Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked On Titans Thanksgiving Special: Updated Injuries, Rewatch Analysis & Holiday Food Rankings

Episode Date: November 26, 2020

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

You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Thanksgiving edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. My personal favorite holiday of the year. I hope that I am catching you guys during your holiday commute. Maybe you are beginning to prep for your Thanksgiving meal, whether you're cooking or just eating.

Doesn't matter. Either way, hope you guys have a safe and enjoyable holiday. But as a matter of fact, we have a lot of pertinent Titans information to talk about on this Thanksgiving. I was going to have just a lot of random Thanksgiving fun on today's show, but we got some big news on the roster front from both teams on Wednesday. So I'm going to go over Wednesday's injury report for both teams and then the other big roster news we got on the Colts side that could have a major impact on the game on Sunday.

So going to start out with some really important Tennessee Titans news, and then because we did have our crossover conversation on yesterday's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure that if you did not check out that conversation, you go back and catch that as some really good information in there as well. But because we moved the schedule around due to the holiday, I am going to come today with my rewatch notes. So typically we do a rewatch Wednesday, but I am going to move that segment to today in the middle of our show. Give you all of my schematic insights and my additional analysis from re-watching the coaches tape. And I have some really good stuff and some stuff I want to see from the Titans, not only

in that game against the Ravens, but going forward throughout the rest of the season as well. So excited to share my notepad from my film sessions with you guys. I also added some additional Tic Tac Titan film breakdowns up on my Twitter account at Tic Tac Titans. So make up on my Twitter account at Tic Tac Titans. So make sure that you check that out. But it is a Thanksgiving edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. So I could not go without some Thanksgiving related content.

So what I want to do this year for you guys is I'm going to give you my top 10 ranking of Thanksgiving food items, everything's desserts, side dishes, appetizers, entrees, doesn't matter, throwing it all in that ranking, giving you my top 10 selections. And then I'll cap off today's show with a little bit of sentimental value for you guys. Going to do the traditional Thanksgiving move and talk about what I'm thankful for. Going to talk about football, going to talk about life. Everything in between feels like it's a good day to reflect on how far we've come, especially in this crazy year that has been in 2020.

So we are going over some important health-related information for the Titans and the Colts to start off today's show. Then going into our re-watch segment where I give you my additional analysis from breaking down the coaches tape. And then we will cap off the day with some Thanksgiving fun. A top 10 ranking of food items and what I am thankful for. So excited to get into this holiday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's eat! We got major health-related updates from both the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts

on Wednesday. And the biggest update that we got comes from the initial injury report for both teams. So let's dive into the Tennessee Titans first injury report of the week. And the three players who did not participate in practice were wide receiver A.J. Brown, Adory Jackson, the Titans cornerback, and starting right tackle Dennis Kelly, all three dealing with knee injuries. A.J. Brown has been dealing with that bone bruise in his knee all season long. He missed a few games earlier in the year, was clearly dealing with the injury late in Sunday's game, but he has missed Wednesday's practice throughout the entire season, it seems like, so no cause for concern at this time. Adoree Jackson does have to continue to

ring alarms. Seeing him not return to practice makes you wonder whether he will be able to return at all this season, and then similarly to A.J. Brown, starting tackle Dennis Kelly has gotten a lot of maintenance days, especially on Wednesday as he's been nursing a knee injury throughout the season. So no alarms ringing for Kelly at this time. But let's get into the more positive news for the Tennessee Titans. Cornerback Malcolm Butler was a limited participant. He should be able to go. Center Ben Jones was limited and should be able to go.

