Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans 1st Quarter Temperature Check - Team Statistics, Pause or Panic & Vrabel Comments

Episode Date: October 4, 2021

The Tennessee Titans are four weeks into the season and now is the perfect time to see how they are progressing statistically compared to last season. Big categories like yards allowed, red zone performance and sacks all are covered. Then, time to play Pause or Panic!! Topics like David Quessenberry's status as starting right tackle, the coordinators and Dane Cruikshank at free safety are discussed. Finally, we hear some interesting comments from Mike Vrabel about Sunday's loss to the Jets.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And I know if you guys are like me, that Monday was a tough one. After that type of loss to a team like the Jets, you're hearing it at the water cooler, you're hearing it from your friends, hearing it from your family, hearing it from yourself, all those thoughts running through your mind. But I'm here to tell you that regardless of the fact that the Titans lost an embarrassing game to the Jets, they playing 17 games this year, through four weeks, it's still a good time to do a temperature check, a quarter pull for the Titans sit right now in some big team statistics and compare them to where the Titans were as a team at the end of 2020 just to kind of see how they compare to last year's team

through the first four weeks of the year. After that, we are going to bring back a game that everybody seemed to enjoy and that is pause or panic. So I'm going to talk about some of the big talking points in the Titans community over the last 24 to 48 hours and determine whether it is time to panic on those topics or just step back and pause on those topics. Then finally, still digesting that loss to the Jets. finally still digesting that loss to the Jets. I feel you guys have heard most of my overall analysis tomorrow's show.

We will, of course, dive into the tape. But since you've heard kind of my big picture takeaways after Sunday's loss, now let's hear from the guy running the show. I'm going to give you guys some of the highlights and some of the things that stuck out to me from Mike Rabel's Monday press conference. So we're comparing the Titans through four weeks of the season to last year's performance. We are playing panic or pause based on

some of the big talking points within the Titans community and we will hear directly from head coach Mike Vrabel about that miserable performance from the team on Sunday, all on a Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. 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. This Tuesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast

is presented by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Also, have to thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. And if you're new, want to let you guys know,

I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content, not only during the regular season, but all year long. Make sure that you never miss an episode of the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world, in the world, by subscribing to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you stream podcasts. Subscribe to the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live

also Tuesday and Wednesday are big tape days for me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans so follow me there follow the Facebook page at Locked on Titans pod that is whenever Facebook comes back

the Titans broke the internet ladies and gentlemen Facebook was down for most of the day on Facebook was down for most of the day on Monday. Instagram down for most of the day on Monday. Twitter had issues throughout the day. Who knew that a poor Titans performance could shut down social media? All jokes aside, I do want to take a look at where the Titans are from an offensive and defensive perspective as a team in some key statistical areas,

and then take a look at where the Titans were at the end of the year in 2020, and maybe we can gauge just how much the team has improved, stayed stagnant, or at minimum, regressed and got worse. So let's dive in. We'll start with the offensive side of the ball. In the passing yards, the ball and the passing yards. The Titans as a passing offense, essentially exactly where they were last year. Right now, the Titans are 21st in the NFL in passing yards with 923. They finished last year at 23rd. So that seems about right. That's nothing to really worry about. The rushing offense for the Titans, fourth best in the NFL. And I got to give this caveat, as I said,

in my biggest question video that you guys can check out on social media for the Titans heading into week five. But all of these numbers and rankings are based on before Monday night football is played. I record the Tuesday episode, post it on Monday night. And this is before Monday night football. So these could change by a little bit here and there, but generally where the Titans actually should be.

The Titans are the fourth best rushing offense, 655 rushing yards. Of course, a lot of that from Derrick Henry himself. The Titans were the second best rushing offense in the NFL last year. So based on yardage, rushing and passing, the offense is basically where it was last year. Where is the offense really falling off? Well, you're going to find that in the third down in the red zone numbers. So last year, the Titans were the fifth best team in the NFL on third downs. They completed or converted 46.2% of their third down opportunities. That is not the case

this year. They are 22nd in the NFL in third down opportunities, 37.3% of them converted. So that is not nearly good enough. But the bigger concern is the red zone scoring drop-off. Last year, the Titans were the second most efficient red zone offense, converting touchdowns on 75% of their red zone opportunities. So far this year, 26th in the NFL, 50% of their red zone opportunities. They've only scored nine touchdowns in 18 red zone opportunities. That's unacceptable. It's just not going to work. The Titans work as an offense because of their efficiency. And if they're lacking that efficiency

on third down and in the red zone, that's going to be a big area of concern. And it's even more complexing. A lot of you guys are shouting Arthur Smith, Arthur Smith, but Todd Downing was the red zone coordinator for the Titans last year. He literally coordinated their red zone attack. So confusing to me that the Titans are struggling so bad in that area. And that's what got them beat against the Jets, not converting those field goals to touchdowns in the first half. Also, just got to mention scoring overall.

