Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Locked on Titans: Wrapping up the win over the Ravens; AFC playoff talk

Episode Date: November 7, 2017

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Welcome in to another edition of Locked on Titans. I'm Jimmy Morris, joined as always by Terry Lambert. Terry, how are you? Doing good, man. What's going on? Oh, not too much. Before we get started today, I'm going to do the pro football focus thing from the top, like we're supposed to. Right in review are Locked on Titans on iTunes. You can find us there. And if you leave your Twitter handle in the review, you'll be entered in to win a year-long subscription to PFF. A lot of really cool stuff there. I'm sure a lot of y'all, you hear the grades mentioned, you'll hear us talk about stats that we get from Pro Football Focus

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Get them to do it. And you'll be entered in to win that. All right, so Monday, Mike Malarkey had his press conference this afternoon. Titans came out of the game yesterday against the Ravens really healthy, actually. It looks like DeMarco Murray is the only one that has an issue. He had a knee injury during the game. He had a knee and a shoulder during the game. Malarkey said that the shoulder wasn't an issue when he came in today,

but that the knee was a little bit, and they'll kind of monitor that as the week goes along. But, I mean, he hurt and came back into the game and played, so I wouldn't anticipate that he'll miss time. He might miss some practice this week. But, you know, he's been banged up all week i mean all year and malarkey did say that he's passed the hamstring now but now he's got the knee so um not a whole lot different there but i mean you know when you step back and look at it the titans have been very fortunate to this point

as far as injuries go i mean obviously they you know we're missing cory davis for the first half of the season but assuming he can stay healthy the rest of the way, you've got him for the stretch run. The Titans have really had some pretty good luck as far as injuries go this year. Yeah, Murray's the big one right now. Mark, you said Delaney Walker is going to be limited. Quentin Spain was questionable. Oh, yeah, I forgot about Spain.

Yeah, Spain was going to be questionable for this week. Swanky started for him yesterday. Corey Davis had no setbacks, so that's great. The big one, like you were saying, is DeMarco Murray. Hadn't been healthy all year. Had injured that hamstring in training camp, and I'm not sure, I really don't think it healed properly. He's still dealing with that.

Add this knee into it. He's just struggling along. The Titans could really, really use a healthy DeMarco Murray. I think it's affecting the Titans' run game. We've talked a lot about how it's struggling. I think that's a big, big, big part of it. I'm just not sure we're going to see him healthy because i just can't afford to to shut him down yeah and we've talked about how it's pretty clear they

don't trust derrick henry on third downs at this point um and i don't think it's as much catching the ball out of the backfield as it is protection and that kind of stuff and obviously the most important thing is keeping mariotta healthy so yeah i mean i think as long as he can get out there and be at least you know somewhat productive demar I think as long as he can get out there and be at least, you know, somewhat productive, DeMarco Murray, that is, he'll be out there and playing. One note that we talked about how much the run game is struggling, and they kind of asked Malarkey about it in the press conference today, and he said, you know, it is struggling and they need to get it going.

But, you know, just the reputation that they have for wanting to run the football and how productive the run game has been, I mean, at times this season, but really last year more so. You know, it sets up some of the things that they want to do. And this is a note that I didn't mention yesterday that came from PFF, but said that against the Ravens, Mariota utilized play action on 32.3% of his dropbacks. In those plays, he posted a passer rating of 144.

And then on the other plays, he was at just 76 as far as the passer rating goes. So pretty clear yesterday. And yesterday they used play action more than I think we've seen it at any point this season. But it was pretty clear yesterday that the Ravens had to respect the run. And Malarkey talked specifically about the play that the touchdown to Rashard Matthews that, you know, with off the play action they saw Eric Weddle kind of creep up a little bit and Malarkey knew they had it because of that.

