Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Must FIGHT FOR CALLAHAN v Bengals, Will Levis PLAY BETTER & Attack Joe Burrow

Episode Date: December 12, 2024

The Tennessee Titans host the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15 in an emotional matchup due to the connection with head coach Brian Callahan. The Titans need to attack Joe Burrow and go downfield on the Bengals defense, but more importantly they need to fight for their head coach and show they are still locked in on the season even though they are eliminated from the playoffs. The performance will require Will Levis to play better than he has all year as the Bengals offense will certainly put up points. Jeffery Simmons has a history with the Bengals and will need to channel that while rookie corner Jarvis Brownlee Jr. will have a very difficult matchup with Ja'Marr Chase. Finally, it is hard to have confidence in the Titans from any angle after the egg they laid against Jacksonville last weekend.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow 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!Omaha SteaksFrom legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save 50% off site-wide for a limited time at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra $30 off with Promo Code NFL.IceShakerCreated by and used by the Gronkowski brothers, IceShakers has sold over 1 million bottles. They have changed the game with workout bottles, and this is the gift you’ve been looking for… go to IceShaker.com and use the code LOCKEDONNFL at checkout to save 25% on your order.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.Bilt RewardsStart earning points on rent you’re already paying by going to joinbilt.com/LOCKEDONNFL.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

If the Tennessee Titans want to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, they need to fight for Brian Callahan. 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 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 FanDuel.

New customers can place a $5 bet and get started with $150 in bonus bets. If you win your first $5 bet. Visit Fandle.com to get started. It is a game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to tell you my keys to victory for the Titans, including the team needing to fight for their head coach. We're going to look at some players to watch in this game, and I'll tell you why Will Levis has to play better.

And finally, I'll give you my predictions for this game. Who's going to win? We'll talk some fantasy, some gambling. Before I dive in, 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, always for free. You're not going to beat that anywhere else.

Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. And speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. And if you aren't an everydayer, you need to be one. As a reminder, I'm going to be going live here on the Locked on Titans

YouTube channel immediately after the game ends to break down all the action. And of course, don't worry, my podcast folks, I'm going to be uploading that into your feeds immediately after the show ends. But with that being said, we do got to talk about my keys to victory in this game. And of course, as always, make sure to let me know your keys to victory,

your players to watch, your predictions for this game, either down below in the chat or hit me up on Twitter at TicTacTitans. But my number one key to victory, and I'll keep it football to start, you know, obviously the Titans need to fight for their head coach. And that's something that I'm really focusing on, but we'll keep it on the field at first. And the number one thing the Titans have to do is attack Joe Burrow. Um, here's the way I see it. As Brian Callahan said in his press conference this week,

Joe Burrow is playing MVP-level football right now. Brian Callahan said he is the MVP of the league, and I don't think that you can be the MVP and your team not make the playoffs, so Joe Burrow's not going to win MVP. But the point remains that he is playing MVP-level football, the best football of his entire career. And when that's the case, I think the reality here is Joe Burrow is going to destroy the Titans. Like, they're going to put up a lot of points. They're going to move the ball.

This isn't going to be like last year where the Titans just dog-walked the Bengals 27-3. It's not going to be like that in my opinion. But here's my philosophy, and it's a philosophy I carry not just football but for life. Go down swinging. I was always taught as a kid, you know, a lot of people are taught certain things, you know, don't hit first, this and that. My dad looked me in the eye as a kid and said, somebody's got you backed in the corner.

You make sure that you're the one who hits first. Don't take a hit first if you're backed into a corner. And that's what the Titans need to do. That's the philosophy they need to play with. Come out and attack. Joe Burrow may cut you up and slice you and dice you anyways. If you sit back in coverage and you try to rush four, Joe Burrow may cut you up and slice you and dice you anyways.

If you sit back in coverage and you try to rush four, Joe Burrow might eat you up. I would rather blitz. I would rather send people at Joe Burrow. And again, go down swinging. Don't just sit back and let Joe Burrow dictate the terms. Go after him. Blitz, blitz, blitz.

And if there is one area, look, Joe Burrow has the second best under pressure pro football focus grade of any quarterback in the NFL this year. So it's not like Joe Burrow under pressure is all of a sudden the worst player. Joe Burrow's insane at any time, anywhere on the field.

But his completion percentage when he's under pressure does go down from 72.9% to 57.3%. And I do not believe the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line is not as bad as it was in previous years. Okay? It's an improved offensive line. So, I don't think that the Titans' pass rush, which has been disappointing all year, I don't think that the Titans' pass rush is going to be able to put Joe Burrow under pressure with only four guys. I don't think that that's going to happen.

