all five guys have started and ended the game. So it's just kind of one of those things. You mentioned Jimmy Deion Lewis sort of taking over as the featured back.

One of the things I loved last year about Lewis was you look at him from sort of a stature standpoint, from an athletic profile standpoint, you think, oh, scat back type, got to run him to the edges. But his ability to run between the tackles, I thought, was something he didn't get enough credit for. Is that something that you guys have seen from him this year? Absolutely. And, you know, you look at those two guys, I mean, you probably saw the picture that

they tweeted out during training camp of Deion Lewis and Derrick Henry standing next to each other. And, you know, Derrick Henry makes Deion Lewis look like a little kid but if you if you got third and one fourth and one you need to get the ball out of Deion Lewis I mean like you said he's he runs really well between the tackles Derrick Henry doesn't he doesn't run with at the same like size power profile that you would think that he would um so he's they've used Deion Lewis a lot more in short yards than they have derrick henry and he's just been a lot more effective so like i said i think that combination of henry

just kind of running he just he takes a long time to get up to speed now if he can get on the edge and he can get in the open field he can run away from people i mean he's weird that way and that he does have that really that top end speed but he's not as good you know when he's got to be in traffic and make cuts and that kind of stuff and like you said I mean that's where Deion Lewis is so good so I think that's the reason that you've seen the big shift there you know Jimmy looking ahead to Sunday what are some of the areas of the Patriots defense from what you've seen that you think might give this Titans offense trouble and what are some areas where you think this Titans offense

is going to be able to make some plays against this defense well I mean I think they'll try to take advantage of Deion Lewis on the Patriots linebackers I mean I think that that's kind of been a thing that I think some teams have been able to do something I do they they finally got the screen game going on Monday night that's been a thing that the Titans have been here for 20 years and they've never been able to run a screen pass and then we we saw they did so much of it in the preseason. We were all really excited. And for whatever reason, it just hadn't worked out so far this year. But I think that's what they'll try to do.

They'll try to get the ball to Deion Lewis in space and let him make some plays. You know, the thing that concerns me is anytime, if you can get a good interior pass rush, and you can tell me how good they are, that this offensive line struggles with, and that's the thing that Marcus kind of struggles with as well. If he can step up in the pocket, he has the ability.

I mean, he's good at keeping his eyes downfield, good at stepping up in the pocket, good at finding running lanes if he does that. But if you get the pressure on him from the middle, sometimes he, you know, I on him from the middle sometimes he you know i think he drops his head sometimes at that point and he can't find the running lanes you know or the escaping outside of the pocket and then i mean in that in that ravens game at the end of the game he was seeing ghosts i mean he was dropping out of the pocket real early but i

mean it's hard to blame after you've been sacked you know eight nine ten eleven times we'd all be scared back there. So that that's the thing that I think they've struggled with the most is when a team can get a good interior push. That's been the thing that's just given them a lot of trouble. Yeah. And to that point, I mean, it's certainly been a long time bone of contention with Patriots fans, you know, the, the, the pass rush or lack thereof from new England.

I think in recent weeks, we've seen them get a little bit more of a pass rush. I think they did a better job on Sunday night against the Packers. You see some clips of Belichick on the sideline from him being mic'd up, seemingly pleased with the pass rush. And I think what they've been able to do in recent weeks is they've used Adrian Claiborne less. His snap count from three weeks ago was 33 snaps. In the past two weeks it's been 16 and 17.

So they're picking their spots with him. They've kicked Trey Flowers inside a lot. They were able to get some interior pressure using him that way. So I think if interior pressure is going to be the goal, you're probably going to see a little bit more of that this week. So the Patriots, looks like they've given up quite a few points. What has been the issue that they've given up quite a few points. What has been the issue that they've had with teams being able to score on them?

Yeah, I mean, I think similar to what you said with the big plays. Obviously, look, you have that game against Kansas City. That's an offense that's going to get big plays. I mean, they did a good job in the first half. They held them to some field goals. But, you know, in the second half, they were able to hit on some huge plays. And I think that was obviously something that allowed them to get into the end zone. Going into the first half, looking back at the first half of the season or so, something that has plagued this team dating back to last year

was sort of those crossing routes, those shallow crossers, those intermediate crossers, particularly when they were running man coverage. It was almost like they couldn't get pressure, so they had to blitz. You blitz, you play man coverage behind it. Teams were hitting on some of those crossing routes. It was enabling them to get some big plays, extend some drives. Patriots couldn't get off the field on those third down situations. In the most recent weeks, they've been doing a better job of it.

