Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - POSTCAST - Tennessee Titans Survive Saints March, Win 23-21

Episode Date: November 14, 2021

The Tennessee Titans defeated the New Orleans Saints in a street fight 23-21. Tyler gives his instant reaction and biggest takeaways after the win. The Titans move to 8-2 on the year and still sit at first place in the AFC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the first ever Locked on Titans postcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. I'm going to be giving you guys my instant reaction and biggest takeaways to the Titans 23-21 win over the New Orleans Saints. 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. The Tennessee Titans move to 8-2 on the year,

the number one record in the AFC, and they gave themselves even more of a lead after everything that took place in the conference over the weekend. But it was an ugly win that got them there, 23-21 over the New Orleans Saints, a game where the Titans' offense really couldn't get any rhythm going whatsoever, even though they were able to capitalize on some good field position and score two touchdowns. It was a struggle for the Titans that never really got anything going

in the ground game. They had 2.3 yards per carry on the day with only 66 rushing yards. They couldn't really get A.J. Brown going in the passing game, but Marcus Johnson was there to save the day for the Titans passing offense. He did have five catches for 100 yards. This was the Marcus Johnson that everybody was expecting after those very, very positive and flowery training camp reports on Marcus Johnson. So now he looks healthy.

He's helping out the Titans offense after they lose Julio Jones to IR for at minimum the next two games after this game against the Saints. But that's a discussion for another time with this game. The Titans, again, they were able to score two touchdowns utilizing good field position. The Saints are one of the best field position teams, one of the best special teams teams in the NFL, and the Titans were able to win that battle enough. They scored a touchdown where they started on their own 44-yard line. They also scored a touchdown where they started on the Saints' 19-yard line after a special team's turnover. So the Titans' offense wasn't great, but again, they took advantage of advantageous situations

that they were put into by the Titans defense and by the special teams. Those two units really lifted the Titans up on this day. Of course, that incredible hit by Dylan Cole that forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half gave the Titans offense great field position and turned into a Michael Pruitt touchdown. Ryan Tannehill with the rushing touchdown. The quarterback sneak on the goal line for the touchdown in the first half. So those two scores along with three field goals from Randy Bullock and two extra points.

And we can't overstate the importance of those extra points as we saw the flip side of that for New Orleans. So the Titans offense disjointed throughout the day, but did just enough to get the Titans in a spot where they could win this game. And then, of course, I talked about the special teams. Randy Bullock, 3-for-3 on his field goals, 2-for-2 on his extra points. Dylan Cole with the forced fumble. Brett Kern with putting a punt inside the 20-yard line right before swinging the field position battle for the Titans

on their first touchdown of the day. So special teams, a really, really good performance. Also, the Saints have the best kickoff return unit in the NFL, and the Titans did a really good job of bottling them up and Deontay Harris throughout the day, not only bottling him up, but forcing a turnover. So just a great job on special teams for the Titans, but the Titans' defense, again, had a pretty good day out there. Some inconsistencies, but they held the Saints to 5-for-13 or 5-for-12 on third down. So that's a good performance.

Overall, on the rushing defense, they did a good job. They held the Saints to 86 rushing yards. That's nearly 40 yards less than their season average as a top-10 rushing team. They got four 40 yards less than their season average as a top 10 rushing team. They got four sacks on the day as well. Now, they played some bad pass coverage on the day. There's no doubt about it. The Titans really struggled in pass coverage.

Chris Jackson specifically had a very, very tough day out there. But overall, the defense did enough, especially in the first half, holding the Saints to only six points in the first half. They did enough at the beginning of the game to let the offense and the special teams do their part to put points on the board and get a lead. The Titans were up at 20-6 coming out of the first drive of halftime after that forced fumble on the kickoff. And after that, it was going to be tough for the Saints offense

to really push and come back, but they almost did, and that's where things get really crazy. The New Orleans Saints score nine points in the fourth quarter to get really close to the Titans to the point where there's a two-point conversion on the two-yard line in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. 23-21, two-point conversion, but tied in Adam Troutman for the Saints. False start, pushes the Saints back to the seven-yard line. They try to throw a pass to Mark Ingram on the sideline, on the corner, on a wheel route.

