Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans EMBARRASSED BY Buffalo Bills 41-7: Widespread Issues & #TitanUpTitanDown

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

The Tennessee Titans got embarrassed by the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. The Titans checked every box possible for prime time ineptitude. Injuries, mistakes, errors and more. The Titans looked awful. How should we feel now? Plus, Tyler goes over the good and bad performances in #TitanUpTitanDown!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!NugenixNow get a complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T when you text NFLto 231-231.Text now and get a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever, with key ingredients to help you get back into shape fast.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedonPrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONTuroDitch boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it was an ugly one on Monday Night Football as the Tennessee Titans lose 41-7 to the Buffalo Bills. I'm going to tell you where everything went wrong, what I think the Titans need to do next, and of course we're going to do tighten up and tighten down for all the good and bad individual performances in this game.

A pretty good game from Traylon Burks. So we got that to live on. Breaking down everything that happened in the Titans. Embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Bills on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are 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. Titans fans, that was disgusting. Oh boy, a 41-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills by the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to be breaking it all down for you guys on today's show. Before we get into it, though, I do want to let you know that today's episode of Locked on Titans is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players, and if they score more or less

than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First-time users receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepix.com promo code LOCKEDON. Thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every

day. If this is your first ever listen, make sure that you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am putting out Monday through Friday daily free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe, smash the notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video if you didn't enjoy what you watched out there on Monday night. I guess just to dive into it bluntly, it was embarrassing. And I think that while most logical Titans fans said, yeah, Titans probably should lose to Buffalo. Titans probably going to lose to Buffalo. I think that most of us in our heart of hearts, deep down inside,

we actually kind of had some belief that the Titans would find a way to make this close. At least I did. I was saying all the right things and I believed it that Buffalo would win, but I thought the Titans would find a way to make this one close. And dear God, they did not. I mean, this is I mean, I guess my overarching feeling early in the season is, were the naysayers right this year? The last few years, a lot of national hatred towards the Titans,

a lot of national disbelief towards the Titans. Is this the year where all those people get to be right? Is this the year where Vrabel's leadership can't carry him through? Is this the year where the inside linebackers don't look good enough? Is this the year where Tannehill turns back into a complete pumpkin? Is Derrick Henry finished? Is the offensive line not good? Is the defense actually not elite? I mean, because everything that we're seeing right now is just nowhere near good enough to be the type of team

that even me, that I wanted the Titans to be this year, knowing that I didn't think that they were a Super Bowl contender. Now, here's what I'm going to say. The season is not over, and I'm not ready to concede the division or anything like that. The season is not over, and I'm not ready to concede the division or anything like that. So, just putting a bow on my big thoughts right there. And we'll get more into that on tomorrow's show,

where I kind of take a more of a big picture look at the Titans situation through two weeks. But right now for this game, like I said, embarrassing. The penalties, so many penalties, especially in the first half. The turnovers, what an embarrassing performance. Muffin two punts, Kyle Phillips, and then Imani Hooker. Terrible. The different blunders, even Malik Willis' fumble was just like a, he ran into Chigaconquo, his own player, and was caught off guard. just like he ran into Chigaconquo, his own player,

and was caught off guard. Like, not only that, the penalties, the turnovers, the blunders, the injuries, the injuries. LeJuan, Cannon, to start the game, the first play of the game, it's a freaking touchback, and Trenton Cannon gets hurt, and he has to be carted off. Then LeJuan goes out. Ola Dain Cannon gets hurt and he has to be carted off. Then LeJuan goes out. Ola Dainey gets hurt.

Bud Dupree, out for most of the game with a hip injury. Don't even get me started on Bud Dupree. A lot of you guys owe me a lot of freaking apologies for your sentiments on Bud Dupree and your faith in that. Chris Jackson got hurt. Joe Jones got hurt. I mean, it's injuries. Chris Jackson got hurt. Joe Jones got hurt. I mean, it's injuries, comical errors.

And I haven't even touched on the embarrassment of the actual game that was played when the Titans were trying and the game was a real football game. Todd Downing in the toss sweeps. What is going on with, okay, and let me say this. Mike Vrabel said to the sideline reporter comes on after halftime and she gives her little summary of what the coaches said to him

when they were coming out from halftime. And the sideline, I think it was Laura Rutledge, I think is who does the sideline reporting for that game on ESPN. She said that Mike Grable said that they got to get Derrick Henry going and it's about running the right plays in the right spots. That's criticism of Todd Downing. The offense is simply not talented enough to have a terrible offensive coordinator. It's not.

