Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TANK BATTLE: Tennessee Titans v Kansas City Chiefs is Now a TANKOFF & Matt Nagy Coaching Preview

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

The Tennessee Titans host the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend and after the ACL injury to Patrick Mahomes, this matchup has now become a TANK OFF! Neither team will truly want to win this matchup which means there are few outcomes that can be satisfactory for Titans fans. However, if the Titans do a get a win, it'll be because the banged up secondary played a great game against a good group of fast receiver for the Chiefs. Also, a victory will come if the Titans offensive line has performances similar to what we have seen the past two weeks. Finally, the Titans need a new head coach and Matt Nagy is a name that has constantly been linked to the opening. Tyler asks Chris Clark from Locked On Chiefs his thoughts on Nagy as a candidate in a Crossover Thursday! Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans.Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclubSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyTake control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money.Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONtoday.Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout. FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Tennessee Titans and the Kansas City cheese face off in week 16, and this game is a tank off bull? That more on today's crossover Thursday. You are locked on NFL crossover. Part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome in to a crossover. Thursday edition of Locked on Titans and Locked on Chiefs.

I am the host of Locked on Titans, Tyler Rowland here, with one of the co-hosts of Locked on Chiefs, Chris Clark. We're going to get you guys ready to go for this matchoff that has become a tank off. Out of nowhere, we're going to talk about the big storylines for either of these teams. We're going to talk about the matchups to watch. We're going to talk about how we think this plays out. And I'm going to ask Chris about Matt Nagy as a potential head coaching candidate for the Tennessee Titans. We'll take the opportunity to get some inside information there

but do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by prize picks. Price picks is always the sponsor for us here on crossover Thursday. Download the prize picks app today. Use the code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. And thank you for making Locked on Titans and Locked On Chiefs your first listen each and every day. And thank you for making the Locked On podcast network, the number one sports podcast network.

But with that being said, Chris, the Titans have had an up and down season as I'm sure you know, even from afar. But things took a turn for the worst for the Chiefs in their season this week. So a little southern hospitality, I give you the floor here. What's the vibe in Kansas City? What's the storyline as the Chiefs try to finish out this tough year? Well, obviously, the biggest storyline is Patrick Mahomes

is not going to play. He's on IR at this point. And I wonder, let's be clear on this, I wonder if they would have shut him down had they lost the game regardless. true he's been dealing with a knee injury for the past couple of weeks and he's had different injuries i'm sure i think he had a wrist injury earlier this year uh he just hasn't looked right like what you would expect patrick mohams to look like for the entire season really so i

wonder if there was something there that we just don't know about so i wonder if they would have shut him down but at this point it doesn't matter he had torn ACL torn lcel uh out for probably nine months it's Patrick Mahomes so I'm not going to say he will not be ready for the start of the regular season but how ready will he be is going to be the big question but he had surgery the day after like that that's the crazy thing everybody talks about generally speaking ACLs you wait a couple weeks or you wait a couple days for swelling yeah this this specific injury it sounds like it has an LCL component to it and that's why they did it.

That's my understanding. There's lots of different things to know. Bacchancey's going to have a huge offseason to try to figure things out, which actually plays into what you said to start the show with a tank off. Because the reality is the chiefs have nothing to play for. Yeah. Except for screwing themselves out of a better drag pick. And I'm not saying I want them to lose.

Not saying I don't want I want them to lose. I just, yeah, I'm looking at this and I'm, I don't know. I mean, at this point, Kansas City could, if they lose out, they are in line to maybe have a top 10 pick. And I can't remember the last time the Chiefs had a top 10 pick under Andy Reed, maybe just the first draft he was here with the number one pick, like that they didn't trade to go get. I mean, obviously they had a top 10 pick with Patrick Mahomes, but they traded to get that. I'm talking like actually having a stream of playoff. that they've been, yeah, the string of playoff runs that they've had is insane.

