Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Kyle Philips NOT Activated, Tannehill Goes OFF & Dynamic Duo Run Defense

Episode Date: November 22, 2022

The Tennessee Titans had a long week between the game against the Green Bay Packers and their upcoming match against the Cincinnati Bengals. The hope was the Titans could get some of their key players healthy including getting rookie WR Kyle Philips off IR. Looks like that won't happen, but what about injury updates on guys like Kristian Fulton, Bud Dupree, Ben Jones & Amani Hooker? Tyler has the latest. Next, step into the film room for Tyler's Week 11 All-22 review. The Packers defensive alignment forced the Titans to be creative in how they threw the ball and Tannehill delivered! Finally, on defense David Long and Teair Tart(David & Goliath) completely altered how the Green Bay Packers ran the ball.#TicTacTuesday Film Thread: https://twitter.com/TicTacTitans/status/1595073877520048133?s=20&t=-KejiVB2z_TUBUB7myJ8VgFollow 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!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!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BlueNileMake your moment sparkle with Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com and use code lockedon to save fifty dollars on your purchase of five-hundred dollars or more.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. 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, the Titans hit the practice field on Tuesday, and I have all the latest injury news. Updates on guys like Kyle Phillips, Amani Hooker, Christian Fulton, Bud Dupree, and Ben Jones. Then we'll dive into the tape for this week's all-22 review of the Titans' win over the Packers.

I'll tell you how the Titans unleashed their passing offense, and I'll tell you how David and Goliath set the tone in the run game early for the Titans' defense. All of that and more on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it! You are Locked on Titans. Let's get it! Titans fans, we have injury news to go over. We're going to dive into it. Before we do, I want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster.

jobs. LinkedIn helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash LockedOnNFL. Also, thank you guys for making the LockedOn Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday free Tennessee Titans

content on all platforms all year round including the LockedOn Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Right now goes a long way to help support the channel. Make sure that you follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans for all my film content and my in-game analysis.

Check out the show Facebook page at Locked on Titans Pod. Again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic and a certified film junkie. You're going to find out about all of that today. But before we get into all the film stuff, do got to update on these injuries. And number one, I do start out with some bad news for the Titans. Rookie wide receiver Kyle Phillips will not be activated off IR this week. He will not begin his practice window. That's unfortunate.

Based on what I think that we're going to need to see from the Titans against the Bengals, it's unfortunate the Titans won't be able to add Kyle Phillips to the mix in a game that will surely test that newfound passing offense. So no Kyle Phillips for the Titans this week. The wait continues. But moving forward, Christian Fulton, Danico Autry, Ben Jones, and Randy Bullock all did not participate in practice on Tuesday. Christian Fulton, Danico Autry, Ben Jones, and Randy Bullock.

Guys who did come back to practice, though. Bud Dupree back out at practice. That's important for the Titans. Amani Hooker, very important for the Titans in a game against Cincinnati. Amani Hooker back at practice. But Hooker's practiced quite a bit this year and still ended up not playing in-game. So something to monitor. Don't get too excited too soon.

Elijah Molden, after having a little bit of a scare and missing the game, is back at practice for the Titans. And rookie undrafted free agent kicker out of Iowa, Caleb Shudick, is back at practice. He was activated into his practice window off of PUP. So that's good news for the Titans. The final piece of news here when it comes to people being in or out of practice

is Todd Downing. Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing was back out at practice on Tuesday. It looks like the Titans aren't going to take any internal action to suspend him proactively. They're going to wait and let the NFL process play out. Obviously, let the court process play out before they make any moves. So for the foreseeable future, I would expect Todd Downing to be the offensive coordinator for the Titans. And quite frankly, with the way these things can take time, the Titans may not have any kind of word from the NFL

about what to do with Todd Downing until after the season. That's just the reality that they're facing. So it was a story for a couple of hours. The wave of NFL games came, and now nobody really cares about Todd Downing's DUI. No one's really talking about that anymore. It's more of just a Titans story, and nothing's really going to change for the Titans anytime soon. So kind of like I said when I talked about it initially, it was news, but realistically, in the grand scheme of things, it's not very big news for the Titans or the NFL

at this juncture. So we move on from that. You may be asking yourself, why are the Titans practicing on Tuesday? Well, because they came off of Thursday night football, they had more rest than you would typically have. And of course, we have the Thanksgiving holiday coming up on Thursday. Mike Vrabel will give the guys off that day. So they'll be practicing on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday rather than the normal Wednesday, Thursday, Friday schedule. So that's why we're getting those updates today.

