Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cam Ward IS THE ONE, Predictable Pass Rush Problems & Shocking Titans Issues Arise
Episode Date: September 15, 2025The Tennessee Titans are 0-2 and everyone is freaking out, but the reality is the best thing that could happen this season is for Cam Ward to look like the franchise quarterback and that is exactly wh...at is happening. Ward isn't the only rookie showing well right now though as Elic Ayomanor, Chim Dike and Femi Oladejo all are making good impressions. However, there are major issues that aren't necessarily a shock like the Titans pass rush that is currently near the bottom of the league in sacks. A bigger issue that is somewhat unexpected though is the penalties where the Titans are far and away at the end of the NFL. Some issues are more surprising though like the Titans inability to protect the quarterback and the run defense which has fallen off a cliff after Week 1. 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 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!5-Hour ENERGYEnough with boring, flavorless caffeine, it’s time to give your caffeine a flavor upgrade with 5-hour ENERGY®️ shots. Get the favorites you love or be bold and try something new in-store and online at https://www.5hourENERGY.com or Amazon today. DoorDashWith DoorDash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order — stack it up all season and you could save up to $250. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your gameday — only with DoorDash. Terms apply. Promo period through 11/18. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at https://monarchmoney.com/lockedonnfl for 50% off your first year. UpsideDon’t let this offer drive on by, download the free Upside app now using my limited time promo code TOUCHDOWN for a limited time 25 cent per gallon bonus! Offers vary by user and location, Go to upside.com for terms and conditions.Click Here to download the app: https://getupside.onelink.me/zlLr?af_xp=custom&pid=barrington&c=barrington_lockedon25&deep_link_value=promo&deep_link_sub1=lockedon25&af_dp=upsideapp%3A%2F%2FSquareTo learn more, go support your favorite neighborhood spot and see what Square has been up to in your neck of the woods. And then if you have extra time, check out https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. GametimeDownload 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.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.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)
Transcript
Discussion (0)
The Tennessee Titans may be 0 and 2, but we have a franchise quarterback, and that's the most
important thing for 2025. I'll break it down on today's edition of Locked on Titans.
You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network,
your team every day. Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast podcast.
I am your host, Tyler Rowland Titans fans.
Today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by Fandle.
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On today's show, we're going to talk about the things that I'm most disappointed in
that I think are a surprise early in the season.
We'll talk about some disappointing things that aren't quite as much of a surprise,
but I want to start with some optimism and some positivity on today's,
show we gotta talk about how Cam Ward and some of the other Titans rookies are really showing out now before we get into it
do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day remember Monday through Friday
Tennessee Titans content all year round always for free you're not gonna beat that anywhere else make sure that you get subscribed stay subscribed
it's your team every day speaking of every day shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday
couldn't do it without you guys if you aren't an everydayer what are you doing nobody
is bringing you as comprehensive coverage of the Tennessee Titans as I am
whether it's here on the Locked on Titans podcast going over all the discussions
all the talking points or over at the Ticktack Titans film channel
when I'm breaking down the film I got my Cam Ward breakdown from week two
out right now on the Ticktack Titans YouTube channel I'm gonna have an ELEC I O Manor video going out on
Tuesday make sure that you guys check all that stuff out and stay locked in here
with me on the Locked on Titans podcast but with that being said again I just wanted to
bring some optimism to the Tennessee Titans discussions on today's show because
everyone's mad, everyone's angry and I get it, the Titans are 0 and 2, the coaching disaster
that happened in week 1, the second half letdown that happened for the Titans in week
2 against the Rams. I'm not telling you not to be frustrated by those things, but I just
want to make sure that everybody understands what a successful season looks like for the
Titans. And I mentioned it when I talked about my record prediction for the Titans
coming into the year.
I had the Titans win in five games.
And I know right now you're already typing,
well, they're not even going to get to five games.
And they very well might not.
But we knew, if you were a logical person,
we knew coming into this season
that the Titans were not making the playoffs.
The Titans weren't going to be this year's commanders.
The Titans weren't going to make some kind of crazy run.
I didn't even expect the Titans to be on the bubble team
to be on the playoffs.
Now, some of you guys were in my comment saying,
10 wins, 8 wins, 11 wins, and listen, I'm sorry you should have listened to Uncle Ty.