So I look at this and I'm like, I would be okay if they lose the rest of the season, even though this is definitely a game, no offense, but this is definitely a game I expected them to win. Yeah. I was looking at this during the regular season. I mean, it's the Tennessee Titans and nothing against the Titans, but if you're a Super Bowl caliber team, which I thought the Chiefs were, this is a game that you should win.

Yeah. 100% right. And I think one of the realities of the chief situation is their roster needs improvements outside of just getting Mahomes back healthy. So having a top 10 pick would be helpful with the situation they're in. I'll tell you though, the Patrick Mahomes injury, obviously devastating for the Chiefs and Chiefs fans, but it really sucks for Titans fans too, because it kind of takes any enjoyment out of this game. This game kind of becomes a lose-lose situation for the Titans. I think that would be like the big picture storyline. is now with Mahomes out, there was a chance that if the Titans win this game against Patrick

Mahomes and the Chiefs, that you can look at it and say, oh, this is, you know, they won the game because Titans fans are worried about the draft pick too. Obviously, Chiefs fans are there. Now, Titans have been worrying about the draft pick since week seven. You know what I mean? Like, we've got to get number one. Okay, but how crazy is it for the Titans? Because if you think you have your QB of the future in Cam Ord and you can find a way to get into the number one pick, you have no idea. idea what somebody is going to be willing to trade you to go get a quarterback. Exactly. So it is very advantageous to do that, which is why Titans fans are probably

going to want to lose this one. I think it would definitely be best for them to lose, and that's in jeopardy now with Minchew in. But the problem is, is that with No Mahomes, it's like, if Mahomes was in and the Titans won, you could say, wow, the Titans went toe to toe, beat Patrick Mahomes. They're on their way up. It's a bad season. But hey, going into 2026, that's a really good win. Even if the Titans lost to Patrick Mahomes, but they were competitive, like the Panthers at the end of last year, you could be like, man, they went toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. This team is getting better. That's something that you could be excited about going forward to the future. Now there's just nothing. If they win, it's not a good win

because they beat the Garner-Minchu Chief, so no one's going to be excited about that. You know what I mean? And if they win, people are going to be mad about the draft pick. And then if they lose, it's going to be like they couldn't even beat the Gardner-Minchu Chiefs. This team's terrible. Cam Ward's a bust. I think it's worse if they lose, for sure. Just my personal opinion. Yeah. Like, I get the thought process if they win, you know, you lose your draft pick status a little bit,

and that stinks. But if they lose to Gardner Minchu in this chief team, I do think that that's not going to be a good look. Well, I agree, but I will tell you this. Garner Minchew is two and two against the Titans and four starts in his career. So Titans fans are no stranger to Garner Minchew being. able to pull things off. I do want to ask you just going forward from the Chief's perspective outside of this game. What do you think that they need to focus on most to turn this back around by next year? The trenches. And I don't think it's really, I don't want to say it's the

offensive line because I think they've invested there. I think they'll probably be fine at the offensive line. Really, the only position may be really in flux in 2026 is probably going to be the right tackle position. There's no Juan Taylor that's going to be, I can't see him being back. They signed Jalen Moore. I'm figuring he will be the starter. But if you're picking in the top 15, which Kansas City should be regardless of whether or not they win this game or not, if there's a tackle that's sitting there, do you pull the trigger knowing that he could sit behind Jalen Moore for a year?

And then you'd have Josh Simmons and another tackle, another first round tackle, and you'd have your bookends for basically four years for sure. I think that that has to be something that you would look at. at, but the other part of it, and the thing that they really need to do is they need to build the trenches on the defensive line. I mean, Chris Jones is basically all they have on the defensive line. They have George Carlottis who can be an okay player, but he's not going to be somebody that's going to give you, you know, 10 to 12 to 13 sacks a season because he hasn't this year, and it's been pretty much the same cast over the past couple of years, and they seem to just

be getting retreads. And they did draft Omer Norman Lott. He's on IR. He should be back for 2026 that should help but they also tried to have him beef up and play more of a one tech to try to you know be next to chris jones i wonder if that played into his injury and are they going like what are they going to do with their defensive end position i mean you have mike dana who is under contract charles o minnehu's gone fayu should be gone you just don't have anybody that you feel great about on that defensive line and it's gotten so much older and Chris Jones, you owe them 35 million in 2026. Like, it's rough.

