Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - PLAYOFFS BABY!!! Game Recap, #TitanUpTitanDown & Titans Talk

Episode Date: December 30, 2019

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

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is Playoff Monday. Let's go. Could not be more hype. I had to take about 10, 15 minutes just to calm myself down. Do a little meditating before the podcast just so I don't scream at you guys for 30 minutes. What a wild ride of a season.
Starting point is 00:00:23 Glad that the Titans were able to come out, handle business, leave no doubt who the better team was on the field at the beginning of the game. There was a little bit of concern. The defense was breaking my heart out there, man, but they got things together. They were able to create a turnover at the end of the game. The offense was as explosive as it has been all year, and now we are on to New England. Obviously, it's a huge week with an incredible opportunity ahead, but before we get into all of that, and there's plenty of time to do so, we'll go back, take a look at some of my key takeaways from the game. In our second segment, we'll do everybody's favorite, tighten up, tighten down, not a lot of tighten
Starting point is 00:01:02 downs this week, shocker. Then, in our third segment, I'm going to let you hear from the Titans after this win. I'm going to play you guys a little bit of Mike Vrabel. I'm going to play you some of the players' reactions after this game. I just want to revel in this win for a moment. We're going to move on to New England as the team will do as soon as Tuesday hits. But for right now, let's celebrate this victory. We'll jump into all of it now. Titans are playoff bound, baby. Let's get it. Titans lead story 35 to 14 over the Houston Texans in Houston the Titans secure a playoff
Starting point is 00:01:48 berth they are a wild card and you never know what can happen next when you get a team that's hot like the Titans going up against what some people consider the Titans big brother and the New England Patriots who have not had their best season. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, though. How were the Titans able to pull off a victory against the Houston Texans that put out their JV team? Of course, we saw A.J. McCarron start at quarterback. No Laramie Tunsil at left tackle. No DeAndre Hopkins at wide receiver.
Starting point is 00:02:24 They sat a few guys on defense, including J.J. Watt as well, but these are still paid professional players, and at first, the Texans came to play, coming out, scoring on their opening drive, going up seven and nothing. Their defense made a few plays to limit the Titans there. We had a Tajay Sharp drop that limited the Titans in the first half. Derrick Henry wasn't necessarily completely running out of control in the first half, so the Texans are professional players, and they showed up to play a professional football game, and you got to give them credit, but in the second half, as has been the case during this run, the Titans were just too much to handle for the Houston Texans. We saw Ryan Tannehill manage the offense. They wanted to get Derrick Henry dominating.
Starting point is 00:03:09 That's why you sit him out against the Saints so that he's ready. That was one of our keys to the game on Friday. And Derrick Henry delivered. 211 yards. Three touchdowns. During that process, he was able to win the NFL rushing title going over 1,500 yards. He was able to take that away from Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns despite missing a game this year. Absolutely incredible from Derrick Henry. The Titans defense that has
Starting point is 00:03:39 struggled a lot lately really came to play when it mattered most. They were able to get four sacks. They were able to stop four sacks. They were able to stop the Texans from getting a consistent rhythm in the run game. The Texans did run for 108 yards. However, 39 of that was garbage time AJ McCarron scrambles. So the Titans did a really good job in run defense. Also, Kevin Byard, the mayor of Murfreesboro, was able to seal it and get the only turnover of the game for the Titans. Just a really solid game all around. Chris Davis was able to catch the ball on punt returns despite some concerns about him being in that role
Starting point is 00:04:15 and not having a lot of experience on this team. Brett Kern was back to being a weapon in the field position game, which will be critical going into the playoffs and the type of matchups that the Titans could have if they're able to survive in advance. But overall, just want to talk about the resiliency of this Tennessee Titans football team. Think of everything that they have been able to overcome. Starting out 2-4, Marcus supposed to be the face of the franchise, struggling mightily, a quarterback change, going 8-for-18 on field goals and having one of the worst field goal kicking seasons in the history
Starting point is 00:04:49 of the NFL. The Titans lost Malcolm Butler during the season, lost to Dory Jackson for a big stretch of the season, lost LaShawn Sims at cornerback, so a cluster injury in a position of strength for the Titans that turned into a weakness. Delaney Walker, Cam Wake, two veteran role players for the Titans, gone on IR, didn't really have an impact throughout the season. Taylor LeJuan's suspension, the sacks that came along with that, and all of the offensive line shuffles and struggles.
