Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Dec.12- Titans Top Denver 13-10

Episode Date: December 12, 2016

Offense, Defense & more following the Titans win over Denver. #BHop #TerryMc #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. You are Locked on Titans. Your daily podcast on the Tennessee Titans. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team, every day. And welcome to Locked on Titans, your daily source for all Titans news and information Your team, every day. We've got a lot of stuff to talk about today, guys. Obviously, the big news, the Tennessee Titans, 13-10. They defeat the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday at Nissan Stadium. And obviously, Monday we do offense, defense.

We'll get into that a little bit more later on. But, Brad, Terry, the two big storylines coming into this game were the fact that the Titans would be without Jarrell Casey as he tried to go in warm-ups. Couldn't do it. They decided to hold him out of the game. And then, of course, Kendall Wright, who was suspended for the game, basically. He was a healthy scratch. Did not play because he missed a meeting and, or was late for a meeting and missed a meeting on Saturday. And certainly, Brad, you can speak to how that is as being an NFL player.

Not that you ever missed a meeting, of course, but I'm sure people during your time had issues like that, and certainly that is a distraction of sorts for a team, isn't it? Well, one thing that helps a team win is being disciplined and knowing that there are repercussions for things that you don't necessarily do the right way. Him missing time has punishment coming along with that. And obviously docking a guy pay is one thing, but I think obviously the most effective measure is to take him off the football field. And fortunately or unfortunately, however you look at it,

because the Titans were kind of anemic on offense today, they got lucky that they got away with a win without having one of their best receivers on the football field. Right, Terry? Yeah, I think you're right there. You know, but, you know, the truth of the matter is, Kendall Wright really hasn't been a factor for the last several weeks. And I think, you know, this is a situation where I think Kendall's time as a

Titan is starting to draw to a close. He's a free agent at the end of the year. I think this certainly does not work in his favor if he wants to stay here long term. I think when you look at it, the Titans got lucky in more than one way. Not only were they lucky that they were able to overcome not having Kendall, but Trey McBride, who was up and active only because of Wright's suspension, having Kendall, but Trey McBride, who was up and active only because of Wright's suspension,

down that punt on the two-yard line on that last drive by the Broncos that the Titans were able to create a turnover with. Obviously, guys, that certainly is big news. And to his credit, Brad Terry, Kendall stood up in the locker room. In fact, I was the very first person to get to him. I went in actually looking for Harry Douglas, and we'll get into that a little bit later on to talk about his situation from today. And Harry was not really wanting to talk at the moment. So Kendall Wright, locker right there next to him, he said,

you want to talk to me? And I said, yes. So we had our conversation. And to credit Kendall, he stood up and said, yes, I was late, I missed a meeting, and I apologized to my team, apologized to the coaches. I knew on Saturday night Mike Malarkey told him that he would not be dressing and not play in the game today, and he stuck around in the locker room, Brad Terry. And certainly we know in recent years that in certain situations like this,

players would have already checked out. They would have left. They wouldn't have been in the locker room. And to this team's credit, and Terry, I said this to you during the game, Brad, you haven't heard this, but I feel like this team is different in that there's accountability. Because when Taylor LeJuan was ejected, he stuck around and he was right there to talk to the media. Today, Kendall Wright held out. He was there to talk to the media, and that's certainly a change from what we've seen in the last couple of years with this team in several instances, Terry, where you and I go into the locker room and guys were gone.

Yeah, it definitely is a change and a change for the better because I think you want guys to be accountable for their actions. Just like guys are eager to talk when they do well and you want to give them their platform for that. When guys don't do well or don't do what they're supposed to do, them being accountable makes it a two-way street and it gives them more credibility and more validity and more believability. Don't you agree, Brad?

Yeah, I totally would. But I think that it's not always easy for players to be ambiguous across the board. In other words, they just react to the media and its questions just like they do. There are emotions that come along with that, and unfortunately they're not to the degree that we see like Cam Newton, where he's running around doing a lap around the stadium once he wins, but then

has the fattest lip in the world when he loses. I think that there has to be some sort of balance there, at least being able to address the media, obviously when you're feeling great about things, but then also having to have that same conversation with the media when you're trying to about things, but then also having to have that same kind of conversation with the media when you're trying to explain why things didn't go as well.

