Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Rewatch Wednesday: Kern to COVID List, Rewatch Notes & Wayback Wednesday from Week 6

Episode Date: December 30, 2020

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You are Locked On Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Wednesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by Pepsi. This football season will be different, and Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch.

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Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. Titans fans. This rewatch Wednesday is having an identity crisis. Because it's not just a rewatch Wednesday on today's Locked on Titans podcast. It is a whatwatch Wednesday on today's Locked on Titans podcast. It is a what now Wednesday with the opening segment I got for you today. Just when things seem like they couldn't get any worse, the Titans get even worse news. So I'll go over the news of the day and what this means for the Titans going into week 17.

And then of course, it is rewatch Wednesday, so let's step into the film room and talk about what I saw. I'll give you my extra analysis, the additional tidbits that I picked up, empty out my notebook, if you will, for what I saw on the coach's tape after rewatching the film multiple times since the Titans lost to the Packers. So I'll talk about my extra analysis on offense and defense. And then, because the Titans do have such a pivotal matchup on Sunday against the Texans, we will use the last segment of today's Rewatch Wednesday to be a way back Wednesday

and go over what took place when the Titans went against the Texans in Week 6. So we'll be going over all of my schematic analysis from that and what I think may carry over to this matchup. So excited to get into this split personality edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it! It has been a rough stretch of three days for the Tennessee Titans. First, they're punked on national television by the Green Bay Packers and lose 40-14. Then, on Monday, with a Week 17 possible win or go home situation ahead of them, the Titans find out that they could be without their starting kicker,

Steven Gostkowski. Gostkowski was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list, and we did get reports on Monday night that Gostkowski himself did test positive for COVID-19, which would mean that he would be out of the game on Sunday no matter what. But those reports have not been confirmed by the team, and the team is not at liberty to disclose whether it was a close contact situation or whether, in fact, Gostkowski did test positive himself. But the hits kept on coming on Tuesday when the Titans found out that punter Brett Kern

would also be placed on the COVID-19 reserve list. Now at this time, as with Gostkowski, we do not know if Kern himself tested positive or was just a close contact. At this time, it is logical to assume, though, that Gostkowski himself did test positive and then Kern is a close contact to Gostkowski. If that is, in fact, the case,

then that would mean that Kern, based on negative test results and isolation, would be able to punt for the Titans on Sunday. But right now, it is up in the air as there is a ton of information that we simply do not have. We will learn more throughout the week as we see what the Titans do with their designations, whether they come off the COVID-19 list or not remains to be seen.

But in the worst case scenario where both the Titans starting specialists, Brett Kernett punter and Gostkowski at kicker are both unavailable. That would mean they would be going with a tandem of Sam Sloman, who we talked about yesterday, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams and kicked in seven games for them this year. And then they would go back to former FedEx driver Trevor Daniel at punter. And of course, Daniel had a nightmare of a game against the Indianapolis Colts in the first matchup of the year with them.

And quite frankly, was part of the reason that the Titans lost that game after being up early, ending up with a 10 point deficit after two punts. So that was a nightmare scenario that Titans fans remember very vividly. And going into a week 17 game that the Titans of course if they win seal the division title and win the AFC South but if they lose would need the Dolphins or the Ravens to lose for them to not lose their playoff spot as well as the game so when you have so much riding on this matchup ahead of you, you never want to be in a compromised position, especially in a place as important as special teams can be.

And Brett Kern has been an asset, a weapon for the Titans for multiple years now. He's been one of the best players on their team, so that's going to be a big miss if he can't go. And while Gostkowski has been much maligned by the Titans fan base throughout the year he has also been a very solid and reliable contributor for most of the season so this is rough news for the Titans coming off that embarrassing loss to the Packers but we have to monitor the roster transaction reports going forward throughout the rest of the week to get a clearer picture as to whether Kern or Gostkowski will be