Starting point is 00:05:19 The first rounder the Titans drafted didn't even play the first six or seven games of the season. grounder the Titans drafted didn't even play the first six or seven games of the season. All of these different things facing the Titans. Arthur Smith, a new coordinator who struggled very much at the beginning of the season, losing to division opponents, losing in just demoralizing fashion with not being able to score points, giving up these crazy plays that we saw throughout the season that just doomed the Titans in some of these games. Everything that they were able to come back from. This team probably should be an 11-12 win team
Starting point is 00:05:51 considering all of these bad breaks, but they stayed the course in the face of adversity. They stayed together. We never heard of any infighting. We never heard of any drama between the players. The locker room was never divided on quarterback or anything like that. This team is professional. They are talented and they are ready to go. Really excited for the week ahead of preparation for the Titans and an opportunity to take
Starting point is 00:06:16 advantage of a playoff berth which they desperately needed and deserve. There was so much more to talk about. So much more I could gush over, so excited about the position that the Titans are in right now, but we have a long week ahead of us to get ready, so that is going to do it for our first segment. Now, we are going to jump into our second segment, look at some individual performances. When we do tighten up, tighten down. Like the rest of us, I bet you're going into 2020 thinking about what you didn't get around to in 2019 and your goals for the new year. Well, if you want to work towards being your best self in 2020, understand more about the world around you, and make sure your time is well spent,
Starting point is 00:06:57 then Blinkist is for you. Blinkist is for anyone who cares about learning but doesn't have a lot of time. Blinkist takes key insights from over 3,000 non-fiction bestsellers in over 27 categories and condenses them down into 15-minute blinks, which are text and audio explainers that help you understand more about the core ideas of each book. Use blinks to get into a topic quickly, find new topics to grow from, or figure out which books you want to spend more time reading or listening to completion. With Blinkist's high quality audio feature, you can jump right in on the go during your commute, at the gym, or even download to listen offline. 12 million people are already using Blinkist to deepen their knowledge of over 27 categories of non-fiction including
Starting point is 00:07:41 self-improvement, personal growth, management, leadership, and mindfulness and happiness. Right now, Blinkist has a special offer for just our audience. Go to Blinkist.com slash locked on to start your free seven-day trial and get 25% off a Blinkist premium membership. That's Blinkist, spelled B-L-I-N-K-I-S-T. Blinkist.com slash locked on to get 25%
Starting point is 00:08:10 off and a 7 day free trial. Blinkist.com slash locked on. Long day at work? Tough day at school? Still stuck at the office? Treat yourself to a meal you deserve and have your favorite restaurants come to you with DoorDash. Your sweatpants are on for the day, but you're sick of microwave leftovers and frozen pizza. Enter
Starting point is 00:08:29 DoorDash, restaurant quality food with a living room dress code. Your parents don't pack your lunches anymore, but you still need to eat. So just have your favorite restaurants come to you with DoorDash, brown paper bag not included. DoorDash connects you with your favorite restaurants in your city and ordering is easy open the DoorDash app choose what you want to eat and your food will be delivered to you wherever you are and not only is your favorite pizza joint already on DoorDash but there are over 340,000 restaurants in 3,300 cities so you might even find a new favorite right now our listeners can get five5 off their first order of $15 or more when you download the DoorDash app and enter promo code LOCKEDON.
Starting point is 00:09:12 That's $5 off your first order when you download the DoorDash app from the App Store and enter promo code LOCKEDON. Don't forget, that's promo code LOCKEDON for $5 off your first order from DoorDash. Tighten up, tighten down. Let's take a look at some of the individual performances from Sunday's game. There's a lot to talk about. I couldn't get everything into our first segment, of course, so I wanted to make sure we brought up a few things.