Yeah, that is a rough situation to be in and pass rush. Obviously, so, so important. I think that's where we'll start with some of the matchups in this game because the Tennessee Titans offensive line, while being much beleaguered, has had two really, really good performances back-to-back, including no sacks allowed last week. And for a team that's up there and the most sacks given up all year,

that's a positive sign. so we'll talk about that offensive line matchup right now. Do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by prize picks. The holiday season is one of the best times for sports. You got bowl games, big basketball matchups, the playoff pushes, all happening at once. And while we're all making choices every day, one of the most fun places to make the right call is prize picks. Prize picks is the easiest way to get in on daily fantasy.

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Use the code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That's code Locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. It's prize picks. It's good to be right. All right, Chris, let's continue today's crossover Thursday edition of Locked on Titans.

Locked on Chiefs. We talked about the big storylines for these teams and how this game became a tank off out of nowhere where both teams, or fans at least, would prefer to lose. But I want to dive into some matchups. And I do want to start with the matchup that we were just talking about right there. And it's the Tennessee Titans offensive line against the defensive line in the city chiefs. Now, obviously, as you were mentioned, and there are some names that Titans fans would know, Chris Jones, one of the best defensive players of the last, you know, 15 years. George Carloftus in there, Mike Dana, Jerry Tilleri, folks like that. It's not an incredible group, but it's still a group that could give the Titans

trouble on the flip side. The Titans' offensive line. Dan Moore comes back to practice for the Titans. Kevin Zitler misses, but Corey Levin's a good backup. Peter Skoronsky has been one of the best guards in the entire NFL all season. J.C. Latham playing some of his best football the last couple of weeks at-right tackle. I'm very curious. I know that they need enforcements there, but it has.

been an outright disaster in the past rush, right? Or do I have that wrong? And it's really been bad. It's really been bad. They can't really get pressure unless they blitz. And I mean, I guess I would say there's been times. And I'm not exactly sure specifically I'd have to go back and watch a play. But when Ashton Jalati went and intercepted the pass, he was lined up on the line of scrimmage as a defensive end, didn't rush and drop back into coverage. did it end up being only four people that went maybe i can't remember exactly but that's my point like they they're not sending just the normal four that you would expect to get pressure which wouldn't be a blitz but if there's only sending four so uh this this group just hasn't been

able to get home and that's been the problem all year like mike dana is a guy that stops the run and is very good against the run but he doesn't give you much in the pass rush department and jerry tillery is is a guy that just never lived up for the potential that you were hoping that he could possibly have. They brought back Derek Nottie, who's been okay, but he's a run stuffer. He's not a pass rusher. And, you know, you talk about Charles a Mini

who hasn't really shown up this season either. So unless you're blitzing, you're not really getting home, and that leaves your corners in a very bad spot. No, you're 100% right. And the Titans know all about that. Yeah, I'm just looking at the blitz percentage as Kansas City third most in the NFL,

32.4% blitz percentage. I mean, and I think that's going to be different for the Titans and why this matchup matters. The last couple of weeks, Chris, the Titans have played against teams. The Browns do blitz, for sure, but the Browns are a four-man front team, and they don't really crowd the line of scrimmage a ton, and San Francisco doesn't blitz at all. Like, they're at the end of the NFL and blitz rate.

They do four-man fronts as well, so they don't really challenge the line of scrimmage the last two teams the Titans played, the way that the Chiefs will challenge the line of scrimmage, and blitzes have given the Titans trouble. the offensive line is coming off some good performances. But if the Chiefs really ramp up the pressure, it is given Cam Ward problems as well. If I'm honest, he's been rough against the blitz.