And so, I mean, there are times where it looks like they're just beating their head into a wall. And I do think they could maybe try some different things in the run game. But you see in that stat right there that it's important for them to at least establish the fact that they want to try to run the ball because that does set up play action and opens up some things down the field. I agree totally. If you'll go back to Mario's rookie season, the big knock on him was

he couldn't throw the deep ball. We heard endless amounts of criticism on that. He could hit the intermediate throws. He couldn't throw the deep ball. We heard endless amounts of critters on that. He could hit intermediate throws. He couldn't hit anything deep. Well, you saw an uptick in that last year, mainly because the Titans fixed up their offensive line. They went and got DeMarco Murray. They got Derrick Henry. They fixed their run game.

So when the run game's going, that play action starts going. Mariota wasn't hitting big throws down the field because they were spreading it out like some Big 12 team. They were hitting big throws down the field because these safeties were creeping up, and Mariota and Rashard Matthews and some others

were taking advantage of that safety coming downhill. So, again, this whole offense doesn't work unless the run game is working, and that's why you're seeing it struggle right now. And really, until they figure it out, you're going to see these ugly, unpredictable close games. And, you know, it's really frustrating because we feel like Mariota could operate well in a different style attack and more of an open attack. But we're just not going to see that right now. Yeah, and, you know, again, there are times where they would benefit, I think, to do that a little bit more.

But like you're saying, this is their offense. This is what they're committed to doing. And I think that if they, you know, that was one of the things that with Ken wasn't high. He tried to be like too multiple and do too many things. And so, I mean, I think you can fall into that trap as well, trying to do too many things and not doing anything well. But on the other side, you know, we know the frustrations with sticking with a run game

when it's not working and that. So, you know, it's something to keep an eye on. And I just, you know, there's a lot of talk out there about, you know, how has Marcus Marr either progressed and is he where he should be at this point and all that stuff. And, you know, like you pointed out yesterday on the podcast that you can't really look at his numbers and just use that, his numbers versus, you know, James Winston or whoever else,

to look at where he is on that trajectory or where he is as far as a quarterback goes. You have to watch the games and understand what this offense is trying to do. And so we can argue until we're blue in the face about using him to his strengths and if he could be better and whatever. But, I mean, it's pretty clear that he, at this point, understands the offense. And the cool thing is, you know, we haven't seen this offense healthy all at the same time. And we talked a little bit about how we may not see DeMarco Murray healthy this year. But just getting Corey Davis back, and you saw the snap numbers yesterday.

Rashard Matthews led the receivers in snaps. Davis was only three snaps behind him. Pushed Decker down quite a bit into that third-by-receiver role, but that's the role that they want him to play. That's the role – that's where he's the best at this point in his career. That's what they brought him in to do. And so I think this offense is just so much better That's where he's the best at this point in his career. That's what they brought him in to do. And so I think this offense is just so much better when you're relying on Eric Decker to be your number three

instead of your number two. Absolutely, and I think you hit on the key point. We just haven't seen it all come together yet. The Titans are still 5-3. They're leading the division. They're in the playoffs. It's a weak AFC as a whole this year and you know the titans are capitalizing on it but they haven't been perfect yet uh and i don't know any team is

perfect but i don't think the titans have even come close to reaching their ceiling uh so so that's the exciting thing uh still plenty of time to figure this out um but again the concern is demarco murray the concern is consistency in the run game and the titans have eight eight more games to to figure it out before hopefully they they start they attempt to play off run here so uh plenty of time to work but again you'll take five and three with your team not really working the way you want it to. Yeah, absolutely. Malarkey talked a little bit about that, about them not having put together a complete game yet this year.

Obviously, he said that's why we're still here, that's why we're still working. But, yeah, it's exciting to be 5-3 and to not have probably seen the ceiling, at least on offense. I mean, I think the defense has started to play better. And I'd like your thoughts on this real quick just because I remember after the Seahawks game, we talked and I was kind of excited about where the defense was. And you were like, oh, hang on a minute. Let's step back and look at it.

