Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Dismantle Colts, Win 45-26: Game Recap, #TitanUpTitanDown & AFC Recap

Episode Date: November 30, 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 Pepsi. Thanks to a lack of natural athleticism or commitment or overbearing sports parents, fewer than 1% of 1% of 1% of people will ever play professional football. But instead of entering the NFL, they've joined another league, the League of Football Watchers.

This football season will be different and Pepsi is here to to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch because Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through any game day. Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game. It's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football watching. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. And on Sunday, the Tennessee Titans thoroughly dominated the Indianapolis Colts in all three

phases of the game en route to a 45-26 victory to take over the AFC South lead. So a monster win for the Tennessee Titans on the road in Indianapolis on Sunday. I'm breaking it all down today on the Locked on Titans podcast. First, we're going to take a bigger picture look at this game, give you my big takeaways on offense, defense, and special teams. Then we will zoom in, take a look at some individual performances in everyone's favorite segment, Tighten Up and Tighten Down. Make sure you go to Twitter, follow me at TicTacTitans.

Let me know your tighten ups and your tighten downs as well. And then we will cap off today's show, taking a look at where the Tennessee Titans sit now within the AFC and take a look at some of the other results from the AFC contenders that the Titans will be battling it out with for playoff positioning. So the Titans are sitting pretty now within the AFC. We're breaking it all down on today's Locked On Titans podcast.

But coming up this week, we got Tic Tac Tuesday breaking down the four most impactful plays in this week's Tic Tac four pack from an X's and O's perspective. Wednesday is Rewatch Wednesday. I'll give you all of my additional schematic analysis from rewatching the coaches tape. Thursday, a crossover Thursday with Jeff from Locked On Browns to begin our preparation for next week's game. And Friday will be a Football Friday game preview with my keys to the game, players to watch, fantasy, gambling,

injuries, and much, much more. So a big week on the Locked On Titans podcast, but we are starting everything off with a victory Monday. The Tennessee Titans have the lead in the AFC South. Let's get it! An absolutely massive win for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday on the road against their division rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, especially considering the Titans were beat down at home by the Colts just two weeks ago, 34-17 on Thursday night football.

So with the AFC South crown in the balance, the Titans were able to step up and have maybe their most complete performance of the season in all three phases. On the offensive side of the ball for the Tennessee Titans, they were able to dominate the line of scrimmage throughout the day en route to 229 rushing yards as a team. 178 of those coming from star running back Derrick Henry. But it wasn't just the running game that propelled the Titans. In the passing game, the Titans were incredibly consistent.

They had big days from both wide receivers, A.J. Brown and Corey Davis, and Ryan Tannehill was accurate throughout the day. The Titans were 4-5 in the red zone scoring touchdowns and had 28 first downs on the day en route to scoring 5 touchdowns in the first half and having a 35-14 lead at halftime, effectively ending the game for the Titans and the Colts. On the defensive side of the ball, this is where we saw the most encouraging improvements. The Titans held the Colts' rushing attack to only 56 yards on the day.

The Titans forced an interception on Phillip Rivers by cornerback Breon Borders, who had an excellent day. The Titans had two sacks, one from Jeffrey Simmons and one from Harold Landry, and they held the Colts offense to 5 of 13 on third down conversions. That's 38%. The Titans consistently got pressure on Phillip Rivers throughout the day, something that they hadn't done, quite frankly, throughout Phillip Rivers' entire career against the Titans, but specifically two weeks ago against the Titans on Thursday Night Football. So seeing the pressure get to Phillip Rivers, get him off his spot, ruin the timing of some of the routes that he had open with his receivers.

The Titans also combined that pressure with tight man coverage throughout the day. They mixed up coverages, but when the game was on the line, when plays were on the line, the Titans were able to beat the Indianapolis Colts with their man coverage against, in my opinion, the limited wide receiver options that the Indianapolis Colts have. The Titans did start out kind of rough on defense. They gave up two touchdowns on the Colts first two offensive drives. But after that they were able to adjust. Sure things up.

