Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans- Nov. 4- Prediction Friday & more.

Episode Date: November 4, 2016

It's Friday, which means we give yo our predictions for Sunday's game in San Diego. #BHop #TerryMc #GregA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Talkspace.com slash BOOM. B-O-O-M. 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 with your host, Terry McCormick of Titan Insider, Greg Arias, and former Tennessee Titans Pro Bowl left tackle Brad Hopkins. Guys, it's Friday, which means another big day here on Locked on Titans.

Lots of things to get to today, including obviously our current news section. We'll give you some analysis on the upcoming game in San Diego. We'll do our predictions and of course close with final thoughts. As we get started this morning, Brad and Terry injury news and it's not good if you're the Titans at least at this point in time because Delaney Walker left practice yesterday Terry with a groin injury and his status a little bit up in the air for Sunday. Yeah, they're going to monitor him.

They took him in for an examination. They're going to watch him today, see how he does. My guess is he'll try to give them a little bit if at all possible. But it's going to be a situation that's going to bear watching throughout today and probably up until Sunday. It all depends on how serious it is. Mike Malarkey said yesterday that there was tightness in the groin, and Delaney Walker went inside, and we'll see if he's able to practice on Friday.

And when they head out to San Diego, they may want to put him through a Saturday workout to see if he's good. Yeah, interesting scenario, too, when you look at Delaney Walker, who obviously leads this team with 28 receptions and 405 yards, throwing three touchdowns. It's going to be a big game for Rashard Matthews, who essentially goes home back to San Diego. His 27 catches for.357 and three touchdowns have been very welcomed.

But for the most part, when you have your top receiver on the sideline, that could be potential problems for this offense. Well, now, guys, at least the Titans have a little bit of a luxury if Delaney Walker is out, and certainly he needs to play if at all possible. But Jay Samaro, the guy that they brought in, has seen limited action this season. In fact, only when Walker has been out injured, he has been inactive the rest of the time,

he at least can come up and fill that role and give you a threat as a pass catcher should Delaney Walker not be able to go. Yeah, I think after practice tomorrow, he's taking some extra passes on the jugs machine. So I think he's probably, as I say, warming up at the bullpen just in case he's going to be needed on Sunday. And it's interesting, too, if Delaney Walker is a question mark, if they think he can go, you know, when they get down to doing their inactive,

they might want to keep Jason Morrow up just as a precaution in case something were to happen to Delaney Walker. Because remember, they've been keeping Andre Johnson up every week as part of their wide receiver group. Now that he's out and Delaney Walker's a little bit nicked up, it's possible that Jason Morrow could find himself active on Sunday, even if Delaney Walker is a go. Yeah, and real quick, I think that when you look at Delaney Walker

leading the team in receptions, the Titans obviously have some sort of contingency plan in place just in case San Diego tried to neutralize who Delaney Walker would be. So expect somebody else to pick up the workload, even though Delaney Walker may be injured. I'm sure that going into this game that they were thinking that he was going to be keyed on from the defense anyway. Other injury news, of course, Quentin Spain still remains out,

obviously with the knee injury. He is not ready to go. Could potentially return to practice next week and possibly next week, but out this Sunday. And also, Rashad Johnson still remains a question mark, Terry, as far as his injury and if he will be able to participate this week. Yeah, it's kind of interesting. He was not on the injury report on Wednesday, but like Delaney Walker,

he appeared on it yesterday. Still having a little bit of an issue with the stiff neck, so he's another guy they're going to have to monitor in order to see his progress today all the way up to game time. So it could be that more reps for guys like Damian Stafford and Kevin Byard if Rashad Johnson is a scratch on Sunday. if Rashad Johnson is a scratch on Sunday. There are some good news for the Titans on the injury front.

That, of course, of DeMarco Murray. He was a full go at practice yesterday with the toe situation. He is going to play on Sunday in San Diego. And also, Parrish Cox returns from his concussion. He is out of the protocol successfully now and ready to get back to action. Practiced yesterday and, in fact, most of this week, Terry, and looks good to go barring some type of setback between now and Sunday. Yeah, both those guys, you know, Cox has been full practice all week,

passed the concussion test after Wednesday's practice. So he's good to go. Murray looks good to go. And, you know, I don't think there was really ever a question of whether or not he was going to play with a toe injury. I think that they just erred on the side of caution with a full-path practice on Wednesday. They wanted to keep him out of harm's way. And, Brad, when you're, you know,

and not that DeMarco Murray is an ancient player by any means in his sixth season, but when you're banged up a little bit or you're a veteran guy, what does that mean when they kind of back you down during the course of a week? In order to keep you fresh on Sunday, you get the middle reps, obviously, but they limit you physically. How much of a benefit can that be to a guy who's, you know, had a few years, you know, a little bit of tread off the tires and also maybe nursing a little bit of an injury? Yeah, Terry, it's a huge benefit to have veterans.