Let's jump into our offense and defense segments, guys, and start with the offense. And, Brad, I want to throw this one to you first because I thought it was a key to the game. Obviously the offense got off to a fast start. They scored all 13 of their points in the first half. The defense had to hold the game for them in the second half. But when you look at this offense, you played tackle in the NFL.

Conklin and LeJuan, they had a great game today against two of the premier pass rushers in this league, perhaps the best pass rushers in this league, in Vaughn Miller and DeMarcus, where those guys were pretty much non-factors, weren't they? Yeah, as a matter of fact, they were. I think that Vaughn Miller had like six tackles on the day. He didn't get any sacks.

We know DeMarcus got a sack. Shane Gray got a sack. But for the most part, you know, with that kind of ability, the Titans did pretty good. But I think it's also because they ran the football more effectively today than they did passing the football. I think that Marcus Mariota threw for, I think, almost 80 yards or something like that versus him running for a couple, like, 30-year yards or so.

But he handed the ball off to DeMarco Muriel, who obviously is the leading running back in the AFC. And we also saw more Derrick Henry today, had just under 50 yards getting himself involved. And I think that's obviously a testament, Terry, I hand it off to you, the fact that the Titans today were outgained offensively. I mean, it was a great win for them, but Trevor Simeon and the likes, albeit their better second half, really outgained the Titans,

winning the title possession, and therefore keeping our offense on the sideline. Yeah, it was a good effort by the Titans in the first half, especially to run the football. Marcus Mariota, somebody told you he'd go six out of 20 for 88 yards. You would probably have said today would be a disaster for Tennessee, but certainly a credit to the offensive line and the run game for gaining a you know, a decent amount of yards, 180 total as a team.

And Mariota even chipped in with 38 yards on nine carries himself. Some of those design runs, a couple of them on scrambles. I think, and tell me what you think about this, guys, but I think, you know, for the last several weeks, this team has been winning ballgames because of the play of Marcus Mariota. Today, I think in one respect, is a big step for this team, not only because they beat the Denver Broncos, who were the defending Super Bowl champions,

but because they won without Marcus having his A game in the passing attack? Well, you know what? I'll go first, Greg. I think the one thing that happened today, even though we did see Marcus get sacked, he didn't do what Trevor Simeon did or the Denver Broncos themselves and create turnovers. That being the difference, it didn't matter that his numbers weren't, you know,

tickling the 300s or something like that. He didn't have to have a QBR of over 100 when he's not making mistakes. At least he gives the team a chance to win by not putting the defense in precarious situations, probably a bad field position if they're driving because they haven't had a problem with moving the football. It's just sometimes they intend to give it to the other defense. But I think that over the last few weeks, we've seen ball security be the issue that has come to the forefront,

and they've obviously addressed it. And that problem was keeping them in games, even though they're not necessarily putting up high offensive productivity. Absolutely. I totally agree with both of you there. And here's something, guys. You hear about hidden yardage, and this may not come under the category of hidden yardage,

but on the last Titans drive, remember the throw that Marcus made down the Broncos' sideline to get that first down and flip that field position to allow Brett Kern to bury that punt for the Broncos at the two-yard line that pushed them backwards and gave them worse field position. And obviously it changes the play calling a little bit on those first couple of plays when you're in your end zone as to what you might do if you were at the 40-yard line.

So while he wasn't effective, he certainly stepped up and made a perfect pass at a big time right there to help out in that sense for the Titans. And so it wasn't a stellar day, but he had some plays that he made when he needed to, and that's something this team hasn't done in the last couple of years to be able to overcome a poor day from a player as important to them as Marcus has certainly been. I would definitely agree with that.

I think the fact that they're able to overcome that, the fact that they're able to, as Brad pointed out, not turn the football over and get two takeaways themselves, obviously played a huge role in this ballgame. One of the other storylines, of course, offensively today, the Frakus scuffle, however you would like to term it. And, Brad, I don't know if you have seen the video. Terry and I saw a video of Aqib Tlaib in the locker room.