Not there. Jack Rabbit Jenkins, Jayon Brown there to break up the pass, and the Titans take over, and the game is essentially over. But the Saints are a really well-coached ball club. This is what I was saying all week leading up to the game. A really well-coached ball club. They have a really good defense as well that was able to get to Ryan Tannehill twice on the day.

So the Saints really made it tough on the Titans, who are still struggling on offense without Derrick Henry. But overall, throughout the day, the Titans did just enough because they were the better team. They were the better team in this game, and they were the smarter team in this game. We talk about the Titans leading with everything that the Titans have done, but you really want to look at things. The Saints shot themselves in the foot all day long. I mean, the field position battle, that was a big thing coming in. Well, the Saints let the Titans start a drive on their 44-yard line. They fumbled the ball on the kickoff return and gave

the Titans offense that was struggling an easy touchdown from the 19-yard line in. So those things can't help you. Turnovers, field position, and penalties. The Saints had nine penalties for 65 yards. They missed two extra points. I mean, those extra points were huge throughout the game. So you look at the extra points, you look at the penalties, you look at the special teams play, the Saints really shot themselves in the foot to lose this game. And, you know, I don't want to take too much away from the Titans because this is a game that the Titans would have lost in previous years.

And good teams don't always play their best. But can you still win when you don't play your best? Well, I think the Titans are proving that they can do that. And 8-2 is the best record that the Titans have had through 10 games since 2008 when they went 13-3 led by Kerry Collins and Chris Johnson. So this truly is one of those Tennessee Titans teams that may be as good as the 2008 team, as the Steve McNair teams from the beginning of the Titans era. So I think that although it wasn't pretty, it was an ugly win, which is kind of where I let off.

The Titans still were the better and smarter team. They were the team that didn't beat themselves. And a lot of time in sports, especially in football, if you just don't beat yourself, your opponent may just beat themselves. And that sets you up for a win, even if you don't play your best.

And that's exactly what has happened with the Titans here. Now, a lot of stuff has happened in the AFC over the weekend that have put the Titans in a great position. But what we know for sure is after this game, the Titans are 8-2. They're number one in the AFC. They have a pretty decent lead as most of the other contenders for the top seed in the AFC sit at 6-3.

And, you know, the Titans have only lost one game in the AFC to the Jets. Crazy, crazy how that game happened. But, you know, the Jets have played some competitive games since here and there. So I guess, you know, it's another day in the NFL. But with everything going on right now, the Titans have to be majorly happy with all the injuries, the most injured team in the NFL. It can't be anything but smiles in Nashville with the way the season has gone so far.

And next week, the Titans have a home game against the Houston Texans, which even if you take your opponent seriously every single week, there's no way that you cannot expect another win for the Titans, setting them up at 9-2 through 11 weeks. So a big win and a tough game, a street fight for the Titans

as they beat the New Orleans Saints by a score of 23-21. They will advance to 8-2 and move on to playing the Houston Texans next week in another game at home. That is going to do it for this first ever Locked on Titans postcast. I am going to have my full Locked on Titans postcast, I'm going to have my full Locked on Titans recap episode with my big takeaways, tighten up, tighten down on individual performances

and looking at everything that happened in the AFC. I'm going to have that up for you guys at 11am Eastern time on Monday and that's when the shows are going to come out on YouTube going forward for the podcast crowd. I'm going to have these shows out at midnight

every night just like always for you guys. So just letting you know what's ahead but thank you very much for tuning in to this Locked on Titans postcast. Make sure that you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. Smash that notification bell on YouTube. Make sure that you always get notifications

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