That's just point blank, period. It's not. And that's just the offense. On defense, at one point in time, the Titans had Trey Avery, Chris Jackson, and Roger McCreary at cornerback with Joshua Kalou and Ola Adani on the field. Guys, these lineups

that we're seeing look like 2015 Titans. Look like 2014 Titans. That's what I'm seeing out on the field. It's giving me vibes of Parrish Cox and Bleedy Ray Wilson. That's what I'm feeling when I see some of these lineups

that the Titans have out there. With the injuries and the lack of depth. At outside linebacker, at cornerback, the Titans are devastated with injuries. I mean, it's just going to be hard to do anything. Let alone Todd Downing with his personnel decisions and his play calling.

And in a big spot, going back to run, run, pass. I mean, and yes, Chris Jackson and Trey Avery are Parrish Cox bad. It's so bad that Jackrabbit Jenkins is on Twitter in the middle of the game saying, hey Titans, I'm available, but I'm going to need 3.5 million guaranteed. He's literally trolling the Titans in the middle of the game from his couch. It sucks. It hurts. It burns.

It stings. Everything, that whole laundry list of things goes wrong. 41-7. And that's what happens when you play. The Titans would have lost to any NFL team tonight the way they played. wrong. 41-7. And that's what happens when you play. The Titans would have lost to any NFL team tonight the way they played. But when you play Buffalo, yup.

That's how bad it gets. And I hope, I hope my real hope here, my real genuine hope, because I believe this, the Titans are still a playoff team. The Titans are still a team that can win their division. But they need a shake. They need a defibrillator. They need to demote Todd Downing immediately and do it publicly. Excuse me. Do it publicly. To shake this team from its funk.

Because nobody's good enough right now. But we're going to continue breaking down this game. We're going to talk about some positives next. Who wants to hear some positive talk? Tighten up and tighten down. We are going to start with the tighten downs. Before I get into it though, I do want to tell you guys about Turo. Turo is basically Airbnb, but with rental cars. Turo has the world's largest car sharing marketplace. With Turo, you can book any car you want, wherever

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is backed by liability insurance. Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply. Ditch that boring rental car and find your drive at Turo.com. Titans fans, we are going to continue talking about this Monday Night Football massacre between the Tennessee Titans and the Buffalo Bills. A lot of you guys watching, a lot of you guys listening. I know it's a hard time. It's a struggle when these losses happen, but thank you so much for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

I am going to be putting out Monday through Friday daily free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video if you're watching right now. The content's free and we're all trying to make it through together. So, we're going to

get into some positives though. Like I said, tighten up, tighten down. We're going to do the tighten ups first. And number one, Traylon Burks. Traylon Burks finally got the ball. I mean, he only got one target more than he got last week, but it all came in the first half, essentially,

and the Titans basically didn't play the second half of the game, so I'm going to wash that away. But Traylon Burks had four catches for 47 yards, 11.8 yards per catch. I mean, four catches for 47 on six targets. That's a pretty good day. That's a tight nut for me. Really like what I saw from him. Also, I got to go back and check anytime you talk offensive line play, but I thought Nicholas Petit-Ferrer did pretty solid. I thought he got

some Von Miller. Then at the end, he got a little less Von Miller, but I thought MPF had an okay day. I really did. I didn't think he was the worst offensive lineman by any stretch of the imagination. Roger McCreary, we didn't hear his name very much. I thought he was a very solid tackler early in the game. They weren't throwing at Roger

McCreary, okay? We know who they were throwing at. We'll get to that in just a moment, but I thought Burks, MPF, McCreary, all played pretty well. And quite honestly, my like big picture thought on the Titans, not just this season,

but multiple seasons, that's the best thing that could happen is that some of these rookies look like real players. Outside of those guys, I thought T. Air Tart had a pretty good game. I thought he had some good penetration early on. Made some plays in the backfield. I thought it was a pretty good day for Tart overall.

And I'm going to give my next Titan down like a like a eh? I guess. Because I thought Danico Autry had some moments. The Titans only had one sack on the night, I believe. Yeah, one sack. And it was Danico Autry.