We were initially told, because we didn't make it into the Broncos locker room, that he was not allowed to speak. He did, and certainly there was an interesting statement made, but the fracas started, obviously, when Harry Douglas went low on a block on Chris Harris Jr., got him in the knee, Harris went down, it looked like he might have been injured, he left the field, did come back and play,

but Tlaib, who is a volatile type guy, took offense to that. And on the very next play, Terry, you and I talked about it. Brad, obviously you saw it as well. Tlaib came out, and everybody pretty much knew there was about to be something happen. There was going to be some type of retribution taken by the Broncos in that situation. And, Brad, when something like that happens, you happens, what's that do to a team emotionally? You know, that could have been something that sparked the Broncos' comeback. You know what I'm saying?

If they would have won the game, I think they probably would have pointed to that being a momentum changer if it would have taken that kind of effect. You know what I mean? Like, if everybody felt that what Harry did to Chris was so egregious and everybody did kind of what, you know, Khalif did and all of a sudden sparked the Broncos to a better second half and them winning, you know, those are the things that you can point at

and say, yeah, that was something that happened in the game, a difference in the ballgame that really got people focused and really, you know, playing at a different level, you know. So for the life of me, after having seen it, Terry, I had you, man. I don't know what Harry was thinking. I mean, kind of giving the impression that he wasn't going to block him. And you kind of see both sides kind of slowing up a little bit. You know, he's diving at his knee.

I mean, he caught him just right, too, with the leg planted in the ground. He knew that he was going to catch him at that exact moment and put him in that kind of situation. But him going low like that when it apparently wasn't necessary, I'm trying to come up with an answer. Yeah, it certainly did not look good when you saw the replay at full speed and all. But I think the credit, I think on the one hand, you're okay with Aqib Tlaib sticking up for his guy. But, you know, the credit, you know, I think on the one hand, you know,

you're okay with Aqib Tlaib sticking up for his guy. You'd hate to see him take it as far as he did. And you also like to see the Titans sticking up for Harry Douglas. You know, you saw once it got over on the sideline, there were a number of Titans trying to, you know, get at Tlaib and kind of break up the skirmish. And it was certainly entertaining there for a minute or two and probably a credit that one Taylor LeJuan was not involved in the fracas.

And he said as much after the game. Yeah, he was pretty funny in his post-game comments talking about that. But, Terry, you mentioned several guys in the fracas. I believe probably when Mike Malarkey goes back and watches this game film, one of the guys that was involved in trying to break some of that up that he probably would wish would have not been in it was Jarrell Casey. Obviously, Casey held out of the game today, but he's in the middle of this thing not wearing pads, not wearing a helmet, not wearing anything, and if he gets injured, gets stepped on something

else, certainly that might be something that he's not in trouble, but the coaches might look at him and say, hey, you don't need to do that next time when you're injured and on the sideline that way. Yeah, that probably was not the best move there, but obviously Casey just kind of sticking up for his guy in the matter. Let's move over, guys. I'm sorry, go ahead, Brad. Oh, no, no.

You know, the heat of the moment, you see your buddies out there defending themselves or at least, you know, in the middle of something. I don't care if you've got swim trunks on. You don't get balls, you know. Yeah, I can see that. I can certainly see that. Moving over onto the defensive side of things, guys, the first half, the Titans pitched a shutout.

They pitched a shutout through the third quarter. It got a little dicey in the fourth quarter, but they were able to do what they needed to do, and certainly they provided a goal line stand there with that four-down stop on the possession before the touchdown for the Broncos. But, you know, this secondary, we've talked about them not being very good. They gave up 358 yards, yet they were good enough today to hang on and beat a pretty doggone good football team in a pretty doggone good game that really had a playoff atmosphere,

Brad, and it's been a long time since a game has mattered this much to this team at home at this point in the season. Yeah, you know, the thing is, the operative word, I think when you're trying to describe this team or even other teams is, you know, on what day are they the better team? You know, I think you'd be hard-pressed to say that, you know, this is the best team or that's the best team

because at any given moment, a team can look different. And I think what the Titans are doing this year, and I'm trying to see if you'll agree with me on this, Terry, this is a game that usually is flipped for the Titans to where they're down by 13 points and are fighting and scratching and clawing to get themselves back in it and create a couple of turnovers that ultimately stall their momentum in getting the comeback.