So I'll be curious just how much pressure Kansas City dials up and the looks that they do with the line of scrimmage. It's the looks at the line of scrimmage and the different places that they'll send from. Like, there was a time against the last week against Justin Herbert where they sent two corners. I can't remember the last time I saw Kansas City send a two-corner blitz. Like, I'm sitting there going,

what the heck was that and it got home so i wasn't upset about it but you're just not used to seeing corners coming from different sides of the field after the qb so uh you know it was interesting so i do think that that's that's one of the things that spagnolo is going to do he's going to try to confuse cam ward yes so that's the question is can cam ward know what's coming before the snap and if he doesn't is he going to make the right call uh right after the snap i mean that's going to be the big question. You talk about, you know, if we look at the Chiefs offensive line versus the Titans, the big question is who's going to play? I mean, John Taylor's been out for three weeks, I think. He's now going into week four, I think, maybe only week three. I don't think he plays.

And if I'm Kansas City, I'm also probably not playing him because he's not going to be here in 2026. You have Jaylon Moore who is probably who you think is going to be your starter at right tackle. Why not have him play out the last three games? No reason to go back to, Juan Taylor. You don't have Trace Smith. You haven't had Trace Smith for weeks. Are you going to bring him back now that you have nothing to play for? Why do that when you just paid him in the off season? Try to get a young guy in there and I wouldn't go with Calienda who they have had in there. I would get somebody like a Hunter Norzad in there or C.J. Hansen and get, you know, get some reps, see what they can do. And then left tackle, you got Isapole, which I think has played

very well for the most part. But it's just, it's a makeshift off. offensive line, and that, I think, also hampered what Mahomes was able to do. You know, one of the things we haven't even got to yet, talking about the Chiefs receivers, what kind of relationship are they going to have with Gardner Minshu? And I'm trying to figure out, are they going to play Xavier Ruthie this week? Because he's been dealing with injuries all season, and now we have nothing to play for. Yeah, anybody who's banged up right now for the Chiefs, it makes you wonder, like, why would we play them, why would we risk them, why would we do it?

so that does make decisions interesting. I am looking at that wide receiver matchup as well. On our little rundown here on YouTube, if you guys are listening to the audio version, you don't see it. I got Kansas City receivers versus coughing baby, because it reminds me of the meme, the hydrogen bomb versus the coughing baby,

because the Titan's secondary right now is as banged up and as talentless as you will ever have. I mean, they're on their fifth and sixth cornerbacks with Daryl Baker and Kyir Elam. If you remember the former bust, first rounder, Kyir Irlam, he was literally playing safety for the Titans because they're down to their sixth and seventh safeties on the year outside their number one of Monty Hooker

who's still in and the Titans like to run a lot of three safety sets. So it's like you got, you know, they're picking up guys off waivers and off other teams practice squads this week to play safety for them. So you have, you know, your fifth, sixth, seventh cornerbacks, eighth cornerback of the season out there. You have your fifth, sixth, seventh safety

that you've used out there. They're basically a starter. So with the speed that Kansas City has at wide receiver, I know Garner Minchu's in and he doesn't necessarily have the arm of a Patrick Mahomes, but how many guys do have an arm of Patrick Mahomes? But I still think that Kansas City should be aggressive and go downfield. And the Titans banged up secondary against a, you know, a decent group of wide receivers with a lot of speed.

I still think that's a big advantage for Kansas City in this one. Maybe. But I just looked at the Chief Practice report because I was curious. and I knew people were going to be on it. Let's go through this really quick. Did not practice for all of these guys. Leo Chanel, starter, Trim McDuffie, starter, Jalen Moore, starter, Rishie Rice, starter, Jawan Taylor, starter.

