Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Defense IS ALIVE!! Keys to Victory, #TitanUpTitanDown & AFC Recap

Episode Date: November 9, 2020

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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. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, this Victory Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is presented by Built Bar. Go to BuiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get 20% off your next order.

The Tennessee Titans moved to 6-2 on the season with a 24-17 victory over the Chicago Bears where the score was closer than the game actually was. And the most surprising part about the victory on Sunday was that the Titans were led by an incredible defensive effort. So we are going to dive into that defensive effort to start off our show and then also take a look at the keys to victory we discussed on Friday's show and how all of them played out in front of us on Sunday. Then we are going to take a look at some individual performances in everyone's favorite

segment, Tighten Up, Tighten Down, where we look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from a zoomed in perspective from the Titans game against the Bears. And then we will cap off our Victory Monday show, taking a look at what the Titans division rivals did on Sunday. And spoiler alert, we got some positive outcomes on that note. We'll also take a look at some of the other top contenders in the AFC and how they fared over the weekend. So a big victory Monday on the Locked On Titans podcast, going over the keys to victory, looking at individual performances with Titan up and Titan down, and then recapping what took place in the AFC. But remember, a big Thursday night matchup against the division rival Indianapolis Colts,

so it will be a big week on the Locked On Titans podcast. I am combining my Tic Tac Tuesday with the Tic Tac 4-pack and our re-watch Wednesday editions of the Locked on Titans podcast into one Tuesday podcast. Wednesday, we will begin our preparation for the Colts with a crossover Wednesday conversation, throwing it back with Evan Sidery from the Locked on Colts. And then Thursday will be a game preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast

to get you ready from all angles for a matchup against the Colts taking place on Thursday night. So make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream so you don't miss any of that content. I will be putting up Monday through Friday throughout the entire season. But we are beginning a big week on the Locked on Titans podcast with a Victory Monday. Let's get it! Coming out of a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Titans sat at 5-1, and although they took

their first loss of the year year things felt very optimistic about their ability to make it to a Super Bowl it was a close loss to a good Pittsburgh Steelers team so although the Titans did suffer defeat it didn't feel like their season goals were off track or out of reach but coming out of a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals putting them on a two-game losing streak the season did feel a bit differently going into this matchup against the 5-3 Chicago Bears. So the Titans had two jobs on Sunday. One, defeat the Bears and move to 6-2, but also get the season's momentum on track.

And they were able to do that. But what was a surprise is that the Titans were led by their defense on Sunday. The keys to the game for the Titans that we covered on Friday were stopping the run, forcing turnovers, and then beating the Bears man defense. Well, on the defensive side of the ball, the Titans held up their end of the bargain. The Titans held the Bears offense to 18 carries for 45 yards rushing. The Bears did get an 11-yard run on a fake punt on fourth down by linebacker Barkevia Smingo, but if you look at just the Bears offense, they were only able to muster 45 yards, which going into this game, the Bears had rushed for under 50 yards in two of their

three losses. The Titans were able to continue that trend, a key to victory we discussed, and it put the Bears in a ton of third and long opportunities, and this is where the Titans' defense stepped up the most. They had been the worst third down defense in the NFL going into the game, but they held the Bears to only two for 15 on third down, and it gave them a great opportunity to create turnovers, which the Tennessee Titans were able to do on Sunday. They were able to force

two fumbles, one by Jeffrey Simmons, one by Jayon Brown, and the Simmons forced fumble was picked up by newly acquired defensive back Desmond King and taken to the house to give the Titans a 17-0 lead. But how were the Titans able to score their touchdown before that fumble return? Well, it was Titans star wide receiver A.J. Brown winning in man coverage against Bears slot cornerback Buster Screen for a 40-yard touchdown. Quite frankly, A.J. Brown was a stud on the day. Four catches, 101 yards, and that touchdown.

