Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - POSTCAST - Tennessee Titans DOMINATE Miami Dolphins 34-3 to CLINCH AFC South!!

Episode Date: January 2, 2022

The Tennessee Titans have won back to back division championships after dismantling the Miami Dolphins 34-3!! Tyler gives his instant reaction, immediate takeaways and raw emotions from the win. Why this team feels different and what it sets up for the Titans going forward!!Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans postcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a victory postcast. I'm going to give you guys my instant reaction, my immediate thoughts, my quick takeaways to the Tennessee Titans 34-3 dominant victory over the Miami Dolphins that led to not only a clinch of the AFC South,

but the number one seed in the AFC South, but the number one seed in the AFC. I'm breaking it all down. 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. 34-3, the Titans thoroughly dismantle the Dolphins. They look like a fish out of water in Nashville on Sunday.

Okay, I'm sorry I won't make fish puns the entire time, but just super excited about this victory. One thing that comes to mind instantly, and like I said, my raw emotions in the postcast after the game, thinking about it immediately, when the Titans do good things, it always seems to be a struggle. It always seems to be unnecessary drama sometimes. And we've seen that this season. They've lost to the Jets, the Texans, that comeback loss against the Steelers. The Titans don't always make it a pleasurable viewing experience, even when good things happen and good seasons are happening. But not this weekend, not this man. And since the beginning of the year, it just felt like this is a different Tennessee Titans team. And there's no bigger example than this game. Previous iterations of the Titans would have gone out there

and played with their seafood. Okay, I'm sorry I lied to you guys. But you guys know what I'm saying. You've been following the team. You've seen this. The Titans have a tendency to kind of play down to their competition, especially in big moments, and leave us all in an anxious state, but not today. Something about this team is just different, and they just thoroughly dismantled the Dolphins all the way

through. 17-3 at halftime, 34-3 at the end of the game. I predicted 20-9 as the score because I figured that it would be a double digit win. The Dolphins offense is not good. Tua is not good. I mean, he's not awful. He's not in the fourth or fifth bottom tiers of quarterbacks, but he's probably in the middle of the third tier. I put Ryan Tannehill in the second tier just so we're all on the same page here. So Tua is not a great quarterback. They don't have a good offensive line. It was so rainy in Nashville. The field was a mess in this game. So a speed guy like Waddle wasn't going to be able to dominate, even though Waddle did have a good game in the one big play the Dolphins were able

to get. Of course, it was him. You know, he's a talented guy. They're going to get something. Miami is a good team. They're not terrible, but we all knew the quarterbacks that they played during that seven-game winning streak that there was a bit of fraudulence there with maybe their overall record not necessarily showing exactly who they were, and the Titans proved that as well. The Titans made a statement about themselves,

but they also kind of brought the Dolphins back to reality and rubbed the magic off of that team for the rest of the season. But talking about this game, it just starts with the defense, really. I mean, it was a punt fest to start, if we're honest. The first four drives of the game, first five drives of the game were all punts. The defense is just going back and forth.

And here's the yardage. The Dolphins got 30 yards on that first drive that they had. They had two good opening plays that got them a good chunk of yards. But after that, the Titans had zero yards on their first drive. Then the Dolphins had one yard on their next drive. The Titans had six yards on their next drive. Then the Dolphins followed that up with a one yard drive and another punt. So five straight punts in a row. But then the Titans offense, who if you looked at it, two really good defenses in this game. But which offense did you trust more? And even without Henry and even without Julio, to me, I trusted the Titans offense more. And that's why I predicted them to win by double digits in the first place. And that came to be true. It was the Titans offense that could actually stand up, even though it wasn't always pretty.

But that's not important. The Titans got the job done. They answer with a 10-play, 51-yard touchdown run after the field position turn. That was just a field position battle those first five drives nonstop, and the Titans, once they won the field position battle, got a good return from Chester Rogers that had them starting on the plus side of the 50-yard line. They turned it into a touchdown. Good run by Deontay Foreman, who was excellent in this game. Ryan Tannehill, dump-off play action at the goal line to Jeff Swain to put the Titans up 7-0.