Like those were unrealistic expectations all along for where this team is.
But what actually matters for this team this year,
the most important thing for this team this year is Cam Ward being the franchise quarterback.
That is what actually matters.
And no matter how many wins the Titans get, no matter what it looks like or what they do,
If Cam Ward is the one, if he's Neo, if he's Nemo or Neo in the Matrix, not Nemo in the ocean,
then the Tennessee Titans had a successful season.
Now that doesn't mean that there won't be change that's necessary.
That doesn't mean that, you know, that everything is figured out.
I've talked about it.
The Titans still need probably a head coach.
The Titans still need a bona fide alpha edge rusher.
The Titans will probably still need a franchise left tackle.
They'll need another star wide receiver
Like the Titans are far from being the team that we want them to be
But the hardest thing
The most difficult thing to find in the NFL is the franchise quarterback
And we can't fit Cam Ward for a Hall of Fame jacket already
But through two weeks going through the tape, looking at the data
It's hard not to look at what the Titans have right here and saying
Wow, Cam Ward is the guy
Cam Ward is the guy
And if you watch my film breakdown on Tic Tac Titans,
you know it wasn't all perfect.
That was the name of the video.
Cam Ward flash's potential, but it wasn't all perfect.
And it wasn't.
There were some missed throws.
The strip sack fumble.
He's got to be stronger with the ball.
And that's something that Brian Callahan talked about.
On Monday, at his press conference, he said, quote,
yeah, he sees the field really, really well.
That part has been really encouraging.
I think we had one or two missed opportunities
that you can't miss in a game like that,
that we had a chance to generate something,
potentially. I thought he was better with his footwork and with his progressions this week
than he was the week before. I think he's getting better every time he walks on the field
and that's really good to see. And Callahan talked about some of the issues.
He said, quote, the biggest thing for him is the ball security portion, just trying to keep two hands on the ball
moving to the pocket. That's the thing that all young quarterback's got to get used to.
There's arms and bodies and people raking at the ball at a really high rate and we got to do a better job of
securing it in the pocket.
But there's a lot of really great things from Camp,
some of the throws, the location,
some of those balls to Elic I-O-Manner
down the sideline.
There was some really, really good stuff from the game
that I am incredibly encouraged by.
Again, you stack another week of practice
and another game, and you like to see it
continue to get better, and I think he will.
Cam is so poised, he's so calm, he's so confident,
he's never rattled,
the accuracy on the back-shoulder throws to Elic I-O-Manner,
Going through his progressions, I thought Cam Ward was excellent in the quick game in the second half.
Now, the Rams were a little backed up in zone coverages after they got a lead in the second half.
That's absolutely true.
But being able to diagnose what the defense is giving you and make the right read and make it with the quickness he was making it.
All incredibly encouraging.
And Cam Ward has already completed a historic achievement on next-gen stats.
since they started tracking in 2016
Cam Ward had the longest throw on the run
of anybody
since 2016 no one has thrown a pass
30.4 yards while also running 8 points
or 8 miles per hour on the run
so Cam Ward's already doing historic things
and I think everything that Brian Callahan said
on Monday about Cam Ward is exactly what we saw
in the film breakdown that I did earlier
It all matches up.
He overthrew Chim Dike on the sideline.
I thought he could have driven home a crossing route to Tyler Lockett
on that strip sack fumble.
Even if he doesn't drill at home to Tyler Lockett on the strip sack fumble,
you've got to be stronger with the ball in the pocket
and not fumble there, all right?
So, yeah, it wasn't perfect.
But the way that he can diagnose how calm and how poised he is
for his second game,
and remember, they just played the Broncos who led the NFL in sacks last year
on the road in Denver, and then they played the Los Angeles Rams,
who are one of the best defensive lines in the entire NFL.
You put all that together and I'm sorry.
I just woke up on Monday morning feeling very optimistic about the future of this team
because the most difficult thing to find in the NFL is a franchise quarterback
and I think the Tennessee Titans have found there.
So, forgive me if I'm out of the doom and gloom of the loss
and I'm starting to look at it and be like, you know what?