The Bears do play excellent man defense, and it was the Titans' job on offense coming into the game and a key to victory that I discussed on Friday that they would have to find a way to beat the Bears' man defense. And with Adam Humphreys out of this game with a concussion, I mentioned that the Titans should look to put A.J. Brown or Corey Davis in the slot to hopefully get man coverage one-on-one with your best receivers against Buster Screen. The Titans were able to put A.J. Brown in the slot on that 40-yard touchdown, get a

one-on-one matchup with Buster Screen. And the Titans stud on offense at wide receiver. A.J. Brown took advantage for the Titans' first touchdown of the day. That gave them the 10-0 lead. The fumble return for a touchdown by King took them to 17-0. And then again, one way that you beat tight man coverage on offense is you run tight formations with bunches and stacks and then you run rub routes or pick routes and that's how the Titans scored their final touchdown

on the day a short pass to Jonu Smith where Corey Davis and Jonu Smith were stacked up next to each other close to the formation and Corey Davis's route was a natural pick for Johnnie Smith who went out into the flat for a wide open touchdown So the Titans were able to beat the Bears man defense through matchup hunting with AJ Brown against Buster screen in the slot and also through schemed up openings with a natural rub a natural pick for Johnnie Smith's touchdown and then on the Defensive side of the ball the Titans were able to force turnovers, win the turnover battle against the Bears, which they had lost in all of their victories this year. A turnover margin of minus three for the Bears in their three losses, had four turnovers. The Titans were able to force two in this game, win the turnover battle two to

nothing. One of those turnovers turned into a touchdown for the Titans and the Titans won this game 24 to 17 because the Bears got some garbage time production in the fourth quarter, but without that defensive touchdown, the game is a lot closer. So the Titans were able to stop the run for the Bears, force turnovers, and beat man coverage and move to 6-2 on the season, still leading the AFC South. Speaking of the AFC South, to cap off today's Victory Monday, remember we will recap the AFC South and all of the top tier AFC teams to tell you exactly where the Titans sit within the conference.

So that is at the end of today's show. Before we get to that, though, it is time for everyone's favorite segment, Titan Up, Titan Down. And make sure you follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans and tell me who you think should have been a Tighten Up or a Tighten Down and where you agree and disagree with my selections. Also, remember, subscribe to the Locked On Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream so you don't miss any of the excellent content that I have planned for you guys coming

up this week. But before we jump into Tighten Up and Tighten Down and talk about all of the individual performances from a victory over the Chicago Bears, I want to tell you guys about Echelon. When it comes to getting or staying in shape, nothing feels as good as that feeling of accomplishment, of hitting your fitness goals, and feeling great about yourself. Echelon can get you there. Echelon offers the next generation of connected fitness bikes, fitness mirrors, rowing machines, and their all-new Stride Smart Treadmill. No matter what your favorite fitness activity, Echelon gives you a fun and challenging workout from the comfort of your home.

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both good and bad for the Tennessee Titans. And this is the opposite of last week, where there were a ton of Titan downs and only a few Titan ups. We have a lot of Titan ups to go over today. So let's go ahead and get into those. Number one, and who I would say is at least the co-MVP of the day. I'll talk about the offensive MVP, that's for sure, and that is wide receiver A.J. Brown.

Four catches, 101 yards, a touchdown. Had the 40-yard touchdown that was the Titans' first touchdown of the day when things seemed bleak. The Titans were struggling with the Bears' man defense, and if there's one player on the team who needs to step up and beat somebody in a one-on-one matchup to make a play for the team, it's going to be A.J. Brown. So a monster performance again from a guy who if you had any doubt whatsoever, that's out the window now. This guy is a stud. He's one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and he pretty

much shows up week to week. A tough game last week, of course, but excellent rebound game here for A.J. Brown, and the Titans really needed all of his catches and all of his contributions on a tough day for the offense, and keeping it on the offense. I do want to give a Titan up to Derek Henry. He had 21 carries, 68 yards, and I know what you're thinking. You know, he didn't have an excellent day, didn't score a touchdown. It was very difficult, but the line did not block very well. I don't think it was Derek Henry's fault. Actually, it's quite impressive that he had 68 yards on the day. He had multiple conversions. There's a third down specifically in the first half where he's hit behind the line of scrimmage, but just an individual effort from him gets across

