Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Derrick Henry Must Dominate Indianapolis Colts, Trench Warfare & Tannehill Going Deep

Episode Date: October 4, 2023

The Tennessee Titans play their first division game this weekend against the Indianapolis Colts. The battle upfront will be at the center of game as it always is between these two. Derrick Henry has o...wned the Colts, can he keep it up and will the Colts be able to protect Anthony Richardson? Next, can the Titans stop the Colts in the red zone and can Jeffery Simmons wreck the game? Finally, Zach from Locked On Colts and Tyler give their game and score predictions.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

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Can Derrick Henry continue to dominate the Indianapolis Colts? We'll discuss that and more 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. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Starting point is 00:00:49 This crossover Thursday episode is brought to you by PrizePix, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code all lowercase locked on NFL for our first deposit match up to $100. I'm your host here on Locked on Colts, Zach Hicks. You guys can find me over on social media. I actually, if you guys are on YouTube,
Starting point is 00:01:09 I just put Zach Hicks 2 as my name here. I just realized that. But yeah, Zach Hicks 2 on Twitter. Zach Hicks is my name here. I'm joined by my buddy Tyler here from Locked on Titans, Tic Tac Titans there on social media. And yeah, fun start already to the show, Tyler. I just realized I grabbed it out there.
Starting point is 00:01:28 But how you doing, buddy? You ready to talk about Colts Titans here? Yeah, yeah, I'm excited. I think with the state of the division right now, with where everybody's at, there is concern, but also healthy optimism for every team in the division, no matter what has gone right or wrong going forward. And I think there's a lot that the Titans
Starting point is 00:01:47 and the Colts can build on. And they always have good games that are back and forth. I think we're going to see another one of those. Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. So getting into this first segment here, we're going to talk about the biggest story of the game for each of our teams. Obviously all you Locked On Colts fans
Starting point is 00:02:00 want me to start here, but Tyler is our guest. He's coming to Indy or his team's coming to Indy. So we're going to open the floor to the Titans here. What's the biggest story for the Tennessee Titans going into this matchup? Also worth noting about coming to Indy. I've been to Lucas Oil Stadium more than any other professional sports stadium in the world. So I am well acquainted with the premises. It is a beautiful stadium. I'll say that, but that's the last positive thing I'm saying about the Colts. The rest, no, just kidding. But the biggest storyline for the Titans here, I think is, can you keep Derrick Henry going? So like we're going to talk about the Colts had some struggles in run defense last week. There have been some opportunities there.
Starting point is 00:02:37 And historically speaking, Derrick Henry has had a lot of success against the Colts. Since 2010, Derrick Henry has more 100 yard rushing games against the Colts. Since 2010, Derrick Henry has more 100-yard rushing games against the Colts than any other player in the NFL has had against a single opponent. So Derrick Henry has seven 100-yard rushing games. Number two is Derrick Henry against the Texans, and number three is Derrick Henry against the Jaguars. So it's not like the Colts are alone in that domination,
Starting point is 00:03:02 and Derrick Henry was drafted in 2016, so there's a whole six seasons. He wasn't even eligible for that. So the point is, it's a long way to say Derrick Henry has had real success against Indianapolis. Um, and the Titans have been able to run the ball.
Starting point is 00:03:16 Now it's a new coaching staff. So is that going to change things? Is that going to make it easier or harder? Mike Vrabel doesn't have as good of a read on what the Colts are going to do. I'm sure that'll make things interesting. But I think the question is Derrick Henry finally got going and had a vintage performance last week against the Bengals. That's when the Titans are obviously at their best. And if he can continue doing that against Indianapolis, then the Titans success in other areas of the offense will be able to continue. So right now for me, it's all about looking at Derrick Henry because the first
Starting point is 00:03:49 three weeks were a struggle and it didn't look good. And I think part of that is the Titans' scheme on offense, teams knowing how to play against it now. But the other side of it is, I think Derrick Henry not playing in the preseason, same thing with Tannehill. It took him a little while to get going. The offensive line is brand new across the board, essentially. So I want to know, was, everybody says week one is a liar. Was week four a liar for the Titans run game? Or can that be what they're going to be going forward with Derrick Henry looking like his old self and then Tajay Spears adding in to help?