The Titans were the fourth best scoring team in the NFL last year with 30.8 points per game. They are 15th in the NFL so far this year at 23.8. One extra touchdown a game gets them right back to where they were, but they're settling for field goals as the red zone scoring numbers pointed out. So that's the biggest issue. And then sacks. The Titans have allowed 17 sacks so far this year. That is last in the NFL.

17 sacks this year through four weeks. The Titans allowed 25 sacks all year last year. I mean, this is just unacceptable from the Titans' offensive line to almost, I mean, one more game and the Titans may have as many sacks as they had all last year. That just cannot continue if the Titans want to reach their goals this year. Let's move over to the defensive side of the ball. So far, the Titans are the 23rd ranked passing defense in the league. They've allowed 1,067 yards. Last year, they were 29th. So a little bit of improvement there. They're the

ninth best rushing offense, allowing only 366 rushing yards so far this year. And last year, they were 19th. So, we're seeing some slight improvements from the defense, from a total yardage standpoint. Right now, the Titans are the 13th best third down defense, only allowing 39.2% conversion rate on third down. Last year, they were last in historically bad 51%. That's just insanity. They're the 18th best red zone defense right now, allowing only 60% of the opportunities in the red zone to be converted for touchdowns.

They were 30th last year at 69.2%. So a pretty decent improvement there. This is where things are not as good. Scoring. The Titans are allowing 27.8 points per game. That's 26th in the NFL right now. They were 24th last year, 27.4. So essentially, the improvements they've made in the other categories

aren't really helping, and that's because the Titans are giving up more explosive plays this year. They're not forcing teams to win in the red zone. Teams are just winning before they ever get there. And then finally, the sacks. This is another improvement, though. The Titans have eight sacks so far. They're tied for 17th in the league. They only had 19 all of last year, which was 30th in the NFL.

So a good improvement there, and you have to hope that some of those defensive numbers can pick up. So overall, the Titans offense is basically the same. They're just not converting as well on third down in the red zone when it matters most. And the defense is essentially

the same. They're just giving up less yards overall, and they're getting to the quarterback more. So hopefully the positive trends will continue. The negative trends will end or at least get a little bit better. But either way, the Titans not looking very much different from themselves last year on defense and looking about the same on offense outside of the two most critical portions of the game,

third down and red zone. But that's going to do it for our little quarter poll check-in on the Titans' big team statistics. We are going to move forward, talk about some topics that have been hotly contested over the last 24 hours with another installment of pause or panic. Before we get into that, I do want to remind you guys about BetOnline.ag. BetOnline.ag is back and better than ever

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Let's take a look at some hot topics coming out of Sunday's loss, and I will tell you whether it is time to pause or panic. So let's dive in here. Number one, it being Ryan Tannehill's fault, I saw some people, some people even in the certified local Titans media with some hot takes that Ryan Tannehill should shoulder

a large amount of blame here. Okay, I'm here to tell you no. This is a pause. We are not panicking on Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill has been solid. I wouldn't say he's been great, but he's been solid. And wouldn't say he's been great, but he's been solid,

and especially on Sunday. My God. Seven sacks. No Julio, no AJ. XFL wide receivers. And what looked like an XFL offensive line. We cannot blame Ryan Tannehill, and everybody wants to talk about,

oh, Tannehill is holding the ball too long. He's got to get the ball out. Ryan Tannehill had and everybody wants to talk about, oh, Tannehill is holding the ball too long. He's got to get the ball out. Ryan Tannehill had his fastest time to throw of any week of the season. He got rid of the ball average 2.45 seconds. Week one was 2.47 seconds. Week two was 2.63 seconds. Week three was 2.58 seconds. Ryan Tannehill got rid of the ball faster than he's gotten rid of the ball any game this year. He was not holding the ball

and making mistakes and not getting the ball out quick enough. It's just not the case. The pressure was in his face so fast. And the wide receivers were not open at all. I mean, you give Ryan Tannehill a little bit of the blame, I guess, if you want to say, oh, he didn't scramble enough. You should have stepped up in the pocket and found a way. Ryan Tannehill is not a scrambler. He's not going to be running around like Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray,

even Zach Wilson. It's not his game. Ryan Tannehill can run if you get him outside and give him a lane, but he's not a scrambler. That's not how the Titans offense works. You're asking Ryan Tannehill to do something that he doesn't do. Well, that's the Titans fault. That's the fans fault.

