Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Must FLIP THE SCRIPT on Cincinnati Bengals, Pressuring Burrow & Dillard v Hendrickson

Episode Date: September 28, 2023

The Tennessee Titans will have to approach this game against the Cincinnati Bengals differently than they have before. They must flip the script on offense and defense. First, on offense, the Titans need to spread things out and attack downfield. Next, the Titans defense needs to bring the fight to the Bengals and pressure not only Joe Burrow, but his surrounding cast. Finally, Tyler gives his final prediction and talks about the individual matchups to watch including Andre Dillard going against Trey Hendrickson.Follow 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!Harry'sGet your best shave ever this summer with Harry’s razors and skin care products. Get a $13 Starter Set for just $3 at harrys.com/NFL.   NutrafolTake the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code LOCKEDONMLB. DoorDashGet fifty percent off your first DoorDash order up to a twenty-dollar value when you use code lockedonnfl at checkout. Limited time offer, terms apply.Jase MedicalSave more than $360 by getting these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical plus an additional $20 off by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit. eBay Motors dot com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Tennessee Titans need to flip the script on the Cincinnati Bengals if they want to win in week four. I'll tell you how they can do it on today's game plan 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. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans.

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Shout out to my everydayers tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. Make sure that you guys are tuning in on Sunday immediately after the game for my instant emotional reaction. Then I'll have a full breakdown of the game later on on Sunday night. Then of course, we have Tic Tac Tuesday, diving into the tape. What's next? Wednesday to look ahead to next week's game. It'll be crossover Thursday before you know it. And then

game plan Friday again as the Titans take on the Colts in week five. But before we get ahead of ourselves, time to dive into this matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals in week four. And look, at the end of the day, this is going to be a very, very tough game for the Titans. At the end of the day, the Titans have never beaten Joe Burrow. And whether Joe Burrow's limited, whether the Bengals have gotten off to a slow start, whatever the conversation may be, I know that the Titans are going to have a tough time with Joe Burrow and that Bengals defense that knows them all so well.

And that is why my game plan theme for the Titans is to flip the script. The Titans cannot go out against this Bengals team and try to do the same exact thing that they have done three times before and play Tennessee Titans football. Line up, be physical, outman them. It's just not going to happen with the personnel that the Titans have right now, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Titans cannot do the traditional three tight ends,

line up on the line of scrimmage with nine people in the box and run Derrick Henry down the gut. That's just not going to work. The Bengals have it figured out. We've seen some of the tactics that the Browns used last week. That's the sort of tactics that the Bengals have used in the past coming downhill, shooting the gaps, not letting the Titans get going. As the Browns said, rush the passer or stop the run on the way to the quarterback. And the Bengals are going to have the same approach. The Titans cannot go out there and play Tennessee Titans football as we've come to know it. It will not work against this Bengals team. And look, I understand that statistically

speaking, there are some rebuttals here. There are some things that people could say to say, wait a minute, Tyler, this Bengals defense is not that good. And I understand that, okay? First and foremost, the Bengals have been allowing 5.1 yards per carry on the ground this year. All right, that's not great by any stretch of the imagination. It's not. Also, according to ESPN stats and info, and hat tip to TD on this one,

the Bengals are allowing an NFL high of 10 air yards per attempt. People are able to throw the ball down the field against the Bengals, okay? So, with that being said, no statistical rebuttals, I understand. This Cincinnati Bengals team knows the Titans so well, it's almost like a division game. And it's funny because someone from the Bengals, it might have been Joe Burrow, said, this will be like an AFC North game because of the physicality.

These teams know each other very well. The Bengals know the Titans, and they have not beaten them three times in a row now. So something else must happen. A different approach must be taken. That's why the Titans need to spread it out. They need to go shotgun. They don't need to load the box with a bunch of tight ends. I'll get up here and a lot of the times I tell you the Titans need to be yourself. Just be who they are and play Titans ball. Not this time. Flip the script.

Spread it out. Go a shotgun heavy attack. Quick screens, draws, traps, jet sweeps, reverses, swing passes. Throw it to Derrick Henry. Run with Tajay Spears out of shotgun. Rollouts with Ryan Tannehill. Get him away from Trey Hedrickson and roll him the other way. Run gadget plays. Run trick plays. We haven't seen trick plays from the Titans since the first game. And they were open and they were there. And I get it

that you can't use those every single week or they're just simply not going to work. But the Titans haven't used them in two weeks and they're going to need them now. And according to Jake Lisco from Locked On Bengals yesterday, the Bengals have been susceptible to those special trick plays and getting out of position. The Titans need to throw the kitchen sink at the Bengals, and they need to do it from a different perspective than they typically do it.

They need to totally go to a different place and flip the script. Take deep shots early and they'll have to adjust the way that they were blocking Miles Garrett with the way they're going to have to attack Trey Hendrickson, okay? They're going to have to adjust that. But at the end of the day,

Trey Hendrickson, Logan Wilson, Sam Hubbard, DJ Reader, Hill up top, Jermaine Pratt. You're just not going to run Tennessee Titans football down the Bengals' throat. They never allow it, okay? And those games before have been close with the Titans and the Bengals, but the Titans have yet to win.