Tyquan Thornton is a backup. So you have Rishie Rice and Tyquan Thornton dealing with concussions from a game against the chargers. And like Jalen Moore, who I didn't realize was on the practice, not did not practice so I apologize talking about him earlier but I would still try to have him play if he's able to practice in the next couple of days but for me you start looking at this like Trent McDuffie shut him down there's no reason to play Trit McDuffie at this point

Marquise Brown Hollywood Brown didn't even play against the Chargers because he had something going on personally he was a full participant but in my opinion this is a scenario where yeah you want to see what the young guys can do they the Chiefs brought Jack Brinningstool from I don't know that they would have done that had they still been in the playoff hunt maybe they would have maybe they wouldn't have but with three weeks left you activate them now they can go practice you can kind of get an idea of what they can do in practice and it doesn't hurt anything because if you don't activate them

they revert to IR well you're done in three weeks so you have nothing to lose at this point for for you know a guy like Jake Brinston can he come back up and be on the active roster and give them something else but you're not going to see with Patrick Mahomes so what are you really going to know No, you're 100% right. No matter what answers you get in these last three weeks, it still doesn't really give you a full answer. There's still a question behind it.

For the Titans, while we're talking injuries, two rookies. Kevin Winston Jr. went on IR. I did a short video on that. It's unfortunate, but he's done for the year. And then Femiola Dejo, the Titan's second round pick, their edge rusher. He's been out for a few months with a broken leg. He came back to practice,

but I would not expect him to be activated the rest of the year. sounds like they're just trying to get him some practice time because he needs reps as a rookie but wouldn't expect him back. So some injury updates there but now we're going to talk about what we'll actually decide this game and I'm going to pick Chris's brain about Matt Nagy who keeps getting connected to the Tennessee Titans

so we're going to cap off this crossover Thursday Locked on Titans, Locked on Chiefs. All right once again, locked on Titans, locked on Chiefs. All right, once again, locked on Titans, Chiefs Crossover Thursday. Thank you for making us your first listen each and every day. Thank you for making the Locked on Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. But we go through the storylines, we go through the matchups, we get to kind of the keys to victory here. Chris, I know that you're not hankering for a Chief's win and the fan base may not be looking for one.

But if you think they pull this out without Patrick Mahomes, what does it look like? No turnovers. That's number one. Kansas has turned the ball over way too many times this year and like I know we're not talking about Patrick Mahomes in this game but a great example they could have won that Chargers game last week

if you go back and watch the end of the game I think the second to last drive for the Chiefs Mahomes they have the ball in the red zone Mahomes throws a ball up that is not even a 50-50 ball and he's throwing it up to Karim Hunt and there's no reason to make that throw

when you're third down in the red zone like you're down three points throw if you want to throw up make that throw it way over their heads so it's not intentional grounding and be done with it kick the field goal tied the game and who knows what happens after that um but just don't turn the ball over i mean that's that is eating kansas city's lunch the entire season with turnovers and they're not able to get turnovers so that's the problem like if you were losing the turnover battle constantly because you one don't turn the ball over don't get turnovers on defense and you can't stop turning the ball over on

offense it's not a and the other problem is part of part of the chief's turnover issues has it been Mahomes there's been multiple times this year where he's hit wide receivers or tight ins in the hands yep that he just they get knocked over to the other team that's not on Patrick Mahomes yeah it's on a stat sheet but that's not on Patrick Mahomes so is that going to happen in this game with a different quarterback. We'll see, to me, if you can stop the running game and, you know, make it all Cam Ward, I think that you have a chance. And it's not that I don't think that Cam Ward could be a good quarterback. I do think that he has value and I do think that he could be a good quarterback. But the reality is he's got to learn the NFL game. And I will take Steve Spagno

against a rookie QB every day of the week and twice on Sundays. No offense to Cam Ward. 100%. I don't think it's unfair to say that. And let's add the context that Titans fans are always trying to remind folks of. Look at the group of wide receivers, you know. Yeah, too. The three biggest touchdown scores on the Titans this year are three fourth round rookies. Like their best weapons are all fourth round rookies, whether it's Gunner Helmut at Tide-end or Chim D.K.

and Elykeyeo Manor at wide receiver. Van Jefferson is their other big-time wide receiver. So it's like, you know, he doesn't have a lot to help him out when it comes to blitzing, playing man coverage behind it. Like, that's been a kryptonite for the Titans all year because they just don't have guys that are going to get open consistently or win contested situations consistently.

