Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Have Personnel Problems & Biggest Defensive Issue by the Numbers

Episode Date: September 12, 2022

The fallout from the Tennessee Titans loss to the New York Giants has begun. Some numbers really stick out when analyzing the game on both sides of the ball. First, the number one issue for the Titans offense is how they use their personnel. Highlighted by Geoff Swaim's snap count. It doesn't stop there though as the Titans most explosive players continue to be neglected in terms of targets. Finally, Tyler points out the number that shows the biggest issue with the defense on Sunday.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitansSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.comAthletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK. 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, as we continue breaking down the Tennessee Titans week one loss to the New York Giants, we looked at it from an instant reaction perspective yesterday. Now, I want to look at this loss by the numbers, and there are a few numbers that really stand out. Number one, highlighting a personnel problem for the Titans. by the numbers and there are a few numbers that really stand out number one highlighting a Personnel problem for the Titans the players that are on the field and one number Really says it all and it has to do with Jeff Swain

We'll continue talking about the Titans personnel number problems through the numbers when we look at the targets and the snap counts at Wide receiver and then finally we'll use the numbers to tell us the Titans' biggest problem on defense against the Giants on Sunday. Looking at the Titans' loss by the numbers on today's 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.

Titans fans, we are continuing to break down the Titans opening game of the season against the New York Giants. Again, we look at things from an instant reaction perspective yesterday. Now I want to dive into the game from a numbers perspective. Before we do that, I want to let you guys 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 locked on. That's pricepix.com. Promo code locked on. Thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. If you're first ever listen here, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am putting out Monday through Friday daily Tennessee Titans content for free on all platforms again all year round.

So make sure that you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. You want to check me out on Twitter at TicTacTitans for my instant analysis and my film breakdowns. Had a lot of good stuff up on my Twitter account today. Check out the show Facebook page at Locked on Titans pod. But again, we're looking at this game by the numbers today on Wednesday. I'm going to be doing my film review telling you what the tape tells us

about what the Titans were doing schematically on offense and defense. Thursday's crossover Thursday with Joe Marino from Locked on Bills. And then Friday, we'll be having a fun discussion heading into the weekend. But let's talk about these numbers. And the number one issue that stood out to me with the Titans offense on Sunday was that the Titans have a personnel problem. There's no way around it. There is a personnel issue.

The players that are being used out on the field. And there is no number, there is no number that highlights that better than looking at the Titans snap counts from Sunday. Which, right now, if you had to guess, I'll give you a couple of seconds in your head, if you had to guess which Titans skill position player, running back, fullback, tight end, wide receiver, which of those players on the Titans had the highest snap count on Sunday?

Jeff Swaim. Wait, what? Yes. Jeff Swaim. 44 snaps. Henry had 42. NWI had 41. Woods had 41. Hooper had 37. Jeff Swaim led the Titans skill position players in snaps on Sunday. If that doesn't highlight a clear disconnect between the coaching staff and reality, I don't know what else will. Again, Austin Hooper only had

37 snaps while Jeff Swaim had 44. Now, there are a few things that we do have to mention here. One of the things that really stood out to me, another number that really stood out to me here was Austin Hooper's pro football focus grades. Offensive rating, 38.7. Pass blocking, 11.7 on three pass block attempts. Run blocking, 40.9 on 11 run block attempts. So in fairness, Austin Hooper did not do a very good job blocking. And when you look at Mike Vrabel's comments on Monday, they asked him, why Jeff Swain plays so much?

Mike Vrabel said, he's the best blocking tight end on our team. So here's the problem. Not only are the Titans playing the lesser players, but also the Titans are tipping their plays by who they have in the game. One time they ran a play-action pass to Cody Hollister and he caught it great.

But other than that, any time that Hollister's in the game, the Titans are basically running the ball. The Titans have Jeff Swaim in the game. They're probably running the ball. Austin Hooper was only in on 11 run plays. 11 out of the 60 plays that the Titans played, or the 65 snaps that the Titans had.