available in this game. And quite frankly, what I think it means for the Titans is they just have to be ultra aggressive and they were probably going to have to be ultra aggressive anyways. The season is on the line. Last time the Titans played the Texans, they couldn't stop them whatsoever. It was a shootout. So the Titans probably had to consider going for it on fourth down a lot of the time if they were close and in their own territory, going for two possibly in certain circumstances. So the Titans are going to have to be aggressive, but they're going to have to be even more aggressive if they're without Kern and Gostkowski because they simply can't put their fate on

the foot of Trevor Daniel or on the foot of Sam Sloman. They can't. All the hard work that this team has put in throughout the entire season, they cannot let their fate rest on the results from those two practice squad special teamers. So some extra aggressiveness from the Titans is going to be what the doctor ordered, and we're going to need to see a much different type of effort than what we saw from the Titans against the Packers on Sunday night. different type of effort than what we saw from the Titans against the Packers on Sunday night.

So let's talk about what I saw on the coach's tape on offense and defense in this week's rewatch Wednesday segment. So we are going to dive into that next. Before we do, I want to tell you guys about DoorDash because between the never-ending laundry cycles, incoming emails, and all the things on your to-do list, you have to give yourself one less thing to worry about and let DoorDash take care of your next meal. Whether it be Chinese, pizza, heck, even if you're craving fro-yo, there's something for everyone on DoorDash. And by using DoorDash, it allows you to continue safely supporting the restaurants in your community.

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But let's dive into my notebook here and my rewatch notes on offense and defense. And we are going to start with the Tennessee Titans defense. And what I was most disappointed about was that the Titans really didn't do a lot of the things that I thought on tape that I saw teams have success against the Packers. The Titans didn't do a lot of that. They didn't play a ton of cover two on early downs. They didn't play a ton of 3-3-5 where they used a defensive back as the second

outside linebacker so they could keep both their traditional off-ball linebackers off the ball on the middle of the field. Heck, not only did they not do that, they didn't do a lot of five-man fronts, which I thought was very perplexing because five-man fronts are what's going to give you the reason that the 3-4 was invented is to help in the run game. So I thought it was confusing that the Titans allowed the Packers to just run down their throat in four-man fronts all day long. It was very confusing to me. What the Packers wanted to do is getting shotgun runs.

That's been successful against the Titans defense all year because the Titans, when they're in a four man front with just two traditional defensive linemen or three, if you count Jack Crawford, a four man front, the Titans get run on a lot when they're in a four man front like that. So it was no surprise to see the Packers go to 11 personnel, three wide receivers, go to shotgun runs and just run it down the Titans throat when they're in their nickel personnel. I mean, I was shocked that the Titans didn't encounter with more 3-4 alignment out of 3-3-5

personnel. They were just running basic nickel formation a lot of the time. And the Packers had a ton of success. The Titans really never blitzed more than five. Quite frankly, I just don't understand the game plan at all. You didn't run a lot of cover two on early downs to take away the outside passes. You didn't run a lot of 3-3-5 and 3-4 alignments with five-man fronts. You ran a lot of four-man fronts.

You didn't bring any pressure at all. You really just blitzed four most of the day, maybe five at max. So I don't understand the plan, first off. So that didn't make a lot of sense to me there. Then we continue going forward, and we talk about alignment. So Kevin Byard, off the line of scrimmage by 10 yards on second and four, gives up an easy five-yard out for a first down um you talk about like desmond king being off you talk about adori jackson in the tic-tac four pack he's playing

press coverage on adori jack or on davante adams is playing him head up straight on when he's got safety help to the inside so he's not using outside leverage he doesn't jam at the line of scrimmage or look like he's even trying to get his hands on Devontae Adams. So what's the point of press alignment if you're not going to press and you're going to give a two-way go where he can go inside or outside? What's the point of the alignment there? What's the point of having inside safety help from Kevin Bayard if you're giving your guy a two-way go to the outside or inside?