So, attack Joe Burrow. Don't let him attack you. You may lose either way, but at least go down swinging, sending blitzes, and trying to get pressure on Joe Burrow and hope that you can get a couple of stops. On the other side of the ball, the Titans have to attack downfield. Last week, they tried to do this, take what they give us stuff against Jacksonville,

and they were able to move the ball, but they ultimately weren't able to get it done in the red zone. So what do the Titans need to do? They need to attack downfield and try to create big plays that will allow them to score touchdowns. Because if you get them down in the red zone, the Titans offense just doesn't execute well enough to score in these short yardage situations. They simply do not. All right. to score in these short-yarded situations.

They simply do not. They don't have high-level separators outside of Calvin Ridley. The offensive line in a small, confined area doesn't seem to do as well as when they're out between the 20s. So attack downfield against this Cincinnati Bengals defense. Right now, Cincinnati's defense has allowed 41 pass plays of 20 yards or more. That's 10th worst in the NFL. They have the 6th worst pass defense in the NFL. They've allowed 3,058 yards.

Attack down the field. Try not to get yourself in these red zone situations that you have proven you do not execute well. The Titans are 27th in the NFL in red zone conversion rate. It's just not good enough. So you need to hit some of these explosive plays, and that's how the Titans have been scoring in the last month or so is some of these longer plays.

So you got to try, even if the defense isn't giving you them, even if they're telling you, you got to take the, it's not going to work. That's not the way that you can win. So attack downfield, no matter what. And finally, again, my final point here is the Titans need to fight for their coach, Brian Callahan. The Titans need to fight for Brian Callahan. This is not a revenge game because there's nothing necessarily revenge worthy. Brian Callahan got a promotion to be a head coach and left a group that he really, really cared about. So it's not revenge per se, but it is going to be an emotional game.

There is clearly a connection between Brian Callahan and the Cincinnati Bengals. There are multiple players on the Titans who have played with the Bengals or in the case of like Jeffrey Simmons, Harold Landry, some of these tenured Titans. They have had battles, physical, high stakes battles against the Bengals where it's gone one way, it's gone the other way. They've been there. So no matter what you want to call it, it's going to be an emotional game for the Tennessee

Titans and the players need to go out there and give a better effort and make sure that they do their best for their head coach. If they don't, if the Titans go out there and lay down, to me that's concerning about Brian Callahan's hold over the locker room. So I want to see them fight for Brian Callahan. But let's talk about the players to watch in this game. Before we do, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you

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Plus, my listeners get an extra $30 off with the promo code NFL. That's 50% off at omahasteaks.com and an extra $30 off with promo code NFL. Minimum purchase may apply. Titans fans, let's continue today's game plan preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about my keys to victory. Now we're going to talk about my players to watch in this game. Do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about my keys to victory. Now we're going to talk about my players to watch in this game. Do want to thank you for making Locked on Titans

your first listen each and every day. As a reminder, I'll be doing all my predictions for this game, my game and score prediction, fantasy, gambling, all that at the end of today's show. But looking at the players to watch. Number one for me, and I haven't used this player for a few weeks. I've been trying to focus on other

things the Titans need to do well, but the reality here is Will Levis needs to play better. We have gotten to a point where Will Levis isn't hurting the team, okay? He isn't killing the team, all right? Great. It's different than the first month of the season where Will Levis was actively hurting the team. Okay, well now Will Levis isn't hurting the team. He isn't killing them every week with big blunders. You know what I mean? It's more level play.

But now I need Will Levis to win games for the Titans. Let's try that. Let's try that. Let's win games. Let's make special plays. Let's make things happen. That miss to Chigaconquo last week, again, it's incredibly disappointing to me that you have so many people online

trying to defend Will Levis for that mistake when Will Levis himself told you that he's upset that he missed Chigaconquo, Will Levis himself said that. Brian Callahan even said that Jeffrey Simmons is a decoy first read. He's not going to be open. The whole point is to take attention over there and then come back and Chigaconquo is the second read. So there's just no defense.

So Will didn't kill the Titans with mistakes last week. If they hit that to Chigaconquo, it's 10 to 10. Now that you could argue that now they're in position to take a field goal at the end of the game and win the game rather than going for the touchdown where Nick Westbrook-Akene dropped the football. But I still want to see better. It's not, to me, I feel like we've gotten to a place with Will Levis where it's like, well, just don't lose the game.