Starting point is 00:04:22 So can the Titans keep the run game going against a team they've been able to historically run against that's what I'm looking for is the big storyline for the Titans going forward yeah and to kind of counter that to talk about the Colts run defense it's kind of the same way you know everyone says week one is a liar but it's week four a liar for the Colts run defense yeah it has been really really strong this year they completely shut down the Baltimore Ravens outside of Lamar Jackson I mean what do you do he always runs yeah yeah it's Lamar Jackson but they've had a really good run defense this year they've held teams to really low yards per care I mean the Houston Texans in week two came into Indy or Indy went to the Houston Texans and held them to under two yards per carry in that game and the biggest thing and that was different in week four compared to those first three weeks
Starting point is 00:05:01 is DeForest Buckner was really limited so DeForest Buckner barely played last week so Kyron Williams was able to not get touched until he was 25 yards down the field on most of these runs it felt like now obviously that's a big storyline for the Colts this week is to watch DeForest Buckner's health will he be a full go against Titans because we saw last time that Buckner was not a full go against Tennessee Titans I think it was back in 2020 where the Titans got to like a 20 something point lead in like the first quarter, it felt like. And it was just over from there. And that was a team that the Colts beat earlier in the season when Buckner played. So he's a massive part of that run defense. And obviously you need to have all your dogs up front against the Tennessee
Starting point is 00:05:38 Titans because they are a big trench warfare team. And that's actually going to get into my biggest story is will the Colts trenches bounce back against a team that always wins the trenches. I know their offensive line hasn't been great the last two years, but the Tennessee Titans, when you think of the Tennessee Titans, they're a team that's going to punch you in the face. That's what their head coach is. That's what their running back is. That's what their defensive line is in particular.
Starting point is 00:06:01 They're a team that's going to punch you in the face with physicality. That's how they win games. It's how they've always won games. And the Colts have had some showings in the last couple of years where they've been able to exchange blows with them and even win the game late. But for the most part, in the most recent matchups, it has been all Tennessee. Tennessee has won that physical battle. They've won on the offensive line. They've won on the defensive line. And the Colts have had no answers. Now go to this season. First three games of the year, the Indianapolis Colts offensive line and defensive line were winning them games.
Starting point is 00:06:33 They were winning the trench battle in every game. But with injuries piling up last week and with Aaron Donald coming to town and Sean McVay and his offensive scheme, the Colts lost the trench battle. And for the most part, they were out of this past game until Anthony Richardson did Anthony Richardson things there in the fourth quarter but the Colts were getting their butts kicked for most of this past game on Sunday because they lost that trench battle and that's against the the Los Angeles Rams a good team don't get me wrong a really solid team but if you lose the trench battle to the Tennessee Titans you're you have no chance you have no chance at all you have to win the trench battle to the Tennessee Titans, you have no chance. You have no chance at all. You have to win the trench battle to beat the Tennessee Titans because that's their identity. That's what they do. So the biggest story for the Colts is you need to bounce back in the trenches.
Starting point is 00:07:15 It can't be a game like last week where the trenches don't figure it out until the fourth quarter because you'll be down by 30 by then against Tennessee Titans instead of down 23 and then McVay just trying to run up the gut the whole fourth quarter because he's just super conservative when it comes to that stuff. So that's the biggest story for me is the Colts trenches just need to bounce back in this one because you just can't afford that against the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, and if you love trench warfare conversation, well, folks,
Starting point is 00:07:41 do I have a next conversation topic for you? We are going to continue to look at these matchups up front, and I'm going to look at one that we're talking about the run game and run defense and all that, but in the passing game, I think the Titans can exploit something, but only if they're able to take care of business up front like we're talking about. So we're going to dive into all of that in just a moment.