And had great performances from a multitude of different players. At all three levels of the defense. But it wasn't just the offense and the defense for the Titans. The special teams contributed in a way that they had to for the Titans to be victorious in this game. The special teams was a complete minus for the Titans just two weeks ago and let the game slip away in the third quarter with two gaffes on punt. But the Titans completely flipped that narrative in this game, not only not killing themselves in special teams, but making big plays in special teams.

The Titans had six touchbacks on kickoffs, not allowing the Colts to get good field positions with solid returns. Out of their 12 drives, the Colts started behind the 27-yard line 11 out of those 12 drives. The Titans had no bad plays in punt. In fact, Brett Kern's four punts on the day all landed inside the 20-yard line. So a magnificent day in his return from all-pro punter Brett Kern. And then, of course, Stephen Gostkowski, who has taken a lot of heat throughout the season, was 6-for-6 on his extra points and made his only field goal attempt on the day. And then finally, to cap off the game, the Titans got a big play on special teams from wide receiver A.J. Brown.

The Colts attempted an onside kick late in the game after their second garbage time fourth quarter touchdown. A.J. Brown promptly caught the onside kick and took it to the house. The Tennessee Titans now improve to 8-3 on the season and take the lead in the AFC South. They have a tough stretch ahead, but the Titans have positioned themselves perfectly for a home playoff game in January. And as the Titans make that march towards the playoffs, in January. And as the Titans make that march towards the playoffs,

you want to make sure that you don't miss any of the Monday through Friday content that I will be pumping out here on the Locked on Titans podcast. As I mentioned earlier in the show, tomorrow will be Tic Tac Tuesday with our Tic Tac 4-pack, breaking down the four most impactful plays from the game against the Colts from an X's and O's perspective. Wednesday is R-watch Wednesday where I give you all of my additional analysis and my extra insights from re-watching the coaches tape multiple times throughout the beginning of the week.

Thursday is a crossover Thursday. We will have a conversation with Jeff from Locked On Browns getting you ready for a critical matchup between eight and three teams coming up this weekend. Friday is a game preview football Friday with my keys to the game, players to watch and much much more. So make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on Apple Podcast

follow on Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, whatever platform you do stream. Make sure that you're locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast and follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans as well. But we are going to continue breaking down this monster victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Taking a look now at the individual performances that got this dub.

Going to zoom in, give you the good and the bad in everyone's favorite segment, tighten up and tighten down. 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 Echelon StrideSmart treadmill. No matter what your favorite fitness activity, Echelon gives you a fun and challenging workout

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Taking a look at the good, bad, and ugly performances from the Titans game from the previous week. And after this matchup against the Colts, there really weren't any ugly performances to go over. We have mostly Titan Ups here, mostly good performances to talk about. Have a few Titan Downs, maybe a few more than people would be expecting but make sure you go on twitter at tic tac titans follow me and let me know who you think should have been a titan up if i missed any if you disagree with me on any and same with the titan downs if you think i missed

any titan downs disagree with any that i put on let me know what yours would have been. And remember, you should be following me already at Tic Tac Titans as tomorrow is Tic Tac Tuesday where I break down the four most impactful plays from that game against the Colts in this week's Tic Tac 4-Pack. My audio breakdown comes on the podcast. I do a visual breakdown as well that I post on Twitter. Make sure that you check that out. But let's dive into these performances and we are going to start with the Titan Ups. Of course, cannot start anywhere else and let's start on the offensive side of the ball and where else to go but to start

with the King himself. Derrick Henry was absolutely phenomenal throughout the game. Not only did he take advantage of the wide holes that were being opened for him, but he was also punishing Colts defenders who were trying to tackle him. I thought he was very involved in the pass game as well. The one swing pass that he caught for a touchdown at the beginning of the game ended up being ruled a lateral so that it was technically a rushing attempt and went with his rushing touchdowns but we all know the spirit of that play that was a passing touchdown he caught that ball and I love seeing Derrick Henry a little bit more involved in the passing game as well so D. Henber got started a couple days early as Derrick Henry dominated the Indianapolis Colts, 178 yards and three touchdowns on the day.