Just don't lose it for the Titans. And yeah, that's great compared to the first month of the season when he was losing games for the team. But that can't be the philosophy that we judge Will by going forward. At some point, this has to flip. At some point, it has to go from don't be the reason the team lose to be the reason the team wins. And when you're talking about going against Joe Burrow

in this Cincinnati Bengals offense and how many points that they're likely to put up, Will Levis can't just not lose the game. Will Levis has to play very well. He has to outplay Joe Burrow most likely. So, again, if you want the Titans to win this game, then Will Levis has to play a lot better than he played last week.

He's going to have to not just not lose the game, but he's going to have to go out there and make plays to win the game. So, you know, I know that everybody's in this weird spot right now where you defend Will Levis no matter what, or you defend the coaches no matter what, or you defend the O-line.

Everybody's picking their side when in reality, everyone is to blame for all of this. It's not just one person. But at the end of the day, the quarterback means more to the team. And if the Titans are going to beat this Bengals offense, Will Levis has to play better than just he didn't lose the game or I played a clean football game like Will Levis said after the better than just he didn't lose the game or I played a

clean football game like Will Levis said after the game. Okay, it was clean, but you didn't make the plays to win the game. You just didn't kill the team like you did the first month. And to me, that's not a good enough judge for what we expect from the quarterback position. So Will Levis, number one on my list of players to watch. My number two player to watch is Jeffrey Simmons. We know about the playoff game Simmons had against the Bengals where he had three sacks.

We know that Jeffrey Simmons has had battles with interior players for the Bengals, like a guy like Ted Karras. There is no love lost there. These two interiors do not like each other. So I need Jeffrey Simmons. To go out there and dominate. If the Titans have any chance of winning this game.

Jeffrey Simmons has to dominate. Alright. And the Bengals interior offensive line. Has been responsible for 11. Of the 21 sacks allowed by offensive linemen. So more than half of the sacks have come from the interior trio for the Cincinnati Bengals. And looking at Cordell Volson, number one, their left guard,

he's a guy who Jeffrey Simmons needs to take advantage of. Ted Karras, the center. Decent player, but Jeffrey Simmons should dominate that matchup. So if Jeffrey Simmons doesn't go out there and absolutely dominate the Bengals' interior offensive line, the Titans really don't have a shot to get the pressure on Joe Burrow that they have to to prevent the Bengals from scoring a million points. I mean, he's got to be a $100 million player.

The third player to watch for me, though, is Jarvis Brownlee Jr. So if I'm the Titans, I want Chito Awuzie going against Tee Higgins. Chito is a bigger player than Jarvis Brownlee. Jarvis Brownlee is only about 5'10", 5'11", where Chito is 6'. So if I'm the Titans, I want Chito against Tee Higgins, and I want Jarvis Brownlee Jr. pressing one-on-one against Jamar Chase. Now, they need to have safety help behind him.

Jamar Chase is going to eat. There's not much that you can do, but Jarvis Brownlee Jr. can at least make it difficult on him. He can make him fight for every single inch. And there may be a couple penalties in the game. All right. JBJ will probably get a few flags for his over-aggressive play against Jamar Chase. But I don't care.

The Bengals are probably going to move the ball down the field anyways. So make it tough on him. Make him work. Frustrate him. Do everything you can to make it a tough day for Jamar Chase. Even if he gets his numbers, he is going to have to work harder for him than he does most weeks. That's what the Titans need from Jarvis Brownlee Jr. this week.

So to me, Will Levis, Jeffrey Simmons, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., those are my top three players to watch. I do have a bonus one for you, though. A bonus one is J.C. Latham. Because Trey Hendrickson has 12.5 sacks this year. That's the most in the NFL. The Bengals' pass rush, as our guys from Locked On Bengals said yesterday on the crossover episode,

the Bengals' pass rush has been a disappointment this year, but not Trey Hendrickson. He is a one-man wrecking crew. So if I am the Titans and I'm looking at the game plan, we're going to help J.C. Latham. They need to help Latham more than they have

throughout the year, but J.C. Latham has got to come to play. He's had his worst stretch of the season over the last three or four weeks, and he's just got to play better. And look, Hendrickson has speed, but he's not a pure speed rusher. He doesn't have as much burst as Josh Hines-Allen or Daniil Hunter. He's a guy who wins with his handwork. He's a guy who wins with power.

So J.C. Latham has the opportunity to have a better matchup with Trey Hendrickson than some of the other guys who have given him problems. And he needs to step up and have a better game. No doubt about it there. But with that being said, time to do my predictions for this game. Who's going to win? What's the score going to be? Some fantasy, some gambling. Excited to dive into that with you guys.