Starting point is 00:09:50 I have to start with Derrick Henry. Although we mentioned him in the first segment, 32 carries, 211 yards, three touchdowns. I talked about on Friday how they sat Derrick Henry out for a reason so that he could come back and be as dominant as possible when he played against the Texans. Well, if you're doing that, that means that you need him. So I expected the Titans to do exactly what they did, and that was just feed him the rock. I mean, we're talking 30 carries here off, you know, sitting out a week. He should be
Starting point is 00:10:23 ready to go. And the Titans at the end of the game even made sure they all have talked about how they knew that Derrick Henry needed a certain amount of yards to win the rushing title and they wanted to get him that opportunity so just really impressive there from Derrick Henry able to win the rushing title and only 15 played games absolutely miraculous he's the best biggest tighten up of the entire season so it felt right Henry able to win the rushing title in only 15 played games. Absolutely miraculous. He's the best, biggest tighten-up of the entire season, so it felt right to lead off with him here. Second, Ryan Tannehill.
Starting point is 00:10:52 Although he didn't have his best game of the year, 198 passing yards and two touchdowns, a lot of the plays that he made were off schedule. He had to roll around in the pocket, find somebody new, get away from pressure. He did take a little bit of heat, but you know, one thing that I did want to point out is the Titans offensive line gave up zero sacks on the day. Part of that is because the offensive line played well. And anytime you go over 200 yards rushing, the offensive line played well as well. So they get a monstrous tighten up for the entire offensive line, but that means the quarterback is helping you out as well so they get a monstrous tighten up for the entire offensive line but that means the
Starting point is 00:11:25 quarterback is helping you out as well and Tannehill did a great job getting away from pressure and making the plays that needed to be put made so that we could continue to get the ball to Derrick Henry also the pass rush for the Titans not just the offensive line but the pass rush four sacks on the day and one thing that I want to talk about is it's not just that the Titans were able to get four sacks on the day. It's who was getting the sacks. Jarrell Casey got another sack and is starting to look like his old self. Kamalei Correa, a sack. Roberson, another sack. Logan Ryan, of course, got a sack. But three of the four sacks came from actual defensive linemen, which I've been harping on all season. The Titans are going to have to learn to get pressure. Or find a way to get pressure.
Starting point is 00:12:07 With just their down four linemen. So that they can dedicate enough bodies. To pass coverage. They were able to do that successfully today. The Texans do have a pretty porous offensive line. In general. And they were missing Laramie Tunsell. Their star left tackle.
Starting point is 00:12:21 So I understand all those caveats. But still. The guys are out there making plays and you got to reward them with a tight nut for that Tremaine Brock I want to shout out Tremaine Brock he had six tackles on the day but I felt like he had did a very good job in man coverage obviously he's a fourth fifth cornerback he was picked off off picked up off waivers you can't expect too much but I thought Tremaine Brock had an excellent game and man coverage and was able to help and run support. I didn't mention him in the first segment
Starting point is 00:12:49 because I promise you he is going to get plenty of love, but A.J. Brown, four catches, 124 yards and a touchdown, goes over 1,000 yards for the season, has a catch in every game this year for the Titans, has been a dominant, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL during this back half of the season. He's going to be the offensive rookie of the year if the voters have any sense in their heads. Just a dominant performance from him and he stepped up in the biggest moments. Having him and the Patriot killer Corey Davis on the other side, really excited about next week. Can't say that enough. And my final Titan up is Kevin Byard. Five interceptions this season, 17 in the last three seasons, which leads the NFL. It's just so fitting, as I said in the first segment, that this game would kind of be closed out with a Kevin
Starting point is 00:13:38 Byard interception. He deserves it. And although he's had some struggles in the past week, losing the continuity and losing the guys around him has definitely affected him, but he stepped up in the biggest game in the biggest moment and has been an impact player since day one for this Tennessee Titans team. Some quick tight end downs. I thought Austin Johnson did a very poor job in run defense early in the game. He gave up that touchdown to A.J. McCarron, that run that he had. He had an arm on him in the pocket, and A.J. McCarron was able to wiggle loose. So, Austin Johnson,
Starting point is 00:14:12 one of the rare misses for John Robinson. He's been a good role player. Role player? Oh, I'm dying. I'm so excited. My voice can barely take it. He's been a good role player for this Titans team, but just hasn't really lived up to his billing as a second round pick and would be a place where I would hope the Titans would look to upgrade. Ty Smith, thought he got beat quite a bit in man coverage on the day. Hopefully getting a Dory Jackson back. I have a feeling we'll slide him off the field and we'll keep Tremaine Brock on the field. I thought he did better in man coverage. And then Harold Landry, I really wanted him to get that 10th sack for double digits. Kind of disappointed this back half of the season. He hasn't had as big of an impact.