I didn't think that they were going to win either of these games any.
games anyway and Cam Ward has looked good and at the end of the day losing a lot
of games while Cam Ward looks good might be the best thing for the Tennessee
Titans this year now the other best thing for the Titans is the other
rookies playing well the connection with Ellick Iommanner
Elic Iommanner might be wide receiver one by the end of the year he might be
wide receiver one now it is obvious that Cam Ward and Elek have a connection
and as he and there was a couple of mistakes in there where I
thought Ellick could have been better. I showed it in the film breakdown.
He ran a drag route at one point in time and he got past the defender
and he should have got his eyes to the quarterback and it could have been a bigger play,
but it took a little while for him to get where he wanted and then he sat down.
Cam got it to him, but he almost got sacked in the process.
So, little stuff like that from Ellic Ayo Manor has to get better.
He's not the most experienced wide receiver of all time coming out of Canada, you know what I mean?
But what Ellic Ayo Manor has shown so far
have to be incredibly encouraged by what we're seeing.
And not only that, but Chim D-K and special teams, like we talked about yesterday,
how can you not look at Chim D-K and see the design touches that the Titans got for him
and screens and the reverses and all that stuff?
I said after he was drafted that he should be a lightning bolt on special teams
and then he can be a gadget utility player for the offense who could play Z,
who could play in the slot, who could take jet sweeps and do things like that.
And that's exactly how he's being used.
And not only is that exactly how he's being used,
but he looks good in the role.
How long has it been since the Titans had a dynamic kick returner?
They can do a 71-yard kickoff return in week one.
What should have been a punt return in week two.
So the Titans aren't a very good football team.
They're going to lose a lot of games.
But the guys who matter on this team
who the Titans needed to see do well,
they're doing pretty well through two weeks.
And that includes Femiola-Dazio,
whether you believe it or not, Femiola Dejo has been impressive early on,
even if the pass rush has been predictably bad.
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Titans fans.
Let's continue today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
Little optimism Monday to start the show.
I want to just to remind you guys what the actual goal of this season is.
And I know that some of you don't want to hear it.
You thought 10 wins.
You thought 11 wins.
You thought 9 wins.
Well, you thought wrong.
All right, you thought wrong.
So readjust your expectations
and realize that in reality
Cam Ward and the rookies playing well
some of the young guys
that's what's most important
and that includes
Femiola Dejo
and even if the pass rush
has been predictably bad
I think Femi has been a bright
spot whether people want to admit it
or not. But before we continue
today's show thank you again for making Locked on Titans
your first list and make sure you get
subscribe, stay subscribed. It's your team
every day here on the Locked on Titans
podcast. But again, we talked
all all season long
about how the Titans
pass rush is going to be
bad. They don't have the talent.
They don't have the ability.
It's just not there.
No matter what they do or
how they try to attack, whether it's that
oh, we're going to push the pocket and rush
as a group, whether it's blitzing,
which the Titans haven't done at all. Surprisingly,
you played a 36-year-old quarterback.
And the Titans blitzed bow nicks,
more than they blitzed Matthew Stafford,
which I think is absolutely insane
after the statistics and the data that we talked about last week
about Matthew Stafford under pressure
and with the injuries up front,
the Titans didn't blitz nearly at all in that game
and the one time they did that I can recall
was a Monty Hooker off a slot blitz and he got a sec.
I don't know, the Titans blitz percentage went down this week
from week one.
Doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.
But regardless, again, talking about,
problems that the Titans have that aren't really a surprise.
The pass rush being bad is one of those.
The Titans had 14 pressures and one sack in both weeks.
14 pressures, one sack against the Broncos.
14 pressures, one sack against the Rams, according to pro football focus.
Not good.
Now, they were more efficient in the pass rush
because the Rams dropped back to pass less,
so they got more pressures.
or the same pressures and less dropbacks,
the same sacks and less dropbacks.
But being more efficient doesn't necessarily mean that you were good either.
You know what I mean?
And when people talk about the pass rush,
what's been very annoying to me personally,
when people talk about the pass rush,
and I mentioned this on yesterday's show,
is that everyone goes after Femi.
People complain about the pass rush.
It's, why did the Titans take Femiola Dajio in the second round?
He's not doing anything. What a bust pick. How dumb.
You don't take a project in the second round, all that.
When what I said yesterday and what I will continue to say is,
why aren't people pissed off at the veterans?