Again, Kyle Phillips not being activated. The Titans passing offense is just finding their footing right now. So to add Kyle Phillips back in a situation where I think the Bengals are going to play a ton of man coverage, the Bengals know how they want to play the Titans based on the playoffs last year. They want to do a 6-1 front and stack the line of scrimmage just like we saw the Packers do. They want to play a ton of man coverage on the outside. Make you beat them one-on-one. And if you had a guy like Kyle Phillips, it would make it easier. On the flip side of that, not having Christian Fulton, Danico Autry, Ben Jones.

That could be rough for the Titans. So hopefully they're able to make their way back. Ben Jones still not out of concussion protocol. Autry, Titans dodged a bullet there it seems long term, but still wouldn't expect him to play in this game. Christian Fulton on that line. If Danico Autry is out, and if Christian Fulton is out, then my God do the Titans need Bud Dupree

Imani Hooker and Elijah Moulton to be back for this game so we'll monitor the injuries throughout the rest of the week speaking of the rest of the week tomorrow will be crossover Thursday with the guys from Locked on Bengals I will have a show

ready for you guys for your Thanksgiving commute then on Friday dropping on Thursday night on YouTube, I will have the game plan preview. I feel like I have a really good grip on who Cincinnati is, how they want to play Tennessee, what Tennessee can do to counter that. Just like I had a pretty good grip on what I thought the Packers and the Titans were going to do schematically in that game. And speaking of the schatically in that game. And

speaking of the schematics in that game, it is time for our re-watch Wednesday portion of the show. We're going to dive into what the tape showed from an X's and O's standpoint on offense. The Titans unleashed their passing attack. How did they do it, and then on defense, the Titans shut down the Packers' explosive run game, and it was led by David and Goliath. So we're going to get into all of that. Before we do, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode of Locked on Titans is sponsored by BetterHelp Online Therapy. by BetterHelp Online Therapy.

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and reached out to BetterHelp through the partnership with LockedOn. And I loved the process of finding the right therapist for me because they give you this huge questionnaire. It's not huge in terms of it's going to take forever, but it's complex in the way that it actually figures out what you need help with the most and then could select the therapist that matches you the best. BetterHelp has connected over 3 million people

with licensed therapists. It's convenient, secure, and accessible anywhere 100% online. So get unstuck with BetterHelp. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. That's betterhelp.com slash locked on. Titans fans, it's time to dive into the tape. Gotta say it's probably my favorite segment of the week. Let's step into the film room and see what the Titans did from an X's and O's standpoint in

their win against the Packers. Before we get into it, got to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms. So make sure you stay locked into the

Locked on Titans podcast where it's your team every day. We're going to talk about the offense. We'll touch on the defense towards the end of the show. Tomorrow's crossover Thursday with the host of Locked on Bengals Friday, a game plan Friday, and of course, Sunday directly after the game, I'll be live on YouTube breaking down what I saw. Two episodes coming for you guys on Sunday,

so make sure you stay subscribed. But looking at the Titans offense, number one, the run game. We'll talk about the run game first. The run game was, I don't want to say shut down, but severely limited by a great game plan that teams have used against the Titans. And the first time I remember really seeing it

was back in 2020 against the Green Bay Packers. They went with a 6-1 front. So what does that look like? Four down linemen on the line of scrimmage with their hand in the dirt between the tackles. Literally from tackle to tackle, there are four guys with their hand in the dirt. Then two outside linebackers outside of the tackles or the tight ends. Then there will be one middle linebacker in the middle. Typically what teams will do against the Titans, they'll even walk down one of their safeties. So you're basically looking at a 6-2 front. Why are teams

doing this? Number one, the most critical element of the Titans run game in the wide zone is the interior trio being able to double team and then climb to the second level. If you put four guys within the tackles on the line of scrimmage, you are making it nearly impossible to carry out double teams and get to the second level. There's just too much congestion and four out of the five guys have a one-on-one already. So only one double team is even possible. You add in the fact that there's guys on both edges, the sixth guys on the line of scrimmage,

and now a tackle may be responsible for setting the edge on one of those guys. And then the four down linemen are with the four remaining offensive linemen. There are no double teams possible. It takes away what the Titans offensive run game is built on. Double teams at the line of scrimmage, athletic linemen getting up to the second level. You're nearly making that impossible. And you have the four down linemen with the two edges. One guy is play side who can set the edge. The other guy is a backside rusher to take away a cutback lane, which is also a big part of the zone run scheme.

So it's just really smart by the Packers. They loaded the front side, the strong side of the formation. If the Titans were putting multiple tight ends there, let's say the Titans have the five offensive linemen, two tight ends on one side, twins on one side. Well, they would just make sure that they had more spaced out the front four of the defensive line.