Roger Saffold, who missed the last game for the Titans, returned to practice but in a limited capacity. And then wide receiver Adam Humphreys and safety Kenny Vaccaro, who both missed last week's game with concussions, were full participants. That's a positive sign. Jonu Smith, who was banged up during Sunday's game, was a full participant with an ankle. Michael Pruitt, who missed last week's game with a knee injury, was a full participant with an ankle. Michael Pruitt, who missed last week's game with a knee injury, was a full participant. And then backup rookie defensive lineman Larell Murchison with a rib injury was a full participant as well. But that wasn't the only positive injury-related news

for the Tennessee Titans. The three players who were designated to return from injured reserve earlier in the week, punter Brett Kern and cornerbacks Christian Fulton and Ty Smith all were full participants in practice as well now they have yet to be activated officially from IR as that typically won't happen until later in the week possibly Saturday but it is a good sign to see all three of those players participating in full. So the Titans could get some reinforcements here shortly in a game that they desperately need to win against the Indianapolis Colts. On the flip

side, let's take a look at the Colts first injury report of the week. They had some critical players miss on Wednesday, but it's logical to consider this a maintenance day for the Indianapolis Colts as it typically is for most NFL teams around the league. Safety Justin Blackman, who has been maybe the best defensive rookie in the NFL this year. Defensive end Justin Houston, center Ryan Kelly, guard Quentin Nelson, linebacker Bobby Okereke, wide receiver Zach Pascal, quarterback Phillip Rivers, safety Kari Willis, cornerback Rock Yasin all did not participate in Wednesday's practice for the Colts.

Which of those injuries are to be considered serious and be considered to maybe threaten game status? We don't know at this time and we won't know until later in the week, but it is something to monitor. know at this time and we won't know until later in the week but it is something to monitor the biggest health related news for the Indianapolis Colts though came later in the afternoon on Wednesday and did not have to do with the injury report and of course that means that it is COVID related in the Colts star defensive tackle one of the best defensive players in the NFL, DeForest Buckner was placed on the COVID reserve list late on Wednesday. So his status for Sunday's game is up in the air, but at this point in the week, it makes it very unlikely that he would be able to pass through protocol in time to play in this game. Now if Buckner tested positive himself he certainly won't

be able to play in the game on Sunday but if he was just a close contact to someone who tested positive then there is a chance that he could pass three tests within the five days before the game is played and then be able to play but that is a situation a major situation to monitor as Buckner is one of the best defensive players in the NFL and the acquisition of DeForest Buckner has changed the Colts defense into one of the top units in the NFL. But I will have more information and additional updates for you tomorrow in our game preview football Friday episode of the Locked on Titans podcast.

I always cover the latest injury report along with gambling information, fantasy information. I give my game and score prediction. And that's just the last segment of the show. We begin our Football Friday game preview by going over my keys to the game and keys to victory for the Titans. And then in the middle of our show, we take a look at the players and the player groups to watch. So make sure that you're subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream so you don't miss tomorrow's game preview episode.

And of course next week Monday we'll be recapping the game. Tuesday is Tic Tac Tuesday taking a look at my first film breakdown of the week in the Tic Tac 4 pack. Wednesday will be our rewatch Wednesday, which you'll get a preview of what that is like just after this. And then, of course, we'll be back on Thursday with a crossover Thursday conversation before that game against the Browns. So a lot of great content coming up Monday through Friday,

content covering the Tennessee Titans every single day, every single month throughout the year. But we are going to jump into our rewatch segment going over my additional notes and analysis from rewatching the coaches tape. It may not be a Wednesday, but let's continue this Thanksgiving edition of the Locked On Titans podcast by getting into my rewatch segment for this week. And I have watched the coaches tape multiple times for the Titans offense and defense. I want to bring you some of my schematic notes.

So let's start on the defensive side of the ball. And where we need to start is the defensive alignment. So what the Titans wanted to do in this game is play a 3-3-5. And if you're not familiar with that formation on defense, you're looking at three defensive linemen, three linebackers, and then five defensive backs. And that's kind of the formula that was put together in the Ravens' first playoff loss with Lamar Jackson

a few years ago against the Chargers. They put six, seven defensive backs out on the field at all times, and that's a general philosophy that teams started to follow. Now, the Ravens countered that by playing a bunch of heavy tight end personnel throughout the last few years so that teams can't go that heavy with defensive backs but the Titans found a happy medium with that 3-3-5 so that would include Jeffrey Simmons, Daquan Jones, and Derek Roberson and then they would have Jayon Brown, Rashawn Evans, Harold Landry and then you would have your traditional five defensive backs you'd think of with Imani Hooker, Kevin Byard in this game, Desmond King, Breon Borders, and then Malcolm

Butler. So that's what the Titans were trying to do. And the reason that they wanted to do that, if the Ravens had a balanced look, they had a tight end on either side, well, then the Titans would go to a five-man front. They'd have Harold Landry at one outside linebacker, the three linemen, and then they would have Desmond King or Imani Hooker right off the line of scrimmage on the other side of Harold Landry. So you got eight men in the box. You got three down linemen. You got basically, you're basically running a 5-3 at that point in time.