Arden Key.
Draymont Jones.
Why are we not worried about those guys more than Femi?
We knew that Femiola-Degio was going to be a project.
We knew that he had to develop the past.
rush stuff. We knew that, but it's two weeks. The Titans pass rush is bad and everyone
wants to blame Femi? Well, in true pass sets, like literally passing situations, no rollouts,
no draws, no screens, true pass rush situations. Femiola-Dazio is a better pass-rush
win rate than Arden Key or Draymont Jones.
Femmy is 13% pass rush win rate, which is not good, but Draymont Jones is 12.
And Arden Key is 8.3%.
Arden Key is a long-time veteran.
Arden Key is getting paid a bunch of money.
Not a ton.
It's not like a super high-paid contract.
But he's getting paid more than Femi.
Why when people complain about the Titans pass-rush being bad,
which we knew it would be bad,
24th and past rush grade on pro football focus.
They're 30th or tied for 29th, whatever you want to say,
in total sacks this year.
And they could go down too
because there are more games on Monday night
after I'm recording this.
But like, Femi
is producing better
than these veteran players who have been playing edge
for their entire lives.
or at least their entire professional careers and college,
Femiola Dejo was a stand-up linebacker for his college career.
This is his first full season of football in his life playing on the edge,
and he's second on the team in true pass-set win-rate.
And if you don't just want to compare it to the Titans,
crappy pass-rush, sure.
But take a look at this.
Femiola-Dazio, among rookie edge-rushers,
He has more pressures, three, than Jalen Walker, who is a first-round pick,
than Prince Leo Mami Ellen, who is a pass-rush specialist from Ole Miss than Jack Sawyer,
who won a national championship with Ohio State than Nick Scowerton.
Some of those players, Titans fans are in my comment saying,
they should have taken him, him, him over Femiola-Dasia.
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Femiola Dejio has three pressures on the year.
That's tied with Shamar Stewart, first round pick,
Mike L. Williams, first round pick, and Mike Green,
who everybody screams up and down.
The Titans should have taken over Femiola Dejio,
even though, look at his off-field situation
and tell me that's the kind of player you want the Titans to draft.
Ugly, ugly off-field stuff from Mike Green.
And Femiola Dejo, who everybody says is a bust and a project pick
and a reach and garbage,
has the same amount of pressures through two weeks
as Mike Green.
And Mike Green is on the frickin' ravens
surrounded by studs and a great defense and great coaching.
Femi might be on the worst pass rush group in the entire NFL.
Well, that's not true because the Carolina Panthers exist.
But Femmy might be on the worst pass rush group in the age.
And he's tied with pressures with Shemar Stewart, Michael Williams, and Mike Green.
And everyone is complaining about him.
And no one's talking about Arden Key.
Arden Key is so silent.
He's skating by so well with no one paying attention to him.
It's unbelievable.
And what we knew about Femiola DeGio is he would be good in run defense.
And he has been.
He has a better run defense grade than Jalen Walker, Abdul Carter,
Mike Green, and Mikel Williams.
better in run defense than those guys.
So if he's tied with Mike Green and pressures
and he's better in run defense through two weeks than Mike Green,
then why is everybody saying the Titan should have taken Mike Green?
Femiola DeGio has been better.
Now, on a pure pass rush standpoint,
Mike Green has won more often,
but it hasn't resulted in more production.
So what are we talking about?
You know?
So the Titans' pass rush being done,
bad is not a shocker, but I wouldn't look at Femiola-Dagio first in line and say it's his fault.
We didn't expect him to come in right away and be a great pass rusher.
So, you know, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Now, the other thing I do want to mention here that has not been a shock, but boy, it's bad,
is the Titans penalties.
And you know that it's bad.
I know that you know that it's bad.
But listen to this.
Most penalties in the NFL through two weeks with the Monday night football games still to be played two of them
28 penalties five have been declined so 23, but 28 called penalties on the Titans first in the NFL and how that manifests in
On-field numbers
the Titans have by far
by far
The worst net penalty yardage with minus
minus negative 119 yards.
The Titans have given up 120 yards to their opponents through penalties.
That is the worst in the NFL by 20 yards.
Second worst is 99.
Now again, the penalty problem is predictable
because the Titans were terrible with penalties last year
and they don't respect their head coach.
