Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans-Atlanta Falcons QB Dramas, Run Game Battles & Mike Vrabel v Arthur Smith Matchup
Episode Date: October 25, 2023The Tennessee Titans take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and both teams are in similar situations. The Falcons ended an era with Matt Ryan and are now seeing what they have in Desmond Ridder like ho...w the Titans are now setting up to move on from Ryan Tannehill and see what they have in Will Levis. The Falcons are further in the process and their roster is starting to come back to life making the matchups in the trenches very difficult to win for the Titans. Finally, who wins the coaching battle and which team wins the turnover battle? That will likely determine this must-win game for the Titans.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/NFL today to get 10% off your first month. birddogsGo to birddogs.com/LOCKEDONNFL or enter promo code LOCKEDONNFL for a water bottle with any order. You won’t want to take your birddogs off we promise you. PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
What in the world are the Titans going to do at quarterback against the Falcons on Sunday?
I'm going to talk about that on a crossover Thursday 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.
It is a week eight crossover Thursday edition of Locked on Titans and Locked on Falcons.
I am Tyler Rowland, host of Locked on Titans here with the local expert from Locked on
Falcons, Aaron Freeman.
One of my favorite co-workers here, the Locked on Podcast Network, said that on yesterday's
show, but fully believe it.
Excited to dive into this game.
We're going to talk storylines, matchups, maybe some predictions for how things play out.
Before we get into all of it,
do want to let you guys know
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Aaron, it's storyline time.
And I know both of these teams have some compelling, I'll call it.
I want it confusing, concerning.
I'll go with compelling storylines with their quarterbacks.
Now, the Falcons' storyline, because they're a winning team right now Concerning, I'll go with compelling storylines with their quarterbacks.
Now, the Falcons storyline, because they're a winning team right now,
may be a little more complex, but I'll allow you and your expertise to touch on that.
For the Titans, the quarterback drama is simple. The Titans need to play Will Levis.
Ryan Tannehill is hurt.
The Titans and Mike Vrabel can pretend all week long that they're going to rotate Malik Willis and Will Levis.
One series, every other series, who knows what we're going to do.
Tannehill may still play, everybody.
Arthur Smith, do you hear me, Arthur Smith?
At the end of the day, what is Mike Vrabel really going to do at quarterback?
Because he could sell all these different dreams to the media
and sell these lies in his press conferences for gamesmanship,
which, Aaron, let me take a quick aside here.
I've said it all week.
These childish ploys at gamesmanship from a guy like Mike Vrabel,
do you think that the Falcons coaching staff
is truly going to lose sleep over game plans for Malik Willis?
No.
And is Will Levis any different than game planning for Tannehill?
Not really.
No.
So who are you fooling, Mike Vrabel?
Only yourself, in my opinion.
But at the end of the day, regardless of what I think will happen,
what Vrabel is selling will happen,
what will truly happen?
Because the Titans are 2-4,
and they just traded an all-pro safety,
and it is obvious that this team needs to think about the future,
and the future is Will Levis,
and if it's not, they need to find that out right away.
So the biggest storyline for the Titans
is probably the biggest, easiest storyline of any team in the NFL this week.
What's going to happen at quarterback?
How will Levis look if he plays?
Will Mike Vrabel go full galaxy brain
and truly rotate his quarterbacks like it's the preseason?
That is by far and away the big storyline.
That is what everyone should be focusing on.
And honestly, in my opinion, if you're a Falcons fan,
it'll kind of be fun to watch a floundering fish in the Titans, try to get back from the sand to the ocean. You know what I
mean? It might be fun to watch that happen while you're sitting there. Look, he's trying, he's
trying to get, that's what it feels like to me. But yeah, that, that kind of blows everything else
out of the water for what Titans are, are dealing with right now. Yeah. I was curious if you were
going with the quarterback quandary or the potential trade deadline that's coming up
as the big story for the Titans.
What if they play the wrong quarterback?
They rotate quarterbacks.
They lose by 1,000, and then you're 2-5.
Then the next day they trade Derrick Henry and Danico Autry
and roll into the sun with a tanking team,
literally roll into the sun with a tanking team, literally roll into the sun with a tanking team.
So yeah, Aaron, I think it's fair to worry about those two things.
But for me, they're kind of intertwined in a way to combine this big story of what is
going to happen with the Titans going forward.
Are they still going to try to eke it out?
Are they going to tank and how the young quarterbacks factor into that?