Starting point is 00:14:48 He had two tackles on the day, did have a quarterback hit, but just hope to see a little bit more from him going up against this Texans offensive line, and especially with Laramie Tunzel out, just expected a little bit more, but none of that matters now. The Titans are zero and zero going into the playoffs, heading up to Foxborough to play the Patriots. Next, I want to revel in this victory even more, and we need to hear from head coach Mike Vrabel and some of the Titans players how they feel coming out of the regular season, heading into the playoffs. Like I said, I just want to celebrate this win before we move on to preparation for the Patriots. So in this third and final segment, I'm going to give you guys some Titans talk.
Starting point is 00:15:29 As I said, let you hear from head coach Mike Vrabel and some of the Titans players as they enjoy this victory before we move forward. Titans talk. As we continue to celebrate this playoff berth, I want to make sure that you can feel that energy and feel the emotion from the people who competed in the contest themselves. So, as always, courtesy of TitansOnline.com, I'm going to play you audio from head coach Mike Rabel, quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the king Derek Henry himself, and maybe a few others if we have time, but I want to make sure I get those to you guys, so enjoy. Well, I think it's great that you can determine whether
Starting point is 00:16:18 you're going to continue to play football, which is what we had the opportunity to do that today. I thought there were some great efforts. I thought there were some great efforts. I thought there were some things, obviously, that we're going to have to coach and improve and play better. Everything gets harder from here on out, but there will be a lot of good things to take from this. We talked about what you have to do in the playoffs, and essentially we were in the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:16:40 You have to run the football to stop the run, and you have to be able to take care of the football and get some turnover. So I think that's a good start in understanding that message and what we're going to need to do next week. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think that the O-line, they take a lot of pride. I spent a lot of time with that group, and it's been great to see them, one, improve,
Starting point is 00:17:04 but also understand that running the football in this league is a grind. It doesn't happen, but hopefully you wear them down. You hit some 15-yarders. You hit a couple five-yarders. You push the pile. And then ultimately what happens is you break one there like we did at the end. So I'm proud of those guys. I'm happy for Derek.
Starting point is 00:17:23 I understand what he goes through and the pounding and what he's been able to do for us. You know, so I'm happy for that. You know, we won the football game, got a spot in the playoffs. You know, we're in a tournament. So all those things kind of came together, you know, as the game kind of unfolds. And, you know, I said, you got two carries.
Starting point is 00:17:43 And he ended up just needing the one. I thought the defense, we had some opportunities to tackle and maybe create some third and longer situations, get off the field, give them a lot of credit. They came out and executed well on that first drive and we didn't. I thought we settled down. I thought we were able to do what we talked about as far as setting the edge, building the wall, swarming, using the third down package to our advantage. We were able to settle down and our offense was able to get us a little lead there. It continues to improve. I think each and every week what we're asking them to do continues to go up.
Starting point is 00:18:23 The volume continues to go up. And with that, there's a certain responsibility that you have to be able to handle that volume and be where you need to be and execute. I think everybody would imagine Ryan has a lot of confidence in A.J. I thought he was going to come back for the football and maybe try to create some contact with the guy face guarding. I didn't necessarily think he was going to be able to catch it and stay in bounds, but he's a fun player to coach. He's a huge part of our organization
Starting point is 00:18:52 and excited to be able to work with him every day. It doesn't get any easier. You're going to have to go on the road in a tough environment and again, great defense. There are no strangers to winning playoff football games at home. So we'll have to go up there and we'll have to prepare, find out when we play, get a schedule, get guys healthy, and start the preparation. No, it's not emotional. I just know what's ahead.