You were absolutely right. The next week they got blasted by the Texans. Now, one caveat here is the defense has looked better the last three weeks and these last three wins against three pretty bad offenses um so you do have to take that into account but last year that didn't seem to matter no matter who they played they got torched by so i mean i feel better at least about the back end of this defense um we talked you know kind of at length last night about the pass rush and how that continues to be an issue. But I think this defense at this point is at least good enough

that they can keep the Titans in games even when the offense struggles a little bit to get going. Whereas at the beginning of the year, I thought the Titans were going to score 30 points a game to be competitive. I think the defense is a little bit ahead of where I thought they would be at this point in the year. I feel like they're starting to kind of put some consistent performances together. You know, the Dolphins, the Colts, the Browns, the Ravens,

that's DeSean Kizer, that's Jacoby Brissett, Jay Cutler, Joe Flacco. You know, that's not big tests. But at the same time, you can't really fault them. They've done what was needed out of them. So that was good to see. We talked last night, Adore Jackson's emerging. Kevin Byard is becoming one of the best safeties in the league. So we'll see.

Really, I mean, honestly, they don't have too big of a test left on their schedule. They've got the Rams and they've got the Steelers, and that's about it. You're going to face the Cardinals team without Palmer. You're going to face a bad 49ers team. You're going to face Jacoby Brissett again. You've got Andy Dalton this week. I'm not sure they're going to be tested by a truly spectacular offense. We'll see how next week in Pittsburgh goes.

I think that's the big key. That's the game I've had circled. I know you've had circled for a while. I think we can use that as a gauge to kind of see where they're at. But more than anything, they've got to figure out the pressure situation. They've got to figure out how to get consistent pressure, whether it's blitzing more or using some different personnel. That's the big key for me.

But like you were saying, they've kept them in the past few weeks. They've done what they're supposed to do, and that's good to see because they didn't do that last year. Yeah, and to your point there, when you look at the quarterbacks remaining on the schedule, you're looking at Andy Dalton, Ben Roethlisberger, like you said, Brissette again, Tom Savage, Drew Stanton, the 49ers quarterback, I would assume by that point it would be Garoppolo, Jared Goff, Blake Bortles.

I mean, those are the guys that you have remaining on the schedule at this point. Not exactly a murderer's row, and not really that much different than what they've faced over the last few weeks. Obviously, things change when you get to the playoffs and that kind of stuff, but outside of that Pittsburgh game, there's not really an offense that strikes fear in your heart left on the schedule. So that's the good news, and hopefully they can use some of those games to come together more and get used to playing together, having Cip back and you know adora jackson being a rookie logan ryan being a new free agent you know they're still coming together with all that the more they play together i think the better they're going to get on the back end like you said they got to figure out something as far

as the pressure is concerned and and that may not be that may not be able to be there this year but you know obviously the the the back end being better that. So we'll see how all that plays out. And then we'll use that kind of as a jumping off point. You talked about the Steelers game. So we'll use that as a jumping off point to talk about the AFC playoff picture right after this. All right, so as we look at it right now, the Titans are the division leaders in the AFC South. You know, Titans, Jaguars go 5-3. But having the benefit of the win over Jacksonville earlier this year,

so the Titans would have the tiebreaker at this point. So you're looking right now at that being, I guess, the Titans would be the 4th seed if the playoffs started today. You've got New England and Pittsburgh at 6-2. You've got Kansas City at 6-3. So they would have the benefit of the percentage points. They'd be ahead of the Titans because they've got six wins versus the Titans at five because they haven't had their bye week.

And then right now you're looking at your wildcard teams being the Bills and the Jaguars. So it's really interesting and really a different group than what we thought it would be at the beginning of the year. I thought that AFC West would be the tough division that we'd be looking at as possibly sending two or three teams to the playoffs. But right now you've got Oakland over there at 4-5, the Chargers at 3-5, and Denver at 3-5.

And Denver especially is really struggling. So it's kind of a little bit different group of teams than you would have predicted it would be at the beginning of the year and i'm not sure if it's i mean in my opinion it's a little bit weaker than i thought it would be coming into the season it's gross the afc is really bad um you're talking about afc getting potentially two teams into the playoffs um and you know it's not going to be deshaun w, it's not going to be Deshaun Watson. It's not going to be Andrew Luck.