You want to force him inside because that's where you have help. So what's up with the alignment there? Also, blitzes. I saw the Titans blitz off the edge a few times, and you're talking about Desmond King. You're talking about Kevin Byard coming off the edge. Now, the Titans aren't blitzing six or seven in these scenarios. They're blitzing four,

and they're dropping Harold Landry into coverage on the backside because, yay, more Harold Landry in coverage. That's what's been awesome all year, is Harold Landry, the best pass rusher on the team, droppingry into coverage on the backside because yay, more Harold Landry in coverage. That's what's been awesome all year is Harold Landry, the best pass rusher on the team, dropping back into coverage. No wonder the pass rush is terrible. No wonder the Titans can't stop anybody in the pass game. They're dropping their best pass rusher into coverage.

They're blitzing their defensive backs. And when they're doing it, their defensive backs, Kevin Byard and Desmond King, specifically in my mind, they're five to six yards off the line of scrimmage. So the Titans will slant their defensive line to the right side and then bring a blitz from a defensive back off the edge from that side, hoping that the pass protection slides one way and that gives a free lane. But the thing is, the Titans were getting the free lane to Aaron Rodgers,

but because the defensive back was starting five to six yards off the line of scrimmage, the blitz got there so late that it didn't affect Rodgers and he got the ball out of his hands. Remember in the pregame, in the game preview I did where I said Rodgers is getting the ball out of his hands as fast as he has his entire career? How do you expect the blitz to get there when you're blitzing from five to six yards deep and Rodgers is getting rid of the ball so quick this year? It just, the plan didn't make any sense. And then the alignment reflected that the plan didn't make any sense.

And then the execution was miserable. I talked about Adoree Jackson. You're going to play press coverage and not even get a hand on him. Not going to give any kind of outside leverage to force him inside. Also, Jack Crawford, Rashawn Evans, even Kenny Vaccaro had some despicable tackle attempts in this game. It looked like he wasn't even trying this is quite the leap but I'm wondering if he's upset about Amani Hooker

getting increased snaps and he's not giving his best effort out there I was just shocked by some of the effort I saw from Vaccaro so really just disappointed Jeffrey Simmons was terrible Daquan Jones was terrible these guys just weren't ready to play. So whether it be the game plan, their alignment pre-snap, or their execution post-snap, it was terrible. And some extra tidbits here, just some additional stuff. The Packers killed the Titans with motion at the snap. They would motion one way and then run the other way. They would motion one way and then run the same way behind it.

They would do all of those things and then add play action fakes. The Titans just cut, or the Packers just cut the Titans up from a game plan perspective. And then finally, all three of the Packers' first half touchdowns came in the same exact formation. It was 11 personnel with three wide receivers, one tight end, single back, Aaron Rodgers under center. They had two wide receivers to the left-hand side. They had Devontae Adams outside twice against Adoree Jackson for touchdowns.

Then they had Desmond King one-on-one on St. Brown in the slot on the other touchdown. And then on the backhand side away from them, they had the wide receiver in a condensed formation right next to the tight end. So they went to the same formation in the red zone three times and scored three touchdowns on it. The Titans coaching staff didn't adjust to it any time whatsoever. They played man all three times and got killed in man all three times. So good job on defense. Woo.

Going forward to the offensive side of the ball, it was about what the Packers did. Basically what I wanted the Titans to do to the Packers, but they didn't. So there was never a moment on first and second down in the first half in this game where the Packers didn't have at least five to six people on the line of scrimmage. So that's a five or a six man front, not a four man front, not a four man front Titans. Are you listening? And not only that, but what they would do is they would have their regular five man front, two outside linebackers, three defensive linemen. They would add a defensive lineman, so usually you would have four linebackers and three defensive linemen and a 3-4.

They took one of their off-ball linebackers, put them as a defensive lineman on the line of scrimmage, so you have four down linemen, two outside linebackers, one traditional off-ball linebacker at middle linebacker. Then they would walk both their safeties up to linebacker distance. So you're basically going against a 6-3 defense. So now you have the line of scrimmage taken up, so you're not exposed on the outside zone. And then you have three defenders at the second level, so you're not exposed on the inside zone.