Starting point is 00:19:20 And we've got to put this one, you don't see me enough. These people here, you've got to ask some of these guys about emotional. No, it's about focused on the Patriots and how I get this football team prepared to go on the road. You're basically walking into the Viper's den. You know, we're going to have to go on the road and beat a team that's, you know, won a lot of playoff games up there. I mean, again, the satisfaction will be at the season. After the season's over, I'm proud of the players like it is every week when we win. It's credit to them.
Starting point is 00:19:57 I appreciate them putting up with me every day and trying to allow me to coach them, coach them hard, try to put the team first in everything that we do. So I'm glad that we were able to win a football game, get Ryan. I think Ryan ended up as the number one rated passer in the league, which is a testament to him, the receivers and the offensive line. But I think we're proving that we can score some points. We found ways to put the ball in the end zone.
Starting point is 00:20:27 Absolutely. I mean, I think it's exciting for everybody. We have coaches, and I'm never going to take for granted winning in this league ever or making the playoffs, giving yourself a shot, because that's what happens in this league. You put yourself in a position to try to play meaningful games in January. Ryan is a huge part of that, a part of that that allowed us to be here and try to take advantage of this opportunity.
Starting point is 00:20:54 They came back and answered when we needed to, but again, we were able to mix in the run game. I think that for the most part, we were pretty good in penalties. Didn't do many things that costed us. Maybe there was a few false starts. Maybe one here or there. I'm excited for these guys. These guys are ready to continue to play football. We've got to get healthy and figure out a way to try to prepare to win. I left there and, you know, I haven't had a paycheck with a
Starting point is 00:21:28 Patriots logo on it since 2008. So, again, it was no different than, you know, going and coaching against them with the Texans or coaching against them last year. It's a huge challenge to go up there and try to win. Marcus has continued to improve. We're going to have to need him through this run somehow. Some way he's continuing to improve and work. Again, I was able to get him in the game today and hopefully that package can continue to grow as we move forward. I appreciate it, guys.
Starting point is 00:22:00 Thank you. It's exciting. We finished the season the way we wanted to. Getting ourselves in position to be in the playoffs and um now starts uh starts the postseason for us so you know excited about the way we finished the season obviously knew what it was coming in today needed to come out with the w we were able to do that and uh enjoy it enjoy it for tonight and then uh tomorrow we'll turn it around and get ready for the next one yeah it's exciting i mean you that's why we play compete love to win and you play to win a championship. Obviously haven't been able to do that yet, but that's the goal each and every year. You set out and try to do everything you can to put yourself and your team
Starting point is 00:22:35 in a position to go compete for a championship. Through the ups and the downs this year, we were able to fight through and put ourselves in the dance. Like I said, we'll enjoy this one tonight and then get ready for the next one tomorrow. It was awesome. It was awesome. Honestly, I didn't know it was the title. They kept saying yardage, and I thought it was just to get him to 1,500. Didn't know it was for the title, which is really cool. Just that the guys wanted that so badly for him.
Starting point is 00:23:04 Obviously, I know he wanted it, but, you know, speaks to the O-line and what it means to them running the football, just how bad they wanted to get that title for Derek. It was huge, a lot of fun. What's the next step? Obviously, like I said, we'll enjoy this one tonight and get ready for New England. Obviously, they have a lot of experience in the postseason, and we're going to have to go in and play well.
Starting point is 00:23:25 But I like what we did today. We ran the ball really well. We took care of the football. And you look at postseason, and that's what teams that win, they do. They run the football, and they take care of it. So we want to continue that heading into next week. I think we had a bunch of fighters, a bunch of guys that believe in each other. We stayed the course.