But they did basically flip the script and hold on to the momentum that they gained in the first half. So the Titans have been learning from their mistakes, I think, playing more precise football and not gambling and creating those opportunities for defenses to get turnovers. So I think it is more so the Denver Broncos today because of just what you talked about, Greg, how they were outgained offensively. It was more so of the mistakes they were making, of course,

and the defense taking advantage of those that got the win more so than what we were able to do offensively. Yeah, you know, I look at this game and I see the defense, and certainly we've, you know, had our criticisms, as have other people of the Titans secondary, you know. But in particular, I'm going to point out a couple of guys, three in fact, who played really well, I thought, today back there.

One is Kevin Byard, who had some timely blitzes that really, you know, disturbed Trevor Simeon and got him out of his comfort zone, forced a couple of hurries and some incompletions and things like that. The Titans desperately needed. Next, Valentino Blake, who made two great plays in a row and really held up well against the likes of Demarius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders today. He's a guy that we certainly have had criticisms of when he's not played well, but he turned in a good effort today, as did LaShawn Sims,

who I thought fared very well for a rookie in only really his second action at cornerback with any extensive playing time in an NFL game. Got a lot to learn, but it looks like there is some talent there to work with. Nope, I've never said anything bad about him, Terry. That was all you. talent there to work with. Nope, I've never said anything bad about him, Terry.

That was all you. I'll have to agree with him that probably Terry and I have been much more vocal on the defensive back situation than Brad has in that. But, guys, there's two stats from this game defensively. One is the number two, two forced fumbles, two fumbles recovered by the Titans defense. That's something that they had not done previously. Get fumbles, strips, and recover footballs. Obviously, the second one being the biggest, but Terry, you gave me this number, and correct me if I'm wrong, but 19 combined sacks now between Brian Arakpo and Derek Morgan,

the two pass-rushing outside linebackers for this Titans defense. That is a huge catalyst, and they got home a couple of times today. Morgan got one. They had one, I think, that they shared where they both got there about the same time and hit him, so those guys are really playing well, and that was a big key for the defense today. Yeah, it was, and one other guy that I'm surprised you didn't call him out, Rashad Johnson, had a hand in enforcing both of the fumbles today for the Titans. Absolutely, he did. Brad, that pass rush, and you know as a tackle, you face the best of the best in the NFL at

your time there. When you've got two guys, one on each side, that can come off the edge and do what these two are doing right now, it makes it very difficult for an offensive line. That actually is one of the key to success for the Denver Broncos defense, is having more than just one pass rusher. In other words, if you've got one guy that obviously is wreaking havoc, by scheme you can slide to him, you can have guys chip out of the backfield, you can leave a tight end in, you can do all kinds of things to neutralize that one guy.

But when you have multiple a tight end in, you can do all kinds of things to neutralize that one guy. But when you have, you know, multiple effective pass rushers, then you're usually pretty much in ISO situations, which ironically is what the Titans have this year. Both Brian Arakbo and Derek Morgan have kind of blossomed in Dick LeBeau's system. And I think ultimately having Jerome Casey in the middle as well to kind of push the pocket and make sure quarterbacks don't have that comfortability to step up in the pocket, that's something that they've been using to their advantage this year, I think. I would agree with that 100%. And then when you add in the fact that Dick LeBeau is going to create all sorts of blitzes

and unexpected pressure, then you've got a defense that certainly can keep an opposing quarterback from getting too comfortable back there. Yeah, guys, and I thought another player, unsung member of this Titans defense that stepped up and had a pretty good game today pressuring the quarterback in the absence of Jarrell Casey was Carl Klug. Now, he's a guy that we've seen at times get some sacks and get some pressure, but I thought he did a great job today taking up some of the slack. Obviously, it i thought he did a great job today taking up some of the slack obviously it's hard to replace a jarrell casey but he at least gave them something from that defensive line to help out and make it a three-man pass rush with he morgan and iraq poe

as opposed to just maybe being those two guys on the outside yeah i would agree with that you know carl klug is one of those high efforteffort guys that sometimes his contributions get lost in the shuffle. If you want to give it a basketball, equate it to that. He's the guy that's always diving on the floor for loose balls and tying up people for jump balls and things like that, boxing out and getting rebounds. He may not score a whole lot, but he's always involved. And you have to have players like that, don't you, Brad? Yeah, that guy right there.