But the outside guys is one, your outside linebacker, and one of them is your cornerbacks in Desmond King. And his versatility and physicality, along with Imani Hooker, along with Kevin Bayard, allowed the Titans to do this. So basically the Titans were running that 3-3-5, and they would have Bayard and they would have Hooker at their safety positions. So every single time, the Titans would just roll their 3-3-5. Sometimes it would look like a 4-3.

Sometimes it would look like a 3-4. They would just roll their 3-3 sometimes it would look like a 3-4 they would just roll their 3-3-5 back and forth and because of the physicality and versatility of one Harold Landry who can play off the line of scrimmage and play off ball linebacker and is decent enough in pass coverage where the Titans can put him there and it won't be a complete meltdown if he has to drop back in zone and play coverage and then you see the versatility of somebody like a Desmond King, Amani Hooker, Kevin Byard, who have the physicality to play up at the line of scrimmage. There were plays in this game where Desmond King was lined up at defensive end.

There were plays in this game where Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker were lined up as off-ball outside linebackers. And you have to be able to do that and have that kind of personnel to beat the Ravens when they go to their two tight ends and a fullback, or one tight end and a fullback, three tight ends and a running back. When they do those personnel matches, the Ravens have such speed with Lamar Jackson that if you go with your base defense, three defensive linemen, four traditional linebackers, and four defensive backs,

you're not going to have the speed on the field to be able to keep up with Lamar Jackson in the run game. So having that extra defensive back on the field, running that 3-3-5, and having the versatility of Landry, Bayard, and Hooker, and King, allowed the Titans to play that 3-3-5 all game long. Now, in run defense, what the Titans wanted to do is they wanted to crash in their defensive end. So Derek Roberson, a lot in this game, was going from the defensive end and just crashing down inside towards the ball when it snapped. The reason for that is the Ravens run a ton of read option, and the best way to defend

the read option is to give pure assignments. That means defensive end, you have the running back. Every single time you see a read option mesh point in the backfield, you dive in as if the running back got the ball, and you hit the running back. No matter what happens, no matter if Lamar Jackson keeps it, your responsibility is the running back. And on the flip side, the Titans will have a linebacker off the ball, like Rashawn Evans or Jayon Brown, and their responsibility is Lamar Jackson every single time.

So you're going to see Derek Roberson crash down and then you're going to see a linebacker over top of the defensive tackle and the defensive end sliding out towards the outside where Lamar Jackson in theory would be keeping and then running to the perimeter. That was how the Titans played the run but as for how they played the pass the Titans wanted to go in zone coverage a lot of the day, especially in early downs and in between the 20s. The Titans played a lot of cover three so that they could have eight people up in the box.

That was the whole point. So they played a lot of cover three. The Ravens adjusted to that cover three as well. The touchdown that they had to mark Andrews the deep touchdown that was on a coverage bust in cover three because Malcolm Butler is not good at playing downfield coverages and they knew that Malcolm Butler would be the deep man on the left side of the field in the cover three so what they did was they ran a corner and a post combination route so that the outside receiver would run a post.

Malcolm Butler, who's supposed to have the outside third, followed that receiver too far into the middle on the post. And then Mark Andrews was running the corner route right above the underneath defender, which was Imani Hooker. And since Malcolm Butler had gone too far in on the post, he couldn't get outside quick enough to cover the corner route. Mark Andrews touchdown. So the Ravens had a good schematic answer to that Titans cover three,

but the Titans started mixing up their coverages a little more, throwing in a little bit of cover two, but the primary coverage they ran throughout the day, mostly in the red zone, but not just in the red zone, was a man coverage where they had their two safeties in a two deep look, Imani Hooker and Kevin Byard. Sometimes when they moved the personnel around, it was Joshua deep look, Imani Hooker and Kevin Byard. Sometimes when they moved the personnel around, it was Joshua Kalou and Imani Hooker, whatever.