And I think what we're starting to see, Jimmy, is that typical Patriots formula where they start slow on the defensive side of the ball. They're trying to figure things out. And then they start playing better and better as the season goes on. They'll still give up yards. They're that bend-but-don't-break type defense. But we're seeing more and more of them holding teams to three. And I think that first half against Kansas City is kind of what you're expecting to see from this Patriots defense overall,

them keeping teams out of the end zone, holding you to three and trying to basically say, look, field goals usually don't beat Tom Brady. Yeah, and I mean, I would assume that, you know, this has been the thing that we always point to the Patriots about is they're so good at identifying the other team's weakness and attacking that. The Titans finally have a coaching staff here. Like I said, they wanted to establish the run

and they were going to establish the run if it was the best run defensively or the worst run defensively. They didn't care. You've seen this coaching staff has been able to adapt and try to attack whatever the weakness of the defense is. What do you think? I mean, if you're game planning against this Patriots defense,

where are you trying to attack them? Yeah, I mean, if I'm going after this Patriots defense, I think it's kind of what you identified already, Jimmy. It's going up against those linebackers, trying to get, you know, if a Landon Roberts is on the field, number 52, you want to get him isolated in man coverage situations, whether it's with Deion Lewis or somebody else. If, you know, he's not on the field, but it's Dante Hightower, Kyle Van Noy, you know, those are guys that I think you want to get isolated in those sort of one-on-one

situations. Now, that being said, the Patriots have done a lot with sort of diamond dollar packages. We've seen a lot of 3-2-6, you know, we've seen a lot of sometimes they'll even go, you know, 2-3--6 where they have more defensive backs on the field than anything else. And I think they're trying to do that because they look at the athletes they have in the secondary and they're trying to get them into better matchups against some of the weapons that other teams have on the offensive side of the ball. But I think if you're Matt LaFleur, and this is something I'm really interested to see, Try to use tempo. If you get that sort of base personnel package from the defense from New England and you see Landon Roberts on the field, maybe you go tempo,

try to keep him on the field and try to isolate him in man coverage because I think he's one of those guys that if he's on the field, if you can get him isolated in those man coverage situations, you're going to have some success. And the last thing for me on this side is, obviously the thing that Bill Belichick is so good at doing is identifying the other teams, their best player, and doing a good job of taking him away.

Do you have any ideas, I don't know how much you've watched the Titans, but who they would try to take away from this offense? You know, watching this Titans offense, going back, looking at that game against Dallas, I think there are two things that you want to do. You want to keep Marcus Mariota in the pocket. Now, I was very impressed with Mariota from the pocket in that game. I thought there were times when he was blitzed,

where he did such a fantastic job stepping up in the face of the blitz or getting the ball out quickly and not letting it phase him. But I think we all know he's extremely dangerous when he gets sort of outside the pocket and he's able to sort of create with his arm or with his legs either way in those scramble-dwell situations. So I think they're going to want to contain him. And I think Deion Lewis is going to be an area of focus for the Patriots, as well as the tight end spot.

Bill Belichick always considers a versatile-type tight end as the most dangerous thing to worry about in the passing game. And so June Smith, I think, is going to get some attention this week. I liked him coming out. I think that Belichick is probably going to rotate some coverage his way, or maybe it's just a Patrick Chun one-on-one type situation. But I think those are the areas that Bill Belichick is going to focus on. Yeah, and just to that, Janu has been a little bit of disappointment you know when they

drafted him he he just he profiled so closely to what delaney walker is or was or whatever you know and we all just kind of assumed that that was the role that he would eventually take on now i mean i think that's still the plan i think it got rushed a little bit. They weren't planning on it being week two of this year, but that's kind of what it had to be with Delaney going down. But you saw the little option pass they threw to him on the goal line in that game against the Cowboys. I mean, you see his athleticism. It's there.