That's not Tannehill's fault. That's not a part of his game. He's not a scrambler. He can run, but he's not a scrambler. So, I mean, if we had to weigh out fault here, for me, Tannehill gets 2%, 3%, maybe 5% at max of the blame for the sacks. I'm giving 95% of that to Todd Downing, to the offensive line,

and the wide receivers. That's all there is to it. And I'm not a Tannehill shill by any means, and anybody who's been following me for a long time would know that. So I'm pausing on Ryan Tannehill being to blame for this poor offensive line. Number two, David Questenberry, and I saw people with some takes.

Now, Questenberry played awful in the game against the Jets. He allowed sacks. He allowed 13 pressures or 11 pressures in week four. I mean, that's pretty off. No way around it. But, but hold on here. I'm telling you to pause on hating on David Questenberry. So far, throughout the year, besides week four, he had been the Titans' most consistent offensive lineman. He'd only allowed two pressures in three games and no sacks. So Questenberry has been a really good offensive lineman for the Titans through the first three weeks of the year.

And I'm also going to press pause on this. Stop with the Dennis Kelly stuff. Man, just stop. Nobody else in the NFL wanted him either. The Packers signed him late after some injuries. He isn't worth $7 million. That's absolutely asinine to say that Dennis Kelly is worth $7 million. He would not have helped the situation. And if you want to do an exact, exact comparison, Questenberry, well, Kelly was going to cost the Titans $7 million. They signed Danico Autry for $7 million. And Danico Autry has been a really big impact for the Titans through first four weeks. He was maybe their best defensive player outside of Harold Landry in the game against the Jets and showed up big time against the Colts. So don't give me the

Dennis Kelly stuff. I'm just not here for it. I don't agree with you. I think the Titans made the smart move letting Dennis Kelly walk and signing Danico Autry with that $7 million. And I think Questenberry will be fine. And he's been the Titans' most consistent offensive lineman all year. He had a bad game. A really bad game. But all the people calling for his job and saying we should start other people and crying for Dennis Kelly.

Pause on that. Just pause on that. Questenberry's doing just fine. Next, the coordinators. 21% play action in week four from Todd Downing. Unacceptable. We've had problems with the play action percentage half of the games this year.

We saw that the Titans are only getting pressure with games and stunts up front and weren't able to get any against the poor offensive line of the Jets. We saw alignment issues with cornerbacks being far off, and we'll hear a Vrabel quote about that in our final segment. We saw cornerbacks far 10 yards off wide receivers on third and two. We saw communication issues.

The big pass to Keelan Cole on the sideline in overtime. Janoris Jenkins ran over on that side of the field late, wasn't lined up properly, and Cole got the jump off the line of scrimmage because of communication issues. Janoris Jenkins ran over on that side of the field late, wasn't lined up properly, and Cole got the jump off the line of scrimmage because of communication issues. So that sounds like exactly what we saw from the Titans defense last year. I'm not going to say panic,

but I'm going to say, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like yeah and eh combined. Yeah. I'm just adding eh. I'm not ready to panic but we're starting to see some issues and some trends on defense that we saw last

year on offense some new things not using as much play action on first down concerning and all I want to say is if the Jets are lining up six men on the line of scrimmage and playing tight man coverage and you can't get anybody free, well, then you've got to give your quarterback a little bit more time.