Swaim was only in on 11 run plays. Out of 26 total. So you're telling the other team, Swaim is in, Hooper isn't, we're probably running the ball. You're telling the team what's going on when Cody Hollister is in. So the personnel problem is not just that the Titans' lesser players are getting more opportunities than they should, but it's also that you're tipping your hand by doing that. And one last thing that I want to say here is,

what happened to the tight end upgrade? All of us said, hey, the Titans maybe got a little worse at wide receiver without A.J. Brown, but they improved mightily at tight end. Well, if you're just going to play Jeff Swaim the most snaps of any skill position player, then how is that upgrading at tight end at all? That's doing what you did last year. There is no upgrade. If you're making Austin Hooper a glorified Anthony Ferkser then where's the improvement going to come from? Because I was told all offseason that the improvements in the tight end group were going to help. And I bought into that too.

But if you're just going to play sway more snaps than any other skill guy on offense, then what are we doing here? What do we expect to happen? Swain's not even that good of a blocker. He missed a ton of blocks yesterday. So don't sell me that Jeff Swain should be playing more than any other tight end because he's the best blocking tight end on the team and he's not even a good blocker.

I mean, you're not only tipping your hand, but you're putting lesser players out there who aren't getting done what you're telling me that they're getting done. So I just simply don't understand how this personnel issue has even been allowed to happen. How Mike Vrabel has even allowed this to happen. But we're going to continue. We're going to continue talking about the personnel issue and letting the numbers guide us. We're going to talk about target share in the next conversation that we have.

And then at the end of the show, we're going to talk about some numbers that really highlight the issues with the defense. Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys a little bit more about our title sponsor from PrizePix. PrizePix makes daily fantasy simple and easy. You go to prizepix.com or you download the PrizePix app. What you do is you look at the projections that PrizePicks has set for each player. 1.5 rushing touchdowns for Derrick Henry, 3.5 catches for Traylon Burks,

1.5 sacks for Jeffrey Simmons, and you just decide simply, are they going to do more than that or are they going to do less than that? You pick a roster of two to five guys. And if you win, you have a chance to make up to 10 times your money on your entry. And right now, you can get a 100% deposit match up to $100. If you deposit $100, you get $100 back in free money. You deposit $50, PrizePix is giving you $50 in free money. All you have to do is use promo code LOCKEDON.

So once again, that's a 100% deposit match to keep fantasy sports simple at prizepix.com when you use the promo code LOCKEDON. Also, do want to tell you guys about our friends over at Athletic Greens. So, Athletic Greens has a great product called AG1. You take one scoop of the powder,

you pour it into one glass of water, you drink it in the morning. It's going to help your immune system. It's going to help with your digestive system. It's going to give you more energy. It's packed with vitamins and minerals and things that you need every single day so you don't have to take a with vitamins and minerals and things that you need every single day. So you don't have to take a million different supplements just to get what you need. AG1's

really helped me have the energy during the season with everything going on. I got a lot to do. I got to keep my energy high and AG1 does a great job of giving me that boost in the morning that keeps me going throughout my day. To make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network. Again, that's athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Titans fans, we are going to continue breaking down the Tennessee Titans loss to the New York Giants by the numbers.

We just talked about the absurdity that is Jeff Swaim getting the most snaps of any offensive skill position player. I mean, it's just absolutely insane. It's just absolutely insane that that happened. Not only are the Titans tipping their hand with our personnel, but they're putting lesser players out there or just giving lesser players more opportunities. It really doesn't make sense. And with that in mind, we have to move forward and talk about one specific moment in the game

that really highlighted the issue to me. It's second and goal. From, I think, the 6, the 5, or the 6. It's the end of the first half. The Titans are up 10-0 with a chance to go up three scores. To go up 17-0. Not 13-0, which could be overtaken by two scores. But a three-score lead at 17-0.

After, Jeffrey Simmons forces a fumble. Put points on the board after a turnover, go up three scores before half, get the ball back after halftime, score again. That has to be the plan. Well, you know what's going to make it hard to accomplish that plan is when it's second and goal and three, let me just throw the five eligible receivers for the Titans out there.

