Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - POSTCAST - Tennessee Titans Clinch Top Spot in AFC, Beat Texans 28-25

Episode Date: January 9, 2022

The Tennessee Titans made it scary, but they defeat the Houston Texans 28-25 and clinch the number one seed in the AFC. Tyler gives his instant reaction to the victory and breaks down how it all happened! Also, the Titans are the number one seed. That means a playoff bye and should be accompanied by the return of Derrick Henry!! Tyler celebrates the win and the stakes!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to a Locked on Titans postcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we just witnessed a 28-25 victory for the Tennessee Titans over the Houston Texans that clinched the number one seed in the AFC. It wasn't pretty, but it was beautiful. I'm going to give you guys my instant reaction, my quick takeaways, my raw emotions after that victory, all on a victory Locked On Titans postcast.

Let's get it. You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team, every day. Titans fans, it is a victory post-cast where I give you, like I said, my instant reaction, my quick takeaways, my raw emotions after the victory. Before we dive into all of my immediate thoughts here, just want to let you guys know I'm putting

this out on Sunday night, on Monday morning. I will have my full 30-minute recap of the game, so make sure that you're locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Check out the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. If you want to check out the video version of the show, smash that notification bell. Smash the like button. Check me out on social media at Tic Tac Titans on Twitter, at Locked on Titans pod on Facebook. But this game, I mean, the Titans really just made the heart rate go up, skyrocket all game long.

They come out slow, as we've seen the Titans do all year long. They can't get things going on the first couple of drives. They punt, even though the Titans' defense is absolutely taking apart the Texans and not letting them go anywhere. The Titans miss a field goal on their second drive after punting on their first drive. But, of course, again, as we've seen all year long, that third drive of the game for the Titans, they just find a way to score some points.

They go 94 yards and finish with an Anthony Ferkser touchdown, which Anthony Ferkser came to life. The entire passing game came to life in this game, and that kind of led to what took place next. The Titans' defense continues to force punts, and the Titans get three touchdowns on their three final drives of the first half. Just talked about the Ferkser one. Then we got a touchdown to A.J. Brown on a nice out route out of shotgun.

Then at the end of the half, the Titans get an advantageous pass interference penalty near the end zone, and they're able to get a touchdown to Nick Westbrook-Akina on a pick play that led him to the flat. Great stuff from Ryan Tannehill in the first half. He had about 190 plus yards, had three touchdown passes, really got the ball rolling for the Titans, and the defense was absolutely excellent as well. Never really let the Texans get anything going. But after halftime, things changed drastically and we all know what happened. We don't need to give any kind of insane breakdown as to what happened.

The Titans were up 21 to nothing. They were feeling themselves. They knew that they were better than the Texans. They knew that they were going to win the game. And as you see all the time in sports, they let their guard down. Kevin Byard said it after the game. He said, we were sleepwalking a little bit through that second half. And yes, that's exactly what happened. The Titans were just like, hey, we got this 1-1. They didn't come out with the correct focus and the correct intensity. And whenever you do that, the football gods are going to punish you. Now, luckily the Titans were able to win this game, but definitely scary hours in that second

half. The Titans come out of halftime. They only get two yards. They punt. Next drive, 17 yards. They punt. Next drive, eight yards. They punt. I mean, the entire third quarter, they do absolutely nothing. And that's what we saw from the Titans in certain games earlier in the year. They kind of come out sleepwalking from halftime and then they get it back together in the fourth quarter. But the Texans didn't come out sleepwalking after halftime. Basically what the Texans did was they took advantage of two things. One, when they got in non-shotgun spread out formations, they would run play action. And the Titans were so focused on stopping the run that they were coming way too far up. And it was leaving wide open spaces over the middle of the field. Also, when the

Texans weren't doing that, they were going into that shotgun five wide and they were hunting Danny Amendola. And for most of the game, it was Elijah Molden, and Molden just simply can't cover wide receivers in that manner. That's why Molden has been the early down slot cornerback for the Titans all year. He's good against the run. He can play going forward, play in the zones that they play on early downs. But when the Titans go to man coverage,

they take Elijah Molden off the field, and they would use Buster Screen. They would use Chris Jackson early in the season. But in this game, they decided to have Molden be that dime package linebacker instead of Dane Crookshank. So no matter what, Molden was going to be out on the field. And they were just looking for Danny Amendola against Elijah Molden over and over and over and over again.

And then Elijah Molden got hurt for a little bit. Chris Jackson came in and immediately it was an out and up to Danny Andola for a touchdown. So that really just crushed the Titans in the second half. But again, for me, I'm chalking it up to a lack of focus, a lack of effort. The Titans were simply sleepwalking through. But one of the big plays that did happen in the second half

that really got the ball rolling back to the Titans' direction, there were three plays that really stood out to me in the second half that really got the ball rolling back to the Titans direction. There were three plays that really stood out to me in the second half that essentially won this game for the Titans. The Texans scored 25 points in the second half. The Titans only scored seven, but that's all they needed. One of the big plays that limited that to 25 and not 28 was the sack by Jeffrey Simmons in the red zone in the third quarter. was the sack by Jeffrey Simmons in the red zone in the third quarter.

I mean, yeah, in the third quarter. Just absolutely critical for the Titans to hold the Texans to three points there. Simmons gets the sack. It creates a second and 19 for the Titans, and then they're able to get the stop on third down and force the field goal. That was just absolutely so important. But the biggest play of the game and one of the biggest plays of the season. If this play doesn't happen, I think the Titans lose. The Titans go into the fourth quarter, can't get anything going. It's third down looking like another three and out. Tannehill looks like

he's sacked in the backfield, but no, he wiggles free from the sack. He rolls out to the right and he throws a strike down the field to Nick Westbrook-Akina for 36 yards. The Titans then go down the field even further after a 24-yard pass to Ferkser over the middle. Get them down there and they throw the touchdown pass to none other than Julio Jones. Julio! I don't care what anybody says.

It was worth it. The trade was worth it. Julio made one of the biggest plays of the season, catching that touchdown pass, put the Titans to 28 points, and that's all that they needed. The Texans respond with an 80-yard drive, and they score a touchdown to make it 28-25,

but the Titans get the ball back with about a little over four minutes left. And like good teams do, they close the door. They ran the timeout, and that brings me to the third and final biggest play of the second half. We have Simmons sack, we have Tannehill's Houdiniak, and then we have Dontrell Hilliard reaching out on third and two, reaching the ball over the first down marker and sealing the game for the Titans. So, as I said at the beginning,

it wasn't pretty, but it was beautiful. And the Titans got the job done. And it doesn't matter how close this game was. These games with the Texans always seem to be close. It doesn't matter how close the game was because what matters most right now is the Titans are the number one seed in the AFC. They will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

They are automatically into the final eight teams in the tournament. And who's that? Oh, Derrick Henry, ready to return. What an incredible season for the Tennessee Titans. They finished 12-5, get the No. 1 seed for the first time in over a decade. Although there were a lot of ups and downs, what an incredible, incredible regular season for the Titans.

And now it's time to parlay that bye week into some success. And Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who should be the coach of the year, is 8-0 in his career as a head coach with extra preparation time in season. Make sure you guys check out the full recap that will be coming out on

Monday morning. That's going to do it for me today. Titans win number one seed in the AFC. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Thank you for checking out this Locked on Titans postcast. you