Starting point is 00:08:01 Before we do, though, into all of that in just a moment. Before we do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's Crossover Thursday is brought to you by PrizePix. Look, guys. PrizePix is daily fantasy sports made easy. You don't want to go out there and play against people with a thousand different
Starting point is 00:08:19 lineups, pros, and sharks, and bots, and all this. It's easier to play on price picks where you can literally just play against their projections. So here's how it works. I'm going to give you some examples going into the Colts game. Anthony Richardson, one rushing touchdown. Derek Henry, 80 rushing yards. Ryan Tannehill, two interceptions. DeAndre Hopkins, three catches. Basically, you go on price picks and you pick two to six players and you say whether that player is going to do more or less
Starting point is 00:08:50 than what the projection is. It's that simple. And if you win, you can win up to 25 times your money. Again, it is daily fantasy sports made easy. So go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL. Use the code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. That's prizepix.com
Starting point is 00:09:12 slash locked on NFL. Use the code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. It's PrizePix. Daily fantasy sports Made easy. All right, Zach. It's time. Matchups are here.
Starting point is 00:09:44 We're going to keep it in the trenches. All right. I went first last time talking about the storylines. So I'm going to set you up here to talk about the big matchups. Before we get into it, thank you guys for making Locked on Titans and Locked on Colts your first listen each and every day. We're going to talk matchups here, but we're making our predictions at the end of the show. So make sure that you stick around for that. But Zach, you let us know, been focusing on the trenches here. Is that where you're staying for your first matchup to watch? You know, Tyler, because you got me so going in that first segment about trench warfare, I actually moved my trenches up to segment one.
Starting point is 00:10:19 So I'm going to move my segment one down to segment two. And it's kind of what I say for every one of these crossovers. I'm kind of getting predictable and getting a little bit boring at this point, but it's always Anthony Richardson. It's Anthony Richardson versus his own development. Anthony Richardson versus his own inconsistencies and high flashes and stuff. But it also Anthony Richardson versus the Titans defense that they get after it. You know, I know they've had some,
Starting point is 00:10:44 some struggles the first couple of weeks of the season, but at the end of the day, this is a team that much like last week against the Los Angeles Rams, there's going to be a lot of pressure. They're going to get after you. Even if the Colts have all five of their starters back on the offensive line, which is right now, right? Right.
Starting point is 00:10:58 Yeah. There are two guys in the concussion protocol, Kelly and Raymond. Yep. Yep. Raymond. Yeah. Two, two really,
Starting point is 00:11:04 really important players. And obviously we saw that last week with, with Aaron Donald, but even if they're both back, Jeffrey Simmons is not someone that you bottle up completely. He's a guy you contain. You just hope that those couple of times he does get back there. He's not killing your quarterback. So that's really what you're hoping. And then obviously in the run game, you have to your tart up front, just phenomenal player to Nico Autry. It's a really good defensive line that Titans have. And Anthony Richardson needs to continue to play well against these types of defensive lines
Starting point is 00:11:29 because this is where a quarterback like him is just so valuable. That ability to stretch a defense out wide, ability to not ram everything up the middle constantly because you have a quarterback that can pull it and run outside a guy that can escape from the pocket and make plays down the field like he did this past week. And we need to see more of Anthony Richardson in the fourth quarter last week than what we saw in quarters one and two where there was a fumble there were some misses high there was you know reasons why the Colts offense just was not able to get on track you want to see
Starting point is 00:11:57 a little bit of the combination of week one Anthony Richardson and then the fourth quarter of week four at the recent where you had the efficiency in week one but not the explosive plays week four you had only explosive plays but not the efficiency let's bring that together against the tennessee titans team and see if this franchise quarterback that the colts have can get us out of this like basement that we're in when it comes to the tennessee titans right now because we are we have been little brother to the tennessee titans the last couple years i know there's a long time in the history of these two teams where you guys have been our little brother when it comes to this matchup. Obviously the Andrew Luck era, a lot of the Peyton Manning era.