Cody Hollister, Jeff Swain, Torrey Carter, and then Austin Hooper and Derek Henry. That's the five eligible receivers that you have out in a critical goal-to-go situation. Those are the five. Hollister, Swaim, Carter and then Henry and Hooper. Not only that, folks,

but they didn't do a switch on third down. So they did that on second down, and then they did it again on third down. A critical goal-to-go situation in the red zone, and you have Cody Hollister, Jeff Swaim, and Torrey Carter as three of your five eligibles. How is Mike Rabel allowing this to happen? If that right there doesn't show you the issue that the Titans have with what

personnel that they need to use, I don't know what will. Because that's despicable. And second down is Todd Downing's fault. But Mike Vrabel seeing that personnel out there and then allowing that to be the personnel on third down, Mike Vrabel has blood on his hands with this Todd Downing situation. I think Mike Vrabel is a great coach. I think he's a top 10 coach in the NFL. But what he is allowing Todd Downing to do to this Tennessee Titans,

not only this Titans offense, but this Tennessee Titans window. This Titans window. 2021 and 2022 may be the last real years of the window of this core with Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill. And Mike Vrabel has allowed Todd Downing to run 2021 into the ground. He cannot allow it to happen in 2022. And based on this start with this personnel, I do not understand how Mike Vrabel is asleep at the wheel on this.

And let me tell you this, Mike Vrabel is noticing because in Mike Vrabel's press conference on Monday, he said exactly what I said yesterday. The Giants were playing man coverage, and when they played man coverage, it gave Dontrell Hilliard an advantage over a linebacker. As the Giants in the second half started to go to zone coverage, Todd Downing kept running man coverage beaters.

And a man coverage beater is not going to beat some of these zones. Todd Downing is using route combinations and concepts to attack coverages that he's not seeing. The other team adjusted Todd. They're not playing pure man and bringing pressure anymore. Quit running man beaters and trying to get your running back in the flat on a linebacker when they're in zone.

So the personnel problems are highlighting even, even bigger issues with how the personnel is being used. Because you know what? If you call the wrong play, if you call a cover two beater and it's cover three, or you call a man beater and it's cover two, if you do that,

if you do that, sometimes having good enough players, the Jimmys and the Joes, not the Xs and the Os, right, Mike Grable? Sometimes having good players overcomes the scheme, overcomes the play call, but the Titans don't have good enough weapons right now

to do that. And that's how we get the offense that we get. So, not only that, but I want to talk about this. I want to give you guys something positive, because it's been negative, negative, negative, negative, negative. And after a loss like that, it's hard to find positives. But here's a positive for you. Traylon Burks.

Traylon Burks looked awesome. He averaged 11 yards after the catch. Just after the catch, averaged 11 yards. That was number one in the NFL. Traylon Burks was number one in the NFL in yak yards on three catches. On his five targets, and we'll talk about that. He got targeted five times.

He had 4.9 yards of separation on those targets, second only to Debo Samuel. Debo Samuel, who he was compared to quite a bit coming out of college. So Traylon Burks is getting massive yards after catch on his receptions, and he's getting a ton of separation on his targets. Okay.

That's all good news. That's great. Well, then someone please tell me why Traylon Burks only got 24 snaps out of 65. Someone tell me why Traylon Burks only got five targets. Kyle Phillips got six targets. Why did Robert Woods and Austin Hooper get two and then

one respectively so we threw the ball to we traded a draft pick for Robert Woods and threw him the ball two times we paid seven million dollars for Austin Hooper threw him the ball one time and played Swain more than him the Titans talked up NWI all season and

then gave him two targets. Kyle Phillips gets nine targets. Traylon Burks only gets five. You're telling me that Austin Hooper is getting the same amount of targets in a game as Cody Hollister? Like, do you guys see how all these numbers just don't make sense? It doesn't add up.

The Titans have a major personnel issue on offense, and until they get the right players in the game, try to get the right players the football, don't even get me started on first down runs. We're going to talk about that tomorrow in our rewatch Wednesday. But, yeah, trying to get too cute. Just poor planning.