So of course they're not going to improve or change on that,
but it doesn't make it any less dismal.
to see the numbers and see just how bad it's been through two weeks.
You cannot win like that.
Can't do it. Can't do it.
But with that being said, I want to talk about some things that have been bad that I am kind of surprised by.
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Titans fans.
Let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
We talked about Cam Ward and the rookies showing out.
We talked about some data through the first two weeks of the season that isn't really a surprise.
but now I want to talk about some things that have kind of caught me.
I wouldn't say off guard,
but I'm much more disappointed and more, uh, I guess, surprised, yeah, is the word.
I'm, I'm a bit surprised by just how bad some of these things have been.
Now, before I dive into them,
I do want to thank you again for making Locked on Titans,
your first listen each and every day.
As a reminder, check out the Ticktac Titans film channel.
I'm doing all of my free film content over there.
Uh, Cam Ward film breakdown.
I'll have an Elyke Io Manor out on.
Tuesday got some other stuff planned later this week I think a Peter Skoronski
video might be on the docket might take a look at Legerius Sneed's performance but
I will tell you guys you all say I'm negative I'm pessimistic you know put out
some positive stuff as we get later in the week I get less interested in doing
the negative content and I kind of want to look at here's who's playing well
here's what the Titans can do against the Colts I do like to turn the page a little
bit so we'll see if I get to the Legerius Sneed stuff I think I might have
hammered that point home pretty well
on social media with the gap between people who understand football
and who don't,
and people saying Lagerie Sneed played well
and then looking at the tape, looking at the data,
and being like, I wouldn't say he played that well.
But that's an argument for a different time that's already been hashed out.
I do want to talk about some of these things
that have kind of caught me off guard.
And I have to admit,
and maybe you guys will say that this is my fault,
but the sacks.
11 sacks so far
and I guess maybe it's not surprised
maybe it's not shock
but it's disappointment
it's disappointment
the Titans have allowed 11 sacks
that's not going to get it done
that's like bottom 5 for a rookie quarterback
in his first two weeks
in history
I forget the rookie quarterback's name
they had 15 sacks
David Carr in 2020
or 2002 with the Texans
his first two starts, there were 14 sacks.
Also, shame on CBS.
They put out a stat
that Cam Ward had the most sacks taken
in any rookie's first two starts ever
and, or like since 1970,
and it's just blatantly wrong.
I just told you guys.
It's blatantly wrong.
It's just not true.
They deleted the tweet on Monday morning,
but they left the tweet up
all Sunday,
night because it was getting good engagement. Like, what a great microcosm of the issues with
our society that you could just put out fake numbers that are false that aren't true at all
and are easily verifiable to not be true. But because people listen to it and want to engage with
it, you leave it up and pretend it's real. I mean, there are accounts on social media that are
fully dedicated to putting out fake information that's not true just for the purpose of getting
engagement. Like, it's just whatever. I'm off my soapbox on that. But regardless of
that, the 11 sacks is still disappointing. Now, let's just be honest here, though. Let's
be blatantly honest about the sacks. I would say two of them are on Cam Ward. You could
maybe say three. I think, I think you could make a strong argument that three of those 11 sacks
are Cam Ward's fault. The strip sack, where he could have got the ball out to Tyler Lockett,
Some people say he could have got the ball to the flat to Chicka Conquo.
I went over that in my film breakdown.
Number three, the Rams safety is breaking downhill hard.
I don't know that that's an easy completion like everyone's trying to act like.
I think the more reasonable argument is Tyler Lockett on the crossing route,
which I talked about in the first segment as one of the bad plays that Cam Ward had.
And instead, he climbs the pocket, get strip sack.
That's probably on him.
You could make that argument.
And then in Denver, the rollout,
I know you guys are like, oh, it was a throwback.
Well, the throwback did not happen on time
and he could have got rid of the ball
rather than holding it and taking the sack there.
And then the last sack of the day against the Rams,
it's Cam Ward literally scrambling
and then running out of bounds for two yards.
This blows my mind.
I don't understand why quarterbacks
don't just toss the ball out of bounds.
Why lose two yards?
Why take a quote-unquote sack
and lose two yards.
You're right by the sticks, Cam.
Just toss the ball out of bounds.