Starting point is 00:12:30 But as of right now, we're in this little bit of time where the Colts are not having a lot of success against the Tennessee Titans. It's been a lot the last couple years where the Colts have not had a ton of success. Can Anthony Richardson in his rookie season against a really big, important rookie matchup, can he make that next step for the Indianapolis Colts? running quarterback in the red zone. So absolutely critical. And I think the Titans are going to struggle there if they let the Colts get to the red zone a ton
Starting point is 00:13:10 because I think it's going to be very difficult to stop. I believe the Colts are top 10 in the NFL right now and red zone offense might even be top five from what I was looking at recently. But it's just going to be difficult to stop that red zone attack. So the Titans have to do their best to limit the Colts from getting to the red zone. And that matchup with Anthony Richardson, you're 100% right, is going to be critical because he can break the game in that way. For me, looking at matchups,
Starting point is 00:13:34 we can talk about Jeffrey Simmons against Quentin Nelson and the Titans defensive line. You've covered that quite a bit, and I think you're 100% right. That's obviously the key to everything for the Titans. But I think on the other side of things, I think looking at the Titans offensive line against the Indianapolis Colts because the Titans need to threaten this secondary vertically, and it's something that they've done a ton of throughout this year. Ryan Tannehill right now, second in the NFL in ADOT, an average depth of target, 10.4 yards. Ryan Tannehill right now, highest percentage of his throws of any quarterback in the NFL, 20 yards or more with 19%.
Starting point is 00:14:09 He's tied for second in the NFL in big-time throws of 20 yards or more right now with seven. Ryan Tannehill is throwing the ball down the field like he hasn't since 2019. And with the way teams creep up on the Titans and want to play forward and stop the run and the penetration in the backfield and biting on the play action, all that, that is the only way for the Titans
Starting point is 00:14:28 to succeed on offenses for Tannehill to continue to challenge teams vertically. And you look at the Indianapolis Colts secondary, which I think on their defense with their good defensive line and their good set of linebackers, if you had to find a weakness, it would be in the secondary. And they've had obviously some depth issues with cornerback. Right now, the Colts are the 25th ranked coverage team, according to Pro Football Focus. So I think if there is an area of opportunity to attack this Colts team,
Starting point is 00:14:55 it is by attacking deep, force their secondary to cover, go one-on-one with Hopkins against these cornerbacks. Hopefully you get Traylon Burks back, Chris Moore down the field. The Titans need to continue challenging vertically, and they're only going to be able to do that if they stop DeForest Buckner. I think that with the edge rushers, you can send chip help. You can send a tight end, a running back. You can help Andre Dillard.
Starting point is 00:15:20 You can help Chris Hubbard. It's harder to help the interior guys. And the Titans have missed rookie first rounder Peter Skowronski for the last three weeks due to Tennessee Titans fans. Get a first round rookie. The Titans first rounders have been disappointments for three years running. You get a first round rookie who's the best offensive lineman on your team at the weakest position you have on your team,
Starting point is 00:15:45 and it's boom, awesome, week one. He's a top-10 graded offensive lineman in the NFL, top-six guard, all this. Oh, Skowronski's a hit. His appendix bursts the day before the game, and he's out for multiple weeks at the beginning of the season so that you can't build cohesion on the offensive line. You can't build chemistry with, again, your weakest position group on your entire team.