By far the most
important thing you're 100 right on that well i i wish this schedule was a little different because
i don't want to deal with denico autry and derrick henry as a falcon fan this week uh but yeah um
for the falcons it's it's interesting because you're talking about like the titans need to
find out if will levis is the guy and the Falcons were in this same situation last year with Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ritter, and the Falcons were in first
place in the NFC South with a four and four record in week eight of last year. Think after week eight
of last year thinking, Hey, you know, let's see how long this Mariota thing can, can ride. And
let's see if he can get this team in the playoff contention. And what proceeded to happen was the Falcons won one of their next four games
and that precipitated them once the playoff picture started shrinking
at that point to make Desmond Riddle the quarterback.
And now the Falcons are four and three in first place in the NFC South
heading into week eight.
And I know there's some't, you know, I know
there's some people that think they should be looking hard at Taylor Heineke, but like, no,
they need to find out if Desmond Ritter is the right guy. What is Taylor Heineke for you? What,
what is that? Even if you have a great roster, that's a first round playoff loss. That is
Marcus Mariota. That is Ryan Tannehill. There's no ceiling there. Yeah, absolutely. You get it,
Tyler, but you know, some people don't. Because I'm here. I'm here.
I'm living. We are bunk
mates in the same cell right now,
Aaron Freeman. That's what's happening. I agree.
I agree. Your frequent appearances on Lockdown Falcons
during the offseason, basically
it does feel like that.
Talking about former Titans coming to the Atlanta
Falcons. But yeah, so
they need to figure out if Ritter
can be not marcus mario
to not be taylor heineke not be ryan tannehill as you're talking about and be a guy that not only
in the regular season can maintain this grip on the nfc south that is anybody's uh division at
this point and you know hopefully that will lead to him getting into the postseason and you know i'm
not expecting the falcons to go on a deep postseason run but i would love to see it so
that's kind of what's at stake over the next couple of games in this titans game getting a
road win against the titans especially a down titans team will certainly help the falcons make
the case and desmond ritter make the case that hey i'm more than a r a Ryan Tannehill. I'm more than a Taylor Heineke type of quarterback.
So far, we haven't really seen him play at that level, but things are kind of trending in the right direction the last couple of weeks.
If he can just kind of eliminate the turnovers, it does feel like this offense is on the verge of reaching a brand new level, but we just haven't seen it.
Is this the week against a stout Titans front on the road? Is this the week where
you can kind of get, see Desmond Ritter get over the hump? But I understand Tyler, you know,
with coaches and saying things at press conference, I know Vrabel's been saying some crazy
things. Arthur Smith had his weird sort of comments earlier today on Wednesday about B. John Robinson.
And like, I get what Arthur Smith was trying to say.
He was trying to basically say it's a non-issue.
And so you guys asking this question is sensationalizing like climate change
or whatever,
but like,
just like the Falcons offense,
like I get the intention of what they're doing,
but they don't always execute it correctly.
So it just felt like a microcosm of what's going on with the Falcons.
It's like on, on paper, what you're trying to do, Arthur Smith, with this weird Bijan comment makes sense, but
the execution is not quite right. And that's basically the Falcons offense this season.
I'm with you. And what I would just say to that outside of the metaphor and how it being a
microcosm of the season to me, and I guess this is just my view of the dynamic in this business but Arthur Smith does owe an explanation to Falcons customers we can say fans all we want but
customers the business does owe their customers an explanation as to why the best player on the
entire team didn't play but like one snap at the very end of the game. If he's too sick and he can't play, why would he be dressed?
Why would he ever go in, especially late in the game anyways?
None of it makes any sense.
And when you do things that illogically,
you owe your customers an answer for why you did that.
So Arthur Smith can make his case.
It doesn't matter at all.
But I think it does matter.
And he does owe that.
And I think that makes the Falcons organization.
Like I think the Titans organization, when Vrabel does these things, I make, they think
they're protecting their team and protecting their players by hiding the information.
I think they make the drama even more.
They stir it up even more when they refuse to be transparent.
And it's actually more of a detriment to the franchises than it is a benefit to their
players by protecting them.
Quote unquote. And I think that's a fair, fair assessment of the situation. to the franchises than it is a benefit to their players by protecting them, quote-unquote.
And I think that's a fair assessment of the situation.
Yeah.
I don't have anything else to say.
I hear you on that.
Can I just ask this one question before we move on?
Was B. John Robinson hung over and complaining about having a headache and Arthur Smith like, oh, so you're hung over and got a headache?
