Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Cam Ward SCREWED BY NFL Schedule, X-Factor Games in 2025 & Callahan MUST WINS

Episode Date: May 18, 2025

The Tennessee Titans got zero primetime games this season and while you can make a strong argument they shouldn't have, the answer the NFL provided makes zero sense and should make any Titans fan frustrated. Next, the Tennessee Titans most likely won't be a playoff team in 2025, but there are some games on the schedule that could flip the season in one way or another. Also, there are some games the Titans absolutely must win if Brian Callahan hopes to keep his job in 2026.  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!FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.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)

The Tennessee Titans and Cam Ward not having any primetime games is dumb enough, but the NFL's explanation makes it even worse. I'll explain on today's edition of Locked On Titans. Your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rollins, Titans fans. Cam Ward got screwed by the NFL and their explanation makes me even more angry. I'll tell you what it is and why it's so stupid and makes no sense. Also, we'll continue

diving into the Tennessee Titans 2025 schedule. I'm going to tell you the X-Factor games that I think sway the season. Also going to tell you the games that the Titans must win if Brian Callahan is going to keep his job. Before we get into all of 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. 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.

Tune in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one because, again, there is no off season here on Locked on Titans. I'm going to keep you up to date, informed and entertained on your favorite football team, Monday through Friday, all off season on tomorrow's show. We're going to take a look at some projections. How many yards is Cam Ward going to throw for? How many touchdowns? How many catches will Calvin Ridley have yards for Tajay Spears? We're going to do all of that on tomorrow's show. Make sure that you don't miss it.

But with that being said, again, I'm fired up, folks. I'm angry. I can't help it. It doesn't make any sense. So when the schedule came out, I admit, I try. I know it may not seem like that, but I try to keep a level head when information first comes out. When the schedule first comes out, I'm like, hey, the schedule looks tough.

I get it. The Titans don't have any primetime games. They weren't good in primetime. They had one game. They didn't have a good season all that. So look first blush. I understood why the NFL wouldn't put the Titans in primetime, but I admit the more that I've thought about it.

I admit the more information that I have obtained and information. I've read and stats out there and different things that we're going to talk about, I've grown more angry. I've gone from, okay, this makes sense to this doesn't make much sense at all. Actually, historically speaking, this is really stupid. So number one, just on its own, on its own face, by itself, it is so dumb. It is so stupid for the NFL to not have Cam Ward in at least one primetime game. It is ignorant, and here is why. The Titans may not be the most popular franchise in the NFL.

Alright, I get that. But the NFL is still an NFL franchise. To me, it would be like if you owned 30 different McDonald's franchises and saying you're OK if one of them stinks. No, you should never be OK. It's better for the NFL if all of their franchises go up in value. And if the Tennessee Titans were a more respected franchise,

if the Tennessee Titans were a more liked franchise, if the Tennessee Titans were a more respected franchise. If the Tennessee Titans were more liked franchise, if the Tennessee Titans were more interesting franchise, that would be better for the NFL. So there is something right now with Cam Ward that has the ability to make the Tennessee Titans appealing to the casual NFL fan when they have not been in quite some time, probably since Derek Henry's prime in 2019 and 2020. The Tennessee Titans have a chance to be more interesting than they've been in forever, where more casual fans are interested in the team because of Cam Ward,

and you wasted the opportunity to elevate one of your franchises that could use that elevation. You had a perfect opportunity where the Titans fans are as fired up as ever because of Cam Ward. He can legitimately make the team more exciting. And casual fans, people, I have so many people ask me, Hey, what's up with Cam Ward? You excited about Cam Ward?

He looks awesome, man. Yeah, I can't wait to watch him play. Who are Steelers fans, Bengals fans, Browns fans, Cardinals fans, fans from other teams, people on the internet. I have Giants fans who are like, I want to see a Miami hurricane fans who want to follow him. It's just stupid in a vacuum in itself that the NFL doesn't have Cam Ward on prime time. It's bad for the NFL. It's bad for the Titans. It's bad for Cam Ward. It doesn't make any sense. But again, the explanation made me even more mad because Mike North,

and look, Mike North seems like a decent guy. He's the president of broadcast planning and scheduling for the NFL or vice president. He seems like a fine person, but his explanation, he was on Ross Tucker football podcast talking about it. They tagged me in a video that he had from their show. Jonathan Jones from CBS Sports did an interview with him and talked to him. And Mike North said, quote, We kind of have this adage that you play your way into prime time. You don't draft your way into prime time. So the Titans are one of the teams that don't currently have a national television window. But that's what things like flexible scheduling are for.

