Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Mason Rudolph MUST Be Turnover FREE, Run Game Concern & Game Predictions

Starting point is 00:00:00 If the Tennessee Titans want to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, they need to avoid the turnovers. That and more on today's edition of Locked on Titans. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans Podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, today's edition of the Locked On Titans Podcast is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:00:41 It's time for another game plan episode as the Tennessee Titans are set to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 17 on Sunday. I'm going to tell you exactly what they need to do to win, including my keys to victory, my players to watch, and then I'll give you some predictions on this game. What's my score prediction, my fantasy player to watch, the gambling advice I'd given this one. Before we dive into all of it,

Starting point is 00:01:03 do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, even on holidays and always free. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Shout out to my everydayers out there. Tune in Monday through Friday. If you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. And as a reminder, for my everydayers on Sunday after the game,

Starting point is 00:01:30 I'll be going live to break down all the action. And we've got a crazy offseason ahead. I'm going to be here to cover everything that happens. But with that being said, we do got to get into my keys to victory in this game for the Titans from a macro level, you know, from a team perspective. And for me, the number one thing that the Tennessee Titans have to do is win the turnover battle. For multiple weeks now, they've lost the turnover battle and you just simply can't win football games that way. At least this Tennessee Titans team is not good enough to win games when they turn over

Starting point is 00:02:07 the ball the way that they have really the entire season. I say in recent weeks, but it's the entire season again, 31 turnovers on the year for the Tennessee Titans. I mean, it's absolutely despicable stuff. And if you go into Jacksonville and you turn over the ball consistently, you're just going to give a team that's not very good an opportunity to not only stay with you, but also get a big advantage on you. Because as I've talked about all season, not only do turnovers prevent you from scoring points on offense, but they typically give the opposing offense

Starting point is 00:02:47 a better opportunity to score as well. So if the Titans lose the turnover battle in this game or they turn over the ball significantly, they are simply going to lose the game. There's no way around it. They can't overcome those sorts of things. So the turnover battle is the number one thing that I am watching. My number one key to victory for the Tennessee Titans by far.

Starting point is 00:03:10 But number two is to stop the run. Like, I mean, I don't think that you need to be any kind of expert to realize that the Titans cannot allow what happened last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. I mean, they cannot, especially with Mac Jones at quarterback. When you have a backup quarterback in or a quarterback that may not be super high level, heck, even if you got a really good quarterback like they do in Detroit, you got to run the football to help out the quarterback, to help out the passing game entirely.

Starting point is 00:03:42 Running the football is going to allow you to have third and shorts. It's going to allow you to have third and manageable opportunities. And when you have those, it makes it easier to sustain drives and then get points. And I don't think this is going to be some high-scoring affair for the Tennessee Titans. I think they'll score more points than six like they did last time. But the point is the Jaguars don't need to be some explosive offense.

Starting point is 00:04:04 They just need to matriculate the ball down the field, get about 20 points, and they should be able to win the game. And if you let them run the football anywhere near what the Colts did last week, giving up over 300 rushing yards, well, you're in trouble. All right? And look, Tank Bigsby can run the football. You know, Jacksonville's offensive line is nowhere near Indianapolis's offensive line, but against this Titans team,

Starting point is 00:04:30 I mean, with the way they're letting go of the rope right now here at the end of the season, there is no guarantee, in my opinion, that the Titans can stop this run game or that it is going to be significantly different. Even if they don't run for 300 yards, they run for $1.50, they run for a buck 50. The Titans are probably in trouble. So the Titans really, really, really have to find a way to stop

Starting point is 00:04:52 the run in this game, whatever it takes. If you got to play base defense against three wide receiver sets, I don't care. Stop the run. The Titans have to do that or they are in trouble. Now, The run. The Titans have to do that or they are in trouble. Now, I wouldn't really mind them being in trouble. Again, here on the Game Plan episode every Friday, I just tell you how the Titans need to win. A lot of people, that's just what they want to know.

Starting point is 00:05:18 What are the Titans going to do to get a win? But obviously, as most of you guys know, and I know most of you guys agree, it would be better for the Titans to lose this game. So we're talking about the keys to victory here. But remember in the back of your mind, I'm hoping the Titans lose this one. This is a monster, monster game for draft positioning. Okay?

Starting point is 00:05:38 But we'll talk more about that later in the show. So win the turnover battle. Stop the run. And then finally, once again, very similar to what I said last week where the Titans actually did an okay job, but the other two things were so bad that it just didn't work out. Special teams make a play. You know, like special teams has been such a detriment to the Titans for most of the season.