Also, on offense, another one of the Titans playmakers, their top two playmakers on offense, A.J. Brown is the other one. He had four catches, 98 yards and a touchdown, and then added that special teams kickoff return touchdown as well. But let's talk about what he did on offense. A.J. Brown was phenomenal, and he bounced back after that drop that he had against the Colts two weeks ago. He was able to take a short slant, or a deep slant, a short post, whatever you want to call it, over the middle of the field, take it down the field all the way, breaking a couple tackles and scoring a touchdown. Whenever the Titans needed a big play, A.J. Brown was there and it's obvious too that

he's pretty banged up dealing with that knee issue. He's getting up slowly. He's laying down on the sidelines a little bit longer. So to see him fight through those ailments and that predicament and still be an absolute game changer for the Titans, you couldn't ask for anything more from your number one and I repeat, your number one star wide receiver. Ryan Tannehill as well. I talked about him as a player to watch going into this game.

Ryan Tannehill had to be much better than he was against the Colts last time and he was. He wasn't absolutely phenomenal. He wasn't a game breaker like Henry or AJ but he took what was there. He made the smart play non-stop. No turnovers. Was only sacked once. I thought he just made really smart decisions throughout the day. 13 completions on 22 attempts, 221 yards, one passing touchdown, one rushing touchdown as well. So I thought Ryan Tannehill just played perfectly in his role if he wasn't necessarily a game breaker for the Titans on the day. He just needed to be solid in this game, and he was exactly that.

Lastly, before we move away from the offense I just want to point out the offensive line absolutely dominated as mentioned 229 rushing yards only one sack on the day of course the Colts were missing DeForest Buckner but the Titans had been missing a ton of people throughout the season and when they played the Colts last time the Titans are on their third starting offensive tackle on the left side I want no excuses from the Colts whatsoever the Titans are missing Clowney they don't have a Dory Jackson so no excuses whatsoever for the Colts in this game the Titans whooped them up front especially on the offensive side of the ball want to give a big shout out as

part of the offensive line to Jeff Swaim as well. Thought he blocked incredibly well on the edge. And that's exactly what he was brought in here to do. But also three catches for 30 yards. I mean, Swaim really stepped up when the Titans tight ends didn't give them much in this game. So a big day for Jeff Swaim in his role. The offensive line, phenomenal. Moving into the defense, I am going to start things off with a young guy who just deserves the continued recognition that he's going to get in his limited role and that is the pop tart

Tyre Tart had a tackle on the day had a ton of pressure a ton of penetration throughout the day continue to be incredibly impressed and what an upgrade he has been as a backup defensive lineman to Isaiah Mack who the Titans had previously in that role so a great day from Tyre Tartt he's not you know jumping off the stat sheet he's not an every down starter but in the role he's being asked to play as a backup nose tackle as an interior penetrator he's doing a great job for the Titans and then honestly I probably should have start here, but I wanted to start with Pop-Tart. Going to jump over to Border Patrol. Breon Borders. The Borders are closed, ladies and gentlemen. Had an interception on the day and I really love to see that for

Borders. It's a symbol of the fantastic play he's given the Titans since he was given the opportunity to start outside. He had two tackles, had a pass breakup as well. I just thought he made play after play when he was asked to, when the ball was thrown his direction. He's just been great for the Titans, and he's been attacked at times and targeted at times by other teams, and he's answered that call. So a great day by Breon Borders. The Titans may have gotten a very, very underrated find in Borders. John Robinson to go, baby. A big Titan up for J-Rob for picking up Tartt and picking up Borders. Will Compton, three tackles. I thought he struggled early in the game, especially in pass coverage,

but in run defense, he was very stout, had three tackles on the day. Thought Compton really served well in his run-stopping role as a linebacker. And the Titans look pretty solid without Jayon Brown. And they're doing that by having role players filling different roles. And if they can kind of work in David Long, who got some additional snaps especially, and more likely passing situations after Compton struggled early in those opportunities, I think that the Titans can use Compton, David Long, Kenny Vaccaro to fill that role that Jayon Brown played for them.