If you look down the stretch for the Titans, they play San Francisco in week 15, Kansas City in week 16. They've got the same opportunity every other team has to play their way into a national window. That explanation, if you read that, you're like, oh, okay. Yeah. I mean, you don't draft your way into prime time. There are Titans fans out there who are like, we don't want the

prime time games. make them earn it. We don't blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, this and that. And I'll get to that in a second. But that explanation is not good enough for me. In fact, it makes me even more angry because reality does not hold up. Reality does not hold up because the past two quarterbacks to go number one overall, Bryce Young and Caleb

Williams, Carolina and Chicago respectively, both of them had multiple night games as a rookie, even though the Bears, yes, big market, but the Panthers arguably are a lesser team than the Titans as a franchise historically. They're at least very similar, if not neck and neck. Carolina's been to two Super Bowl appearances, right? So maybe you give them an advantage. They've had Cam Newton as a firm MVP. But give me a break. The last number one overall pick to not get a prime time game was Miles Garrett in 2017, and he was an edge rusher. The Bengals in 2020 with Joe Burrow, they were garbage. And we're talking about the Cincinnati Bengals. I'm from Ohio. I live in jungle country. Okay, I'm right here with all Bengals fans everywhere.

The Bengals are a poverty crap franchise just like the Titans, right? You can't argue that the Bengals are some franchise that's way better than the Titans and deserves better treatment than the Titans when they get a number one QB. And I'm sorry, but you can't give me Joe Burrow over Cam Ward either. They were both incredibly entertaining. I mean, Joe Burrow had the best quarterback season of all time in college, maybe. So I get that. But at the same time, the Bengals were bad.

So if you can't draft your way into prime time, then how did the Bengals get two prime time games? The Jaguars, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are decisively a lesser franchise in the NFL rankings all time, decisively a lesser franchise than the Titans, the Jaguars are. They had a prime time game with Trevor Lawrence in 2021. The next year after that, they had two. And then again, the Panthers had two, the Bears had four, but that's Chicago. But we're talking about the Bengals, the Panthers and the Jaguars. Why are they getting better treatment than the Titans in their number one overall pick? It's so dumb. It's so annoying to me. It doesn't make any sense. It makes it even worse because it's like, why didn't I get a promotion? Oh, your numbers weren't very good. And I had the

best numbers in the field of my coworkers. Like it's an insult to our intelligence as fans and to the Titans. Quite frankly, if I'm Amy Adams, shrunk, fans and to the Titans quite frankly. If I'm Amy Adams-Trunk, if I'm the Titans organization, if I'm in their PR department and stuff, I am furious because this explanation is garbage. And to go on multiple programs and peddle this as a serious reason when there's no history and the history actually makes you look foolish by saying that, it's just so frustrating. It's just classic Titan stuff. But hey, add another chip to Cam Ward's shoulder. The least adored,

least respected, and least celebrated number one overall pick of all time. But hey, I guess that's just classic Tennessee Titans experience. But hey, a lot of you guys say, I don't really care. Just go out and win the games. So let's talk about some of those games. just go out and win the games. So let's talk about some of those games. Today's episode is brought to you by Skylight Calendar. Say goodbye to sticking notes, scribbled plans all on your fridge, overlapping calendar invites. The Skylight Calendar is here to bring clarity to the chaos and help families stay organized without the stress. This sleek digital display syncs with your existing calendars,

whether it's Google, Apple, Outlook, and more, making it simple to track appointments, practices, dinners, reminders, all in one easy to see place. My sister has a Skylight Friend calendar. I have one as well. I love just having it in a good spot. Like, we keep ours in the kitchen. It shows you different things. I have one as well. I love just having it in a good spot. Like we keep ours in the kitchen. It shows you different things. You get pictures on there. Also, I love how everything's color-coded.