Starting point is 00:06:02 They have lost games. Think about that Detroit game. That game would have been a close game if the special teams didn't have a historically bad performance against the Lions in Detroit. Historically bad performance for special teams. The special teams has improved in recent weeks. But now we got to think about a different aspect of special teams,

Starting point is 00:06:20 and that's kicker. Because Nick Volk, probably out. The Titans had Braden Narveson, who they had in the preseason. They've waived him. They've brought in Matthew Wright now at kicker. Sounds like the right move, but we can't know for certain. If special teams is something that loses you the game or you don't have the advantage in special teams,

Starting point is 00:06:43 whether it be you miss field goals, they don't. Coverage units, blocked punts, penalties on coverage, penalties on return units, whatever. If the Titans are the worst special teams team, they are going to lose the game. They need every advantage that they possibly can, turnovers, special teams, and then like I said, if they don't stop the run and they

Starting point is 00:07:05 let the Jags run the way the Colts did last week, well, no other way around it. They are doomed. But let's get into my players to watch in this game because there are some individuals who are going to have a major impact on the Titans' chances here. Do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is the best place to buy tickets, period. I love GameTime. Why?

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Starting point is 00:08:27 Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L for $20 off. Download GameTime today. What time is it? It's GameTime. Titans fans, let's continue our game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Week 17, folks. It's crazy how quickly this season has gone.

Starting point is 00:09:05 We're already to week 17, and look, the reality is it has not been a great season for the Tennessee Titans, but if they handle things correctly and they lose these final two games, hopefully it will be worth it in the way of a new quarterback,

Starting point is 00:09:22 an elite pass rusher, an Abdul Carter, maybe a top flight wide receiver, Travis Hunter, Teterow and McMillan, something like that, maybe Luther Burden if that's your guy, either way. Let's hope that this rotten season pays off in some way. But back to my game plan. We had keys to victory. Now it's time to talk about

Starting point is 00:09:46 the players to watch in this game. And I will start where I started last week with Mason Rudolph. Something that I said last week that played out

Starting point is 00:09:57 entirely in front of us during the game. So, when you do the pros and cons of Will Levis to Mason Rudolph one of the big things that you expect is less turnovers Mason Rudolph isn't going to turn over the ball

Starting point is 00:10:12 as much as Will Levis well three interceptions last week tell a different story and it's funny because Brian Callahan tried to defend Mason Rudolph when asked about this early in the week and said, you know, you look at the film, it's a different story. I know that not all of the interceptions were necessarily 100% Mason Rudolph's fault, but the point here is Mason Rudolph is not some expertly clean player

Starting point is 00:10:44 who doesn't turn over the ball ever. You know what I mean? Like Mason Rudolph comes with a level of risk as well. He's not like the squeaky clean guy that people act like he is in every game that he's played this year. He's had some turnovers and pretty much all of them. You know what I mean? He's had some turnover worthy plays every single time in a couple of games. He's had a bunch of turnovers as well. So to me, you could say that it's a major upgrade on Will Levis. You could say that it gives the Titans a better chance to win. I think you're probably right about having a better chance to win, but the reality is the propensity for turnovers may not be quite as high with Mason

Starting point is 00:11:21 Rudolph, but it's not super low either. And that goes back to my first key to victory. You cannot lose the turnover battle in this game, and that comes down to Mason Rudolph. Mason Rudolph has to avoid turnovers. He has to play a clean game. And if you look back at the Titans game against the Jaguars where they lost 10-6, what a despicable game. Maybe my least favorite game of the year, if I'm honest with you.

Starting point is 00:11:43 Even the blowouts to good teams are better than that. That Jaguars loss, boring, deflating, embarrassing, horrible. Horrible, horrible game against Jacksonville in that first matchup. But Jacksonville's probably going to score more than 10 points in this game. And Mason Rudolph probably would have beat Jacksonville if he was the starting quarterback when they played last, so let's see it. Mason Rudolph did well in certain spots.