Sure, you know, veterans necessarily need to be taken care of because of their bodies not necessarily being as durable as younger players. But their experience allows them to, like you just said, mentally take the reps and not necessarily have to be in there physically to make sure that they're ready for Sunday. Now, even though DeMarco Murray might be a little slower, not necessarily 100%, Mark Malarkey has already mentioned the fact that he's going to implement

more of Derrick Henry into the fold. Derrick's only got 53 carries on the season for just under 300 yards, but this is the time of the season where you start to see diversity in the run game because of situations like bumps and bruises and people needing to show their depth, of course, and being able to rotate guys in and out of this. You'll see more of Derek Henry this week, particularly with Melvin Gordon on the opposite sideline there

running as effectively as he has this past few games in this season. You've got to think that their game plan is to keep the ball out of Marcus Mariota's hands and implement their own ground attack. So our ground attack is going to be imperative this weekend with either one of those guys, DeMarco Murray or Derrick Henry. Brad, you make an interesting point there, and let me go back to that. You mentioned Derrick Henry, 56 carries for just over 300 yards. Quick math in my head, that's somewhere between 5.5 and 6 yards

per carry on average for him so far this season. So that's not a bad option if your number one guy goes out that you can bring in a back that's going to get you 5.5 to 6 yards every time he touches the football, at least on average. No, absolutely. But DeMarco Murray's average is just 4.7 yards himself. But he hadco Murray's average is just 4.7 yards himself. But he had six touchdowns on the year. Obviously improved line play, like we talked about earlier. He's only second to Ezekiel Elliott as far as rushing yards.

So this has been a pretty good established running attack for the Titans this year. Brad, you lead me to our next point. That's a great segue because the offensive line is one thing that we want to talk about. We got a question posed to us via Twitter. And by the way, for our listeners out there, if you don't follow us on Twitter, you certainly can. You can find Brad at B underscore Hop 72.

Terry at Terry MC 13 rather. And me at TNFBScout. And, guys, the question was posed about Russ Grimm and this offensive line and what he has meant to this line. Terry, you had an opportunity to talk to some players about this, and then tell us what you got from them.

And then, obviously, Brad, you can certainly expound on that and give us some great insight into what goes on with this. Well, Taylor LeJuan, we asked him about the impact of what's changed from last year to this year, and he said that Russ Grimm basically has come in and he's simplified things. You know, the line calls, there's certain calls for every situation, for every look that you get from the defense, and depending on what type of personnel you have on the field

and what type of play you're running. But he said that Russ Grimm has done a great job of simplifying the calls so that the guys are not thinking so much and rather they're just doing their assignment, reacting, and making a simple adjustment if the defense turns out to be in a different look and trying to disguise. Brett, how important is that to keep those guys, not that you don't want them to think and you want them to be smart out there, but you don't want them thinking while the play's happening.

You want them reacting. Absolutely. That's what practice is for. Practice is to have the repetitions necessary for you to just react to what you see. But what they were talking about to you, Terry, particularly, were taking the thinking out of it by reducing some of the options that a lot of offensive linemen kind of throw, a lot of offensive line coaches sometimes put on a young group's table,

or plate, rather. So I look at Russ Grimm, this guy, obviously a former guard for the Washington Redskins, he speaks O-line. And, you know, compared to speaking to Bob Bostad, that used to be here before, I mean, here's a guy that didn't even play the position. So when I talked to younger players even years ago when Ken Wisdom was here, there was confusion as to, you know, what they were doing.

Well, obviously this guy now that speaks the same kind of language, understands these players particularly, and has that same kind of background, at least putting his hand in the dirt, obviously you see them being very effective because they understand exactly what they're being coached. That question, by the way, guys, came to us via Twitter from Dave, and we love our fans, our listeners, and we appreciate the question.