Starting point is 00:16:07 So only Titans fans just know how Titans that is right there, that something like that would happen. But Skowronski could be back this week. He's going to be back at practice. Mike Frabel said he's eaten better. He lost weight during the process and stuff like that. So he's getting back to himself. I don't think that Skowronski can just dominate DeForest Buckner
Starting point is 00:16:27 or anything like that, but I would much rather have Peter Skowronski than Dylan Raidens to help over there. So if the left side of the Titans' offensive line can slow down Quidipe, can slow down DeForest Buckner to give Tannehill time to threaten that secondary down the field, I think the Titans could create some explosive pass plays. They're top 13 in the NFL Titans could create some explosive pass plays. They're top 13
Starting point is 00:16:45 in the NFL right now and creating explosive pass plays. So I think the Titans could really get back to that. And you talk about that game from 2020 where the Titans kind of just jumped out early throwing the ball. I think the Titans could do something like that, but they're only going to have a chance to do it if up front, the offensive line gives Tannehill time to continue to attack down the field. Yeah, and Samson Ebukam has been really big this year for the Colts on one side. On the other side, Quidi Pei has had a strong year. He's in the concussion protocol right now,
Starting point is 00:17:15 but Dio Dangbo just had his biggest game of his entire career. I loved Dio Dangbo out of college. They were patient. They waited for him after the injury. I can't lie. I love that pick. So good to hear O'Dangbo's doing good. Yeah, I think he had five QB hits last week, had a sack and a half, had a forced fumble last week.
Starting point is 00:17:28 Is he rushing from the interior? Both. Is that inside, outside? Yeah. Oh, man. Good job. Good pick. Oh, yeah, he's fun there.
Starting point is 00:17:35 Coming up, we're going to talk about this Colts-Titans game in more detail. We're going to talk about our predictions, who we think is going to win. But first, Tyler, before we get into all that, who's the most important player for you in this game? Most important player for the Titans, if the Titans are going to win this game. I will say the most important player in this game for the Titans is Ryan Tannehill.
Starting point is 00:18:02 I think he's going to have to hit down the field. That's what the Titans have to do. It opens up everything else. So Tannehill. I think he's going to have to hit down the field. That's what the Titans have to do. It opens up everything else. So Tannehill has to be good again. Yeah. And then for the Colts, obviously Anthony Richardson is big, but I'll throw one more in there just because I want to mention him at one
Starting point is 00:18:13 point. We don't know if he's going to play, but if he does play, it's such a game changer. Jonathan Taylor. Yeah. Jonathan Taylor. That's a good point.
Starting point is 00:18:20 That's a good point. I don't think he will be, but I did just want to mention him at one point in this, because there is a possibility Shane Steichen hasn't ruled it out yet. He's not talking to media yet, but he was back at practice here on Wednesday. We're recording this for the walkthrough. So if he plays,
Starting point is 00:18:35 that's the most important player. Cause that's a huge. Yeah. That's a big. Yeah. Yeah. But coming up guys, again,
Starting point is 00:18:40 we're going to talk about our predictions. We're going to all, we're going to both just list the Colts victory in great detail here. Me and Tyler. So coming up, that's going to talk about our predictions. We're going to both just list the Colts' victory in great detail here, me and Tyler. So coming up, that's going to be a fun conversation. Snap into action this NFL season with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers get $200 back in bonus bets,
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Starting point is 00:21:15 All right, Tyler, so we're diving into our score predictions, or I guess before we get to score predictions, let's say what needs to go right for our teams to win this game. Obviously, again, the Titans have dominated this matchup in recent years. The Titans are coming off a really big win this past week. A lot of momentum for this team, but it is a road game in a really tough division. What do you have going right for the Titans? What do they need to get done in order to win this game against the Colts? I think they need to be creative in the run game. Last week, we saw the Titans with half of their runs,
Starting point is 00:21:38 or just less than half, 14 out of 31. 14 out of 31 runs came out of shotgun. You added another six runs out of pistol. Now you're talking about two-thirds of the Titans' runs were not from under center. I think that's huge to evolve the run game. We saw 21. The Titans, are the Titans a gap or a zone team, Zach? Man, they've typically been zone, haven't they?