How about you don't get to play at all?
Get hung over next weekend and try that.
Am I crazy for thinking that might be what this is?
I mean, I don't think in a vacuum you're crazy, but like when given what B.
John Robinson is supposed to be like the good guys of all good guys.
And like we joke on Lockdown Falcons with Jarvis Davis, we talk and call him Mr.
Walk on water, Mr. Turn water into wine.
So it's like, you know,
maybe he did turn some water into wine and drink a little bit too much at a
wedding on, on Saturday night.
But if you, if you get the, the analogy, but yeah,
I don't think that's the case, but you know, who knows?
Well, I guess my overall point is,
and the reason I ask is because Arthur Smith doesn't give us a legitimate answer for this wild situation,
it leaves us to speculate as to what to happen.
And when that speculation happens on a national stage,
it stains your franchise and how you're received public relations-wise,
which I think does matter for franchises like the Falcons and the Titans
who aren't maybe the darlings of the NFL with that built-in benefit of the doubt.
But getting away from these overarching points
about how these teams deal with public relations,
we will move into the matchup portion of today's show
where we talk about the individual matchups that will decide this game.
Before I get into those, though,
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All right, Aaron, we are continuing a crossover Thursday.
Week 8 matchup. Titans, Falcons.
Titans are wearing the Oilers throwbacks.
They're on the ropes at two and four,
all the chaos, all the bizarre comments.
These are certainly the situations where in the past,
Mike Vrabel has come through,
got his team ready to play and won a game. But I worry that some of these matchups between these teams
are a little too much in the favor of the Atlanta Falcons.
So we're going to dive into those.
Aaron, I started us off before.
I'll let you kick us all here.
What's a matchup that you're looking for
or a matchup you think will decide this game?
Well, one matchup that I do think is definitely in the favor of the Titans
that I'm very nervous about is the Titans defensive front against the Falcons offensive line.
Now, the Falcons offensive line was a major concern through the first four weeks of the season for Atlanta.
And the last couple of weeks has been mostly a non-issue, but they haven't faced a dude quite like Jeffrey Simmons and Jeffrey Simmons
going up against arguably the Falcons weakest link on their offensive line,
their left guard,
Matthew Bergeron scares.
Yes.
It scares the bejesus out of me,
pretty frankly,
if I'm being honest,
that just feels like something that is,
you're going to see Jeffrey Simmons do Jeffrey Simmons things that
we've seen him do and take over a football game. And that's the thing that worries me, because if
he can take over the football game, because I think with the Titans, like their goal, if I'm
trying to get in their head and try to figure out what their game plan is that apparently Malik
Willis doesn't know about yet. Right. You know, their game plan is to basically beat up the Falcons in the trenches, let Jeffrey
Simmons and Derek Henry and probably to a lesser extent, Tajay Spears.
Hopefully those will be the three best players on the field on Sunday.
And if that's the case, that's going to give the Tennessee the best chance that they have
to win.
So those are the three players that really give me worries about the Falcons.
But I do like pretty much the Falcons matchups
pretty much everywhere else across
the field, right? I feel like the Falcons
can use
their bigger receiver
core with Kyle Pitts
as well as, you know, a
healthy Bijan Robinson
to try to create some mismatches
at the linebacker level and in the
secondary, especially with Kevin Byard being traded, you lose your best player.
Titans have smaller corners.
I like Roger McCurry a lot, but I'd love to see Drake London matched up against him in the slot and whatnot.
So I feel like those are some of the matchups that favor the Falcons, but there's also like the Simmons one and that Titans run game.
but there's also, you know, like the Simmons one and that Titans run game, like the Falcons run defense has been good this year, but the teams that have been able to successfully run the ball against them week one against Carolina. And then like at the end of the game in the Houston game, Houston basically made the adjustment.
Like we're just going to run it up the middle and they were able to basically engineer a potential game winning drive doing that. So if you just commit to just running the ball right into the teeth of the Falcons defense, you can potentially find some space for your running backs. And with
Henry and Spears, that could be a problem. So those are some of the matchups I think
that go both in favor of the Falcons and against them.
Yeah, I'm with you there because you look at the Falcons last three games they've allowed less than 74
yards all three of the last three weeks 64 to Houston then 72 to the commanders 73 to the
Buccaneers last week but I mean none of those teams are great at running the football and are
focused on running the football as the Titans are the Bucs maybe they're as focused but that they
haven't been able to get anything going in the run game for most of the year so I definitely think the Titans present a
different challenge in the run game than the Falcons have faced in a few weeks and that can
maybe catch them off guard because they're not used to playing that style of football in the
last month but for me I'm really more worried about the Titans ability to pass protect that's
what it comes down to in every game especially if you're going to have a young
quarterback in there.