The Titans had to leave six in the block instead of just the five or seven in the block instead of just the five or six that they were. So I'm going to not give you an answer on the coordinators, but a couple more weeks and we'll really see. I want to see this Jags game. How the Titans respond in this Jaguars game is going to tell me a lot about what's going to happen the next few weeks of the season. I know I paused on the first two. I gave you on the third one, but we're getting some panic

on the final few topics here. Number one, the pass rush. Time to panic. Ola Dainey only played 18 snaps and he was never brought in to be a huge impact in the pass rush anyway. The Titans' big name free agent signing, Bud Dupree, $16.5 million, has barely played, barely had any impact a quarter of the way through the season. Jeffrey Simmons, great player up front, but just not good enough as a pass rusher. He's not developing pass rush moves to give himself a big enough impact in the pass rush game. Danico Autry's played well. Harold Landry has played well, but the Titans pass rush again, only getting one sack, not getting a lot of pressure on Zach Wilson. Gotta be concerning

at some point in time that we're seeing similar issues in the pass rush for the Titans. Also, Nate Davis has allowed 20 pressures so far this year. That's seven more than Questenberry, who's given up 13. He's allowed three sacks. That's first on the team. He has a 64.9 run blocking grade per pro football focus, which is fourth on the Titans. Nate Davis got Pro Bowl votes, got all Pro votes last year,

and he has been an abomination. Now, he's had some tough matchups early in the year against guys like DeForest Buckner, Quinnon Williams, but man, he has just been terrible, and it's really set the Titans back. So that's a lot of the issue with the offensive line is Nate Davis taking a big step back and regressing. And then finally, Dane Cruikshank.

I told you guys when Bradley McDougal was cut. Dane Cruikshank cannot play free safety. He doesn't need to be going backwards in deep zones. He needs to be coming forwards as a sub-backage linebacker or a slot cornerback position playing as a strong safety. Do not have him at free safety. And the Titans played 32 snaps at free safety. He got a huge DPI down the field.

Wasn't deep on the Jackrabbit bomb. Wasn't deep on the Borders bomb. He had the lowest grade in coverage of any Titan on Sunday with a 38.4 per pro football focus. Dane Cruikshank is not a free safety. The Titans use their safeties interchangeably. You cannot do

that with Dane Cruikshank, which is why I said that just penciling in Dane Cruikshank to take Bradley McDougal's free safety spot was a big miscalculation. And look, it burnt the Titans in a big spot in the second half against the Jets. So panic. Panic. Panic

on Dane Cruikshank as a free safety. Get that man in the box. God! God! So frustrated. If you're watching the YouTube video right now, I mean, I can't hide it. I'm so frustrated with the coaching mistakes here.

KYP, know your personnel. And if the Titans are unable to self-scout their own players to know that, how are they going to self-scout the overall defense? Clearly, they haven't been. And we're going to hear some of that from Mike Vrabel in our next segment when we look at some of his comments in Monday's press conference. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys about RockAuto.com.

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See all the parts available for your car or truck right locked on in the How Did You Hear About Us box so they know that we sent you amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. rockauto.com Titans fans, let's cap off this temperature check Tuesday

by discussing Mike Rabel's comments in his Monday press conference. I think some of them are very interesting is all I will say. Before we get into that, once again, thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure to make the Peacock and Williamson podcast your second listen. Matt and Brian give you a great national perspective on all of the big NFL news. Check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But let's dive into these Vrabel quotes just quickly.

I mean, I'm going to get sick if I keep talking about this performance from the Titans on Sunday. Literally, I'm going to be ill and I'm going to need my temperature checked, not just for the Titans, but for myself. But either way, let's dive into some of these quotes and I'm just spit firing here. I got some notes.

I got some bookmarks. I'm just going to go through them. Number one, Vrabel did say, quote, too soon to know if any of the injured guys will return to practice this week. End quote. So that is a little concerning. The Titans really need Marcus Johnson. I mean, that's insane.

But the Titans really need Marcus Johnson. They really need Darrington Evans as well. I'd like to get Sam Ficken back in the fold just to see how he's doing also. But yeah, those are two names. Marcus Johnson, Darrington Evans. Would really like to see them back. And Amani Hooker has the potential to come off the IR this week. We will see how that goes for him.

Mike Grable, like I just mentioned, said that he hopes to get running back Darrington Evans on the practice field this week. We got Marcus Johnson last week. Hopefully, that's a good sign that we will get Marcus Johnson activated this week and then hopefully Darrington Evans is back. Amani Hooker, we will watch and see. Speaking of injured players, he talked about A.J. Brown and Julio Jones.