And I thought there were some other times where he had some pressure. Now, the reason it's an eh is because, once again, in run defense, oh, God. Danico Autry was not good. Was not good. But Titans needed pass rush help badly, and Danico Autry gave them a little bit. So I'll give them a half-tighten up for that.

Also, I know that this is going to sound crazy. I know that it is. But I'm giving a tighten up to Derrick Henry. He only had 13 carries for 25 yards and he had the touchdown. Derrick Henry wasn't bad tonight because it was Derrick Henry's fault. Okay? It was not Derrick Henry's fault out there tonight. I thought Derrick Henry ran pretty well when he had any opportunities.

It's not Derrick Henry's fault that Todd Downing ran four or five pitch sweeps that all got negative yards. It's not Derrick Henry's fault that Nate Davis is whiffing on blocks in the backfield. It's not Derrick Henry's fault that Aaron Brewer can't move anybody. It's not Derrick Henry's fault that Taylor LeJan went out of the game and Dennis Daly comes in. I thought Derrick Henry had a little bit of burst tonight through some holes. So, I mean, I really don't think that Derrick Henry was bad. I thought he was one of the bright spots for the Titans. Yeah, I'm searching for bright spots at this point. Yes, that's a reality.

But I thought Derrick Henry was fine. What happened tonight was not Derrick Henry's fault. Okay? It wasn't. There were many other people to blame. I thought Derrick Henry was okay. I think we're going to see Derrick Henry have some good games this year still.

I'm not ready to give up on Derrick Henry. I'm not saying he's going to be 2K Derrick Henry, but far from his issue out there. Yeah, and I agree with Jonathan. Hassan Haskins also gets a tighten up. Well, Hassan Haskins doesn't have a lot of burst, but he came in. He was a kickoff return guy for Trent Cannon.

Didn't fumble the ball, so he gets some credit for that right. He had nine carries for 37 yards. I thought he took advantage of what was there for him. Now, that was against Buffalo's backup defense, but, you know, he's got to get credit for being out there. Apple, funny. Not time to put in for being out there. Apple, funny.

Not time to put in Malik quite yet, everybody, but we'll talk about that on tomorrow's show. Other than those guys that I mentioned, Robert Woods, I thought, had a pretty solid day. Once he got in there, once he got the ball a little bit, he had five targets, four catches, 39 yards. I thought Robert Woods looked solid. This is what we need.

It's a small sample size. Absolutely. Small scale with Burks and Woods, but that's what the Titans need. They need Burks creating explosive plays. They need Robert Woods moving the chains. Another Titan up. Ryan Stonehouse. I thought Ryan Stonehouse was pretty good. He had one punt that I can remember vividly that went a little too far and went to the

back of the end zone. But hey, Stonehouse has not killed the Titans in any way. It hasn't been a disaster. I thought he's been pretty good. He's only going to get better in the future. I think the Titans really may have found a guy. They really may have found their next punter for the next 10 years. I think Stonehouse is solid. Stonehouse is solid. Those are really my only

tighten-ups that I have for you guys. Burks, number one. MPF, Roger McCreary. T. Air Tart. Danico Autry gets a half-tighten-up, Derek Henry, Hasan Haskins, and Ryan Stonehouse. Those are my positives. Those are my tighten-ups for you guys.

If you think I missed any, let me know down in the comments. But it's time. I know you guys are waiting. It's time for my Titan Downs. Because boy, I have a lot of them. Before we get into those Titan Downs though, I do want to tell you guys about our friends over at PrizePix. So PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy.

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Use promo code LOCKEDON to get 10% or 100% instant deposit match. Titans fans, we are going to cap off this, let's call it misery, episode of the Locked on Titans podcast. Going over my Titan downs, and boy, there are a lot of Titan downs. At this point, I'm going to rename the segment Titan Downing just because Todd Downing is so bad. But either way, thank you guys all so much for hanging out. Thanks for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday,

daily Tennessee Titans content for free on all platforms on the Locked on Titans podcast. It's your team every day. Make sure you guys subscribe. But Titan Downing, time to get into it. Number one, Aaron Brewer was not good in this game. I saw a couple of people saying that Aaron Brewer played well in that first game. I wasn't willing to go that far, uh, quite honestly. I don't know about play well. He played okay. But in this game, he was not very good.