Starting point is 00:23:41 I think we had a growth mindset, something Art has preached since day one offensively, is just have a growth mindset and find Art has preached since day one offensively, is just have a growth mindset and find a way to improve each and every day, each and every week. We just stayed the course through the ups and the downs. We just kept trying to get better each and every week, sticking to what we believed in, and kept us on the right path and obviously put us in position to go compete in the playoffs. We have weapons. We have weapons. Obviously, Derek is huge and it kind of
Starting point is 00:24:07 all starts up front with the O-line and with Derek. On the outside, we have guys that are dangerous with the ball in their hands. AJ, once again, proves that once he gets the ball in his hand that he's dangerous. He can go the distance. Corey made some big plays for us today. Tajay last week made some big plays. We have a bunch of guys that are talented and can make big plays for us. So it's tough to really kind of key in on one person or one group. We have talent across the board that we feel good about. Yeah, I think this team has responded to adversity throughout the whole season.
Starting point is 00:24:39 And that's one thing that has kept us growing and put us in this position. We have that belief in each other that we're just going to keep playing and keep plugging away and find a way. Defense will find a way to shore it up and get stops. Offense will find a way to move the ball and get touchdowns. That's what we did. They moved the ball early, and we were able to come back and respond. It kind of happened a couple times after the first half. We started the second half with a long drive, score.
Starting point is 00:25:06 They go down and score. Then we were able to get a score a few more after that. Just the way we respond to adversity and believe in each other that we're going to find a way. Honestly, didn't even know. I just kind of kept my head down, plugging away, and just tried to play my best football and lead the team to wins. Well it's huge.
Starting point is 00:25:28 You look at teams with the best records in the NFL and generally they take care of the football. Their turnover margin is on the plus side and usually the higher it is the more wins the team has. So it's something that we talk about and want to do, run the football and take care of it. So if we do that we'll be in good shape. Thank you. Derek is on his way.
Starting point is 00:25:49 He should be here in a second. Happy holidays. Merry New Year. Feels great to be back on the field. Have a good day. I guess they were trying to keep track of it. You know, I didn't really know, you know. I was just trying to, you know, make something happen when I got the ball just so I could shut them up, you know.
Starting point is 00:26:13 So, but, yeah, credit to those guys. You know, I thank each and every one of my teammates, my coaches, you know, trainers, everybody a part of the Titans organization. I'm just happy that we're able to get into the postseason. That was the goal. We get in and see what happens. I think that was the main goal, just getting into postseason. I think any time you put the team first and do everything right for the team,
Starting point is 00:26:41 then all the individual stuff will fall into place. He told me, you got two more and that's it. When he said that, I had to make something happen. Well, we did. I think, like I said, I talked to you all on Thursday. I think we got to be locked in. Compete against each other. Make each other better. Hold each other accountable throughout the week. We know how tough it is to win in that stadium, in that environment. They're a well-disciplined team. They play different in the playoffs, so we've got to be extra locked in on all three phases.
Starting point is 00:27:17 I think it's just a relentless attitude, believing in one another. Coach talked about that, just believing in what we're doing as a're doing as a team, you know, in all three phases. And I think that's what we did. You know, just kept fighting. You know, in this league, it's hard to win. At the end of the day, if you play your game, you know, in all three phases, you know, and focus on finishing, you know, each and every drive, you know, offense, defense, and special teams,
Starting point is 00:27:42 then I think everything can take care of itself. You know, I'll probably speak for Ryan as well. That's credit to all our teammates, line blocking, tight ends blocking and catching, receivers catching, running great routes. Ryan did a great job getting the ball, being efficient in the passing game. I think it just speaks volumes for us as an offense, what we're able to accomplish as a whole. You know, I never want to single out individual goals, but, you know, I credit to everybody
Starting point is 00:28:15 in the offense, our coaches involved, you know, for, you know, those accomplishments. If they're going to feed me, I got to get it in. You know, obviously, you know, that was the mentality, you know, running the football, you know, you know, driving the ball down, I got to get it in. Obviously, that was the mentality, running the football, driving the ball down, you're getting the end zone. So they're going to feed it to me, get the ball to the end zone. Oh, yeah, Coach gave us a great statistic before we played this game about the playoffs last year and just showing the teams that won in the playoffs ran the ball effectively and the teams that didn't got eliminated.