for a first down. He made multiple plays where he was hit at the line of scrimmage. It ended up with five to six yards. So although it wasn't a banner day in terms of his statistical production, I thought Derrick Henry ran very hard and didn't have a lot to work with, didn't have a lot of opportunity and made it work as best as he could. So I wanted to give a slight tighten up in there to Derrick Henry who didn't have a lot to work with throughout the day. On that note, I thought Nate Davis had a pretty solid day on the offensive line. No, it wasn't the best day run blocking for the Titans offensive line, but he held up

on his side in pass blocking. I thought pretty well when the Titans did have some good runs, a lot of those were to the right side and a good performance by Nate Davis. Moving on to the defensive side of the ball where the game was actually won. Daquan Jones, what a day. His best game of the year. year incredibly disruptive along the defensive line in the run game had five tackles two tackles for loss had half a sack Daquan was fantastic in his limited snaps only played around 50 percent of snaps but I thought he was absolutely fantastic

his buddy was just the MVP of the game on defense though, and that's Jeffrey Simmons. Coming off of his worst game of the season, had maybe his best game of the year, completely shut down what the Bears were trying to do. Remember I talked about how the Titans needed to stop the run for the Bears? Well, Jeffrey Simmons had a lot to do with that. He didn't have a ton of tackles on the day, only had three tackles, but he had one forced fumble, the one that turned into the touchdown. He had a fumble recovery on the fumble that Jayon Brown forced. He had a tipped pass, a pass breakup. He was fantastic. Can't talk enough about Jeffrey Simmons and how disruptive he was. Had a few pressures

as well on Nick Foles, so just a fantastic day from the Titans MVP, and in my opinion, the best player on the entire team, Jeffrey Simmons, glad to see him back up to form. Next, the second MVP on defense for me, Malcolm Butler, let's just call it what it is, Allen Robinson got a bunch of garbage time production, but Malcolm Butler had three tackles, had two pass breakups, going into the fourth quarter had only given Allen Robinson three catches for 43 yards. He got four catches for 38 yards in the, or switch that, had four catches for 38 yards

going into the fourth quarter, and Robinson got three catches for 43 yards in the fourth because it was garbage time and the Titans were playing off coverage so realistically Malcolm Butler basically held Allen Robinson to four catches for 38 yards when the game actually mattered absolutely fantastic the Bears only true weapon only real game breaker on offense is Allen Robinson and for three quarters Malcolm Butler completely shut him down and that was enough for the Titans to win. So a great day for Malcolm Butler, who's been pretty excellent the last three weeks in shadow coverage. Next, Harold Landry, disruptive, had a sack, should have had a second sack that was an intentional grounding, had a tackle for loss, had a pass breakup, a tip pass at the line of scrimmage. Jayon Brown,

a great game, had around 10 tackles, 6 solo. Had a forced fumble late in the game that turned into the Titans' last touchdown. Had a tackle for loss. Had a sack as well. A great game from Jayon Brown. I thought him and Malcolm Butler's play is so encouraging. They had their best couple of games of the year in the last two weeks. And then, have to talk about the newcomers on defense.

Desmond King had the fumble recovery that turned into the touchdown, had two tackles. He had some issues in coverage. He got beat on some plays, but he had no practice with the Titans. The guy has more touchdowns than practices with the team right now. So Desmond King, although he struggled a little bit at times in coverage and one-on-one, thought he had an excellent day in the confidence that the Titans have in him and that the defensive line and the front seven have in him.

I thought it was obvious how just having his presence out there was a game changer for how the Titans were able to play defense. And they just played more aggressive today than they have played throughout the entire year. And I have to think that that's more confidence in their secondary. Speaking of a newcomer in the secondary,on Borders I thought prayed played pretty well he got targeted quite a bit but had seven tackles a pass breakup and the reality for Borders is while he wasn't excellent he wasn't a sieve he wasn't a glaring weakness he wasn't as bad as Jonathan Joseph he wasn't as bad as Chris Jackson and we saw the kind of boost that that gave the Titans defense.