Those two safeties played a hook zone about 10 to 15 yards from the line of scrimmage over the middle, and everyone else played man. The reason for that is Lamar likes to use the middle of the field. He's not as good throwing to the outsides of the field. He's not as good throwing deep, so you don't feel like you have to cover deep as much. You don't feel like you have to cover the outsides of the field as much. If you could take away the middle of the field for the Ravens in the run game and in the pass game, then you're going to be able to beat

their offense, and the Titans were able to do that for the most part outside of some blown coverages that led to two big Mark Andrews catches. So the Titans were able to take away the middle of the field, especially in the red zone where the Ravens went one and four on the day because they would play man coverage and then they would have those two safeties over the middle or sometimes it'd be one safety and then Rashawn Evans, but either way they'd have two hook defenders over the middle taking away the short intermediate over the middle area of the field. So that's what the Titans did in pass coverage. A lot of zone on first and second down, second and 10, first and 10, in between the 20s,

but also mixing in a ton of man coverage, especially in the red zone, with two over the middle hook defenders who also serve as a quarterback spy in some sense as well. So that's how the Titans did it on defense. One last note on the defense though I do want to give you before we transition into the offense is an adjustment the Ravens made during the game that led to a big chunk of their success on offense. So as I mentioned, the Titans were in that 3-3-5.

Well, the Ravens lost blocking tight end Nick Boyle for this game. He wasn't able to play in this game so they were limited in the amount of tight ends they had a lot of the time they were using Mark Andrews and then their fullback Ricard as a tight end to give themselves two tight end looks so that played into the Titans hand well about halfway through the second quarter the Ravens realized that the Titans were playing that 3-3-5 and using their defensive backs as linebackers, and the Baltimore Ravens weren't getting any personnel advantage. So they said, screw it. We're playing some of these backup tight ends that we have no matter what, and they started going into those three tight end packages, two tight end with the fullback.

So the Ravens had some good drives late in the third quarter, or late in the second quarter. Early in the third quarter, they had the second quarter early in the third quarter they had some good drives where they were able to run the ball with jk dobbins and that led to some success in their offense so the titans countered that by then going heavier on defense they were bringing in jack crawford more bringing in matt dickerson more so in the middle of the game that was an adjustment that was made and then the titans took away the ravens offense again doing that so the ravens said screw it we're going to go back to our three wide receiver one tight end we're going to go back to our one tight end one fullback looks and just try to win the game and they weren't able to do it so the titans took away what they did initially initially the ravens

countered the titans countered back and then the ravens just say screw it neither of those are working let's go with what we feel is our best personnel which without Nick Boyle on the field had to be their 11 personnel with Mark Andrews and then one running back so just a chess game going on but that's what the Titans overall plan was for the Ravens on defense a copycat version of what they did in the playoffs last year let's move into the rewatch portion of our show for the offense, the Titans offense that we will talk about shortly. It is Thanksgiving and we are going to continue the rewatch portion of today's show diving into the Titans offense. So in the run game, the Titans clearly had a plan to come out and run it

up the middle early. They wanted to use inside zone runs. And the reason for that is the obvious deficiencies that the Ravens run defense was going to have without Calais Campbell and without Brandon Williams, their two most stout defensive linemen in the middle. So the Titans said, we're not going to run to the outsides on you. We're going to run right up the gut on you. And it was working. Initially, the Titans came out with their first drive, were able to score a touchdown, did have some success.