It's just going to be tough. So for me, it's all about having answers to pressure. The Titans, in my opinion, have done a poor job of giving Cam Ward an outlet when teams do bring pressure. And Kansas City is going to blitz a ton to do exactly what you're saying. They're going to try to confuse Cam Ward.

They're going to try to put him under pressure so that he makes mistakes. I think that dealing with the pressure of Kansas City, blitz attack is going to be key for the Titans, but you're right on turnovers. Like, if the Titans lose the turnover battle, it doesn't really matter. And on the flip side, the Titans have to get pressure on Garner-Menschu and force him into mistakes because the game is just going to be moving fast

because he hasn't been playing for a while. Like, that has to be the key. I will argue a little bit that I don't know that they're... Like, I expect they're going to blitz to be clear. I do think that the Chiefs will blitz. But I also think they're going to make it look like they're going to blitz and fall out. I think that that's one of the biggest things that they're going to do to use to their advantage.

They're going to make it look like they're sending everybody and then you're going to have four guys fall out and is Cam Moore going to pick the right place to go with the ball or is you going to throw it to some place that those four guys vacated to. That's going to be the big question. See, and the thing is, it goes more than that. Like I said, the Titans past catchers are all rookies.

And we focus so much on quarterback because it's easy to see and you can look at the quarterback and know what he didn't. But when pressure comes, wide receivers have to adjust. They have to adjust their route to the timing of the pressure. They have to be ready to turn around and catch the ball and understand, hey, I'm not going to be open. They're not going to get me the ball at this point in my route because there's a pressure on,

I'm going to have to turn and look at this point in my route. And all of those, like, different gears that turn together, very rarely have the Titans been on the same page with that. Hot routes and whether or not you can identify whether or not a blitz is coming. and actually be, and do you take it a step further, you talk about the QB being able to identify if there's a blitz are coming or not.

If the wide receivers look at it and say, okay, there's a blitz, I have to run my hot route, and then there's not a blitz, then they're not where the QB expects them to be, and that causes a whole different issue. So, I mean, it's a give and take, and like you don't see it. You put so much on the QB,

but it's not always the QB, and that does play a huge part in how this is going to shake out. And like I said, like, I think Cam Moore can be a good quarterback. I've been impressed by some of the games he's had. But his first year in the NFL and Spaggs against the rookie QB, I'll take that just every day. And this defense has a few injuries, but it's not like their offense. Yeah, it hasn't been struggling quite as much as the offense has had.

It's up and down. No, that's completely fair. Spags is one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. You would think he would make life-living health for a rookie quarterback, especially a rookie quarterback. We're talking coaching. I think part of my complaint is not just that you have rookie wide receivers and a rookie quarterback trying to do these things.

It's that the coaching staff hasn't really given them good answers for the test. So when you don't even have the answer available to the problem you're being presented, it makes it even tougher. But with coaching on the mind, Chris, I do want to kind of get us out of here on this. Matt Nagy continues to be connected to the Tennessee Titans whenever you hear reports, rumors about the coaching search, anything like that. Obviously, Mike Borganzi in his time in Kansas City, they were said to have a good connection.

So that's why people are connecting the dots on that. In your opinion, as someone who has seen Matt and Aggie go, come back, all that. Do you think that he can be a good NFL head coach? And do you think that he's earned another opportunity with what he's done in Kansas City? No. I personally don't.