It would be a little more spaced out to that front side, to that strong side. And they got it covered. Well, the Titans had to adjust. Okay, so what did the Titans do? Well, number one, like I said, the Titans started loading one side. So they'd put two tight ends and a wide receiver to one side. They'd put three

tight ends to one side, extending the line of scrimmage. And like I said, the 6-1 front is trying to make sure that you can't create double teams on the line of scrimmage. Well, if you make the line of scrimmage by having multiple tight ends on the line of scrimmage, if you make the line of scrimmage wider and you widen out that front four, now you could create some double teams. So the Titans were doing that, and then they were running weak sides. So you'd have the center, you'd have the guard, and you'd have the tackle, and you'd basically create three one-on-ones with two defensive linemen

and then that edge. And now we're trying to run there. The linebacker is eventually going to flow over, and it's going to be one-on-one with Derrick Henry and the linebacker, but that's better than the math problems that you have if you try to run to the strong side. So the Titans were loading up one side and then running weak, trying to create any kind of math advantage that they could have with that front.

Also, the Titans went to more three wide receiver. And when they went to three wide receiver, the Packers would go to a five man front rather than a six man front. front rather than a six-man front. And again, any math, any space that they can create on the offensive line, then great. Because what the Titans also did as a nice wrinkle was you get five-man fronts when you go three wide receivers. So I think there are five offensive linemen, five guys on the line of scrimmage, two outside linebackers, three down linemen. Five guys on the line of scrimmage. Two outside linebackers, three down linemen. Okay, great.

That's five on five. Now you got a linebacker, one linebacker off the ball against Derrick Henry. We'll see what happens. Well, how do you bend that math even more? You have three wide receivers and one tight end. And then you motion the tight end into the backfield as the fullback. And now, now you have your sixth guy to meet that linebacker in the hole and create an advantage. So there you go. The Titans didn't have a ton of success, but those were little wrinkles that they were trying to do to defeat the 6-1 front.

Now for the passing offense. The Titans were attacking on early downs. That's the number one thing. Teams are going to stack the box. Think, I'm talking about 6-1 fronts. 6-2 fronts. That means that there are only three defensive backs in the defensive backfield. The two outside corners and one post safety. Well, that means that you're either getting cover one man or you're getting cover three.

That you're either getting cover one man or you're getting cover three. And Todd Downing had perfect route combinations ready for that. What they were doing is the Titans were clearing vertically. So there's something that's been done against the Titans before, but they clear the inside receiver, whether it's two wide receivers to one side, three wide receivers, they have the inside wide receiver run vertical so they could sneak routes inside underneath them. That was a lot of those drag routes that the Titans were hitting for six, seven, eight, nine yards that were moving the chains. They had a vertical route clearing the linebacker and they were sneaking one

of the outside receivers underneath right into the middle. So that was absolutely beautiful stuff. And the Titans got creative with their early down route combinations. Usually, we see a wide receiver on either side of the field. One guy's running a deep post. The other guy is running the glance route or the short cross or over the middle. Or we'll see the wide receivers on both sides. One guy will run vertically.

The other guy will run vertically. The other guy will sit down for a curl. The Titans weren't doing that. They weren't running those route combinations. They were running one guy going vertical and a guy doing a corner route to the sideline. Love that. Love that, keeping the defense on their toes. They also were doing slot fades, like I'm talking about,

running vertically from the insides, but also attacking cover three with a slot fade from the inside guy. And then the outside guy can come inside or they can sit down towards the sideline. Or as we saw with the Chigaconquo completion, there is a coverage bust. A Conquo on the slot fade gets down the sideline and no one's there and it's a big time completion.

So I loved all of that on early downs. In passing situations where the Packers were going with cover two or the Packers were going with man coverage, teams play man against the Titans. Todd Downing was so much more prepared for this than he was in the Broncos game. We saw pre-snap motion to confuse man assignments and identify coverage and let Ryan Tannehill know it's man coverage. Watch this guy's following him in motion. Also, we saw two wide receiver stacks where wide receivers are literally stacked on top of each

other at the line of scrimmage. Traylon Burks is on the line of scrimmage. Robert Woods is literally directly behind them. There was one big completion to Robert Woods late in the game where the Titans ran a stack with Burks in front of Woods. Traylon Burks takes off vertically, and Robert Woods runs that seven route to the outside.

Robert Woods so smart in the way he runs the route. He stays directly behind Burks the entire time until, boom, he cuts out towards the sideline on the flag route. Just incredible nuance in the route running. So we saw stacks. We saw cross releases where two wide receivers are next to each other and they cross as soon as they release off the line of scrimmage to create easy separation and traffic and confusion.