It's going to be the Titans and the Jaguars. For all the talk about Tennessee's easy schedule, Jacksonville's got an easy schedule too. They've got Chargers, Browns, Cardinals, Colts, Seahawks, Texans, 49ers, and then they finish with the Titans. So that's not exactly a murderer's row either. 49ers and then they finish with the Titans so that's not exactly a murder's row either

we keep expecting the Jaguars to fall apart with Blake Bortles it's just not happening yet and maybe that defense is for real maybe that run game is for real maybe they can keep winning games but it's going to be a really interesting

push for this South Divisional crown yeah absolutely and I think there's no doubt It's going to be a really interesting push for this South Divisional crown. Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's no doubt that the Jaguars' defense is for real. But it's just a matter of can Blake Bortles be good enough to keep them in games? And then what happens when he throws an early pick six? And, you know, the opposing offense hits a big player, whatever it may be, and they get down by 14 points and it's late in the second half

and he needs to bring them back into a game. That's the thing that's going to be their issue. But, I mean, we're looking at a thing right now, like you said. I mean, the Titans and the Jaguars have basically the same schedule, with the exception of a couple of AFC teams that they would play differently based off of last year's finishing. But they still have the Seahawks left, So, I mean, you know, the Titans have already played them. But, I mean, I don't know. That week 17 game here in Nashville could be –

it could absolutely be for the AFC South, you know, championship. And you could be looking at a situation where that game, you know, winner gets in, loser stays home. Just depending on, you know, we don't, there's a long way to go still, even at this point. But it's just, you know, last year the Jacksonville game ended up being an elimination game for the Titans. You could be looking at a similar scenario this year.

I mean, I like it, the fact that that game would be here. You know, that would obviously be something that would be a benefit for the Titans. But it's kind of funny that we could be coming down to the same thing that we were looking at last year yeah and it's interesting to look at the wild card situation too um buffalo has the the last playoff spot uh jacksonville's got the fifth seed but behind them you've got miami baltimore and the Jets sitting at 4-5. Really, Oakland is the only team that I think can kind of put together a little run here and finish 9-7 or something for that wild card spot.

So you're talking about if the Titans just kind of tread water. They've got a really good shot at, you you know at worst being one of those wildcard teams it just kind of speaks volumes to how bad the afc has been this year uh you know you've got denver down you've got cincinnati down you've got houston without watson uh you've got baltimore's kind of average there's just some new players uh in the AFC and Titans. Yeah, and like you said, you look at Oakland at 4-5. I mean, that's the only team with four wins that you feel good about being able to make a push, at least as far as their offense goes.

I mean, I'm not sure about their defense still. But, you know, when you look at the other four-win team, we just saw Baltimore yesterday. Their offense is terrible. Miami's offense is terrible. And then, again, it just stinks that Mariota wasn't healthy for that game because you're probably looking at 6-2 Titans if Mariota is able to go there. But the Jets have four wins.

A lot of people thought the Jets over-under was like three, wasn't it? I mean, it was three or four. I mean, it was really, really low. They've already won four games. They look better than most people thought they would. But, but again that's not a team that you're afraid of that's not a team that is gonna you know come out offensively and just you know light people on fire so yeah it's interesting and it's just it's a lot of parody it's a lot of teams with with holes and question marks and even i mean even look at the six and two teams i mean pittsburgh there we

know what they are they're really good on defense still um they have a lot of really good players on offense now ben roethlisberger has struggled at times this year um but you know he's still ben roethlisberger still antonio brown still levion bell you know jujus come on so i mean they've got a lot of weapons there um so you're afraid of them new england they're six and two you know tom brady bill belichick they're going to figure it out. Their defense really struggled at the beginning of the year. They've come on. So, I mean, those are kind of the two teams.