Tua comes out and fumbles right away. The weather obviously getting to him. And, you know, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but you grow up in Hawaii and you play in Alabama and things maybe aren't as wet all the time as they were in Nashville on Sunday. Not that Nashville is some beacon of wetness, but you guys know what I'm saying. The cold there, it was in the low 40s, 30s.

The rain, slight snow, icy mixture, all that. Tua seemed like the guy who's ready to play in that environment. Not for my money, and that fumble was critical. The Titans get a field goal off of that and go up 10 to nothing Miami does respond with a field goal but then an answer in baseball they call it a shutdown inning you want to take timely runs off the board shut people down so the Titans answer the Dolphins field goal with their own touchdown 21 yard run Deontay Foreman to score and that puts the Titans up 17 to3 and then come right out and

the Titans are able to force a punt before halftime on Miami a shut down inning for the defense the Titans score and if Miami scores a touchdown there 17-10 at halftime doesn't feel the same so just a big moment for the Titans defense and the offense after the Dolphins score their first point to answer with a touchdown and then a punt and the half The Titans are up 17-3, come out. The Titans punt, but 42 yards on the drive, so they flip the field position. It leads to a missed field goal for the Dolphins. A punt for the Titans, then a turnover on downs on fourth for the Dolphins.

The Titans turn that into a touchdown. And Ryan Tannehill, a great pass to Anthony Ferkser in the back of the end zone. Miami turns it over again. Titans field goal, the interception. Another Titans touchdown late in the back of the end zone. Miami turns it over again. Titans field goal. The interception. Another Titans touchdown late in the game to Hilliard to really ice things off. So just a great day for the Titans. The Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs,

which puts the Tennessee Titans in the number one seed in the AFC. The Colts lost to the Raiders. Ultimately, the Titans didn't need the Colts to lose to wrap things up. But it feels nice. You know it, and I know it too. So I like to see that. I mean, everything is just set up perfectly for the Titans here. They handle their business against Miami.

They clinch the AFC South hat and T-shirt game secured. The Bengals do their job and beat Kansas City, giving the Titans the number one seed in the conference. The Titans play week 18 against the Houston Texans, and yeah, you could call that a letdown game after they clinched the division and all that, but because the Texans beat the Titans at home, that revenge will propel the Titans to avoid any kind of letdown emotionally in that game. The Titans win that game.

They go to 12-5, which was my season record prediction anyway. They get the first spot in the AFC and get the bye. And then all the reports over the weekend. Who's that? The King. Coming back. So, I mean, the Titans are as healthy as they've ever been. The defense is championship worthy.

The offense can be explosive when it has its players back. They have survived this stint without Derrick Henry. They've survived this stint without A.J. Brown for a lot of games. The most players ever used in a season for the Titans. The injuries, just all of the ups and downs of the season and the Titans are here and again. Contrary to what we've seen from them in history the Titans just absolutely closed the door on any doubt that they are the best team in the AFC

and they don't even have Derrick Henry back yet I mean this is one of the best Sundays one of the best moments in Tennessee Titans history I don't think it's hyperbolic to say that back to back division championships potentially the bye and the number one seed in the AFC with all the injuries and all the adversity, which brings me to my final

point of the postcast, and remember, I'm going to be breaking down the entire game going way more in-depth with the things I saw schematically, the keys to victory, individual player performances in my full-length episode that will be out on the channel on Monday morning at 9 a.m.

But the point is, Mike Vrabel is the coach of the year. No question about it. No question about it. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind. There should be no contender now. There should be no contender. Everybody said this team was dead without Derrick Henry.

And Mike Vrabel has led them to potentially the number one seed in the AFC. Mike Vrabel is the coach of the year. The Tennessee Titans are currently the number one seed in the AFC. The Tennessee Titans are the AFC South champions. What an incredible day of football and an incredible Sunday for us all. Again, make sure you check out my full-length podcast coming out at 9 a.m. on the YouTube channel and whatever podcast platform you use on Monday morning. Thank you all.

That's going to do it for me. As always, I'm your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was a Locked on Titans postcast.