So the Titans were doing that. Now, what happened was the Ravens decided to counter by going a little bit more heavy in their personnel on defense to try to stop the Titans from running inside. And they were successful with that. And that's why the Titans kind of stalled out a little bit on offense late in the first half. Along with that, the Titans were having some issues in the passing game. Ryan Tannehill was just off in the first half. He was picked off on a throw to A.J. Brown, and it was an exotic pressure that confused the Titans' pass protection,

specifically Jeremy McNichols and Ben Jones. They slid the protection to the left when the blitz was coming from the right. They had a guy drop off from the right as well that Tannehill didn't see and he threw it right to him he was thrown to Johnnie Smith not A.J. Brown but he was picked off on that throw and then after that Tannehill just kind of lost his mojo a little bit he was off on a throw to A.J. Brown on third and seven to the outside just didn't get it to him wasn't an accurate throw also he tried to force one to AJ Brown on a second and long when Derrick Henry was wide open in the flat with some pressure coming in on him he should have dumped it out to the flat as well then there was an out on a third down that

he tried to throw to Corey Davis and he threw it at his feet Tannehill was just a little off kilter late in that first half but we are in one of the reasons for that is why I bring that up is the exotic pressures that the Ravens were running they just do some incredible stuff with dropping linebackers dropping linemen blitzing defensive backs from different places and they do it late too one of the plays it wasn't a pick but it was an incompletion for the Titans but the Ravens had their safety on the left-hand side of the Titans' offense up towards the line of scrimmage. Well, at the very end, they back off that safety,

move the safety from the right up, but then blitz the slot corner on the left side, not the safety. And then the secondary safety, who walked up second, drops back into coverage. And then the linebacker he's standing next to is the one that blitzes. It's just all so intricate. And it the the Titans on their heels at points in time during the first half it took them some time to adjust to what the Ravens were doing and Tannehill was a little off the mark he had the yips a little bit in the middle of that game because of that so at

this point in the game the Titans are having some success on the run, but the Ravens are going heavier personnel on defense and stopping the Titans offense. Tannehill is a little off kilter, a little inaccurate and a little rattled by the exotic pressures the Titans are seeing on third down. How do they counter? Well, the Titans started going with super heavy tight end packages and the Titans always like to have two tight ends and a fullback or two tight ends out on the field, three tight ends at times, but they really delve deep into three tight end packages halfway through that game. So they'd have Ferkser out on the field. They'd have Jeff Swaim out on the field and they'd have Jonu Smith out on the field. But what they were doing is they were being very, very intriguing with their formation. So they'd have Derrick Henry, three tight ends, one wide receiver.

What's that going to tell you? Oh, that's a heavy package. That's a heavy formation. They're going to go two tight ends, three tight ends, run it down your face. No, no. Here's what Arthur Smith did. He spread everybody out. He went five wide. Because you have somebody like Johnnie Smith, and specifically because you have somebody like Anthony Ferkser, Ferkser is basically a wide receiver in a tight end's body. What was happening is the Ravens were going with those heavy personnels on defense. The Titans countered with heavy personnel on offense, so the Ravens aren't going to be alarmed.

But then they would go five wide and shotgun, and they would get Anthony Ferkser lined up one-on-one with an LJ Fort, lined up one-on-one with a Chris Board, lined up one-on-one with Patrick Queen, and they would take advantage of that matchup. So that's something that the Titans were doing throughout the day as well, coming out in heavy personnel, but running spread formations. It was just absolutely excellent from Arthur Smith, and that allowed Ryan Tannehill to identify matchups quickly, get the ball out of his hand quickly, which gave less impact to those exotic pressures that were hurting the Titans. So that's

how they kind of countered in the passing game. In the run game, the Titans didn't necessarily counter, but they started out really going on inside runs. They really wanted to attack the middle, as I mentioned at the beginning of the segment. Well, the Ravens countered going with heavy personnel. They had more people to kind of hurt the middle. Well, what's that going to do? That's going to give you more weakness on the outside.

So the Titans started going back to the outside zone in the second half. And along with just naturally wearing down the Ravens, I mean, there were so many Ravens that were banged up or showing bad body language. Patrick Queen gets hit in the face. You see Derek Wolfe gets injured, is laying on the ground at times in the third quarter. Everybody's just starting to look worn out.