And I have a theory on it. And I have a theory on it that I'm going to talk about as we cap off the show. But there's one defensive stat, a couple defensive stats that I want to bring up as well that kind of highlight why the Titans had so much trouble on defense. Before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys about BetOnline.

BetOnline is your number one source for all your pro and college football betting needs. Find all the latest football league developments, game matchups, news, including all the stuff you need to know about the opening games of the year at BetOnline. BetOnline is your continued source for all your sports wagering information,

including live betting, esports, and more. It's the fastest way to check in on all your favorite sports. Head to their website today or use your mobile device to learn more about all the trends and all the action. BetOnline, reviewing the Titans' loss to the Giants by the numbers. Talking about the defense, because there's some statistics that pop out on defense that highlight why the Titans had such a big issue.

Okay, and there's one that really sticks out. Before we get into it, though, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, today we're breaking down the loss by the numbers. Tomorrow, I'm going to cover the loss from a tape perspective with Rewatch Wednesday.

Thursday is Crossover Thursday with Joe Marino from the Buffalo Bills Locked on Bills podcast. We're going to break down everything that you need to know. Friday, I'll have kind of a fun game preview. And then Monday, I'll have a full game preview leading up to Monday night football against the Bills. But let's talk about this number on defense. So my calculations and what I had corroborated by Pro Football Focus on defense is a little

bit shy of what Mike Vrabel went with, but we'll talk about both. Missed tackles. The Titans missed so many tackles yesterday. I've seen nine tackles missed. Mike Vrabel said they missed double-digit tackles. At the end of the day, guys, linebackers were out of position. Edge rushers got out of position. Defensive backs missed a lot of tackles and had bad fits.

But more than anything, the missed tackles were the biggest problem. You've got to get guys down on the ground. And like Mike Grable said, the Titans had double-digit missed tackles. I show at least nine. It's just unacceptable. They're going to break off runs. You're going to be out of spots. They're going to block well.

But what you cannot do is missed tackles to compound those issues. And I thought in the secondary that the secondary did just a poor job with tackling. Christian Fulton and Amani Hooker specifically, I thought had some really bad missed tackles along with David Long, who was just diving all over the field. They have David Long with three missed tackles along with David Long, who was just diving all over the field. They have David Long with three missed tackles. Personally, I thought David Long was awful.

And when you look at his run defense grade, that bears out as well. So we talked about the missed tackles, but run defense grade, Amani Hooker, 26. Bud Dupree, 39.8. Yeah, Bud Dupree had a sack and had a couple of good moments, but like I told you on yesterday's show, the edges were awful in run defense.

They were awful. Bud Dupree, 39.8 run defense grade. Danico Autry, 43.3. David Long, 41.6. So that's four of the Titans starters. And not only starters, but Autry, Dupree, Hooker, and Long, those are supposed to be some of the Titans' best players that were sub-45 in their run defense grade.

And you could be one of those people who get in the comments and say, pro football focus numbers don't mean anything. Okay, fair enough. It's a piece of the puzzle, though. And the other piece of the puzzle is tape. And the other piece of the puzzle is tape. And the other piece of the puzzle is box score. And none of those were that great in run defense for those guys either, especially the tape.

Not a good job. So there you go. Four starting level defenders for the Titans were miserable in run defense and the Titans missed nearly nine tackles on defense. Maybe more. Those are two numbers or a few numbers there that really stick out. But what I want to hit on here before I let you guys go is one more thought. I've done a lot talking about the numbers, but I have one more thought here.

So it kind of ties into the personnel issues, and it also ties in, in my opinion, to the Titans' overall issue with their philosophy. So, like I said, Mike Vrabel has said throughout his entire tenure, it's the Jimmys and the Joes, not the Xs and the Os. Well, everything that the Titans do says that they think the other way. The Titans want wide receivers

who can play special teams and who can block. The Titans want tight ends who can play special teams and who can block. Zach Cunningham is playing a ton of special teams. Jeffrey Simmons is playing a ton of special teams. Traylon Burks is out there playing special teams and who can block. Zach Cunningham is playing a ton of special teams. Jeffrey Simmons is playing a ton of special teams. Traylon Burks is out there playing special teams. Mike Rabel

is a good coach. Like I said earlier, top 10. But one of his big deficiencies is he coaches like a player. He's more worried about the overall team. He's giving Cody Hollister reps out there because it looks good, right?