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and so much more on the same page where you're going to place your bets. Make sure that you visit FanDuel.com to join today. Again, you're going to get started with $150 in bonus bets if you win your first $5 bet. Sadly, despite my confidence the last few weeks, I think betting the Cincinnati Bengals money line might be a good spot for that first $5 bet, but it's at FanDuel.com. Never waste a hunch.

Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Titans fans, let's cap off today's game plan episode of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about my keys to victory for the team. We talked about my players to watch in this game. Now I want to get into some of my predictions. And before I do, thanks again for making Locked on Titans your first listen. Make sure you make Locked on NFL your second listen.

So I am the host of Locked on NFL in the mornings, giving you all of the biggest NFL stories and content in under 30 minutes every day. I would appreciate it if you guys would subscribe on whatever platform that you do listen to my show on. And it's some good stuff over there, Locked On NFL. But it makes me sad because I have had confidence all year long that the Tennessee Titans would win this football game. Even last week, after the Washington Commanders loss,

said, Titans are going to beat the Bengals. Titans are going to beat the Bengals. I'm from a little north of Cincinnati, telling all my Bengals friends, you're losing week 15. Oh, that's great. Joe Burrow this. Jamar Chase that. You're losing week 15. I've had so much. Joe Burrow this. Jamar Chase that. You're losing week 15.

I've had so much confidence all season long. The Titans would find a way to pull off this victory. But after what we saw last week against Jacksonville, to only score six points against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, to look as lackluster in the red zone as they did, I just, and what they let Brian Thomas Jr. do, what was it? Six catches, 87 yards. Like, it's just unbelievable to me how bad they are.

I just cannot believe it. I look at the roster. I look at some of the performances this year. You know, like, how can you look at the team that beat Houston in Houston and then accept what we saw on Sunday against Jacksonville? Like how is that the same football team? How is that possible, you know? And with that, the point that I'm trying to make is

I have lost all confidence in the Tennessee Titans as a football team. I have lost all confidence in the Tennessee Titans as a football team. I have completely lost any feel that they're going to win any other game the rest of the year. I just can't. I cannot believe that they will. So I have the Bengals winning this game 27-17. There's no way that the Titans are going to be able to slow down this Bengals offense.

I just can't see it happen. I just can't. And then the Titans offense, it's just a broken unit. I just don't know what else to say. I just can't believe how bad they were against Jacksonville last week. I just cannot believe it. I'm truly shocked and in disarray about six points at home against Jacksonville. So I didn't think anything would happen this year that would shake me.

Even after that commanders game, I thought, you know what? There was some good in there. The Titans got off to a bad start, played them close in the second half. They'll bounce back and, you know, but no, they had their worst performance of the season after that completely failed so I'm sorry I just can't have any confidence in the Titans and I mean with that being said we move to the gambling aspect the Titans are currently four and a half point underdogs at home no way I'm taking the Titans plus four and a half. I think the Bengals win by 10, and the over-under is 46 and a half. Give me the under.

I mean, the Bengals may score a bunch of points, but the Titans surely aren't going to score a bunch of points. Look at this offense. Look what they did against Jacksonville last week. There's just no way. There's just no way. So I'm going under 46 and a half. I'm going Bengals minus four and a half.

If you want to do your $5 bet with FanDuel to make sure that you get your $150 in bonus bets, the Cincinnati Bengals money line, definitely the right place to go. But again, just a complete shock to me how low my confidence has gotten in this team after what we saw last week. I just did not foresee myself picking anything other than a Titans win in this game,

no matter what. But I just don't have any faith or any hope that they're going to come out and play well. I mean, it's just, it's impossible to think that way at this time, in my opinion. And then finally, my beautiful dark twisted fantasy player of the game. I'm going to go with Tony Pollard. I don't have any faith in the Titans passing offense right now. I think Trey Hendrickson is going to put a clown suit on whoever goes against him. Yeah, I guess Tony Pollard will run the ball for 60, 70 yards. I don't think that any Titans player is a good bet in fantasy this week. Honestly, I'm kind of thinking now I'd be shocked if they scored 17.

Maybe I have too much faith in that score. But yeah, it's just hard after that game last week to have any confidence in this team doing anything against a much better football team in the Cincinnati. The Bengals are a way better team than Jacksonville. So again, that's why I said fight for Brian Callahan, because the only way that the Titans can win this game is if their players have an increased level of motivation,

a higher level of focus and want to. And right now, after what they showed last week, I'm just not certain that they'll have that. I'm not certain that they'll have that at all. So with that being said, though, again, remember, I am going to be going live immediately after the game ends on Sunday. Make sure you throw a thumbs up on the video. Throw a tight up down in the chat if you're watching on YouTube.

Make sure you get subscribed, stay subscribed on whatever platform that you do check out the show. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.