You're seeing the defensive backs start to argue a little bit more with the rest of the defense. So the Titans just started wearing down the Ravens. They went back to the outside zone after the Ravens countered by fortifying their middle, which left outside lanes for Derrick Henry. He started chunking away, chunking away in the second half, especially in that fourth quarter. The Titans started to run it down the Ravens' throats. Derrick Henry had, I believe, 95, 96 yards in that second half in overtime. So that was a counter, and ultimately that wide zone led to the game-winning touchdown. The last thing I want to mention here about the Titans' offense

was a counter that they made on offense in the passing game with the wide receivers. So it's no secret that the Titans like to run a ton of deep crossing routes with that play-action fake. You'll always see A.J. Brown. You'll always see Corey Davis. You'll always see Johnnie Smith crossing over the middle of the field. Well, teams know that now, and cornerbacks are playing outside leverage on the wide receivers

and forcing them into the middle because they know that's where they're going to go. Well, the Titans adjusted finally. I've been waiting for this all year. I've talked about this in previous episodes. But Corey Davis, on two different circumstances in the second half, faked a crosser on play action and then cut back outside. One of them got him 50 yards. Another one got 11 yards.

And then in overtime, on a critical play in overtime, Corey Davis fakes the crosser and then uses a beautiful little juke move in body positioning to fake like he's doing a fake cross and going back outside, which he had been doing throughout the second half. And Marcus Peters was like, oh crap, he's doing the thing again where he fakes the crosser and cuts outside. But he doesn't.

He fakes the crosser, fakes outside, and then cuts back inside, crosses back over the middle of the field, wide open. Another big game for the Titans in overtime. I think two plays before that final run for a touchdown. So the Titans need to add more of that, not just in this game, but throughout the rest of the year. That's a great counter to teams sitting on those crossing routes is having Corey Davis and A.J. Brown have a quick cut back outside.

And not only will that give the Titans some openings, but because the defense is expecting the crossing route over the middle, and they're probably playing cover three in this scenario, that should give the Titans open field after the catch, which they take advantage of all so well. So that's going to do it for the rewatch portion of today's Locked on Titans podcast. Now we are going to go into the Thanksgiving specific section of our show.

Going to have a little bit of fun, give you my top 10 rankings of Thanksgiving food items and tell you guys what I'm thankful for. Turkey Day, Turkey Day, Turkey Day. So I figured we'd have a little bit of Thanksgiving fun to cap off this Thanksgiving edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And what I wanted to do is we spend a little bit of time on this show, a few times, few episodes every single season, taking a look at power rankings. So I figured it'd be a good opportunity to power rank Thanksgiving food items. I'm including desserts, appetizers, side dishes, entrees, everything.

Are you ready? Gonna go from 10 down to 1. Well, we're gonna start with honorable mention. Love that dramatic pause. Honorable mention, any kind of salad. I don't mean salad with lettuce and carrots and cucumbers. I mean macaroni salad, pasta salad, potato salad, chicken salad. Any salad like that that is brought to Thanksgiving can just be thrown out. I'm out

on potato salad, pasta salad, any kind of salad that isn't made with lettuce and dressing. I'm out on it. Not just at Thanksgiving ever. So fight me. I know it's going to trigger a lot of you, but pasta salad, potato salad, anything like that, just get it out of town. Not needed. Not needed. So, starting our list, at number 10, cranberry sauce. I don't, I've

never liked cranberry. I don't like cranberry juice. I don't like cranberry sauce. It's like, gross looking, quite frankly, and tart. And I'm out. I'm just out. I'm out on it. So number 10, cranberry. Number nine, and this is the most controversial of all of my rankings, I would imagine. At number nine, pie. pumpkin pecan I don't care pie is gross it's too sweet it's too much filling the crust is good I like crust especially a little graham crust it's delicious I like cake but pie uh cherry pie apple pie pumpkin pie doesn't matter it's all bad I'm out on it

too sweet not a big fan there are other dessert I'd rather have cake I'd rather have cookies cupcakes brownies any other kind of dessert I'm out on pie I'm out I pie. I'm out. I'm sorry. I know. I know. I'm sorry, but I'm out. I'm out. Next, number eight, white meat turkey. White meat turkey. And I contemplated replacing this with like a honey baked ham. I'm not a big fan of ham. I'm really not. I'm not a big fan of honestly pork in general. It's good. I like pork certain ways, a good grilled pork chop, pulled pork, bacon. I guess I don't hate pork. But ham, I just really deli ham, a cooked ham.