And the problems with Aaron Brewer show themselves every week. He's too small. He can be tougher than a $2 steak all he wants. But he's 6'1", 290 soaking wet. The guy gets driven back into the pocket over and over again. He can't deal with a bull rush.

He doesn't have the anchor to hold up. Yeah, Pip Tyson is saying Brewer is the smallest lineman in the league. I think that's a possibility. I think that's a possibility. And anybody anywhere close to as small as Aaron Brewer is a center. So we just see week to week, yeah, he's a guy we all like and we root for and he's this and he's that and he tries. But we knew it all along, Aaron Brewer starting at left guard is not a good thing.

And he can't hold up against the bull rush. It wasn't him alone on the offensive line. Ben Jones has not been good early this year. He may have been the worst offensive lineman for the Titans in week one. This week, he killed them with the face mask penalty because he's not athletic enough to get out there on the edge for those screens. I love Ben Jones to death. He has been one of the best Tennessee Titans free agent signings

in the history of the team. He really has. But it's just, it's closing time for Ben Jones. It's closing time. At least he's staying healthy. Love to see that. Dennis Daly. Dennis Daly has no business,

has no right to be out on the field in a matchup like this. So no surprise that he's a Titan down. I didn't think Nate Davis was very good either. He was better than other linemen. Him and NPF were better than other linemen. But, still wasn't good enough.

The offensive line was not good in this game. But again, last week they got an easy matchup. Defensive line versus offensive line. They didn't get that this week. Buffalo is a great defensive front. And this is the difference. I talked about that leading up to this game.

Outside of that, Tannehill, man. He's... The reality on Tannehill is here. When you have a better-than-average all-offensive line, which the Titans had in 2019 and 2020, and you have a better than average offensive line, which the Titans had in 2019 and 2020, and you have... at least run blocking in 2020. Dear God, it wasn't good in the past, but whatever.

Well, yeah. Yeah, it was pretty good. Pretty good. I'll say pretty good. But when you don't have the offensive line you had in 2019 and 2020, and you don't have the playmakers that you had in 2019 and 2020, and you have Ryan Tannehill, he does not have the ability to rise or to raise the people around him. He doesn't have the ability to elevate his teammates. He is a product of how good the things around him are. You give him a really good

offensive line, you give him a pretty good cast of weapons, he's going to be pretty good. You give him a crap offensive line and crap weapons, he's not going to be able to do much at all. You give him decent weapons and an offensive line, and he's going to be meh. He doesn't have the ability to take the Titans past where they are. He can't, again, he can't raise the boats.

He's not a rising tide. I think everybody always knew that, but when you see Josh Allen out there making plays, you watch certain guys around the league making these plays. Look at what Kyler Murray did at the end of that game. And no, Kyler Murray isn't some elite stud or anything like that. He's got his faults. But I said this during the game.

Ryan Tannehill looks like the Tin Man sometimes running around out there. And he's not even like super immobile. Ryan Tannehill has some athleticism. Ryan Tannehill has got some movement to him. But compared to some of these other athletes playing quarterback, Ryan Tannehill looks like the Tin Man out there when he's moving around. Pete's playing quarterback. Ryan Tannehill looks like the 10 man out there when he's moving around.

11 for 20, 117, 5.9 yards per pass, two interceptions. And these are interceptions where he's taking shots downfield and he's trying to make plays. These are interceptions where he's just throwing the ball to terrible spots. That pick six. What was that?

That was a miserable read. He's just not, he's just not there. It's over for Tannehill as the Titans. The Titans, I still think, as I've said, can still go win this division. But this window is as a real competitive chance to win a Super Bowl, starting seasons thinking the Titans may be able to win the Super Bowl this year if things go right. That window

is closed. I said that before this season. People didn't want to hear it. When I put my prediction as 9-8, people jumped all over me in the comments, called me a fool, an idiot. It's okay. It's okay to accept the reality. And watching Tannehill out there, I guess, just makes me go into

big picture mode. I have no way around it. You know what I mean? But Tannehill just isn't enough to help where the Titans are at right now. And for what he's getting paid in his cap hit, top five in the NFL amongst quarterbacks, he's just not good enough to get the job done.