Starting point is 00:22:04 They typically were. Zach? Man, they've typically been zoned, haven't they? They've typically been zoned. For the last four years, 21 of their 31 runs were gap last week with pullers and down blocks. It's different than what they have been doing. They still have the zone runs in the back, but they're evolving so that they have other answers and other counters to the way teams are playing them, which I am very happy with the progress of new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly. He was promoted in the offseason.
Starting point is 00:22:30 I think he's been a revelation compared to Todd Downing, who the Titans had the last two years. Just being willing to adjust, being willing to try. That cheat motion, that short motion that all the teams are running now where you have a guy just go in motion like 10 yards before the snap. So he's at a running start. It's kind of Canadian football, Kyle Shanahan was saying, but either way, like stuff like that, Tim Kelly is introducing another Titans offense and they're copying and running. And that's just innovation and even copying what's working in the NFL. The Titans offense hasn't done in quite some time. So the Titans
Starting point is 00:23:03 are evolving. They need to continue to do that to attack the four-man fronts that they typically get from the Colts. And if they can have success in the run game, it'll allow them more opportunity to take those downfield chances that I talked about earlier because the Colts pass rush won't have their ears pinned back. So the Titans definitely need to be able to continue to show creativity in the run game and run the football with success.
Starting point is 00:23:24 But for me, more than anything, it's about defense. And with a young quarterback in Anthony Richardson who didn't have a ton of experience in college even coming in, I think the Titans disguised coverage as rolling safeties up and down, invert cover two when you're showing a single high look, doing all those things, having your safety come down as the robber into the middle of the field and run invert cover two with a corner on that side. The Titans need to disguise coverages.
Starting point is 00:23:51 They need to confuse Anthony Richardson. When we talk about rookie quarterbacks seeing looks that they haven't seen before, just getting used to them, this is a game where Anthony Richardson says, I've never seen some of that before. And ultimately, you hope that it allows him to improve. But I think for the Titans to win this game, they need to trick Richardson into a few turnovers, a few interceptions. And in the past, the Titans have seemed to come up with some big plays in those circumstances against the Colts. So I think the Titans' safety group of
Starting point is 00:24:20 Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker find a way to confuse Richardson and pick him off over the middle of the field once or twice. Look, as long as it's not a left-handed interception on a screen pass on your own one-yard line, it can't be much worse than what we've seen here in Indy the last couple of years. Fair enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For the Colts to go right in this one,
Starting point is 00:24:38 I think I kind of touched on it quite a bit with my two points earlier in the show. It's you've got to win the trench play. Again, you don't beat the Tennessee Titans unless you win the trenches. We've seen in their games this year, last week in Cincinnati Bengals, they demolished the Bengals up front on both sides of the ball. It was the best game that the Titans have played on both sides of the ball in their trenches all year. And that's the reason why they won that game big. But then you go the week before that against the Cleveland Browns, they got crushed in the trenches all day long it was just they could get nothing going on either
Starting point is 00:25:05 side of the ball in the trenches and at the end of the day it was a beat down the other way so for the Colts to really have a chance to win this game and to really get out of this titan shadow they've been in the last couple years they need to win the trench play that is more important than anything else in this game and then secondary is obviously what we're going to get from Anthony Rich and I think it's been a really solid start for him this year We could obviously go into the nuance of all the analytics where it's like, yeah, the completion percentage is low. Explosive plays are high though.
Starting point is 00:25:30 Overall, the net total of what you got. The CPEO is low, man. He's inaccurate. He's bad, you know? Right.