We saw bunches as well with three wide receivers in a triangle creating bunch releases to confuse man coverage. I mean, everything that I was asking for Todd Downing to do, he did in this game. It was beautiful. And the Titans are going to need this passing offense if they want to take on Cincinnati because, little spoiler alert for my game plan preview,

Titans are going to have to win the game throwing the ball and playing great coverage. But we're going to talk about what the Titans did on game throwing the ball and playing great coverage. But we're going to talk about what the Titans did on defense against the Packers because great coverage was the name of the game. Before we get into it, though, I do want to tell you guys that today's show is sponsored by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available.

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Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Titans fans, we are going to cap off this rewatch Wednesday going over what the Titans did on defense from an X's and O's standpoint. And I'm going to tell you why David and Goliath set the tone in run defense for the Titans. Before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. For your second listen a day, check out Locked on Sports today.

From the games that matter the most to the biggest stories in sports, go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights only Locked On can provide. Locked On Sports Today available on this app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. So David and Goliath, what am I referring to here? I am referring to David Long and T. Air Tarp. That's what I'm calling them from now on, David and Goliath because the Packers came out in this game. The Packers in

three of their four wins going into this game ran for over 200 yards. They ran for almost as many yards per game as the Titans did this season coming into that game. They did not do that to the Titans. And why?

Because early on, when the Packers were trying to run up the middle on the first couple of drives, it was David Long and Goliath, T. Air Tart, that were shutting them down. So Tart was taking on double teams, and here's what was happening.

So T. Air Tart would take on a double teams and here's what was happening. So, Thierry Tartt would take on a double team and what are the Packers trying to do with that double team? One, they're trying to move Thierry Tartt off his spot and then, after Tartt is moved off his spot,

one of the guys involved in the double team can get up and get on David Long. Double team, climb to the second level. Well, here is the worst part for the Packers and the best part for the Titans. T.R. Tartt is too strong and David Long's too fast.

So, Tartt wouldn't give ground on the double team. And then David Long would dive because he diagnosed the play and then he'd dive through the hole. And he'd do it so fast that the linebacker couldn't stop him. Or that the lineman couldn't stop him. And then Tartt is now one-on-one with the guy who was a part of the initial double team, and Tartt beats him like a drum. So they're trying to double team Tartt. The guy slides off the double team to get the long. He's

too late to get the long. Tartt's then one-on-one, and he wins with pure power, and that just happened a couple times early, and the Packers were like, we can't do this anymore. And that's when the Packers went to the perimeter run game, which is something I talked about in my game plan preview that I was worried about. I knew that that would be the Packers plan. They ran handoff sweeps. They ran jet sweeps to wide receivers and running backs. They ran triple option where they were in a pony set and shotgun, fake the handoff, and then pitch it out to Aaron Jones. They would fake all of that and turn it into a play action pass. They ran swing passes to running backs. They'd fake a swing pass and then hand it off. They'd fake a handoff and throw the swing pass. They'd run screens, whether that be quick smoke screens out to wide receivers,

whether that be a running back screen, whether that be an RPO screen. I mean, they ran pitches. They were trying to get the ball on the perimeter, and I got to give a huge hand to the tackling of guys like Roger McCreary, Christian Fulton, Monty Rice, David Long, Joshua Kalou, Andrew Adams, Kevin Byard. I mean, these guys made physical plays and physical tackles on the perimeter. And the Packers didn't think they could, and

they did. And it basically put the Packers in third and long situations throughout where the Titans coverage could just absolutely do the job. In coverage, Titans played cover two. They played invert and traditional. Titans played a ton of cover four, as they always do. Quarters coverage, especially in red zone.

The Titans played man cover one, their staple. They did it with the linebacker as the zone lurker over the middle. They did it with a safety dropping down over the middle to confuse Rogers. They ran stunts, not just with defensive linemen, but with David Long. And David Long consistently beat the pass protection of the running backs from the Packers.

Whooped them. David Long's so good. Oh, my God. Oh, man. And I also just want to mention is Aaron Rodgers washed? I put out a video of about four or five throws from him. Ugly. That game should have been a lot closer. The Packers should have scored another touchdown. And Rodgers was just

bad in the second half. So that was interesting. But if you guys want to see all of the film clips, all of this stuff that I'm talking about in film clips, you can do so on my Twitter. The Tic Tac Tuesday film thread link is down in the description right now for you. Click that. You don't even have to have Twitter.

You can scroll through, click play, look at all the different plays that I put together. It's over 30 film clips of stuff that happened in this game. And boy, it was a pleasure to watch. So I hope you guys do enjoy it. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. Remember, tomorrow, Crossover Thursday with the guys from Locked on Bengals.

Friday, my game plan preview episode. Sunday, live 10-minute instant reaction after the game. 30-minute full breakdown later on Sunday evening. Make sure you stay locked in to the Locked On Titans podcast where it's your team every day. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.