And the Titans just didn't know what to do to get success going. And in the passing game, the Packers, this reminded me of the Steelers game. The Packers and the Colts game, the Packers had no fear whatsoever of the deep pass. None. They were aggressive downhill with their safeties. Like I said, they're putting nine in the box on first and second down, not caring whatsoever about what the Titans are doing personnel-wise because they know that Jonu Smith is basically just a big wide receiver.

And they also know that Anthony Ferkser is just a slow wide receiver. So they had no worries about that. They kept their personnel and their formations very heavy all day long on defense. And another thing, the reality is other than just the schematic wins, which is what I'm talking about here, scheme, the Packers just whooped the Titans individually. Jonu Smith got murdered all day by Preston Smith. Kenny Clark demolished the Titans' interior offensive line. Jair Smith erased anybody he covered.

Adrian Amos erased anybody he covered. The Packers just had better players on the day. They won their matchups. So from a game plan perspective, from the coaching perspective, to on-field execution perspective, the Titans got whooped, and that's how you lose 40-14. So that's going to do it for my rewatch Wednesday notes here. We are going to move forward into the way back Wednesday portion of today's show when I talk to you guys about things that I saw against the Houston Texans

in the Week 6 matchup, how that game played out and what the Titans need to be thinking about going forward based on that earlier matchup. Before we jump into the way back Wednesday portion of our show, I want to tell you guys about betonline.ag. So I reminded you earlier about the Locked on Bets podcast. Well, you take that information and you action it by going to betonline.ag and placing some wagers. You got the biggest football

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on your first deposit. BetOnline, your online sportsbook experts. We started off the show with a what now Wednesday as the Titans two top specialists go on the COVID-19 list. Then we went into a re-watch Wednesday portion of this edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And now we are going to cap things off with the third personality of this Wednesday show, and that is a way back Wednesday.

Going to take a look at the Titans' last matchup against the Houston Texans, see how that game played out, and what we might be able to learn to take going forward into this critical matchup on Sunday. Before I get into that, though, I do want to remind you guys to check out the Locked On NFL show, the national show. I do an appearance on the Locked On NFL show every couple of weeks with my guy Peter from the Locked On Packers show on Mondays. I actually had an appearance on this Monday's show. So if the Titans get in the playoffs, you might hear me again on there.

And other than just hearing you, boy, it's a great way to get all your national news along with your Tennessee Titans news. So check out the Locked on Titans podcast, and then check out the Locked on NFL podcast on whatever platform you do stream. Let's get into what took place last week, or last week, last time against the Houston Texans. Remember, that was a 42-36 win in Nashville in overtime, and the Titans got up early in that game it was 21 to 7 and then by the time halftime

came around it was 21 to 10 and then by the time the end of the third quarter came around the Titans were losing the game 23 to 21 now luckily the Titans were able to get their stuff together in the fourth quarter and put up some points. It was 15-13 in the fourth quarter. It got the Titans into overtime, which they eventually won on a Derrick Henry about seven yard touchdown run on third down. Titans win 42-36. But some of the things that really stood out to me, if you guys remember, had an awesome

94 yard Derrick Henry touchdown in the second half. That was great. Ryan Tannehill on the fake spike throw to the end zone to A.J. Brown to tie the game as time expired in the fourth quarter. Then that Derrick Henry in wildcat game winner in overtime. It was awesome. But there were some other issues with that game as well. I talked to you about how the Texans came back on the Titans and really made it tough and took

advantage of that defense, but the Titans also had two turnovers in that game. This was the game where Taylor LeJuan tore his ACL, so J.J. Watt had a forced fumble sack strip on Ryan Tannehill, which gave the Texans the ball inside the 10-yard line. Ryan Tannehill also threw an interception, and it was on him. It was a terrible pass. If he would have made it to the 10-yard line. Ryan Tannehill also threw an interception, and it was on him. It was a terrible pass. If he would have made it to the left-hand side and deep, it's an easy completion for a touchdown. But he threw it straight up the center of the field,