If anybody else has a question, you can send it to us at Twitter, and we'll do our best to answer it in the course of the show, of course. Guys, let's move along now and talk a little analysis of the game coming up on Sunday out in San Diego. And Brad, obviously, you said and I believe and I think Terry as well agree that the Titans have to run the football in this game to have a chance to win for different reasons. One, obviously, being able to move the football and score points. They're better when they run the football than when they just try to pass, but also they can keep the ball out of Phillip Rivers'

hands at the same time. Absolutely. Obviously, a well-improved year for Melvin Gordon this year. 161 carries for 572 yards and eight touchdowns, but if you combine he and Danny Woodhead, who obviously now is injured, their yardage total doesn't come up to DeMarco Murray, who like we just mentioned earlier is second in the league, to Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott in the rush game. So obviously, I'm not saying conservatively,

but you don't need a whole bunch of exotics on the road. First off, if you're a Tennessee Titans and you don't want to have the football in Phillip Rivers' hands, who has 2,200 yards already and 15 touchdowns on the year. So, you know, staying on the field is going to be imperative. Moving the chains is going to be imperative, which means the rush game has to be a huge part of what they do this weekend, Terry. Yeah, Brad, you alluded to exactly where I was going to go with it. The best defense is a good offense, as they say,

and if the Titans are able to run the football effectively with DeMarco Murray leading the way, then they're going to keep Phillip Rivers on the sidelines. Phillip Rivers has shown over the years his ability to work almost with any set of receivers that you give him. He makes the most out of what is there for him to work with. And he's the type of guy who, if he's anywhere close in the game in the fourth quarter, he's going to give the San Diego Chargers a chance to win.

So the Tennessee Titans, they need about 33, 34 minutes time of possession in order to keep Phillip Rivers at bay, I think. And that's something, Terry, that at least in the wins this season, the Titans have been able to do is control the time of possession statistically. They did that certainly against Cleveland and then again against Jacksonville last Thursday night. Now the time of possession was pretty even in the Indianapolis game, and we saw how that turned out. So I think you may have hit on something there as a key stat to watch throughout the course of this game is the time of possession. that to watch throughout the course of this game is the time of possession.

Yeah, I think, you know, the other thing, too, that you have to look at as far as the San Diego offense and the way that they operate, they are one of the most explosive offenses in the league. I think maybe they're in the top five overall, I believe. But I think they also lead the league in turnover. So if you're the tight defense, you've got to be opportunistic this week. You've got to get a fumble, an interception, something along the way to try and slow the momentum. If they drive 80 yards and then turn it over, that's okay.

You've got the football backs to turn them away with points. I think with this San Diego offense, as explosive as they are, the Titans need to hang in and hang in and then try and try and you know be opportunistic when the when the plays present themselves to be made to get a takeaway Brad is there any certain number of pass yards that you feel like the Titans need to try to aim for to offset the run obviously if you can run for 300 or 400 yards in the game which is kind of unrealistic in the NFL, you're in good shape. But is there a certain number that if you're the

Titans, you say, okay, we need to get maybe 200 yards passing or more out of Marcus to offset the run and to have a good balance in this offense? Yeah, well, think about this, though. You don't necessarily have to increase Marcus Mariota's pass attempts or his yards. Maybe even increase just how many yards he gains on the ground. I'm not saying put him in dangerous situations or anything by any stretch of the imagination, but what I'm saying is if you use more of what he's actually capable of doing, especially in this setting,

where if he doesn't get his first, second, or third read, he immediately gets moving vertical down the field and either slides or gets out of bounds. That keeps the offense moving. That keeps it from being stagnant. So I don't necessarily see their pass attempt having to be up to kind of offset what they're going to do running the football. I just think how they use Marcus Mariota this week should be a little bit more intricate just given the fact that they have such a potent office that they're facing on the other

sideline let's slide over on the other side and talk a little defense guys and obviously uh for the titans it starts with what you do versus philip rivers because he is the veteran quarterback you're not going to throw anything at this guy schematically that he hasn't seen that he won't be prepared for, but it again goes to the pressure. We talked about this throughout the course of the week, and Brad Terry, I think that, again, it's pressure getting to Rivers, disrupting his timing, making him move around a little bit, and getting some hits on him.

He's a guy that doesn't really like to get hit, though really what quarterback does. Yeah, that's true. The other thing, too, that I think you have to guard against if you are the tight end. I know the guy's more of a role player now than he has been in the past, but Antonio Gates is still an effective

player, and especially if the Chargers get closer to the red zone. Covering the tight end has always seemingly been a problem for the Titans defense. No matter who was running it, no matter what team they've been going against. I think you've got to keep that Rivers to Gates combination out of rhythm, if at all possible.