It looks good to the locker room. Cody Hollister is a guy who worked hard. He got in there. Oh, we got to see Josh Reynolds play special teams before he's allowed to get snaps at wide receiver. But all this stuff, Mike Vrabel is thinking like a player there. Also, with some of his loyalty,

his loyalty to Logan Woodside, his loyalty to Jeremy McNichols and David Flewellen, his loyalty to Jeff Swaim, his loyalty to Todd Downing, and Mike Vrabel thinking like a player. I want my guys fresh out there. We're going to do a heavy rotation. We're constantly rotating in our wide receivers

even if it means that our best players don't get a ton of snaps. We just want to rotate people in all the time. I mean, we don't need to play in preseason. Veteran players, they don't need to play in preseason. Veteran players, they don't need to play in preseason. So we're just going to get shellacked every week one that we play while I'm the coach because my players don't need to knock off the rust in the preseason.

I'm a player. I know players. Mike Grable thinks like a player. He wants to rotate in every player on the bench just like he got rotated in at times. He wants to look good in the locker room by rewarding hard workers. You know what you need? Jimmys and Joes, Mike, like you say.

You need the Jimmys and the Joes. Sometimes you need a super talented Diva wide receiver that doesn't play special teams. Sometimes you might have some of your best players tired out there at the end. But if that means that you didn't have Cody Hollister and Jeff Swayman at the goal line in the second quarter, then so be it.

You want to play a guy like Des Fitzpatrick or Cody Hollister or Mason Kinsey over a guy like Josh Reynolds last year? Because those guys will go out there and play special teams and Reynolds won't. Sometimes you need better receivers. I just think, like, I want to reiterate,

Mike Rabel is a good coach. But one of his big issues is he's just loyal to the soil and thinks only as a player. I just don't understand. I don't understand. I don't understand why you think you need to rotate guys in and out so much to the point where the snap counts look like what they do. Why do you have to trust Todd Downing so much

to bring him back after last year? It's just, sometimes I feel like Mike Rabel doesn't understand the impact that he can have as a coach telling his coaches who to play when to play them not rotating guys in all the time playing your best players play your best players and I also want to say this look

at a team like the Green Bay Packers. Similar to the Titans, they got rid of their top weapon because they thought their scheme, the system, if we just put solid guys and they run our system, we'll still win. Hey, you know what? Maybe the system wasn't all that great and A.J. Brown made the system look better than it was. Maybe

instead of trusting Todd Downing in the system, you should trust the Jimmys and the Joes like you say all the time. I hate to bring this up, but it's the reality. The Titans wide receivers had 165 total yards yesterday. A.J. Brown had 155 on his own. Maybe replacing A.J. Brown with Burks and Woods and trusting NWI to get better and bringing in Austin Hooper, maybe bringing in a bunch of B's and C's doesn't make up for losing an A.

Maybe five B's and C's doesn't make up for losing an A. It's that simple. It's that simple. So, the Titans coaches are killing this team right now with their decisions with personnel on offense. It blows my mind. It blows my mind. Play your best players, Mike. Take the role away from Todd Downing, the most predictable offensive coordinator in the league. Everyone knows what the Titans

are doing. So you're playing your worst players. You're calling terrible plays. You're incredibly predictable. Something has to change. That's the one area, will I say, it's not an overreaction to be disgusted with what we've seen from Todd Downing as the

offensive coordinator. He ruined the Titans best Super Bowl chance in 20 years last year, and he's going to ruin this season if Mike Vrabel lets him. So let's hope. Let's hope. Either way, that's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow for Rewatch Wednesday

when we dive into the tape. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.