You're already there.
Just toss the ball right out of bounds
instead of losing two yards for no reason
and putting a sack on the ledger.
So to me, the Titans have really given up 10 sacks
and two of those 10 are probably on Cam Ward.
But that's still eight sacks allowed
that are either the running back in pass protection
or an offensive lineman's fault.
And that's not good enough.
and for what we hoped
would be an improved offensive line
Kevin Zitler has not done well enough
and now he's hurt
Lloyd Cushingberry got wrecked
in that game against the Rams
like other than John Ojuku
who was a turn style
Lloyd Cushenberry was far and away
the second worst offensive lineman
now I'll give Cush
a little bit of grace
because he's coming back from an Achilles injury
he got no work in the preseason
You know what I mean?
So I'll give Cush a little bit of grace to get back to good,
but he did get eaten up, no doubt about it.
So we hoped and we expected this offensive line.
Yeah, maybe they won't be top five like ESPN ranked them or top 10 or whatever,
but they have to be massively improved, right?
They have not been so far.
And I know that's one game without J.C. Latham.
I understand that, but at the end of the day,
Latham gave up a sack and a couple of pressures in week one.
He wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.
Now, the easy counter is two of the best defensive lines in the NFL.
Let's call it what it is.
The Colts have good talent on the interior,
but the Colts defensive line is nowhere near as good
as the Broncos and the Rams.
So if the Titans don't bow their neck on the offensive line
and have a much better game this week,
it's going to be trouble again.
It's going to be trouble again.
So I could say that maybe I'm not shocked,
but I am incredibly disappointed with the amount of sacks
and the way that it's happened,
even while acknowledging that the running back and Cam Ward
are responsible for some of that number.
Now, the last thing that I want to mention
that's even more disgusting and despicable
is the Titans run defense.
Nobody runs the ball on the Tennessee Titans.
I don't know who made that up or who first said that,
but that has not been true whatsoever.
And shout out my guy, Zach Lyons, who does F-words in 104-5.
But he put out a great tweet on Monday morning
showing some of the stats that characterize the run defense.
The Titans are currently allowing 150 rushing yards per game.
That's the fourth highest in the NFL.
The Titans are currently averaging, allowing 5.5 rushing yards per play.
That's the fourth highest in the NFL.
The Titans are currently allowing 5.48 yards to go on third down.
That's the third least for opponents.
So the Titans have the third worst defense in the NFL when it comes to creating third and longs,
and a lot of that has to do with the run defense.
The Titans have the third lowest run stuff rate at 10.9%.
The Titans have allowed the sixth most runs of 10 plus yards.
yards at nine. It's despicable.
And when the pass rush is as bad as it is, and we know it,
to not be good in run defense also
just wrecks you. It just ruined you.
The Titans can't blitz. That's probably what DeNard Wilson would say.
I can't blitz. They're in third and short every time. I can't blitz.
If I blitz, we're going to leave too many holes in the field.
We're not going to get there in time with the ball coming out quick.
It's not going to work.
That's probably what the answer would be from DeNard Wilson.
I wish I could be there to ask, right?
Maybe someone will ask.
Dinar Wilson will do a press conference later this week.
The coordinators always do.
But out of the things that I'm surprised about that are disappointing,
the run defense has to be high up there.
And Tavondre Sweat was missing in week two.
But if you're honest, and I know that when I say this, people roll their eyes.
But if you're honest, Tavondre Sweat was not very good in run defense in week one either.
He had the one stop on fourth down against Bo Nix.
that's a highlight play
that will make everybody think that he played well.
But he got bullied by the Denver Broncos in that game.
So, whether a sweat or no sweat,
the Titans Run defense has not been good.
And I will tell you this.
I had somebody say something to me about it on Twitter.
I don't know if I'll get around to doing a film breakdown
on the linebackers this week,
but it makes me sad to report
that Cody Barton has not been good.
He has not been very good.
And, you know, the leadership, the personality, all fun, all great.
But it does make you kind of think, oh, this is why he's been a backup for most of his career.
Hasn't been great.
Hasn't been great.
Not getting off blocks, not physical enough, looking like a former defense back.
You know what I mean?
But with that being said, let me know your guys' thoughts down below in the comments.
That's going to do it for me today, folks.
As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.