You kind of like those. We call those work pail guys, you know, the ones that bring the hard hat and the lunch bucket to work. And, you know, all they do is with their high motor, just kind of, you know, try and make plays. Given the opportunity, of course, stepping in for Terrell Casey, big shoes to fill, he showed himself to be pretty effective too. So you've got to like having guys like that.

That's definitely a defensive line. I'm sure that those guys are definitely happy with his productivity today. One of the most impressive things, guys, as we close in on the end of our time today was the amount of players that contributed in some way. Terry, you mentioned it earlier, talking about Trey McBride that downed the punt. Brett Kern had a big day. He punted seven times, 44 yards. The average had a 61-yard punt from the

end zone that really bailed the Titans out in one instance in the game. There were some big plays, certainly, but there were a lot of guys, Terry and Brad, that contributed little plays here and there that may not show up in the highlight reel, but all those things together collectively got a team win, and that's what we haven't seen in the last couple of years, and that's one of the things that's most exciting to me, is to see guys, Brad, doing these kind of little things and contributing. Yeah, okay, I'll go first. You know what? I think that it's really a testament to how this team is growing

because you mentioned the three phases of which they're all effective. Brett Curran winning the field position battle, you know, paying the Broncos when needed to. Defensively, you know, Rashad Johnson getting strip sacks, not sacks, but, you know, getting fumbles today. Obviously, defense very optimistic coming up with a couple of turnovers. Offensively, they ran the football well, which is something that they've done all year. Now, they might not have

thrown the ball very much, but for the most part, like you said, they had balance and all three bases. I think it's just an example of this team growing. It's time for our final thoughts on this Monday edition, and let's jump right at it. Brad, your final thought on this Titans victory over the Broncos.

You know, I think that this, you know, is obviously a statement win. But wins like this not only give the fan base reasons to come back and fill the stadium, but it also gives the Titans themselves reasons to come out and play well because they're above.500, something that they haven't been in a long time. Seven wins is something that almost anybody that talked about pro football today saw the Titans being able to accomplish. So even to this point, I'm not saying, you know, pack it up, you know,

it's the end of the season, but there are certainly a lot of things to be excited about, not only in the building but also outside of the building. Terry? Brad, I would agree with that. And I think, you know, you talked about this being a statement win. I think the thing that impresses me about what happened on Sunday was the Titans just finding a way to win.

So many times in the past the team has found a way to lose a game like that. But they are starting to find ways to win games. It's not always pretty, as we saw at the end of the Chicago game a couple of weeks ago, as we saw again today at certain times, unable to move the ball in the passing game against a very stout Broncos defense. But we're seeing a team that is learning how to win and growing up as they are right now in the thick of a playoff chase. Absolutely.

Both great points. And, guys, Brad Terry, I'm going to jump off the Titans just a little bit for my final thought today because we saw something pretty negative today take place, that scuffle on the sideline between Harry Douglas and Aqib Tlaib that started. Obviously, Broncos players came off the bench, came off the field to get over there, and I don't blame them for protecting their teammate on the Titans sideline,

but I'm going to call out Roger Goodell in the NFL right here. It's time, guys. Roger Goodell made $44 million last year. Let that sink in. $44 million, one man. Take $16 million of that away from Roger Goodell, and let's get some full-time officials. Not these part-time guys.

I mean, no disrespect for them. I know they're doing a tough job. Things are flying around. These guys are super athletes. They're out there battling hard. But we saw some pretty bad officiating. We've seen bad officiating throughout other games this season and i think it's time that the nfl this money-making machine that it is spend some

money to get full-time officials if you want the best game that you can have and you're asking these players to go out there and give their effort and do what they do and play at the best of their ability then they should be having officiating equal to the talent that they have because the NFL, they'll be quick to find Tlaib. They'll be quick to find Harry Douglas. They'll be quick to find anybody else that they see that violated something. Yet these officials, I feel like lost control. That's my final thought on things for today.

A great win for the Titans. They get it done. They move on now 7-6. And, guys, that will do it for us. We'll be back with you on Tuesday. Enjoy the win, and we'll talk to you again tomorrow. You are locked on Titans. Your daily Tennessee Titans podcast.

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