Hopefully, Adoree Jackson is able to take Breon Borders' place next week. Imagine that. Desmond King, Malcolm Butler, Adoree Jackson. Maybe get Christian Fulton back in a couple of weeks. I mean, this Titans defense could be an entirely different story throughout the back half of the year than they were in the first half of the year boy am I excited that's a major Titan up for me but don't want to be too optimistic yet have to see what happens with Adoree Jackson who while we're

here was not activated over the weekend which is concerning for the Titans hopefully he will be activated on Wednesday if not he'll have to go back on IR for the rest of the year. Or what the Titans could do is they could activate him, put him on the 53-man roster, and just sit him. But you have to think that the Titans decided to sit a Dory Jackson in this game so that he wouldn't have to come back and play two games in five days, saving him for a big matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. But that's down the line, and we'll talk more about that in our next segment in our recap

of the AFC and the AFC South. The last few tighten-ups here, I thought Derek Roberson at pass rusher at edge was solid, had two tackles, couple pressures, pass breakup. Also want to shout out Tyre Tartt, the undrafted free agent, defensive lineman getting his first appearance with the Titans. Had some good penetrations. The Bears, when they were close to a touchdown, they tried to run a shovel pass to Allen Robinson from a wingback formation. Tyre Tart blew up the offensive guard, got penetration into the backfield. Allen Robinson wasn't able to get down the line of scrimmage to even run the play. Totally disrupted what the Bears were trying to do. Got a loss, a tackle for loss on Nick Foles.

So a big play there from Ty Yertar. I thought he had some good pressure throughout the day. Also, on special teams, Ryan Allen, eight punts, a 50-yard average on his punts. Had two punts inside the 20-yard line. Had a 60-yard punt. Had a 65-yard punt. Was big in the field position battle. I thought Matt Overton had some pretty solid snaps on the day. Nothing. You didn't notice bad snaps from Matt Overton, which is a win in itself. And then Kalief Raymond to cap off special teams.

Three punt returns. 16-yard average on those punt returns. Had a 21-yard punt return. I thought it was his best performance of the year, returning the ball on punts for Khalif Raymond. Let's go to the Titan downs quickly. Ryan Tannehill, maybe his worst performance of the season. He didn't kill the Titans, but he was very inaccurate early,

and he did have some drop passes. We will get to that, but Ryan Tannehill, 10 for 21, 158 yards, two touchdowns. Made some throws when it mattered, but just not a very solid, consistent performance from Tannehill. Hopefully he finds his mojo with some big, tough defenses to battle in the coming weeks. Corey Davis, after one of his best performances of the year came out, three targets, zero catches, zero yards, had a drop, two big drops quite frankly, just a terrible performance. Corey Davis struggles getting separation against man coverage. He gets his separation that's

schemed up within the Titans offense. These are some of the issues with Corey Davis for being a big physical receiver. Some of those contested catches in the intermediate eras, he just doesn't find a way to bring those down. So you're seeing some of the knocks on Corey Davis as a player coming off of a week where he had a really good game. Moving into Anthony Ferkser. He did make up for it with a big third down catch late in the game. Three catches, 19 yards, but he had two big drops on the day. So that's something to watch going forward. Without Adam Humphreys, Ferkser is that zone hole sitter. He is that man beater on third and shorts. Need him to make those contested catches for the Titans offense to succeed. Jonu Smith did get two catches, 32 yards in that touchdown late,

but he had zero targets going into the fourth quarter. That's three weeks in a row where Jonu hasn't been a consistent part of the Titans game plan. Although he had that late touchdown and those late two catches the Titans are going to have to find a way to get him more involved throughout the entire game not just late after three weeks of being very very quiet for a majority of the time Jameel Douglas came in for Roger Saffold after Saffold got hurt late in the game and Douglas was not very good gave up up a pressure instantly that led to a Titans drive going off the rails. So hopefully Roger Saffold will be able to be back for a big game against the Colts. The Titans don't want to be in a spot where they're missing their starting left side of the offensive line,

which was supposed to be a big strength for them going into the year. On that note, the O-line really struggled with a talented Bears front seven. Gave up three sacks. Only rushed for 92 yards total as a team. So a rough performance from the O-line. But once again, a very good Bears front seven. And then Rashawn Evans. I thought he made some silly plays in run defense.

He had a third and short where he dove in the air and completely missed David Montgomery. Only had one tackle. Had a half sack. Now he was asked to pass rush a lot more today than he typically would be because the Titans didn't have Jadavion Clowney. They played Amani Hooker.