Is the Titans' offensive line that has not been good early on in this season, they're
going to be putting Nicholas Petit-Ferrer out there at left tackle instead of Andre
Dillard, making a change there.
They got Peter Skowronski back after missing three weeks with an appendectomy.
I mean, I feel like Falcons fans will understand
that you don't have any good first-round picks for multiple years.
Skowronski comes out in week one as a top-10 offensive lineman per PFF
in the NFL, and then he has an appendectomy
and is out for nearly a month.
Like, what in the world?
Just wild circumstances.
But for me, what scares me most about the Falcons' pass rush
against the Titans' offensive line is the Falcons don't have, like,
one pure dominant rusher, like one guy who's just always doing it.
Their sack combination is from a bunch of different people.
I mean, they'll bring linebackers.
Obviously, you have Bud Dupree with two sacks,
Kalias Campbell up top.
Grady Jarrett only has one and a half sacks this year,
but we know what he's capable of.
So I just feel like there's a multitude of different people
on the pass rush that you have to worry about
and not just one guy.
Like when the Titans play just one dominant edge rusher,
they could focus all of their attention there.
Now it's like, well, we don't really have anybody
who we need to like double team constantly.
So just win one-on-one.
And when you don't necessarily know where you need to focus your help,
you might not have your help in the right place,
and it could create where there's just no smart place to help
because there's no dominant guy to go after.
So I worry about the balance of the Falcons' pass rush
being a problem for the Titans, even without a dominant performer.
On the flip side of things, I'm worried about the Titans' edges.
Harold Landry has not been good coming back from ACL.
We hear this all the time.
Guys don't look like themselves until they're two years removed from the ACL.
So Landry struggled to start the year coming back.
A guy like Danico Autry has really slowed down as a run defender.
He struggles with the athleticism and people on the edge at 33 years old.
Arden Key was a rotational player the last two years
and rehabbed his career not as a starter.
And I think he struggled to keep his high energy and high intensity
throughout games.
The other depth the Titans have really aren't run defenders.
Mike Vrabel's philosophy in run defense is edge, wall, swarm.
What does that start with?
The edge.
Titans haven't done a good job of setting the edge,
and with the wide outside running of Arthur Smith's offense,
and with the Falcons really want to get out on the perimeter
and widen out those outside zone runs,
I'm worried about the Titans being able to set an edge
and tackle on the perimeter with their edge rushers
and their outside linebackers their edge rushers and their
outside linebackers against Caleb McGarry and Jake Matthews, who, like you said, the offensive line
has had their struggles, but you could have worse offensive tackles. You really could. So I'm a bit
worried about that matchup on the Titans side, but we are going to get into our predictions in this
game, not only score and game predictions, but also kind of how we think things play out.
We got to talk about turnovers, Aaron, because both of these teams
really need to win the turnover battle
and really need to improve in that area going forward.
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Alright, Aaron, it is time.
We are going to cap off this crossover Thursday with some predictions of what we think is going to happen,
maybe throw some scores in there.
Again, these are tentative predictions, folks.
We might change things up on our Friday show.
If we think about this a little more,
hit the tape a little bit more, you know,
lock in a little bit more on this matchup.
All jokes aside, though,
we'll get into what we think happens here.
Before we do, I want to thank you guys
for making Locked on Titans, Locked on Falcons
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It's going to be on Locked on Falcons, Locked on Titans YouTube channels
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in when you get the notification. But
Aaron, I went
first. I let you go first.
I'll be a gracious host here as the home team.
And I'll go first one last
time. The Falcons
are a better
football team than the Titans.
They are.
That is my feeling.
You look at the rosters.
You look at the coaching.
The Falcons are better.
You look at the record.
I mean, am I really, you know, giving a hot take right now?
Maybe some fans think so.
But the Falcons are a better team than the Titans.
But the Falcons are not a great football team.
The Falcons are a good football team, and they could lose to anybody
any week. They could beat anybody any week. That's what I think
about the Falcons. They could be a playoff team. Like you said, the
sky could fall out, and they could lose five of their next six games.
I wouldn't be shocked by any of them. I think the Falcons are
a better team. I think the Falcons make the playoffs in the NFC.
The Falcons finish with a better record.