And there was another play where he was running wide open, but Marcus got blitzed and kind of went to the hot guy instead of being able to stand in and see that and Marcus after the game you know basically I owe him one so I mean he's done some good things in the last couple weeks has been coming on a little bit so yeah that's the thing that I hope that they need him to emerge because they they are they're just seriously they're lacking in the weapons department. Mark Schofield Jimmy Morris doing some locked over locked Titans, Locked On Patriots crossover action. A little bit

later we're going to go sort of big picture stuff on this week and also a great reminder here since I have Jimmy with me to remind everybody about the great new expanded Locked On College Network and Jimmy is the host of Locked On Alabama so you definitely want to check out the great work going on across all the shows

on the Locked On Podcast Network. Mark Schofield, Jimmy Morris, back with you now to sort of close out this crossover installment of Locked On Patriots and Locked On Titans. And Jimmy, let's sort of go big picture. I wanted to ask you, obviously, you know, Houston, they've gotten off to 6-3 now after their slow start. Tennessee at 4-4. What's sort of your big picture thought on the Tennessee Titans right now? Do you see them sort of getting back into a divisional title race here, or do you think this is more a wild-card team?

What's your big-picture thought on the Titans? Yeah, I mean, I think if they're going to get in the playoffs this year, it's going to have to be the division. I don't know. I mean, I guess, you know, they got in at 9-7 last year. It's a long season. I mean, I guess that could kind of play out as well this year. The Texans have been really good.

They've won like six in a row since the Titans beat them in, I guess that was week three. They've been on fire. I think they're playing above their heads a little bit, but they're a good team. They've obviously got a lot of good things going on down there. I think they can still win this division. The know the frustrating thing is you're there's a couple of games now you're gonna look back on i mean they they had chances in that miami game it was a

weird game in week one it was like a seven and a half hour game with all the weather delays and all that kind of stuff uh that's again i think they feel like they should have won they should have won in buffalo nick williams dropped wide-open touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Buffalo's offense hadn't been able to do anything. I mean, I really think if he catches the ball, he goes in, he scores. You know, you're talking about a 5-3 team instead of a 4-4 team. I mean, just one game. But I think in this division that would be a huge deal because they do have a win over the Texans.

So, I mean, I still think they can compete to win the division. After this Patriots game, the schedule does – it lightens up for them a little bit. So they've kind of played the stuff as part of their schedule after this week that they're going to see. So they've been able to tread water to this point. You know, new coaches, new offense, new coordinator, all that kind of stuff. Won a couple of games they probably shouldn't have and then lost definitely one or two games that they shouldn't have.

So, I mean, kind of all in all, it's even and in a pretty good position as far with everything that they've gone through considering to still make a run at the division. And now looking ahead to Sunday, I mean, I don't know if you've got a prediction ready. You want to make one here on the spot. But what do you think happens in this game between these two teams? Well, and yeah, I mean, this just terrifies me. I just – I don't know how much is different from what we saw in January. That's the thing that scares me.

And, I mean, honestly, you know, when you look back at that game, I think Danny Amendola had 11 catches for 100-something yards, a couple touchdowns, something like that. And, you know, now you've got Julian Elman, who you didn't have in that game. You've got Josh Gordon, who you didn't have in that game. You know, so, I mean, it seems like, and you can tell me if you think the Patriots offense is better this year than it was last year. So, I mean, that's my fear is that the Titans are not going to have very many answers for this offense when they're on defense. So then the question becomes, can the Titans offense score enough to keep up and, you know, keep them in the game?

If they play like they did on Monday night, I think they've got a chance. If they play like they did, I mean, they went something like 7-8-9, I can't remember exactly what it was, quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown from Buffalo through the Ravens game and into the Chargers game. They didn't score until the second half of that London game. They didn't score until the second half. So, I mean, that's obviously an area of concern is, you know, we've seen if you go back and watch thegers game, they didn't score until the second half of that London game. They scored until the second half. So, I mean, that's obviously an area of concern is, you know,

we've seen if you go back and watch the Eagles game, the Titans beat the Eagles in overtime, a huge win there. Offense looked great. And then just went to a hole for like three or four weeks. So we've seen them come up before, but then they've dropped back off. If they can build on the performance Monday night, I think we can see a game that has a lot of scoring and maybe the Titans can hang in. But if the offense