I'm just not a big fan. It's okay. My mom makes a smoked ham that's pretty good, I got to say. But I'll go with white meat turkey at number eight. Number seven, stuffing. I feel lukewarm about stuffing. I can have it. I'll eat it. If it's not there, I'm not upset. You know, it's all right. I know it's traditional for Thanksgiving, but it's okay. It's just okay. You know, I don't want to hate. Next, number six, rolls. Got to have a nice buttered roll to soak up the gravy, soak up the juices from green bean casserole and all the other items that you have. All that juice with the butter.

You soak it up. You can even put a little turkey in there. I like to load a little mashed potato. A turkey can make a little sandwich. You got to have the rolls. You got to have the bread. It's got to be good. If it's sweet make a little sandwich. You've got to have the rolls. You've got to have the bread. It's got to be good. If it's sweet Hawaiian, even better.

You're going to score bonus points with me. But if not, I love a good roll no matter what. So rolls at number six. Number five. Getting into the top five. And this is maybe, in my opinion, the most underrated Thanksgiving food of them all. Deviled eggs. Love a deviled egg.

I love mustard. Not a huge fan of mayo, but you got that mustard bite in there, that mustard flavor. Get some paprika in there. I like to add bacon bits, a little dill as well, a little fresh dill on top. Oh, my God. I love deviled eggs. My mom has the best recipe for deviled eggs, like I said, with those bacon bits, that dill. And every year, I force her to make me an extra little sixer of deviled eggs to go along with the batch that she makes for everyone else.

Deviled eggs, ladies and gentlemen, at number five. Number four, a heavy hitter, folks, a classic, mashed potatoes and gravy. I mean, it's just great. It's just great. Now, here's the thing. The flavor with mashed potatoes and gravy, it is not enough for me to vault it past where it is. But the reliability, the consistency, and the necessity that is mashed potatoes. If I don't have mashed potatoes, it's not Thanksgiving.

Period. So because of that importance, that value to the team, along with the reliability, you got to get mashed potatoes in the top five. Not too high. But number four. Number three. Dark meat turkey.

Give me the dark meat baby. I love dark meat. It has much more flavor. Than dried out white meat. Absolutely. Everybody wants to go for the turkey breast. Give me a turkey leg. Give me a turkey leg. Give me a nice cut of the thigh area.

I like the dark meat. It's much more succulent. There's much more flavor. I really enjoy the dark meat turkey. It makes my day. Every morning I wake up on Thanksgiving and that's what I'm thinking about is that juicy dark meat turkey. Dipping it in the mashed potatoes. An absolute necessity. on Thanksgiving, and that's what I'm thinking about is that juicy dark meat turkey,

dipping it in the mashed potatoes, an absolute necessity. But that's number three. We are now to the top two on the list. And I threw out some spoilers earlier in the ranking, so you may know what one of the two remaining selections is, which will give away number one if you were paying attention. Because number two is mac and cheese. And I'm not talking about that pasty, chalky mac and cheese. No.

I'm talking about a mac and cheese made from a roux. Some butter, some flour, some heavy cream, some cheeses, some freshly shredded cheeses, some Gruyere, some provolone, some cheddar for some bite, a lot of black pepper, a lot of cracked black pepper. Oh God, some fresh oregano, maybe some fresh parsley, just some, some herbs, get some garlic in there as well. I really like to do it up. Get some onion in there as well. I know that's a step too far for some people. That's fine. But either way, fresh pasta.

I like a rigatoni penne because I like when the cheese gets in that open circle in the middle. Sometimes macaroni noodles, the circle isn't quite big enough for the cheese to slide inside. But I love that. I love that. So I'm very excited, very excited for mac and cheese. The consistency is there. And the last part is you got to have either that baked on topping of cheese, that top layer of cheese, that's kind of burnt almost. I love, Oh God, I love that burnt cheese on top. And if you're not going to do that, then you absolutely have to broil some breadcrumbs on top. That absolutely has to happen if you're