Make Phillip Rivers find somebody else to beat you with. Yeah, and you also got to think about Joey Bosa, who obviously joined the team late this year. Even though the Titans have been good in pass protection, he's got to test their mettle a little bit. He's got high energy. The guy's got a lot of ability. And I think that he's going to be a huge part of what they're trying to do defensively

to try and at least keep Marcus Mariota uncomfortable in the pocket. So it's going to be interesting to see the game plans by both of these teams, which team obviously makes the least amount of mistakes is going to be the team that wins this weekend. Now, Brad, I want to ask you this. Obviously, having played in the league and played for the Titans, they're facing Ken Wisenhut, their former coach. Should anybody put anything into revenge

or wanting to make a statement against their former coach? I know some players that you talked to obviously had some hard feelings about some things that went on during that tenure. Is that anything even to consider in this, or is it just two teams going to go out and play football? Well, first off, let's not check. Ken Wisenhunt doesn't wear a helmet anymore. So it's going to come up to the guys he actually coaches.

Now, is he going to have that same emotional connection with their players to make them want to go out and have the same kind of mentality that he does? I'm not sure. He didn't have that kind of connection with the players here. So I'm just going to say that, you know, that would be something that's internal with him. He probably didn't share how he really feels about trying to get back at the team and let him go.

But obviously this is a situation where there's a lot of familiarity as far as Ken Wisenhut and some of the players that are here. But schematically and, you know, talent-wise it's a lot different than when Kim was here. And you've got to attribute John Robinson to a lot of that. He might be up for Executive of the Year with all the things that he's done in the offseason to be able to put this team in the position that it is right now at 4-4. Let's move along.

I'm sorry, go ahead, Terry. No, go ahead. Go ahead. Let's move along. I was going to say I would agree. Well, I do too, and especially the part about John Robinson and the executive. Certainly he's a guy that has to be in the mix for that. He has done an outstanding job with what he's been able to do so far

and obviously still more work to be done. But let's move along. It's time, guys, for our predictions on who's going to win on Sunday when the Titans and the Chargers get together at it. What is it now? Is it Qualcomm Stadium, or what is it? It's still Qualcomm, yeah. Guys, that thing is so old. I played at Qualcomm

when I was in college. It shows you how old this place is. And Terry, Greg, seriously, it shows you also some of the dysfunction that's going on down there in the city of San Diego where they had that slow start and they didn't get behind the team per se, but, you know, Phillip Rivers is playing better. The offense is playing better.

Defensively, they're playing better. But they still don't have their situation, you know, shored up as far as where they're going to be playing next year. So this could be a situation where the Titans could come in and slip in and play against a distracted team at home And get a W Okay, it's been a situation there where they've been looking for a new stadium for a long long time And you know, it's you know now it's kind of come down to they're either going to get it

Or they're probably going to be played somewhere else in a couple years So what other city would be an option we hear the and I don't want to get too far off subject here, but we hear the Raiders and Las Vegas being considered. Where could San Diego potentially be headed now that the Rams are in Los Angeles? Would it be an opportunity to maybe have two teams there or is there a city we haven't heard about, Brad, that you maybe have heard through NFL circles that might be interested in San Diego should they decide to get out of there? Well, San Antonio was a city that definitely was positioning itself

to house the Raiders. In fact, that came to be more of a reality. But 90 miles north of San Diego is a stadium that they're building right now that was designed to have two teams be in it. So I know the Raiders were particularly a team that was interested in being there, but I think the situation in Las Vegas might show itself to be more lucrative for them. But also, you look at the fan base that's already down in Southern California, it wouldn't be that far of a stretch for those that are in La Jolla, San Diego County,

to go just up to Los Angeles and catch a game. So I kind of see if they don't get their situation showing up down there in that part of the the of the state that they just move just a little bit north and you know be coupled with the Rams kind of like the New York teams the Jets and Giants. Let's move along guys and get to predictions. Terry we'll let you lead off with this one give us your prediction on who's going to win on Sunday. Well San Diego has been a house of horrors for this franchise for the the Titans, the Oilers, you know, for over the years. And, you know, there have been a lot of times where they've gone out there and have not played particularly well. I think, you know, obviously, as we saw with the Chicago Cubs,

when you break long losing streaks, things like that, you know, does that play a factor? Does it enter the back of your mind? You know, probably these guys who are 23, 24 years old, they don't care what happened in 1990. Some of them weren't even born then. And I think when you look at it from that perspective, I think the Titans will go out there, they'll play well,

but it's always been a tough place for them to play I'm going to take the Chargers 27-24 Brad? I think that this year is a little bit different the thing that has plagued us going out west is the fact that somehow this business trip turns into a vacation it's beautiful it's relaxing it's fun all the things that you don't want to have going on around your football team

when you're trying to get them to be focused and continue a tight race in this you know already crazy division in the asc south um i don't necessarily see this team being as you know you know cut heads and shoulders better than the San Diego Chargers. But I do think intangibly they'll do things differently this week to at least neutralize some of the strengths of the San Diego Chargers being at home. So surprisingly enough, I think that a field goal is the difference in this ballgame, and I think that it's the Titans that kick it to shock the world and come home with a W.