So like different people's tasks are in different colors, making it really easy to just look at it and understand things very clear. 15-inch HD screen. You can't beat that. Right now, Skylight is offering my listeners $30 off their 15 inch calendars by going to skylightcal.com slash NFL. Go to skylightcal.com slash NFL for $30 off your 15 inch calendar. That's S-K-Y-L-I-G-H-T-C-A-L.com slash NFL. Titans fans. Let's continue today's edition of the locked on Titans podcast. We talked about why I think the Cam Warden and the Tennessee Titans got screwed and why the explanation, in my opinion, is just as bad as the original outcome.

But I do want to move forward and get back into the Tennessee Titans schedule because we went through it game by game the night that it came out live, and then I went through my game by game predictions, giving the Titans seven wins, and I'm probably being a little generous after training camp and stuff. Honestly, I might back that back down a little bit, but going through the schedule, I was like, they can win that. They can win that. It's a tough schedule to start out. Like, the first six, seven weeks of the schedule, I think are difficult. All right. And then some of the games in the middle can be difficult, but there's a lot of winnable games at the end and a lot of winnable

games in the middle and teams that, you know, teams change every single year in the NFL. So the Tennessee Titans may have been in three and 14, but if they just get a little bit better, there's a good chance that they could beat some of these teams. That's just how it goes. But what are the games on the schedule that I think will sway the season? These are games that if the Titans can win three of these, if the Titans can

win two of these, maybe I think it could really change how we feel about the season. I think these are big games that the Titans need to win to if the Titans win all of these games, they go to the playoffs. If the Titans lose all these games, they don't go to the playoffs. They probably have a lesser season on their scale. But I think you win two or three of these and the Titans could have a good season, like the seven, eight wins that I'm talking about. So number one for me, week two against the Los Angeles Rams. This is such a pivotal game because I think that it is a shoe in, it is a guarantee. I am going to bet the mortgage that the Tennessee Titans lose to the Denver Broncos week one. So if you come home and you play the Los Angeles Rams, look, this isn't a must-win game.

I can't say that the Titans absolutely have to beat the Los Angeles Rams, one of the top eight teams in the NFL last year, with a Hall of Fame quarterback and a Hall of Fame coach. I'm not going to sit here and say that that's a must win game for the Titans. But the point of this is it's an X factor game. I think the Titans do win their next game week three against Indianapolis. I think the Titans win that game. The difference, the difference in coming out of the first three weeks at two and one, imagine if the Titans lose to Denver, but then beat the Rams at home and then beat the Colts at home in week three. If the Titans are two and one through the first three weeks, they're going to be

irresponsible things being said by Titans fans online, including me. We're going to take our shirts off and get crazy if we're two and one after three weeks. Now think about one and two. If they go through the first three weeks, they lose to Denver, they lose to Los Angeles, and then beat Indianapolis at home in week three, what are we doing then? We're saying, all right, you know, maybe the team's a little bit better, but this team still isn't, isn't good. And then they go on the road in week four against Houston, and then they go on the road in week five against the Cardinals.

And then they go on the road in week six against the Raiders. It's like, if you're one and two going into that three game stretch, I'm gonna be looking at it like they're two and four or one and five at best. Yikes. And the season could go off the rails fast. One and five in the first six weeks, season's over. But if they can win that game against the Rams

and go two and one in the first three weeks, get one of those three away games, your three and three through six weeks, I mean, that's great for where the Titans were at last year. That is great for the direction of the team. Then, you know, we keep going through the schedule, we get to a middle part of the schedule where the Titans can really get some wins in there. It might be another 500 stretch, but if the Titans finish the season close to 500, it would be a banger of a year. No doubts about it. So that, that Rams game to me will early on be a big pivot point in how the season goes. But another big X factor game to me is that week six game against the Raiders.

Look, I think the Cardinals are a better team than the Raiders. I think the Raiders are a team that the Titans can beat. And out of all of the Titans road games, that's the one where I'm like, okay, they could steal that one. At Denver, no way. At Houston, I don't think so after last year's upset. They're gonna be ready to go. At Arizona, yes, but my thing is, is they go at Houston straight to at Arizona.

You're on the road big time there. I think, like I've said all along, they're going to stay out west from Arizona to Vegas. So they're going to be more conditioned and their bodies are going to deal with the away game conditions better in week six. But week six against Vegas is a huge one. Again, finishing off that three game away stretch, the Titans can get that game and get one of those three away games.