unable to do that melted layer of cheese on top. So either way, you got to have some sort of crunchy topping to your mac and cheese. It has to be made with a roux, a homemade cheese sauce with freshly boiled noodles. That's the way it has to be done. When you do that, the flavor is just too much to deny, folks. A good mac and cheese will set your Thanksgiving off. Next, number one, the crown jewel of Thanksgiving, the green bean casserole. Come at me, man. I like to put some bacon bits in there, some fresh cooked chopped bacon bits in my green bean casserole come at me man come at i like to put some bacon bits in there some fresh cooked

chopped bacon bits in my green bean casserole you got the the crunchy onions on top i put a little parmesan cheese on top too let's go god i'm so excited number one green bean casserole whoo who's excited to eat i hope you guys are listening to this before you get to eat so you can be as pumped as I am but with that in mind let's move away from the food before I eat my microphone which you don't know this I had to edit out a few chops that I took I'm starving ready to eat and talk about what we're thankful for really quickly or what I'm thankful for really quickly not going to spend a lot of time on the sentimental blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but maybe it'll help you get in a reflective move and have some perspective no matter what your situation. So unfortunately this year had some

health issues in my family. My parents are both in their sixties. So we're not really able to get together and I'm cooking Thanksgiving at home and preparing kind of a mini version of a Thanksgiving dinner and it's unfortunate. So I guess I'm thankful for the way things used to be. Took them for granted a little bit. How nice it is just to be around the people that you care about, your family, your friends, whoever that happens to be, your loved one, your children, either way. So just thankful for all of those people, especially for me. I get a lot of support from my friends in my life, a big support system, a big group of friends that I love very dearly. So I really appreciate them on the hard days. My sister, who is a guiding light in my life, a mentor, a big helper. My dad, who inspired my love of football, my thirst for knowledge,

my drive to do all the work that's necessary to get this podcast to you guys and make it quality enough for me to be proud of it. And then lastly, a big shout out to my mom, who's kind of just that emotional rock I can lean on all the time. On my good days and my bad days, my mom's always there and shows me the same love no matter what. So friends and family, a big shout out to them. Lastly, my dog. He doesn't know it, but I love him more than anything. And there are a lot of nights where I'm sitting here doing this podcast and I've had a bad day or I don't have the energy or just not in a great mood. You guys work.

You guys know how life is. Not every day is a great day. And I get on here and do the pod as best I can, uh, every single day. But you know, not every day is a day where I feel great about it. And, uh, having my, having my dog, my buddy, my 8-year-old pup, Kobe, underneath my desk, happy to see me every day, helps me put things in perspective maybe when not having the best day as well. So shout out to my boy, Kobe, the homie.

Other than that, really thankful for football. Thankful for a good Tennessee Titans team that competes every week, even if things aren't perfect. Thankful for Jeffrey Simmons and Derrick Henry, who are absolute freaks of nature. Thankful for Ryan Tannehill. Having competent quarterback play is fun to break down. It's fun to talk about.

A.J. Brown, thankful for a stud-wide receiver. The Titans have never had one of those, in my opinion. So really nice to have. Thankful for the Desmond King trade, Titans have never had one of those, in my opinion. So really nice to have. Thankful for the Desmond King trade, which kind of changed the Titans defense overnight. And there's a ton of other players and things that I could be thankful for, but just off the top of my head, that's where it is.

Thankful for John Robinson, Amy Adams-Strunk, and Mike Vrabel, the Holy Trinity there, who seem to have put this organization on the right track to being competent for a long time. So thankful for all of that. And lastly, I'm thankful for you guys on those days where I'm not having a great day, my motivation's waning, things like that. Some of your kind words, some of your interactions online, some of the reviews that you guys put on for the podcast. It just means a lot to me, keeps me pushing forward, and I really appreciate it. A lot of days, you know, it feels like a family online talking to you guys,

even if we don't agree about everything. So such an enjoyable shared experience having that discussion and constant conversation with you guys online, on Twitter, at Tic Tac Titans, and some on Facebook as well. So just thankful for a lot of different things this year and with everything going on. More thankful than ever, really. So can't wait to be back with you guys.

Thankful for a Football Friday game preview. Hope you guys do enjoy that. Make sure you're subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Have a happy Thanksgiving, Titans fans. And this was Locked on Titans.