Torrey Carter was awful. I'm a big Carter stan. He was awful, though. He was awful. Jeff Swain continues to was awful. I'm a big Carter stan. He was awful, though. He was awful. Jeff Swaim continues to be awful. The Titans didn't throw him out there as much as they had last week, but if Jeff Swaim is the best blocking tight end on the team, like Mike Vrabel said, then the Titans tight end group is still as bad as it was last year.

And I guess that's the truth. Austin Hooper looks like a zombie moving out there. Yeesh. Finally, not finally, but finally for offense, Todd Downing, I went over it before, but the toss sweeps, the personnel deployment, the Titans scored on their opening drive and never scored again.

Yes, Wesley, J-Rob cried because he knew. He knew. We all knew. I said that when he was crying. The day it happened, I did this show, and I said, he knows. He knows. It's over.

This window is over. So, let's just hope for a fun season with some good moments but god there haven't been any the first two weeks on defense Caleb Farley if you get benched

for Chris Jackson that's not good man Caleb Farley is just not looking good and that's I know there's a bigger discussion there that we don't have time for right now, but you know what I do have time for?

Bud Dupree was a waste of money. I didn't like the signing when it happened. I told you guys all last year that the Titans were lighting their money on fire. I said during this offseason, I said at the end of last season, this will be Bud Dupree's last year with the Titans were lighting their money on fire. I said during this offseason, I said at the end of last season, this will be Bud Dupree's last year with the Titans.

Nobody wants to listen to me. I've told you all along about Bud Dupree. He's not the guy, and the Titans wasted that money going out and giving the fourth-best pass rusher on the Pittsburgh Steelers a big deal. That was always a terrible decision. That's when people say, oh, hindsight 2020, the injuries, he's coming off an ACL. Well, why do you give that money to a guy coming off the ACL?

Nobody ever wants to address it. I mean, I've been on this Bud Dupree thing all along. So it's sad, but it's the reality. Ola Dainey, I love Ola, but he's not good enough to be in the role he's being asked to play without Landry out there. I don't want to blame Ola,

but he's just not able to handle it, especially in the run game. Trey Avery, Chris Jackson, they were all awful in this game. But, let's be honest here. Is Trey Avery an und Jackson, they were all awful in this game. But let's be honest here. Is Trey Avery an undrafted free agent and Chris Jackson, who's either hurt or terrible?

Are these guys going to be able to cover Stephon Diggs? No. So what are we expecting? You know, I thought the Titans would lose this game game I didn't think it'd be as ugly but once the floodgates opened you know it could be 30-7 it could be 50-7 there's no real difference at the end of the day

for me the Titans just aren't anywhere near as good of a team as they have been in previous seasons. And they don't have the top tier talent to bail them out when things get bad. Landry, AJ Brown,

critical, critical. I would say last year the best player on the team and the fourth best player on the team and they're gone so I mean

again I still think this team can go 9-8 win the AFC South. But, you know, the reality of the window closing is just setting in for some people now that we're into the season.

And I feel bad. I feel bad because I know they probably hurt, but I felt this hurt after the Bengals game and then the night that A.J. Brown was traded. The hurt that you feel right now realizing what's happened is the hurt that I felt after I saw A.J. get traded. After I saw John Robinson cry. Sucks.

But it doesn't mean that we can't still have a fun season and win the division. So let's hope that Todd Downing gets fired or demoted and hopefully Titans can turn this season around and still be a competitive football team. At this point, that's what we have to hope for, a competitive football team that's fun to watch at times. So let's hope for that.

But that's going to do it for me tonight, folks. I'll be back with you guys on Tuesday night on YouTube. Podcast, folks, I'm sure you'll be listening on Wednesday morning. We're not going to have a rewatch Wednesday. Tomorrow I'm going to have some big picture conversations with you guys, talk about the schedule ahead, what this could mean, what the Titans need to do to salvage this thing. We're going to have a big picture talk tomorrow.

Thursday will be crossover Thursday with me and your boy Q from Locked On Raiders. Friday game preview. The season rolls on. I'm not going to lie to you guys. Kind of happy this happened on Monday Night Football so that I don't have to spend a whole entire 12 hours

watching this game over and over again. Can't lie. Can't lie about that. So, find peace, guys. Find peace the next 24 hours. Whatever you got to do. Find some peace. I love you guys.

I love all you guys. Sorry that it had to go like this. Stay strong. Tighten up. That's going that it had to go like this. Stay strong. Tighten up. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this is Locked on Tight. you