Give me 2017 Titans. For me, when I look at this matchup, I see Phillip Rivers. And I see a Titans team that has struggled recently against elite quarterbacks, and we only have to go back a couple of weeks to look and see Andrew Luck. He came into Nashville with T.Y. Hilton and a group of tight ends that were less than awe-inspiring, less than what obviously the Colts have had offensively in years past, and he was able to throw for 300 yards and get a victory over the Titans. They have struggled with elite quarterbacks.

Phillip Rivers certainly is that in this league. He's still in, I think, the top ten in the league in quarterbacks. He's spent his career in San Diego playing with assortments of guys that might not have been as great as others. Antonio Gates certainly notwithstanding that, when he was in his prime, he was one of the best. But I just think the Titans struggle in this game against another elite quarterback that has the ability to make plays and to

shoulder this load for his team. Give me 28-17, I'm taking the Chargers, guys, and I know that might be a wide margin, but until the Titans prove to me that they can beat an elite quarterback, I got to go with Phillip Rivers in this one. I'll be sure to tell Marcus Mario what you said. It's nothing against Marcus. It really isn't. In fact, hey, Marcus is the guy that I think. It's nothing against Marcus. It really isn't. In fact, hey, Marcus is the guy that I think can prove me wrong in this.

If he has a game like he had against Jacksonville where he runs, he throws, they move the football, they score points, then certainly I think they've got a chance to win this game. But I'm just thinking that they're going to struggle with Phillip Rivers and he makes enough plays to get a win in this one. And, again, call me wrong or call me crazy, that they're going to struggle with Phillip Rivers, and he makes enough plays to get a win in this one. And again, call me wrong or call me crazy, and you guys can certainly do that on Monday if I'm far off on this,

but that's where I've got to go again until they prove they can beat an elite quarterback in this league. Time for the final thoughts. Brad, lead us off on your final thought for this week. We talked just a little bit in the segment about John Robinson potentially being executive of the year. I think that if you look at what this team has been able to do in a short period of time, given the fact that

Mike Malarkey had to come in here and establish who he is, make the necessary changes to make this team a contender, I almost think it's almost irreprehensible if they don't consider John Robinson, what they've been able to do in a short period of time to at least be executive of the year. I mean, this team's sitting at 4-4 right now

with just as much of an ability to win the AFC South as anybody else in it. I think it's remarkable. Terry? I'm going to go with something that I wrote about this morning, and it's about the in-season improvement of Marcus Mariota from the first quarter of the season to the second quarter of the season. First quarter of the season he had a passer rating of

73, and the second quarter of the season it was almost 121, 120.7. The difference in Marcus Mariota has been the difference in the Tennessee Titans' improvement from the beginning of the year now to the middle of the year in the Tennessee Titans' improvement from the beginning of the year now to the middle of the year.

If the Titans are going to go anywhere, it's going to be on the shoulders of the continued improvement of Marcus Mariota. To expound on both of you guys' final thoughts, you each covered a little bit of what I was thinking in this. Brad, when you talked about John Robinson and what he's done, he certainly should be executive of the year in my opinion because when you look back, this Titans team won all of five games the last two years combined. They already have four this season.

Odds are they're at least going to get one more to get a fifth, hopefully more than that. They could pass their win total for the last two seasons in this one year under John Robinson at the top of this organization my other part of that thought uh based off what Terry said is Marcus Mariota I predicted a minute ago of course 28-17 the Chargers to win Marcus proved me wrong I would be more than happy for you to do that and the Titans go out there and get a win in this game. I certainly think they are capable of it, but it rests on Marcus Mariota. Does he have a game and continue what he's been doing? If he does that, certainly the Titans can and should win this football game.

If he reverts back and has a bad game, obviously it goes the other way. Guys, it was a great show today. That'll do it for us. We will go to the weekend and enjoy the football games, as always, with everyone else, and then be back with you again on Monday where we will talk more Locked on Titans. Have a great weekend, everybody. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.