Starting point is 00:28:46 So, you know, it's just us focusing on running the ball, being physical, and hopefully we can keep it going. I think we just all feed off each other, you know. All of us playing good football, everybody doing their job, and I think that just speaks for us as a team. We just feed off one another. If the defense doing good, I'm gonna feed off them and vice versa. Me standing on the sideline actually not playing, I was hyped up.
Starting point is 00:29:13 I was ready to put my pants on last week just watching those guys play, but I think we just feed off each other. Yeah, it's great to get Ocho in there and get him in there and get some plays. He's a hell of a teammate, a hell of a person, and somebody that I'd be friends with. He's a great man, and we'll be friends forever. I mean, it feels great, man. Glory be to God.
Starting point is 00:29:36 Just to be able to come out of this game healthy. Shots out, and credit to the Houston Texans for going out there. Regardless if they didn't play these starters tonight, those guys competed the entire night. So I think it was good for us. No matter what the game looked like, we got it done. Nine and seven doesn't matter how you get into the party, but now we're in the tournament. So we're definitely gonna have to go on the road and play our best ball against the Patriots, against Brady.
Starting point is 00:29:55 And I'm super excited to go back up there and get another chance to go try to go beat him at his home stadium. So it's gonna be super fun. We're gonna try to have a great week of practice and do what we need to do to go out there and get a W. Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. I mean, we kind of feel like being, you know, the 6C. We're going to be underdogs in pretty much every game we're going to go into. So it's just that role mentality.
Starting point is 00:30:13 We're going to have to bring a great defense, a great running game, and don't turn the ball over. I think those are the kind of formula that you need to go win on the road. So if we do those things, I think we'll be great. So like I said, man, it doesn't really matter how we got into the tournament. We're in it, and anything can happen. We're trying to get to the road to the Super Bowl. Man, I think we just really start rolling. I mean, I think our offense be great. So, like I said, man, it doesn't really matter how we got into the tournament. We're in it, and anything can happen. We're trying to get to the road to the Super Bowl. Man, I think we just really start rolling.
Starting point is 00:30:27 I mean, I think our offense started playing very well. Those guys have been doing great. Derrick Henry leading the rest of the NFL. Tannehill highest passing rating. I mean, those guys have been playing great. A.J. Brown, 1,000 yards. I mean, we have some elite guys on offense. And as a defense, I think we continue to improve, continue to improve.
Starting point is 00:30:42 And it's stuff we're always going to have to get better with. But at the end of the day, like I said, anything can happen in these playoffs, man. So that's the only thing we're looking about. We don't want to look over the entire season right now. We're looking forward. And that's into the Patriots next week. Honestly, not really. Because the entire message when we were 2-4 was the sky isn't falling.
Starting point is 00:30:58 We were saying some good things on film. But it was also some bad stuff and stuff that was getting us beat. And we thought we knew that we was going gonna have to go in and correct those things. And I think we did it. And we kinda got on the run. I mean, it was a tough road to get to this point. But at the end of the day, we're happy we're in the playoffs. And like I said, man, anything can happen at this point.
Starting point is 00:31:15 Yeah, I mean, our confidence is super high. I have confidence in every single guy we have in this locker room to go out there and get the job done. So I mean, it's good to have going into the playoffs, having confidence. But at the end of the day, man, I mean, it's time braiding the playoffs and we kind of know what we're up against. So like I'm telling my guys, we're gonna talk about it all week, man. We need our best week of practice so we can have our best game rather than Saturday or Sunday. So we're gonna try to get a W in New England. I mean, it felt like we were in the playoffs today
Starting point is 00:31:40 because it was one of the situations you win and you're in. If you don't, you didn't. There's a very slim chance we'd still go in. But, you know, we're happy to be in. And now it's just about taking care of business. Happy for Derek. Happy for AJ. Happy for Ryan. Those are big, huge milestones for those guys. And hopefully to continue that in the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:31:56 Yeah, man. I mean, he's got all the talent in the world. And I'm just happy to be his left tackle. I'm happy to block for him, man, because he makes us look good. And I'm impressed by him, man. His work ethic, the way he comes to work every single day, it's awesome. But now it doesn't mean now we gotta go in the playoffs and we gotta start running for more records, hopefully.