I think that's huge going forward. Now, the next big X Factor game to me is against the Chargers on November the 2nd. That's week 9. You come off the three-game road stretch from 4, 5, and 6 Texans, Cardinals, Raiders. You go to the Patriots at home week 7. We'll talk about that one in a minute. You're on the road against the Colts. That's going to be a tough demission matchup. But the Chargers are one of those teams where they come to you,

and you have the bye week next week. After the Chargers, it's a bye. If the Titans could get a win going into their bye against a very good, who I think is a playoff team, but not a team that's unbeatable. The Chargers are going to be a good team. They're going to be an improved team. I think they could win the AFC West, but they're not an unbeatable team for the Titans. And if the Titans are at home, knowing that they have the bye week,

I think there's a real chance that the Tennessee Titans could win that game. And if the Titans could beat the Chargers on this schedule, that sets them up to be a playoff team. I think if the Titans can get that game against the Rams, maybe they don't get the Raiders, but they get the home game against the Chargers. Getting those two out of the first nine weeks,

combine that with two or three other wins, and the Titans are on their way. The next one I gotta mention is the Seattle Seahawks at home, November 23rd. That's the next big X-Factor game to me. Because it's another team that is a good opponent. They're not a world beater. They're a good opponent, but it's at home.

And it could it could really go either way. If the Titans are a good team this year, and they really improve to be a good team, they should beat the Seattle Seahawks at home. They should beat the Los Angeles Chargers at home. They should beat the Rams at home, even if they're just a middle of the road good team that wins 8, 9, 10 games. Now that would be an incredible season for the Titans, which is why these games are the difference. If they don't win two or three of these, they probably only win five or six games. But if they win two or three of these, they're winning seven or eight games. If they win all of them, they're winning nine or ten games, and that's massive! It's just massive. So the last game that I want to mention as an X Factor game here is... Week 18 against Jacksonville, because if the Titans win their X Factor games that we're talking about that week 18 matchup on the road against Jacksonville could be for a chance at the playoffs. That's why it's an X Factor game, not necessarily the, you know, the, the opponent,

the setup. It's just the fact it's the fact that it's the last game of the season. And if the Titans handle three of the four X FFactor games before that, and their must wins, they're gonna be playing against Jacksonville last week of the season with a chance to go to the playoffs. That's where they'll be if they win their X-Factor games. But to me, these are the games as you go through the schedule that will determine exactly how good or how bad the Titan season is.

Now, there are some must-win games that I think, no matter what happens, the Titans need to win these games for Brian Callahan to keep his job. If he does not win these games, or at least this amount of games, he's not going to keep his job. So I'm going to tell you what those are right now. Titans fans. Let's cap off today's edition of the locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the Titans at Cam Ward getting screwed and a terrible explanation behind it.

We talk about the X factor matchups for the Titans that I think will sway their season from good to bad. But now let's talk about the must wins. Cause I think there are some must win games on the schedule that if Brian Callahan doesn't find a way to win these games or at least win this amount of games, he is in trouble. So the overall number to me is the must-win number but some of these games in here are must-wins. Before I dive into them do want to thank you again 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. Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed to your team every day. But my first must-win game of the year is week three against the Indianapolis Colts. Now, I talked about that game a lot when I talked about the Rams game as my first X-Factor game of the year, but if the Titans don't win that Colts game at home week three,

I think that they are in serious trouble. Because you have Denver on the road week one, that is a loss. At home against the Rams week two, very well could be a loss against a very good, one of the best NFL teams. If you don't win that game against the Colts in week three and you go 0-3, and then you go on the road against Houston, against Arizona, against the Raiders, come back home against the New England Patriots, there is a great chance that you go 0 and 7. Like, you could be 0 and 6 heading into Mike Vrabel's return to Tennessee. You do that and you're Brian Calehan, you're fired. You're fired if you lose to Mike Vrabel there.

You're done immediately. Seven games, seven weeks, you're cut. It's over. Absolutely over. Bill Callahan, interim head coach. I wonder if he would just quit at the same time with his son. I would imagine that's what would happen. Bill Callahan wouldn't stay on the staff after they fired his son. But, um, yeah, you're in trouble if you don't win that Colts game at home in week three. Because again, out of the first five out of the first six games of the year, that's the only one that I think is clearly the Titans are going to be favored. The Titans will be favored in that game.