can't score, I don't know. I don't have a lot of high hopes for that. How do you compare this offense that you're seeing right now to the offense that we saw in January? It's a different offense than we saw in January. I think they're trying to get a little bit more balance, or at least that's kind of what

the goal was this year, is to get a little bit more balance. The addition of Sonny Michel was designed to get the one game involved more. We're seeing this New England Patriots team, they use 21 personnel, two running backs, one tight end, two wide receivers. They use it 26% of the time. That's second most in the league. Only the 49ers use it more, but they're pretty balanced out of that. They'll throw the ball 42% of the time out of that package. They'll run it 59% of the time out of that package. And they're trying to get that balance. With Michelle being out, with Gronk being out, the offense has a little bit of a different flavor. They've had to rely on,

like we talked about, guys like Patterson out of the running back spot, guys like James White out of the backfield. And so I'm not sure that if Michelle and Gronkowski are out, I'm not sure this offense is as good as the one we saw last year in this game when these two teams met. But it could be in the sense that if you get, you know, another week with Gordon, you've obviously got some talent there. And so a lot of it depends on who ends up going. But, you know, as far as sort of a prediction, you know,

I don't know if I'm ready to go down with a complete number. So I do think this game is going to be a little bit closer. I know Vegas, I've seen six and a half. You know, that's kind of a big number for, you know, a road favorite here. I think that the Titans, they're going to put some points on the board. I think that offense seems to be rounded into form. You know, my gut tells me New England wins, but I think it's going to be closer than Vegas would suspect

at least right now. But, Jimmy, before we go, as I did mention, you are the host of Locked on Bama, so I do have to ask, being a guy that loves the quarterback position, just how high is the ceiling for Tua? Oh my gosh, he's so much fun to watch. Like I said,

the Titans went through a month of just zero offense, so it was so much fun, at least on Saturdays, I said, the Titans went through a month of just zero offense. So, so much fun, at least on Saturdays, I got to, I got to watch offense. Tua is just the, the stuff that he does. And you go back to the throw to win the Nets championship last year. I mean, listen, we've seen plenty of NFL quarterbacks that can't look that safety off like he did, stab his head back around and throw that ball. I mean, it was just, it's unbelievable to see a guy who hadn't started a game

at that point coming in and do that. He's special because he understands the offense so well. I saw a quote, and I can't remember who it was from, but I can't remember which team it was. It basically said they dialed up a blitz that they had picked up from an NFL team that, as far as they could tell, two had never seen before. And he recognized it, and they got a touchdown out of it.

Now, granted, he's got a lot of great weapons. Those receivers are unbelievable. I mean, he's got a lot of talented receivers down there. But it's just the way that he recognizes the defense, how quickly he can get the ball out of his hands. I mean, his release is just unbelievably fast. He's so much fun to watch. So glad that they've got at least one more year with him.

But, yeah, he's going to be special at every level. I mean, you know, he's a little small, obviously. But, I mean, he makes up for it with just his ability to understand the position. I mean, there are a lot of NFL teams that would be dying to get their hands on him just because he understands what's going on on the field at such a high level that you just don't see out of that many young players in college. So there you go. If you want to hear more about Tua and the rest of the Alabama Crimson Tide,

you've got to be following Jimmy on Twitter. He's at jmorrismcm, the host of Locked on Titans and Locked on Bama. Jimmy, last chance, plug some great stuff for all the listeners that you're doing for the listeners here at Locked on Patriots. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we'll have a lot of good previews coming up. We got a guy named Mike Herndon that does film reviews for us. So he'll be breaking down the Cowboys game over the next couple of days.

So check those out if you want to understand, you know, what the Titans offense is trying to do, what the Titans defense is trying to do. So he does that at museummiracles.com. A lot of good stuff. Check it out there. And Terry and I will have another Locked on Titans episode probably tomorrow where we break down the game from the Titans side.

So just trying to do everything we can and get ready for this game. Fantastic stuff, Jimmy. Please check out Music City Miracles and all the work they're doing. I'm Mark Schofield. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work inside thepylon.com,

Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Wadland's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, and Big Blue View. That will do it for today. Until next time, keep it locked right here to Locked on Patriots and Locked on Titans.