Starting point is 00:12:12 I think there is... I see this with the Chigaconquo discussion that's going on right now. People are getting real excited about Chigaconquo over the last two weeks. He's had 17 catches. He's looked solid. Well, I hate to be the Grinch. I said this on Twitter too, at Tic Tac Titans. But the truth of the matter is, the Titans have been getting blown out

Starting point is 00:12:35 for the majority of their last two games. And in those games, Mason Rudolph is just dinking and dunking down to Chigaconkwo. Defenses are going to give you that. They're playing prevent. They're playing soft zone coverage so that they don't get beat deep. So, of course, the little five-yard sit-down route to the tight end

Starting point is 00:13:00 after he chips to help an offensive tackle is open. That's what the team wants you to do. Because if you don't get chunks of yardage quickly, you're not going to come back on them. So sure, take your five, six, seven yards to Chigaconquo all the way down the field and waste seven minutes of game time when you're down by three scores. Sure, go ahead. So look, I'm not here to tell you that Chigaconquo isn't a solid player,

Starting point is 00:13:25 but the last couple of weeks of him playing great or having great stats, I'll say, doesn't mean that he's having some sort of breakout. It's all about what teams are allowing, and Mason Rudolph is playing right into their hand by not driving the ball downfield at all, by dinking and dunking even though you're down 30 points. So, yeah, he can do that. Yeah, that looked good.

Starting point is 00:13:47 Yeah, the numbers looked okay there. But the reality of what is happening does not match the reaction that I'm seeing to those numbers. Like, game flow matters here. And the game flow is allowing these easy completions. So, Mason Rudolph needs to do that earlier in the game. Period. Don't give me any of these garbage time numbers. Again, a lot of what happened in last week's game, in my opinion, is nonsense. The fake comeback, Chicken Conquo's big day, Mason Rudolph's stats, like it was all

Starting point is 00:14:19 garbage time nonsense. So why don't you do that from the beginning of the game, Mason Rudolph? Why don't you not wait until the Titans are down by three or four scores to start having some of that efficiency? That's all I'm saying. Now, the next player to watch for me is JC Latham. Latham had a bad game the last time the Titans played the Jaguars. Now, a lot of that has to do with the quality of the opponent. Josh Hines-Allen and Trevon Walker are a great edge rush duo. Last time they played, remember Will Levis, the shoulder getting driven into the ground? JC Latham got smoked by Josh Hines-Allen quite a bit throughout that day. It was a bad performance.

Starting point is 00:15:10 If Latham doesn't have a better performance, and look, Latham had a pretty good performance last week against the Colts' edge rushers, who are nowhere near as good as Houston or Jacksonville's edge rushers. Of course, the Colts can talk about Latu all they want. Hasn't been incredible this year. I don't know if that's the 15th pick. I think the Colts would rather have Dallas Turner or Jared Verse

Starting point is 00:15:32 than Latu right now. If they could go back and redo it, they would not take Latu again in the same situation. They would take one of the other edge rushers. But regardless of that, J.C. Latham had a pretty good game. Really, really bounced back in a big spot. Can he continue that momentum and finish the season strong? I want the Titans to lose these games. A lot of players on this team should not be back. They should be changed. But not J.C. Latham. Latham will be back, and the Titans need him to continue to develop

Starting point is 00:16:05 and continue to have positive games and continue to build momentum going forward. The team as a whole can't do that. The coaching staff can't do that. But individual players can do that, and Latham is one of the players who I'm hoping will do that. Like, Peter Skowronski has been on an insane run the last two, two and a half months.

Starting point is 00:16:22 He has been all pro-level guard, quite honestly. He's been awesome pro bowl level. All pros might be a bit too high. But Latham is a guy who needs to get on that kind of run. And last week was a good start to get off the schneid. He played pretty well for most of the game against Trey Hendrickson

Starting point is 00:16:40 and the Bengals as well. So build, build, come back. You've seen these guys before. Come back and have a better game the second time. Show that you've learned from your mistakes in the first matchup. That's what I want to see from JC Lake. I mean, quite honestly, if he doesn't do that, and if he gets whooped again,

Starting point is 00:16:57 then the Titans are in severe, severe trouble, and Mason Rudolph is in danger, okay? The final player to watch for me, it's not one player. It's a couple. It's the linebackers. The Titans linebackers were so bad last week and it sucks because it's James Williams. It's Cedric Gray, Otis Reese. Like these are the young linebackers that we couldn't wait to see. Well, they were horrible. They were awful. And the Titans tried to bring back David Long Jr., a name that most of you will recognize, and then he failed his physical.

Starting point is 00:17:37 Yikes. So, will the Titans get Luke Gifford back? Kenneth Murray's been placed on IR. Otis Reese had an injury. Will he be back in there? If it's James Williams and Cedric Gray again, they better play a lot better than they did against the Indianapolis Colts. Or again, the Titans are in trouble and they will not be able to stop the run.