Starting point is 00:25:37 Right. But then QBR and EPA per play and all that, it's around average below average, which is really good for a 22 year old starter in the NFL. Like a really, really good start for him. He's off to a really good start for the Colts let me just say this right here you know if for the Titans you see Anthony Richardson it may be a slow burn he may need to progress but I'm definitely like oh no Stroud is really good Richardson has showed that he might be pretty good too like oh no you know what I mean so not to cut you off there but I just I get what you're saying is
Starting point is 00:26:05 there's no reason to be upset right now right right so it's just about continuing that progression there but again he's not going to get it done unless the Colts win the trenches in this one so if we're really talking about what the Colts need to go right it's the trench warfare first and then obviously Anthony Richardson can bring out some magic like he did last week maybe do it for more of the game but obviously again he almost had just enough magic to win that one last week against the Rams in a game they really shouldn't have won. But Tyler, thank you for joining the show today. It's been a blast talking this game. I always love the matchup between Colts and Titans. What do you have as your score prediction? How much do you have the Colts winning by? Because I know, obviously,
Starting point is 00:26:40 the Colts are going to win by a ton. How much do you have the Colts winning? Obviously, the Colts are going to win by a ton. How much do you have the Colts winning? How much do you have the Colts winning by this one? So in this game, again, I think the Colts are a good team. I think the second game that the Titans play against the Colts, you're going to see a better version of the Colts just because it's just natural that Richardson, I think this is a learning game for Anthony Richardson
Starting point is 00:27:01 that you don't take losses, you take lessons. And I think this might be a lesson game for Anthony Richardson that, you know, you don't take losses. You take lessons. And I think this might be a lesson game for Anthony Richardson. I think it'll be close, but I think the Titans do get a couple of those turnovers just kind of doing what they do on defense. They've gotten a lot of opportunities early on. I think they'll find a way to create more of those against a young quarterback. I'm going to go with the Titans 23 to Colt 17, 23-17. I can see it. And you know, for me, it's kind of tough to make a prediction right now because there's so much riding on the Colts injury status
Starting point is 00:27:33 going to this game predictions. We'll call them. I always reaffirm on Friday, right? We got Bernard Ryman who's out right now in concussion protocol. We have Ryan Kelly who's out in the concussion protocol, quitty pay in the concussion protocol.forest buckner was limited last week grover stewart didn't play the last drive of last week's game either which if you don't have grover stewart he's really yeah you're in trouble yeah he's so good i can't believe we went the whole episode without mentioning him with all the derrick henry stuff i'm glad that you got his name in there at the end because he's not a name that everybody would know but grover stewart like I would say like uh like DJ Reader for the Bengals last week you know similar thing there Grover Stewart has been huge as a run
Starting point is 00:28:10 stuffer for the Colts yeah and then obviously the the biggest um one to look at here is Jonathan Taylor if Jonathan Taylor plays that's a difference maker of a game there but as of right now here on Wednesday I do like what the Colts been doing lately I hope they can build off what they were doing in that fourth quarter. I think it's going to be a tough, grinded-out game. And if I'm assuming that DeForest Buckner is healthy for this game and plays, you know, majority of snaps like he usually does, I'll have the Colts winning this one 24-23, like a really, really tight game.
Starting point is 00:28:39 Again, these are two teams that are kind of on the similar type of range of where they are right now. Obviously, getting it done in different ways. The Titans, a more experienced battle tested team, the Colts younger, energetic, like,
Starting point is 00:28:50 you know, explosive inconsistent, but net, the net total is around the same with both these teams. So really fun team to watch really fun game coming up Colts Titans. You guys can watch that over this weekend. If you guys don't already make sure you're following at at Locked on Colts, at Locked on Titans, or at Tic Tac Titans is where.
Starting point is 00:29:07 Yeah, sadly. Yeah, yeah. It's a long story we don't have time for, but at Tic Tac Titans, not at Locked on Titans. We'll get into it one day in the summer. Right, right. At Jake Arthur Bell and at Zach Hicks too,
Starting point is 00:29:18 all on Twitter. Also subscribe to YouTube or wherever you listen to our podcast. We'd love your guys' ratings and reviews, and we'll see you guys back here bright and early tomorrow morning.

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