That's the only game out of these six where the Titans will be favored. So you got to win that Colts game in week three at home. And then the next one is the Mike Vrabel game. Again, if you're one and four or one and five or you're two and four and you lose to Mike Vrabel, if the Tennessee Titans go two and five, or one and six, or God forbid, oh and seven, with a loss at home to Mike Vrabel's New England Patriots, Brian Callahan is fired.

He's fired. They can't do it. They cannot. It can't happen. They cannot lose to Mike Vrabel at home. That's truly out of all these games, if Brian Callahan is able to win that game, he might be able to survive to the end of the season. But I'm telling you folks, those two first must-win games, Colts and Patriots, I mean, it's over for Brian Callahan if they don't win those two games, period. And then week 11 at home against the Texans.

Again, the Texans matchup means a lot. Now, I say must wins. The Titans could lose at home week 11 to the Houston Texans and still have a good season. But I'm talking about if the season is not going good, and you lose at home to Houston. And here's another thing to take into account. Week 10 is the bye week. So the Titans have a bye and they come out of the bye and they get absolutely mollywopped at home against the Texans. Not good for Brian Callahan. Not a good sign. And then week 13 at home against Jacksonville.

If you want to have a decent season, you're going to have to win three of your division games. Even if the Titans have five or six wins, I think three of them are going to be division opponents. You got to beat Jacksonville once. You absolutely have to beat Jacksonville once. You can't get swept by Jacksonville what? Another year in a row?

You can't do that. You simply can't allow it. Week 14 at the Cleveland Browns. This is the only away game that I have as a must-win game. And it's because the Titans should be better than the Browns this year. And they're not gonna have the opportunity to win many games on the road.

Look at their schedule here. Where are their easy road games? Broncos? No. Cardinals, Raiders? Maybe one. Colts? Maybe?

Browns? They play the Jags? And then the 49ers? Where's an easy road game? The Browns is the easiest road game that they have, and they have to find a way to win it. They have a better quarterback. They should have a better roster, in my opinion, than what the Cleveland Browns are going to have this year. Titans have to beat the Browns in Cleveland. They absolutely have to. And then

my final must-win game here is against the New Orleans Saints in Week 17. Unless the Saints make some kind of crazy trade, unless they sign Aaron Rodgers, and even if they do sign Aaron Rodgers. Week 17 at home, there's no reason that the Titans shouldn't beat the New Orleans Saints. There's no reason. You gotta win that game at home with all of the other difficult games that are around there. You play San Francisco on the road, then you come home and you play Kansas City. Those are tough games. You're not winning those games. You come home and you got Saints at home and then you finish at Jacksonville.

If you don't get that Saints win, there's a good chance you finish your season lost, lost, lost, lost. And that would be a bad way for Brian Callahan to go out. And again, not just each individual game that we're talking about. Six wins. That's how many must-win games I have here. Six. If the Titans win five games, Brian Callahan will be fired. Five games is not good enough. Brian Callahan will be fired if the Titans win five games. I think Brian Callahan has

to win, and I've said this for probably a week or so now, 10 days now. Brian Callahan has to win six games this year. He's got to double the wins or he's fired. I truly believe that. Six wins is where Brian Callahan needs to go. Now, I think the Titans floor this year is four wins, and I think their ceiling is nine wins. I think we could see a wide range of outcomes for the Titans this year. Last year, I thought it was seven to 10. What a moron. Guess that happens. We get a little too excited. But I see four to

nine this year. And if it's lower than six, Callahan's cooked. Anything above is a massive win. Six is good. Seven, eight, nine, huge, huge season for Brian Callahan and the Titans, momentum going forward, massive win. But five or four, and it's over for him. So we could talk about each individual game, but generally speaking, Brian Callahan must win six games this year. I don't care which ones they are ultimately at the end of the day, but need to win that Patriots game, need to win one of those NFC West home games,

need to win a division game, but six wins is the minimum. Tell me what you think the minimum number of games Brian Callahan needs to win to save his job is. Again, mine is six. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today. Tomorrow, rookie projections, unless news happens. I always go to the biggest news, of course. But going to look at yards, touchdowns, all that kind of stuff for multiple different players. See what we think these Titans are going to do this year.

But that's going to do it for me today, folks always I am your host Tyler Rowland and this was Locked on Titans.