But Mike Vrabel wins these games.
When I complain too much about Mike Vrabel during the week,
I know that he finds a way to win these games.
In the Oilers uniforms, coming out of the bye,
with the whole world against him.
You're tanking.
You traded Bayard. You're playing the young quarterbacks. You're tanking. You traded Bayard.
You're playing the young quarterbacks.
You're a liar.
You're this.
You're that.
Blah, blah, blah.
Mike Vrabel finds a way to scratch out a victory.
I think this is going to be an ugly football game.
I think both teams turn over the ball multiple times,
and whichever team gets those turnovers in a better spot
for their offense is going to win.
Again, I think the Falcons
are a better football team.
Something in my soul tells
me this is just one of those
weird games where you don't think the Titans should
win and they're tanking and blah blah
blah blah, but they
win. And Aaron, let me give you one more little
insight into my psychology here as a person.
How I pick football games.
Are the Falcons a 6-2 football team?
No.
Not in my mind.
Are the Titans a 2-5 football team?
No.
Not in my mind.
Titans should be 3-4.
The Falcons should be 5-3.
That's what those teams' record should be.
So I'm going to go Titans win this one. You tell me with three turnovers,
they get three turnovers of the Falcons. Falcons only get two on the Titans and that's what decides
the game. Okay. Well, I just want to remind you, Tyler, the Falcons are currently four and three.
So if they win, Oh, they're four and three. For some reason, I was thinking they were five and two.
No,
no.
You give the Falcons way too much credit.
Oh no.
Yeah.
Oh no.
Yeah.
I might.
All right.
See,
this is why it's tentative predictions is now I got to process this information.
Oh Lord.
Oh no.
Here we go.
I mean,
five and three sounds real good to me right about now.
Right.
Maybe that,
maybe that throws my whole thing for a loop.
The Falcon should be five and three. The Falcons should be five and three.
Maybe the Titans should be two and five.
Is this going to be a live prediction change?
First time in crossover history?
No, I'll stick with it.
The Titans find a way to win.
I'll say 16-13.
Yeah, look, I think you're right.
Like, I think everybody,
all the Lockdown Falcons listeners
are licking their chops
with Will Levis, Malik Willis, and whatever the Titans are going through.
Right, right.
And the easy thing, I would come on here and be like, yeah, the Falcons, they're going to get off to the fast start that they've been getting off to the last couple of weeks.
You know, their top five and first quarter points, and they'll put up points, and it'll completely force the Titans to abandon the run.
And they'll just roll over Will Levis and
whoever else plays, you know, 30 to 10 or something like that. I would love to see it,
but you basically broke it down, Tyler. Like the Falcons are just, you don't know what they are.
Like some weeks they look really good. And like, if they win their next five games,
it wouldn't shock me. If they lose their next five games, it wouldn't shock me.
This is a team that is very hard to predict. if they play the way that they have played for most of this season
it's going to be as you said an ugly low scoring game a bunch of turnovers on both sides of the
ball it's going to be a one score game going into the final five to ten minutes and it just may just
boil down to who has the ball last is going to be the team that wins
the game and it's going to be that ugly sort of 13 to 10 type of football game that nobody wants
to watch on sunday that's probably the way it will go so like i'm going to predict the falcons
will get to 17 points and they will give up 10 points to the Titans,
and they will find a way to win this game as ugly as it possibly be.
But that's probably the way it's going to go.
And honestly, you're talking about the hot start.
That's another, to me, Arthur Smith versus Mike Vrabel.
They know each other.
Arthur gets out the fast starts because he puts together a fantastic plan
at dissecting the other defense.
The Titans know the offense very well.
Maybe that allows them to prevent the Falcons from getting out to that fast start
that they normally do, which allows the game to be even closer at the end.
You know, that could be something to watch for as well as the matchup
between the two coaches.
We probably should have mentioned that in the matchup section,
but there's so much to talk about every crossover Thursday.
But either way, we talked about all we can for now.
That is going to do it for a week eight crossover Thursday.
Locked on Titans, locked on Falcons again.
Have a great time.
Every time we get to talk, Aaron, it seems like with these two teams,
we talk quite a bit about the moving part.
So awesome crossover.
Good luck to both teams.
Good luck to both fan bases.
Again, make sure that you make locked on Titans,
locked on Falcons your first to listen
each and every day. I say this on the Thursday
edition of Locked on NFL. I'll bring it
here. Start your weekend early, folks,
and stay safe out there.