Starting point is 00:32:13 And we gotta keep going. Were you aware that he was close? I was very aware that I was right in the fourth quarter. We were all talking about he needs this much, he needs that much. And so we came out, we went out, did that three and out and and then we ran a couple plays and we were doing everything we could man and we got him a seam and he did the rest I mean anytime you're the leading rusher in the NFL that's I mean that should mean something to a lot of people and it's a awesome it's a time for celebration
Starting point is 00:32:38 right now but literally once we get back man it's all in the Patriots and that's our main focus we can't we can't just be excited just to be in the playoffs you know now we're one of those few teams out the opportunity we have to take the most of it to the patriots well last time i went up there in the playoffs we got kicked out of us so i got that in the back of my mind um they have great coaches obviously tom brady's the best football player of all time i've said it once a thousand times and um you know they have a great defense and so those guys do an amazing job. They're well coached, good fundamentals. They play really hard. And it's hard to play up there.
Starting point is 00:33:09 They have a very large fan base for a reason. They deserve it. And I'm just excited for the opportunity. Oh, I'm happy for him, man. I mean, that was the expectation coming in when they hired him. And we all have a job to do. And he's done a good job this year of putting us in those positions to be successful.
Starting point is 00:33:24 Vrabel is unapologetically himself all the time, and I think that's something that people lose sight of how important that is. He's him every single day, whether you like him or not, and I can really appreciate that about him. I'm happy for him. I'm happy for this team. But like I said, you get excited and we're all happy right now, but then in the back of your head you're like, well, we've got to get to work. And so we've got to get going.
Starting point is 00:33:47 Well, I mean, you remember it, obviously. I mean, that made it to the divisional round and a huge comeback against Kansas City. And then that happened, you know, they're a different team, we're a different team. We've got to go in there and we've got to play to the best of our abilities because that's when it's needed. And right now it's the biggest opportunity we've had since I've been here.
Starting point is 00:34:07 That was Titans Talk, audio courtesy of titansonline.com. Hope you guys enjoyed that. What a victory. It took everything in my power to finally calm down, get on here. My voice is cracking. I'm yelling in the microphone. Your guys' audio is probably bugging. I don't care.
Starting point is 00:34:23 You guys don't care. What a feeling to finally have a consistent offense. I mean, we're going to talk about that in tomorrow's show, Tuesday's show. I want to dedicate this week's Tic Tac Titan segment to the Patriots, so I'm going to take a few extra days to get into their tape of their recent games to try to give you guys a good idea of what kind of team they are at this moment in time. And tomorrow we are going to focus on this offense, kind of take a review of how everyone on the offense has come along, all the different pieces that have fit together. There's a lot of praise to be given out and I want to make sure I do so. So tomorrow we'll focus on some of those things. But in the meantime, guys, enjoy this victory enjoy it what a season all
Starting point is 00:35:07 the trials and tribulations I mentioned in the first segment all the adversity and all the infighting that you know has happened between the fan base and all of the divisive moments throughout the season but it never took its toll on the team's spirit they kept going out there playing their hardest and came back from a pretty bad start to be one of the hottest, one of the best teams in the NFL by the end of the year. And that's all that matters is how you finish, folks. Life lessons you can learn from sport. Anyways, I could not be more excited to move forward throughout this week and talk Patriots with you guys. Get ready.
Starting point is 00:35:40 I'm going to be here Monday through Friday as I have been all season. If you aren't already, subscribe to the show. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Rate, review, comment, help us out. We are going to jump into the film room and the X's and O's throughout the week. Talk everything that has happened so far and what is to come next. I couldn't be more excited as I've said about a million times. So, that is going to do it for tonight's episode. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.