Actually, a tighten up for Amani Hooker too. He played a lot more than he normally does, playing that inside linebacker role on passing down. So Rashawn Evans uses a pass rusher more often today, but I didn't think it was a very good performance for him on the day. But that's going to do it for Tighten Up and Tighten Down. We are going to cap off today's Victory Monday by doing a recap of the AFC with a specific look at the AFC South where the Titans got some very, very positive results.

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And now let's cap off this Victory Monday as we always do, recapping what took place in the AFC South and take a look at some of the other top AFC contenders as the AFC playoff picture is starting to come together nine weeks through the NFL season. And let's start in the AFC South, however, and go to the biggest matchup of the weekend for the Titans outside of their own game against the Bears. the weekend for the Titans outside of their own game against the Bears. And that was the Indianapolis Colts taking on the Baltimore Ravens. And that's an AFC game.

So it counts towards the AFC record, which is a big tiebreaker. The Titans have two games in the next three weeks against the Colts. Actually, their next three games are against teams involved in this matchup, Colts, Ravens, and then Colts. So a big game for the Titans to see their competitors coming up, but it was huge if the Ravens could secure a victory, knock the Colts down to 5-3 rather than 6-2, and that really helps out the Titans here as now they can have a lead over the Colts with the Colts losing that game to the Ravens by a score of 24-10. So the Colts drop to 5-3. The Titans' victory puts them at 6-2.

So now they still have the AFC South lead going into that big Thursday night division rival game against the Colts that I am very, very excited for. So that's what happened with the Colts. Then the two bottom dwellers of the AFC South took on each other today. And the Texans were able to win 27-25 over the Jacksonville Jaguars. No surprise there. I guess, in my opinion, the Texans are definitely a better team than the Jags. The Jags are horrible. They got that lucky win, but that's about it.

So the Jags will move to 1-7 on the year. The Texans at this moment in time are 2-6. So neither of those teams are any concern to the Titans for a playoff spot or the division, but just want to make sure that we keep up with their misery. Quite frankly, it's a good time to bask in the misery of the Texans and the Jags. Cannot deny that. So that covers the AFC South. Let's take a look at some of the other big games in the AFC from the top AFC teams.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to defeat the lowly Dallas Cowboys 24-19. The Cowboys had a great chance to win that game, though, and were up early in that game, allowed the Steelers to come back and ultimately win the game. So the Steelers moved to 8-0 on the year and are still the class of the AFC. The Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Carolina Panthers in what was a very close game, 33-31. The Chiefs moved to 8-1 on the year and are the second seed in the AFC at this moment in time.

Tied with the Tennessee Titans for that third overall seed. Well, I guess you would put the Buffalo Bills ahead of the Titans at this time. The Bills are 7-2. They beat the Seahawks, a very good victory, 44-34 in a shootout. So the third seed in the AFC at this moment in time would be the Buffalo Bills with a record of 7-2, which makes the Titans the fourth seed at this time at 6-2. But they have the head-to-head victory over the Bills. So once the Bills have their bye, things even out. If the records were what they are right now, the Titans do still technically have that lead. So a big win over the Bills earlier

in the season could shape up to be a big tiebreaker for the Titans for the third overall seed if it comes to that later in the year. Some of the other candidates that could be fighting with the Titans for a wildcard berth if things don't go great for the Titans the next few weeks. The Raiders were able to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-26. So they move to 5-3 on the season. Also, the Miami Dolphins were able to beat the Arizona Cardinals and they move to 5-3 on the season. So some very interesting teams to watch there with the Dolphins and the Raiders. But that wraps up our recap of the AFC. So we recapped AFC,

went over the keys to victory for the Titans, individual performances, and tighten up, tighten down. A great day on the Locked on Titans podcast. I hope you guys enjoyed. Remember, we will have our Tic Tac Tuesday and our Rewatch Wednesday packaged together for you guys tomorrow so you don't want to miss any of those schematic insights

that I will be laying out for you guys. Also, Wednesday, bumping everything up a day this week with a Thursday night game. We will have our crossover Wednesday conversation with Evan Sidery from Locked on Colts on Wednesday to begin the preparation for that Colts game. Thursday will be a game preview and then Friday will be a game recap.

So make sure that you're subscribed to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.