I think, and it's going to be hard for anybody that's ever an OC under Andy Reed because Andy Reid calls the plays. he may let the offensive coordinator do a couple of things, but Andy Reid is calling most of the plays. I haven't seen it from Matt Nagy. And the other problem is, while I don't think that you can go back to a guy like Eric Bienemy,

because I just think that there was too many clashes, it seemed like, in the coaching staff with BNamy, you look at this chief's offense, and you look at some of the things that have gone wrong this year, and you wonder, should Matt Nagy take a little bit of a bigger, part of the blame for that yes so in some ways i would argue do i think he deserves another office another head coaching job no uh but i would be happy if he got one and i would be happy if he got one because that would be in kansas city be looking for new offensive coordinator but i think

the chiefs need to be looking at maybe rehall on everything under the offense outside of mandy reed because you start looking at some of their offensive coaches and like you've got andy heck that's been there that's been doing an offensive line for, I don't know how many years, but he's been in Kansas City the entire time with Reed. This offensive line has talent. They have some very good players, but this scheme is horrible. And every single year, it just seems to struggle. So to me, I think that they need to look at getting new coaches and maybe Nagy going out would be a way to do that. The bigger problem for Kansas City, though, and I know you want to focus on Nagy, but the bigger

problem for Kansas City, Andy Reid generally goes with his own guys. So if Nagy leaves, he probably promotes somebody from within, which probably not going to be a great scenario. Yeah, it doesn't solve anything. You have a former wide receiver as your running back's coach. Todd Pinkston is the running back coach. Like, none of that makes sense. Yeah, no, I'm with you.

That doesn't line up, but I'm with you on Nagy. I'll be honest with you, Chris. I set that question up to you to be fair, but I am so out on Matt Nagy. I think that, you know, like, he's an offensive guy whose offenses has really struggled. He doesn't really strike me as a guy who is going to inspire and, like, get the Titans.

The Titans don't just need a good coach. They need a great leader to inspire a whole building and get this going back in the right direction. And I just don't think Matt Nagy is the guy for that. And I know a lot of people in Kansas City have had frustration with him. And it's like, you don't hire this guy coming off the worst offensive seasons that he's been

with Kansas City. Like, that's the opposite. You need to go get somebody who has proven in recent years that they are up with the trends and they can make the offense work. I'm with you there, and that kind of confirms my concerns with Nagy as a candidate. And I look at it from this perspective.

I think that if you go back and like Nagy has pretty good experience as a QB coach and I think that he'd be fine QB coach. But he's not going to take a step back. So he can't be a QB coach in Kansas City. That's the problem. and can he go get a head coaching gig somewhere maybe but why would you look at here's my question on that I could make an argument that the chiefs often should have been

putting up 30 to 35 points a game exactly you look at the players they had on this roster this roster should have just absolutely hammered most teams when you start talking about Rishi Rice Xavier worthy Hollywood Brown Tyquan Thornton I mean those are just your wide receivers then you throw in Travis Kelsey and I know you're running back right but yeah it just underperformed all year long and I don't know that there's really a good answer other than it kind of goes back to what we talked about early in the show

like you look at this team and you watch them play and I'll be very curious to see how they come out on on Sunday because Reid was very clear that they're evaluating for 2026 and they're evaluating not only the players but the coaches too so that is going to make it very interesting to me to see how this team comes out against the titans because if they come out flat that says a lot about what they're going to need to do if they come out fired up i'm not going to like that they're probably going to like lead to a win but at least they can still motivate guys but they have to get the young players on their roster some snaps and see what they can do because they have a lot of decisions to make for 2026 they're

40 million over the salary cap right now? Yeah, yep. With 35 players under contract? It's a tough spot to be in. I know for Titans fans are like, oh yeah, it's so tough to be the Chiefs, but they are in a tough spot to kind of turn this thing back around. It's going to be very interesting to see how things play out.

On Sunday, I do think at minimum, you know, this last three games for the Chiefs might be time to evaluate some of the coaches. That might be a good time to do that with a paired down roster and a little paired down talent. But with that being said, that is going to do it for today's edition of Locked on Titans, I am Tyler Rollin, the host of Locked-on Titans, Chris Clark, part of Locked-on Chiefs. Thanks for tuning in, crossover Thursday, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, it's your team every day.