Moving forward, Jeffrey Simmons. I thought he was a little shaky early on, but really stepped up late. Dominated Quentin Nelson on a few snaps. Had Frank Reich in the post-game press conference making excuses for Quentin Nelson, saying that he's been beat a few times lately in recent weeks while a lot of that has to do with playing Jeffrey Simmons but Harold Landry also Simmons had four tackles in a sack Landry had a tackle in a sack I thought both of them

were impactful throughout the day getting pressure on Phillip Rivers which was the most important thing for the Titans defense once they started getting pressure on Phillip Rivers and quit giving the Colts so much respect and playing off, after those first two touchdowns, they increased the pressure, played more downhill, played more in the Colts' face, got pressure, brought more blitzes on Phillip Rivers. Once they stopped giving the Colts so much respect, they changed the game, and a lot of that had to do with the pressure up front from Simmons and Landry

and then finally have to point out on special teams Chris Milton I thought he was excellent on coverage and punt return or in punt also speaking of punt Brett Kern as I mentioned before all four punts pinned inside the 20-yard line really nice to have the all-pro punter back out there and Gostkowski made every single kick he was made or asked to make, seven kicks, six extra points, one field goal. That's why we're keeping him, folks. Every time he misses a kick, y'all get mad, and I get it. But he's consistent enough and has made big enough kicks

that the Titans just have to keep him around, and they paid him $2 million. So anyways, that's going to do it for the Titan Ups. Quickly, the Titan Downs. Not going to spend a lot of time here. Don't think it's worth it. The Titans deserve their flowers right now for a great performance. But Simmons, Bayard, and Compton really struggled early on in this game.

Simmons got moved around and turned around quite a bit as they were having some early success in the ground game. Bayard was just horrible early in this game. It's been a rough season for him. And I thought his worst performance was the first half of this game against the Colts, where quite frankly, he was being targeted by Indianapolis. They were going after Kevin Byard and searching him out in matchups. So glad to see him turn that around in the second half.

And then Will Compton, as I mentioned, struggled in pass coverage against those running backs early on. Arthur Smith, generally a great game calling plays, but he got saved by a penalty when the Titans were in the 10-yard line. They didn't run the ball to Derrick Henry three straight plays after getting the ball down the field with non-stop runs. Just really peculiar. Art's got to clean that up a little bit, but generally a good day. So those four players, or those four people, don't really feel like giving an ultimate tighten down to but just a little half tighten down for their early performances in the game the official tighten

downs on the offensive side of the ball Kalief Raymond had one target didn't even come close to catching it wasn't great in punt return it wasn't his worst day in punt return but it wasn't a great day so Kalief Raymond just with Cam Batson doing better in return, Cam Batson being better as a gadget player and a wide receiver on offense, Kalief Raymond's role on this team is just being faded out. And if the Titans could get a better, an actual better overall wide receiver, that also can pose as a deep threat to take the top off the defense, like the Titans asked Kalief Raymond to do, the only thing he does well. If the Titans can get a better overall wide receiver,

who can maybe start outside and give you that, you know, take the top off element, that would be a big improvement for this offense next year. But also, Jonu Smith, Anthony Ferkser, zero for zero, no catches, no yards, one target on the day. Guys, when I tell you that Jonu Smith is a good player, but he's not somebody the Titans should prioritize re-signing, this is why. He does a good player, but he's not somebody the Titans should prioritize resigning. This is why. He does a great job, but he's not an absolute game breaker. He's not one of the top five tight ends in the NFL. He does good within the role the Titans ask him to play within in their offense. So we see Jonu Smith completely irrelevant today, and the Titans offense was absolutely outstanding. So a Titan down for the two tight ends, But the Colts do have good linebackers.

They do have over the middle of the field safeties and cornerbacks that do a great job. And the Titans clearly focused on getting the wide receivers involved over the tight ends in this game. That's probably because what the Colts do so well on defense. So I'm not going to crush the tight ends in this game. But Jonu, Ferkser, Raymond, somean downs for me in this awesome performance for the titans but speaking of this awesome performance for the titans we have to talk about where they sit now within the AFC South spoiler alert they're winning and then where they sit within the AFC

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in the galaxy and use promo code locked on for additional percent off on their Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. What a win, what a win, what a win, Titans fans. I'm still basking in the glory. What an incredible victory for the Titans, one they needed so bad with that. Just nasty energy that comes along with playing against the Indianapolis Colts. So any victory, especially one where you thoroughly beat them down, and it makes you wonder, you know, I hate to go back in the past. But, man, if A.J. Brown catches that touchdown, the Titans go up 14 to nothing.