I would say Pittsburgh and New England are kind of at the head of the class, absolutely. But then after that, it's like – it's just a lot of mediocrity, in my opinion. And so I think that as – you know, there's kind of two groups of things, right, as far as – especially with the Titans. Like, there are some Titans fans that everything is great. This is the greatest team in the world there's no way they're going to lose any of the rest of their games and you know you've got that group out there and then you've got the other group that's like oh this team is not good they're lucky to be five and three you know they're they're they just they there's no way they're gonna make a playoff push and all that and so i mean i i can

see i can see i i tend to see that side more than I do the everybody's really awesome thing. But at the same time, when you look at the other teams around them, I mean, who would you trade places with? When you're talking about Buffalo, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Oakland, I mean, Kansas City even. Would you trade places at this point with any of those teams? You know, like how much – basically what I'm saying is putting the Titans up against any of those teams, those teams outside of New England and Pittsburgh or any of them, you know, head and shoulders above the Titans at this point? I'd say New England.

You just don't know what you're going to get out of the Steelers. And here lately you don't know what you're going to get out of Kansas City. So their schedule's toughened up, for sure. But, you know, it's frustrating because I do see the negative side. I see a team that could very easily, you know, be 3-5. You know, they showed they made it more interesting yesterday than they had to. You know, they tried every way possible to blow the Browns game. But at the end of the day, you're still 5-3.

And that's what I keep trying to tell myself. And that's what I keep trying to tell everybody else. So 5-3, you have not played your best football. You've just got to hope that Mike Malarkey and his coaching staff can figure things out. But, you know, the pessimist in me says it's a personnel issue and they're just still a year away, a year's worth of John Robinson roster moves away, or two, from truly being able to contend. So, you know, I think the Titans get into the playoffs this year.

I think the Titans get into the playoffs this year, but I would say that's more of a product of the AFC being down than it is the Titans being good. Yeah, and you may be right there. I would tend not to argue with that, but at the same time, there have been years where the AFC would have been down like this and the Titans would have been nowhere near being able to take advantage of it. So that's where we are, and that's exciting. And like you said, just the trajectory that they're on with John Robinson and how confident we feel about having another year's worth of moves, a couple of years with the roster moves with him. You just feel like they've got this young nucleus in place. This is just the beginning of their run. It's the opening of the window.

And so that's really exciting. And we'll see how it plays out i mean there's a lot of football left to be played you know and just like you know houston and sean wasn't going down last week i mean the titans are one play away a mario to injury away from being irrelevant again um but you know as long as things stay on the course they look like they're currently on you just you feel like you said you feel good about those teams chances of getting in the playoffs and then you never know what's going to happen from there so fun it's a fun it's a fun season so far and i think it's going to continue to be that and even you know like i said like we when we looked at the the remaining teams on the schedule that there's a lot of winnable games out there now i'm sure they won't win all of them but there's a lot of they're going there's a lot of winnable games out there. Now, I'm sure they won't win all of them,

but they're going to have a lot of chances to win games and to make a playoff push. And, you know, through week nine of the season, that's all we could have asked for coming in. That's exactly right. You know, just a shot at the playoffs, things have fallen your way with injury. We don't want to root for injuries by any means. But still, when they happen, you've got to kind of take advantage.

So your main competition is Jacksonville, which is just crazy to think about. There's just no reason for the Titans not to go take advantage this year. Absolutely. All right, so anything else we need to hit before we end today? I think that covers it. All right, sounds good. So, again hit before we end today? I think that covers it. All right, sounds good. So, again, rate and review the podcast on iTunes. Leave your Twitter handle in the review for a chance to win

a year-long subscription to PFF. We'll be back tomorrow with another episode looking at, you know, more specifically at this Bengals game and kind of what we expect there. So check that out. We'll be back, you know, four days a week, so subscribe. You'll get all the episodes as soon as they're posted. For Terry, who you can follow on Twitter, at TLambertFB, this is Jimmy,

on Twitter, at JMorethMCM. You can also check us out on MusicCityMiracles.com. Thanks for listening, and we will talk to you tomorrow.