Starting point is 00:17:57 But let's do my predictions. Talk about the tank. Some fantasy and gambling as well. Do want to let you guys know, though, that today's episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. Time is our most precious commodity, so don't waste it scrolling through the same mind-numbing content for hours and hours.

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Starting point is 00:18:47 Plus, you can always go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions, or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu slash locked on to enroll. There's no cost, and it's easy to get started. Again, that's hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register. Hillsdale.edu slash locked on to register. hillsdale.edu slash locked on. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about my keys to victory in this game. We talked about my players to watch in this game.

Starting point is 00:19:31 If you want the Tennessee Titans to win, but the reality is most of us don't. Now, before I dive into that, thanks again for making Locked on Titans your first listen. For your second listen, check out Locked on NFL. I'm the host of Locked on NFL, so you'd be showing me some support as well. But please do not win this game, Titans. I'm begging you.

Starting point is 00:19:54 I'm begging you. Couple of reasons here. Number one is the draft position itself. If the Titans win this game, they likely drop back to eighth or ninth in the draft order. If Titans win this game, they likely drop back to 8th or 9th in the draft order. If they lose this game,

Starting point is 00:20:08 they're going to 3rd or 2nd. Please do not win this game, Titans. Please. I am begging you. Not only the draft position. Not only the draft position. But this draft class and I've said it before over the last few weeks, I'm going to

Starting point is 00:20:32 continue saying it until every person who's ever listened to this show hears me say it. This draft class only has about nine or 10 first round picks, Nine or ten first round talents. Some people say it's less. Some people say it's seven or eight first round talents. Now, as you probably know, there are 32 picks in the first round. There are not 32 first round players. The Titans must get a first-round talent. They must.

Starting point is 00:21:07 They must. Okay? So if the Titans lose this game, and then next week, I know a lot of people were worried, myself included, hey, Houston, they're going to have their playoff seed wrapped up. They'll probably rest their starters. Well, after that abomination that they put out there on Christmas Day where their offense was held scoreless

Starting point is 00:21:28 and the only points they scored in a game was a safety as they gave up 30-plus points to the Ravens, they can't sit their players next week. They can't go into the playoffs off that and then sitting their starters. They can't do that. Houston needs to go out there and build some momentum and play well and get ready to play their best football in the playoffs.

Starting point is 00:21:52 So my point is, Houston's not going to sit their starters next week. They're going to have extra rest because they played on Wednesday and they're not going to have to play again until next Sunday. And they're going to have extra motivation because they got embarrassed at home on live television on Christmas day. The Titans will not win next week because of all those factors. So if you lose this game, you're home free.

Starting point is 00:22:19 You're clear. You've done it. You've gotten your top pick. It's going to be second. It's going to be third. God forbid the giants beat the Eagles. It's going to be second. It's going to be third. God forbid the Giants beat the Eagles. It's going to be first. You have put yourself in a position to maximize your draft ability. All right. Now, with that being said, sadly, I do think the Titans win this game. I think the Titans win this game. I think the Titans win this game 23-17.

Starting point is 00:22:48 It's unfortunate, but the Titans are 100% winning this game. No doubt about it. There's never been a doubt in my mind that the Titans would win this game. When they desperately need to lose it, they will find a way to win the game. For sure. Guaranteed. Now, my player to watch, my dark, beautiful, twisted fantasy player to watch of the game is Chika Conkwo once again. I think that Mason Rudolph is going to dump it down to Chika Conkwo consistently. He's a

Starting point is 00:23:18 check down Charlie, so he's going to keep doing that. It's going to give you some good catch numbers. Not only that, but Jacksonville's linebackers are vulnerable in pass coverage, so I would attack there. Safeties aren't that great either. You can attack there. I think Chigakonkwo has a big fantasy day, kind of like I thought last week as well. Same sort of situation three weeks in a row now where I think Chigakonkwo is really going to benefit from some of the check down and quick timing stuff

Starting point is 00:23:43 that Mason Rudolph wants to do. He just wants to get the ball out of his hands as quick as possible. So Chikikaku is a guy I'm going to be looking at. And then here's what I would tell you. Titans are getting one and a half points. I love that. Take the Titans in the points. That's a winning bet. Jacksonville is not going to win this game. It's unfortunate. I wish they would, but the Titans are winning. So I'm taking the Titans money line. I'm taking the Titans plus the one and a half. Whatever you want, take the Titans to win because they're winning the game. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks.

Starting point is 00:24:14 I hope you guys all enjoyed your holiday. Thank you so much for tuning in. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.

Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Mason Rudolph MUST Be Turnover FREE, Run Game Concern & Game Predictions

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