I mean, it's hard to say that the Titans aren't the better team at this time when you consider the way that game played out, the drop touchdown pass, the punt. The Titans had that game in hand before the the punt meltdown with the drop I mean you know those things don't happen in a normal game and when you take out those flute plays the Titans have crushed the Colts quite frankly so I'm really encouraged by what we see here the Titans have a great opportunity going forward let's talk about where they sit within the AFC now to cap off today's Victory Monday. Send you off into a fantastic rest of your week. So we'll start in the division.

The Houston Texans on Thanksgiving defeated the lowly Detroit Lions 41-25. Houston has improved their record to 4-7. They're not really a threat to make the playoffs. improved their record to 4-7. They're not really a threat to make the playoffs, but the overall point here is the Texans are a much better team than what they thought they might be early in the year.

So the Titans cannot take that Week 17 matchup against the Texans lightly, and because of that, what they need to do is handle their business and winnable games coming up so that maybe they're resting before a home playoff game in Week 17 against the Texans on the road. So the other factor in that game, Lions head coach Matt Patricia was fired

after that loss, and there are some thoughts that he may be a defensive coordinator option for the Titans if they decide to hire one next year because of his familiarity with Mike Grable could be a possibility, but something to watch. Just thought I would mention that. Then the Cleveland Browns, who are also a team the Titans need to watch and a team that they play next week, move to 8-3 on the season, tied with the Tennessee Titans with a 27-25 victory over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags are now 1-10 on the year.

Directly after the game, they fire general manager Dave Caldwell. Just absolutely love seeing the Jags implode. But we're hoping that maybe they would be able to beat the Cleveland Browns and knock them off of the 8-3 mark that ties them with the Titans. But the Titans will have to do that themselves next week. Then, a pretty big win for the New England Patriots over the Arizona Cardinals. They won 20-17. They moved to 5-6.

They are certainly still within the playoff race. The Miami Dolphins won 20-3 over the New York Jets. The Jets moved to 0-10. Just wanted to mention that. The Dolphins are at 6-4 and as well also sit within the AFC playoff race still. Then the Oakland Raiders got dismantled by the Atlanta Falcons. 43-6. The Raiders dropped to 6-5.

They're still in it. Falcons 43-6. The Raiders dropped to 6-5. They're still in it, but that's a pretty significant loss for the Raiders as they lost to a Falcons team that's been dramatically improved since Raheem Morris took over as head coach, but a team that the Raiders certainly didn't think they would be getting boat raced by. And then the Buffalo Bills won a very fun game to watch against the Los Angeles Chargers.

7-3 is their record after the 27-17 race. The Bills are a team that the Titans have to keep their eye on as that's the most likely team the Titans will be battling it out with for the number three seed in the conference. I'm assuming that the Kansas City Chiefs, who at this time have a 17-point lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second half, will win that game. That will vault the Kansas City Chiefs up to 10-1 on the season. They're most likely going to get the second seed. If not, they end up with the one seed. The Steelers, who are set to play the

Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday night at this time, are 10-0, could move to 11-0, especially with all the players the Ravens are missing due to the COVID outbreak that's impacting them right now. So the Titans most likely are fighting for the third seed at best, but still it would be nice to have a home playoff game. So that's where things sit right now. The Colts obviously dropped to 7-4. They're one of the top wildcard teams available with the Titans. Ultimately, the most important thing here is the Titans move to 8-3 on the year,

lead the AFC South. What an incredibly enjoyable victory. I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend. I hope you enjoyed your holiday. And I hope we all enjoy this last stretch of Titans football as they try to win the AFC South. They're sitting pretty right now after completely whooping the Indianapolis Colts 45-26.

I will be back with you guys for a Tic Tac Tuesday. We will have the Tic Tac 4-pack breaking down the four most impactful plays from Sunday. Don't miss that. Subscribe to the show. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. But that's going to do it for me today, Titans fans. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. you