Asked about practicing this week and he said, quote, there's always a chance, end quote. I don't feel very optimistic about that answer, and I'm sure you guys are all done saying that the Titans can win games without those two guys. So we learned our lesson on that, but that was my expectation. Here's where I really want to get into some juiciness. Quote from Mike Vrabel.

Quote from Mike Vrabel. Mike Vrabel says, one of the coaching points on Monday was telling Christian Fulton and Jack Rabbit Jenkins to get closer to their receivers. Vrabel noted Jenkins was 15 yards off on one play. The Titans defense has been having issues with alignment for three seasons running. I am sorry, but that is piss poor for Mike Vrabel to say that and act like it was Christian Fulton and Jackrabbit Jenkins freestyling.

Like they're just lining up where they want. They don't care what the coaches have told them to do. They don't care about the sideline want. They don't care what the coaches have told them to do. They don't care about the sideline talks. They don't care about the halftime adjustments. They don't care about the week of practice. They're just going out there and doing what they want. That's what Vrabel makes it seem like there. You are coaching this team to play this way.

It's three seasons now. It's not Jack Rabbit's fault. It's not Fulton's fault. Obviously, this is not being corrected or it's being coached. A just absolutely crap answer from Mike Vrabel on that. I hate that. Also, he talked about the pressure on the quarterback. He said there were times when we affected the quarterback or he talked about the pressure the Titans quarterback. He said there were times when we affected the quarterback, or he talked about the pressure the Titans were getting. There were times

when we were affecting the quarterback and Wilson overthrew receivers, was forced out of the pocket. Vrabel also said there were times the Titans, who had one sack in the game, didn't affect the quarterback enough. I kind of agree with that assessment, but here's the thing. We've seen three

weeks now. Russell Wilson, basically any quarterback that had healthy legs is just getting outside the pocket and having all day to throw where he wants. So clearly the Titans are not doing a good enough job of having rush integrity. They're flying past the quarterback and it's allowing him to just have an open run to the outside. Kyler did it all day. Russell Wilson was able to do it for a lot of the day. And Zach Wilson did it the entire second half. The Titans have to find a way to get to the quarterback and still have some rush integrity

so that they don't leave wide open lanes for quarterbacks to escape out of the pocket. It's that simple. Not good enough. There's no way. Mike Vrabel also said he didn't even think about going for two after the tying touchdown late in regulation. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? For the YouTube crowd, or the podcast crowd sorry it's a visual moment there but

are you kidding me I mean that just seems like nope didn't even think about it nope didn't even think about it just so that people don't question the decision brash arrogant is what I would call that

from Mike Vrabel which are are, coincidentally, the ego-driven negatives that are there for him as a coach. I think he's generally a good coach, but there are definitely some negatives. Mike Vrabel talked about the pressure on Tannehill. He said there were times Tannehill needed to get the ball out, but has to be a better pocket, so that when he slides away from one pressure,

he's not sliding into more. And basically, it was a complete collapse from the Titans' offensive line. It's not like just one dude was getting beat over and over again. I mean, Questenberry was, but everybody else played poorly as well. So Questenberry gets beat. Tannehill goes to move somewhere else in the pocket, and he can't because Nate Davis is getting whooped by Quinn and Williams because Taylor LeJuan has given up pressures.

Roger Saffold was actually pretty good in this game. Ben Jones has given up pressures. Man. Either way, finally, I want to say this about the game-tying field goal to go for a tie. Mike Vrabel said it was a new moment for him

that he wishes the Titans had completed a pass and gotten closer to the end zone. You know what I wish? I wish the Titans didn't get a false start and push them back five yards to make it a 49 yarder. That's what I wish. So,

a lot of wishing going on. Either way, I'm not very happy with the answers that we're getting from Mike Vrabel. Just really tired of hearing, gotta coach better, gotta play better. Just kind of sick of it. But either way, I know you guys can still hear the frustration and I'm still frustrated too. And going through the tape and breaking down the all 22 has only made me more frustrated, quite frankly. I know you guys can still hear the frustration, and I'm still frustrated too. Going through the tape and breaking down the All-22 has only made me more frustrated, quite frankly.

But I'm going to bring all those notes to you guys tomorrow before we officially put this game in the books and move on to a game against the Jaguars on Thursday. Have one of my favorites, Tony Wiggins, on. But tomorrow is Rewatch Wednesday. Excited for that. I will be back with you guys then. As always, I am your host

Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans.