Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Lose to New England Patriots 36-13: Takeaways, #TitanUpTitanDown & More Titans Therapy

Episode Date: November 29, 2021

The Tennessee Titans lost to the New England Patriots in Week 12, 36-13, but it wasn't all bad!! First, Tyler talks about his big takeaways! How the defense played well for most of the game and how the success in the run game is something to build on. Then, Tyler talks the good & bad individual performances in #TitanUpTitanDown! Finally, enjoy some relaxation as Tyler takes you into some Titans Therapy! Everyone relax, the Titans can still win the Super Bowl. Tyler also goes through the AFC including a big loss by the Indianapolis Colts.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.StatHeroStatHero is the first of its kind Daily Fantasy Sports platform where it’s YOU vs. the HOUSE in head to head fantasy matchups - winner take all. Sign up for FREE - RIGHT NOW - at StatHero.com/LOCKEDON and use promo code LOCKEDON for a One Hundred Percent Deposit Match. 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 is a Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Unfortunately, not a Victory Monday episode. The Tennessee Titans lose to the New England Patriots 36-13 in a game they could have won, but shot themselves in the foot for a second week in a row.

I'm going to break down everything you need to know coming out of this matchup. We are going to start with my big picture takeaways on offense and defense. Then we're going to move into my individual analysis and everybody's favorite segment, tighten up and tighten down. Finally, I'll talk you guys off the ledge for a second week in a row and explain, while despite a two-game losing streak, I am not concerned about the Tennessee Titans' long-term potential this year. We'll also look at the AFC slate, and there was a big-time outcome that went the Titans way on Sunday.

I'll explain all of that and more on this Monday 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 going to dive into my big picture takeaways on offense and defense coming out of this loss to the New England Patriots. Before we do, I want to thank you guys once again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

If this is your first ever listen to the show, make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you stream podcasts. And make sure you check out the video edition on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. And if you're watching on YouTube right now, make sure to hit that thumbs up button. Also, follow me on social media, on Twitter, at TicTacTitans for all my film breakdowns.

And check out the show Facebook page at Locked on Titans Pod. But the Titans lose this game 36-13. They're on a two-game winning streak, their longest streak of the season so far. That's not really all that awful. But what hurts the most about this game is that the Titans were in prime position to win the ballgame. They had a great, well, not a great first half, but they played pretty well in the first half.

They were only down 16-13 despite all of the mistakes, but a couple of turnovers really got the Titans in a bad spot, a couple of mistakes, and let's talk about that. Self-inflicted wounds for the Titans. Penalties. They had five penalties for 50 yards. The penalty on the first punt of the game for the Titans, so the Titans come out and they punt on their first drive.

They have the Patriots set up to start on their 30-yard line. They have penalties on the punt. The Titans have to re-kick, and then the Patriots started on the Titans 40. That's a 30-yard swing of field position, and of course that field position led to the Patriots touchdown to open the scoring in this matchup. So critical penalty

on the first punt for the Titans that totally changed the field position for the Patriots. 32 yards total of flip on those penalties on the punt but that wasn't it. Turnovers. The Titans had a fumble on a nice run by Hilliard in the first half. They had a fumble on a really nice run by Foreman in the second half.

They had a red zone interception, and then Kari Blossom game fumbled in garbage time. But either way, four turnovers in this game. A turnover on downs as well on a fourth down that wasn't converted for the Titans. So that's basically five turnovers along with the five real turnovers. The two fourth down missed opportunities last week. The Titans have basically had 12 turnovers in two weeks. Nine turnovers if you just count legitimate turning over the ball with interceptions or fumbles.

You just can't win that way. Then you add on with the turnovers and the penalties. Missed kicks. Randy Bullitt comes out, misses his first two kicks, an extra point and a field goal. That's four points that the Titans left on the board. They should have been winning at halftime 17-16. But those two missed kicks.

And then the missed tackles in the second half as the Titans' defense completely wore down. And they just couldn't hang in the game any longer. On the Kendrick Bourne 40-yard touchdown, they just couldn't hang on. So that's the general theme of this game, the self-inflicted wounds for the Titans. Penalties, turnovers, missed kicks, and missed tackles. But as for the offense, it wasn't all bad.

The Titans ran the ball at will in this game. They went for 270 rushing yards. That's a great job by the offensive line against a really talented defensive front that had been great against the run in recent stretches. But again, the turnovers, hard to get over that. But really it came from the fact the Titans could not get anything going in the passing game. They were trying to use screens. They were trying to use different kind of pick plays on the outside, rub routes and things like that that are schemed up plays that have one read and one option. And if you don't get it to them, you're dead. They ran a flea flicker with some success, but Ryan Tannehill only had 93 passing yards in this game.

There's just no semblance of a passing game with this JV practice squad set of pass catchers. And now AJ Brown's on IR, probably be without Julio Jones for the Jaguars game. Maybe he comes back, but I just don't see how the Titans offense can do any better. All they can do is not turn over the ball and they still would have won the last two games if they didn't turn over the ball consistently. So that's the number one problem. But obviously all of that stems from the fact that the Titans don't really have a passing game that they can rely on right now. Dontrell Hilliard had that long touchdown run in the first half, 68 yards. They really boosted the Titans, but that was the last time that they threatened the

Patriots at all really, other than the red zone interception that the Titans had in the second half. So not really much going in the passing game, the turnovers, but do got to give the Titans offensive line credit. Really got things going in the run game, and that's a good sign going forward as the Titans play maybe some lesser opponents in the weeks ahead. On defense, only 105 rushing yards for the Patriots, and about 20 of that came in garbage time. Really good job by the Titans' defensive line stopping the run game of New England. Mack Jones had 310 passing yards, though.

The Titans really just laid down and died there in the second half. The Titans did good in the red zone, though. They knew you can go 20-20 on us. That's fine, but we're going to shut you down in the red zone, and the Titans did that. Held the Patriots to 2-5 in the red zone, and one of those was a missed field goal, so a good job by the Titans.

They held the Patriots to 4-10 on third downs. They had two sacks. They didn't force any turnovers, but a pretty good job from the Titans' defense until they started missing tackles and kind of laying down in the game that the offense couldn't keep them in minute, and you could feel it. The Titans' defense held up as long as they could

until the end of the third quarter. They give up that long run on a catch by Kendrick Bourne for a touchdown. They're down by two scores, and then after that, they missed tackles and kind of let the Patriots have what they want at the end of the fourth quarter. But overall, I thought the defense had a pretty good showing. The Titans' run game really got going, and with the JV options that they had in the passing game, it's hard to blame them with all the injuries.

But overall, there's some good there, but you just can't shoot yourself in the foot the way the Titans have been in recent weeks. We're going to move to the individual performances. I'm going to evaluate the good and the bad and tighten up and tighten down. Before we get into that, I do want to tell you guys about DirecTV Stream. Does this sound familiar?

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ever again, and the best part, there's no annual contract. So get rid of the clutter and the confusion and get your TV together with Direct TV Stream. You can learn more at directtv.com. That's directtv.com, compatible device required. Content varies by package. Titans fans, we are going to continue this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a little tighten up and tighten down as I go over the good and bad individual performances from this game just on my initial watch. Of course, I always like to follow up with the things I see on tape later in the week,

which tomorrow we're going to continue breaking down this game, usually from a statistical standpoint. Might have some conversations to have, some talking points I want to get into as we get to the bye week. Wednesday will be rewatch Wednesday where I'm breaking down the film and giving all my film notes. So make sure you guys subscribe so you don't miss that. But I want to thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast

your first listen every day. Let's dive into Tighten Up and Tighten Down, and I'm going to start with the Tighten Ups. We're going to start with a little bit of positivity, and despite the fumble, my first Tighten Up is Dontrell Hilliard. He ran with great burst. He ran with great speed. I know that he fumbled, but overall, he played very, very well, and that 68-yard touchdown run certified and solidified his tighten-up status. He had 12 carries for 131 yards and one touchdown.

The type of explosiveness the Titans really need in the ground game while they're missing basically all of their weapons. I would rather have Dontrell Hilliard out there as running back two going forward, even when the Titans are healthy over Jeremy McNichols. So hopefully Hilliard stays around even when the Titans are healthy over Jeremy McNichols. So hopefully Hilliard stays around even when the Titans do get healthy, if that ever really happens. Another tight nut for Cody Hollister. I thought he blocked really well in this game, came in off the street and was the starting wide receiver for the Titans. He had two catches for 22 yards.

I thought overall he did a good job and he would have had another catch on a third down if Tannehill didn't throw the ball behind him on the sideline. So I thought Nick Hollister or Cody Hollister did a really good job. Nick Westbrook-Akina and WI, I thought he did good as well. Two catches for 25 yards. One of his catches was a wide receiver screen on the goal line for the Titans first touchdown. He rolled in a good job there. He blocked well throughout the day, and he had a great one-on-one body catch on the flea flicker that the Titans ran in the first half. So I liked what Nick Westbrook-Akina did in this game. So overall, a decent job with the opportunities they were given. These guys are practice squad depth wide receivers who can come in, get one or two catches in a game, get put in good spots and play well. They can't do more than that though, which is where the Titans

get into trouble without their playmakers. Overall, a tight end up for the offensive line. And I'll put the tight ends in there a little bit. Two sacks allowed, I know, but that's not terrible considering the Titans' circumstances with all the injuries and what the Patriots' defense had going for them recently. 270 rush yards against this Patriots' defense, that's great, guys. If the Titans' offensive line can maul a good defensive line like that, then they're going to be great going forward when this team gets back to full strength. That's awesome. From the O-line, a big tight end up there. Another tight end up to the Titans' defensive line.

They held the Patriots' run game down. They had been averaging over 130 rushing yards over their five-game win streak. The Titans held them to 105 yards, and in my opinion, most of that came in garbage time to make it go over 100. The Titans' defensive line played very well in this game. Two sacks. Simmons had six tackles and was a menace. Harold Landry had three tackles.

Naquan Jones had a tackle and a half a sack. Kyle Pecco got some run up there. And Derek Roberson, a big tighten up for Derek Roberson, who's had his struggles throughout his career against the run, but he had four tackles. He had a half a sack. He had three QB hits. He had two tackles for loss. I saw Derek Roberson make some really good plays in run defense in this game.

So I'm feeling very encouraged by the Titans' offensive line and the Titans' defensive line coming out of this game. Also, Christian Fulton had a really nice game, had a pass breakup, only got thrown in his direction one time that I recall. He had four tackles. Again, that nice pass breakup where he hit the wide receiver in the back towards the Patriots were driving towards the end zone. So great job by Fulton.

And Buster Screen, who went out there and was the Titans' designated pass play slot. They always use Elijah Molden on rundowns in the slot because he's good against the run and he can blitz. But Buster Screen was out there as the slot cornerback for the Titans in passing situations. And I thought he did a pretty good job. Had two tackles in his limited snaps. We didn't hear his name called a lot. So really good job there. Tighten up for those guys. We will get to the Titan downs. And I got to give a Titan down to Deonta Foreman. I know he went for over 100 yards, 109 yards rushing, but he's literally looking up at the video board and seeing the guys behind him. He's on a long run. Cover the ball, my man.

Just back-breaking fumble for Foreman in the second half. Could not do that after getting the offense in a position where they could have taken the lead. They were down 19-13. They could have taken the lead, and Foreman fumbled there. A much more punitive fumble, and Foreman didn't rebound and pay it back like Hilliard did with his long touchdown run. Anthony Ferkser completely remains to be a ghost. He's not good in run blocking.

Only one catch for seven yards in a game where the Titans were without all of their good wide receivers. And Furk hasn't stepped up one time all year long. We haven't seen a single game this year with a big performance from Anthony Furkser. Got to put Randy Bullock on the Titan down list. One for three on his kicks. Early on, missing those really changed the momentum for the Titans. A missed field goal and missed extra point two weeks in a row.

Cannot have that with the things the Titans are dealing with right now. They can't have their kicking game go back in the dump. Jayon Brown, Monte Rice, Dylan Cole. The Patriots attacked the Titans linebackers over the middle all day long with play action.

Putting Jacoby Myers, Kendrick Bourne in the slot, getting those matchups. Bullock, or Jayon Brown had eight tackles. Monty Rice had five tackles and ended up getting hurt. Dylan Cole had four tackles. Cole actually had a really nice play where he almost got an interception. But overall,

the Patriots just attacked there and passed. They switched at halftime. The Patriots said, fine, if we're not going to be able to run the ball, we're going to throw the ball on first down. We're going to throw all over the middle of the field because your linebackers can't hold up. The Titans are missing David Long so, so bad right now. And Jayon Brown is a shell of himself so far this year

after coming back off IR. Jack Rabbit Jenkins, I believe he had a penalty in this game. Four tackles, miserableiserable tackling effort. Just absolutely piss poor. I was really, really sad to see the effort that Jackrabbit was given on some of those tackling attempts. Got to give a Titan down to Kevin Bayard. 12 tackles on the day, yes,

but got burnt in man coverage multiple times. On the Kendrick Bourne touchdown down the sideline, Bayard got roasted in pass coverage. When Byard's at his worst, he's playing man coverage and playing tight man coverage. It's just not what he does well. He's good as a robber, a zone defender in the deep half or in the deep middle or over the middle of the field as a robber.

When the Titans start dealing with injuries, they have to put Kevin Byard in situations where he's not his best, and it showed in this game. I do like the sack. It was a good sack, but it was a schemed-up sack. Overall, Kevin Byron did not have a good game, and Nick DeZumnar got the penalties that hurt the Titans on the punt I talked about before. You cannot kill the team like that with penalties on special teams, so Nick DeZumnar tightened down. Probably have to put Ryan Tannehill on this list too, guys. I mean, I don't want to crush Tannehill

because he's working with nonsense out there. He really is. But the run game was good. He can't help the fumbles, but he's not lifting people up. He had an inaccurate throw on the sideline to Cody Hollister. He had an inaccurate throw to Chester Rogers on what should have been a walk-in touchdown.

Tannehill isn't doing anything to make this team better. Right now. He's not elevating the people around him. But in my opinion, that's what we knew about Tannehill all along. If you take away any of the second tier, third tier quarterbacks in the NFL and you take away all their best options, they're going to look bad. So I don't want to kill Tannehill too much with everything that's going on around him, but he's not making the plays that are there for him either. So that's a big concern going forward, but that's my tighten ups and tighten downs. I'm going to talk you guys off the ledge. We're going to talk about the AFC and everything

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they have this 2021 holiday season. BetOnline, they're stuffed with deals this holiday season. Titans fans, let's cap off this Monday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast with a little bit of a therapy session for you guys, second week in a row. I feel like I have to do this, but I just want to talk everybody off the ledge because I'm seeing full-scale panic from Titans fans online

following a two-game losing streak. Before we get into that, just want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, make sure that you check out the Locked on Bets podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network presented by betonline.ag. I told you where you can place your bets at betonline.com Going to give you their locks of the day. Upset specials. Everything you need to know from a gambling aspect. You can find at the Locked on Bets podcast.

But let's do this therapy session here for just a second. Okay. The Titans offensive line has gotten things going in the run game. When the Titans have at least one of their top tier weapons in Julio or AJ Brown. The passing game is solid. Titans have at least one of their top tier weapons in Julio or A.J. Brown. The passing game is solid. When the Titans were even decently healthy during their long winning streak, their five game winning streak,

six game winning streak, they were one of the top 10 teams in the NFL in scoring. They were one of the top 10 NFL teams in red zone. They were moving the ball. They were scoring points. They were fine. This team is the most injured team in NFL history. Why are you panicking?

When we're playing with practice squad wide receivers like Cody Hollister and Nick Westbrook-Akina as the starters. Dontrell Hilliard and Deontay Foreman off the street. Both going over 100 yards. The Titans are turning over the ball. Yes, that's true. But if they don't turn over the ball, they win both those last games.

And you could say if, if, if, if, if was a fifth we'd all be drunk. I get it guys. I get the retorts. I get the rebuttals. But here's the reality. The Titans defense is vastly improved this year. We know that. We know that. The defense is vastly

improved. The Titans offense has evolved in a way where they can do different things from last year while also doing the things they did last year when healthy. This Tennessee Titans team, if they get healthy, can still win the Super Bowl. We've seen their best football when they have even a modicum of health. Not even healthy, just not a disastrous amount of injuries. If I would have told you that Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, and A.J. Brown would all be on IR this season at points, what do you think

the Titans would be doing? They wouldn't be 8-4 and still at the top of the AFC and still leading their division. Everything that has gone wrong for the Titans and they still are at the top of the AFC South and tied for the lead in the conference. Relax, everybody. Relax. Yes, if the Titans don't ever get healthy, then they can't win anyways we know that

so I'm not going to be disappointed if the Titans don't win if Derrick Henry doesn't come back and AJ Brown finishes the season on IR and Julio never gets anything going and Bud Dupree never comes back I'm not going to be disappointed the Titans can't win a Super Bowl without all those guys

they can't, duh. But if they come, right now, if those players come back healthy for the Titans by the end of the year, do you feel differently about what the Titans can do in the playoffs when they're healthy? I don't. The game against the Texans in this game

doesn't change my mind on that. Why would it? This isn't the Titans. And they're still playing decent football. Minus the turnovers, this team's playing perfectly fine the last two weeks. Yeah, you can't just say, hey, without the worst thing that's going on, they're fine. But seriously, without a couple fumbles, hell, if you take away Chester

Rogers hitting the ball off his own foot on the punt last week, the Titans still win that game. I'm not panicking. You guys can panic if you want. But this team could still win the Super Bowl if they get right. And nothing's changed over the last two weeks. Yeah, the number one seed might be out the window. Maybe so.

Maybe so. But based on what I saw today, New England isn't by far and away some awesome team. We completely took out the run game. Mac Jones wasn't very good in this game if we're honest. He had a lot of inaccurate throws. And the Titans ran the ball down their throat with practice squad running backs.

I'm not sold on New England dominating the rest of the season and getting the number one seed. They could lose two or three more games for sure. So everyone just calm down, man. Freaking out. Tannehill's garbage. Trade him.

Put in the backups. This team's terrible. Undisciplined. Fire the coaches. Can't win with Todd Downing. Shane Bowen isn't for real. We're having the best rush. Why can't we throw the ball? You guys are ridiculous, man.

Just ridiculous. I'm annoyed. The Titans are fine. They just have to get healthy. And what matters most is the bye week. And we are here. We are at the bye week. Finally. It has arrived. It is bye time. We're going to have some mailbag stuff during the bye.

I'm going to do some season recap type things. Have some fun. Best wins. Toughest losses. Evaluate where we're going forward. Might have a guest on. Somebody just to chop it up and have some fun about the Titans, if you guys would like that. So, a lot of stuff coming.

But this isn't the end of the episode. I want to cover the AFC and everything that happened. The Jags are a clown show. They're 2-9. The Texans, clown show, 2-9. Both of those teams lost. The Colts, this is the biggest thing, man. The biggest thing.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Colts. The Colts were up by 10 at halftime, and Tampa Bay, Tom Brady, the GOAT, the best player of all time. Thank you, Tom. And really, Leonard Fournette went nuts, the old division rival. So thank you, Leonard Fournette. Thank you, Tom Brady. Beat the Colts. The Colts are now 6-6. The Titans are 8-4. And with the sweep, the Titans basically have a three-game lead on the Colts right now. And just want to say, the Colts' magic number, or the Titans' magic number is three. Any combination of three Titans losses or Colts losses, Titans wins, any of those that add up to three, if the Titans get two wins and the Colts lose one more game, if the Colts lose two games and the Titans win one game, if the Titans win three games

and the Colts, you know, don't lose, if the Titans win three games, it's sealed, signed, delivered. The Titans win the division. So if the Colts lose three games, any combination of Titans wins and Colts losses that add up to three clinches the AFC South for the Titans,

which getting a home playoff game has to be the concern now with all the injuries. Going to be tough to get the number one seed. But also, the Bengals killed the Steelers. They're 7-4 right there fighting for the number one seed. The Ravens are on Sunday night football. They're 7-3 against the Browns. If they win their 8-3,

they're going to take over the AFC lead as the No. 1 seed. The Patriots are now 8-4, so we know that. The Bills won on Thanksgiving. They're 7-4, so they're right there fighting. But the Pats and the Bills got to play each other later this year. The Ravens and Bengals, I do believe, play again this year one more time. So these teams are going to cannibalize each other, and the Titans just have to continue to get healthy

and win the games down the schedule that they should still be able to win, but that's going to do it for me today, folks. A bad loss, but everyone just calm down. I will be back with you guys tomorrow. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.