and it was an interception by the Texans. Gostkowski missed two field goals in this game as well. So a tough game all around for the Titans where they made a lot of mistakes. There were some big penalties, a big pass interference on Christian Fulton that gave the Texans an easy touchdown. So the Titans didn't play very good in this game. So hopes are maybe they can clean up some of the mistakes. And if they play a little bit of a cleaner game, they won't have as much trouble with

the Texans. But some things that aren't going to go away. Deshaun Watson killed the Titans, especially in zone coverage. So early in the game, the Titans on defense were trying to play man coverage and Will Fuller killed them in man. He had six catches, 123 yards and a touchdown. Now the Texans won't have Will Fuller in this game, so that will help the Titans be better in pass coverage. But the Titans tried to go man. Watson killed them by finding Fuller over and over with different matchups, and then once the Titans transitioned into zone coverage in the second half, well, Watson just started picking them apart, finding holes in the zone, spreading

it out to different people. So, how the Titans combat Deshaun Watson, I'm not 100% sure. The Texans have a bad offensive line still. the Titans started bringing some more pressure late in that game and getting pressure on Watson and that's how they had some success so maybe they try to go that route but with how much confidence they lack in their coverage at this moment in time I would be shocked to see the Titans go blitz heavy they didn't do it against Aaron Rodgers in the Packers they didn't do it against Matt Stafford and the Lions. So I don't really see how the Titans would do that now, even though I think it might be a better plan than what they put together. But their plans have been questionable against the Lions and then specifically against the Packers. Their game plan was questionable all along. Both games, I didn't like the plan.

So it's easy for me to question. I'm obviously not the level of the coaches in the NFL. I'm not saying I am, but it just doesn't make any sense. And you guys hear it from me. You see it. It doesn't make any sense what they're doing. So, will the Titans have a good game plan? I don't really know. I can't guarantee anything for you.

Now, on the offensive side of the ball, the Titans' plan was clear. The Titans' plan was obvious. It was what I said they should do going into the game, and it's what they should do again. Get the Titans linebackers on the field. Play heavy personnel, and that doesn't just mean in the run game. That also means in the passing game. The Titans need to put multiple tight ends on the field like they did against the Texans in the first matchup. Think in the red zone, the Titans would put three tight ends on the field, Swaim, Jonu Smith, and Anthony Ferkser, but they would come out and spread formation

in a shotgun and then run mesh concepts with everybody running unders and digs and across the middle of the field crossing up because the Texans like to play zone in the red zone. So that's what the Titans need to do here. Again, they need to get heavy personnel on the field, multiple tight ends, run the ball down the Texans' throat, make sure that you give easy situations to Ryan Tannehill and then when the

Texans are least expecting it go in those heavy personnel packages with three tight ends use the unique skill sets of a Johnnie Smith and an Anthony Anthony Ferkser and find one-on-one matchups with the tight ends against the Texans linebackers in their base defensive personnel. That was the plan then. It's going to be the plan now. Derrick Henry went for 212 yards in this game. Jeremy McNichols went for 51 yards on his own on five carries. So the Titans just need to run the ball down the Texans' throat, use multiple tight ends, and then find those matchups when they do.

Ferkser had eight catches for 113 yards and a touchdown in this game. The Texans played a ton of zone coverage on defense as well, and Tannehill threw some lasers and found holes in the zone. Not having Adam Humphreys, who was the second leading receiver in this game, with six catches, 64 yards and a touchdown, may make things a little bit more difficult, but that's just going to increase the workload on Anthony Ferkser and also Darrington Evans who could have an impact as a split out running back in spread formations for the Titans so that's what I saw

in that 42-36 matchup win for the Titans they're going to have their hands full again against the Texans team that although they're eliminated from the playoffs will be motivated to spoil a division rival season like the Tennessee Titans so that's what I expect to see we'll talk more about that in tomorrow's crossover conversation

with Cody and John from the Locked On Texans and our Football Friday game preview as well. So make sure that you subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast so you don't miss any of that. But that's going to do it for me today on this split personality. What now? Rewatch and way back Wednesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked On Titans.