So you can't do the same thing over and over and over again and expect different results. That, my Tennessee Titans friends, is the definition of insanity. The Titans must flip the script here, go away from what their tendencies are and what their normal path is. This should not be a huge Derrick Henry game where he's lined up in 13 personnel and going down the middle on inside zone. You just can't do that. You have to be more creative in this game. This will be the biggest challenge

for Tim Kelly yet because he is forced right now to do something different. If the Titans do what they've always done, they will lose again. If they flip the script and show some creativity offensively, they might have a chance to get some points, maybe get up early, and then you can allow your pass rush to do damage and pin their ears back. That has to be the plan is for the Titans to come out ultra aggressive, throwing the ball, taking deep shots, shotgun, trick plays, come out aggressive, fast, early, get some points on the board, allow your defense to have some faith, have some hope,

and more importantly, have the ability to purely pass rush a limited Joe Burrow. Flip the script, Tennessee Titans, if you want a chance at slaying the Joe Burrow dragon. But with that being said, we're going to move forward. We're going to talk about the defensive side of the ball for the Titans because I think the Titans need to flip the script from what they've been doing early in the season on that side of the ball as well. Before we get into it though, I do want to let you guys know that today's game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast is brought to you

by DoorDash. Are you missing syrup for your pancakes? Did you just run out of your favorite coffee creamer? Are you missing syrup for your pancakes? Did you just run out of your favorite coffee creamer? Are you missing your pregame appetizers for the Titans game? Well, with DoorDash Grocery Delivery, you can get what you want right when you need it. If you love the convenience of getting what you want right to your door, with DoorDash Grocery Delivery, you can stock up for the week or order last minute cravings conveniently.

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when you download the DoorDash app in the App Store and use that code LOCKEDONNFL. Don't forget, that's code LOCKED edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Getting ready for this week four matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Just talked about what the offense needs to do. They need to flip the script on what we can normally expect from the Tennessee Titans. I want to get into what the offense needs to do. They need to flip the script on what we can normally expect from the Tennessee Titans. I want to get into what the defense needs to do. And again, they need to flip the script from what they've been doing early in the season.

So far, before we get into all of that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. But I do want to remind you guys, football season is here. And Locked On is kicking off our coverage with Locked On NFL Kickoff Live. Each Friday, Locked On goes live from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern on every Locked On NFL YouTube channel. So the show is going to be live on the Locked On Titans channel.

You don't even got to go anywhere. Host Tanitra Batiste, Jarvis Davis, Kyle Krabs, break down every game on the NFL slate to get you ready for your team's matchup, your fantasy lineups, betting angles, and more. Plus, you get in-depth local analysis from our stable of NFL hosts across the country who know these teams

better than anyone else, including ya boy. Find Locked On NFL Kickoff Live every Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern on any Locked on NFL YouTube channel. But talking about the defense here, the Titans have played a lot more zone coverage early in the year than I was anticipating.

And I asked for more zone coverage a lot through the back half of last year when the Titans had injuries at cornerback. They simply didn't have the cornerback talent to play the tight man coverage that they wanted to play. And it looks like they've learned from those lessons and kind of backed off that tight man coverage, even in the situations where they would normally play it in previous years. They kind of backed off of that early on in the season. I've seen a ton of cover two, whether it be traditional cover two or invert cover two from the Titans.

They obviously still love their quarter or their quarters coverages and the way they play that match cover six. And it's all great zone stuff. And the Titans have been like, hey, we're not just getting cooked in man coverage all the time anymore. We're going to try to adjust. But it hasn't mattered because the Titans are tied with the Chargers for most passing plays allowed of 40 yards or more.

It's not working. And not only that, you have to look at the status of Joe Burrow. You have to look at the limited nature of Joe Burrow. And don't get me wrong. Joe Burrow being limited is still plenty good enough to beat the Titans with the weapons that he has and the gritty player that he is. I mean, he's just got what you need to get it done. He is clutch in every sense of the word.

So, you have to just hit him. And you have to make it tough. I pointed out these things before, but I want to bring them back up here. Joe Burrow's time to throw, that's how quickly he threw the ball. In week three, dealing with the injury,

was faster than any average of any year of his career so far. He threw the ball significantly faster in week three with the injury than he normally does throughout his career. His average depth of target, that's how far the ball is being thrown before it gets to the receiver, was lower in week three. It was 7.2. Then his career average in any season of his career. It is simple.

Whether you watch the game, whether you look at the numbers, he's getting rid of the ball as quick as he possibly can, and he's throwing it shorter so that he can do it. Two things. One, it takes longer to throw deeper passes. And two, it takes more power in your calf to push off to throw further passes. He doesn't want to do either of those things while he's nursing the calf injury. The Titans got to take advantage.

I know that this sounds dangerous. But again, flip the script. The Titans need to play press man coverage nonstop in this game. From the early start, let the Bengals know we are pressing you. We are getting in your face. You are not getting these quick little easy dump off passes. That's part of the problem for me Let the Bengals know we are pressing you. We are getting in your face. You are not getting these quick little easy dump off passes. That's part

of the problem for me with the Titans and it's been a problem for years is they allow these quick easy throws early because they don't want to challenge on early downs and teams are able to have incredibly efficient early downs against them and then they have third and shorts and it's easier to convert.

Or you have second and short and it's easier to take a shot play on second and short because you know if you fail, you still have a third manageable opportunity. The Titans just allow offenses to get in advantageous situations too often by giving them too much. Being a bend don't break defense too much because they break too much. So screw that. Screw all the zone coverage. No, we're playing tight, man. I'm putting Sean Murphy bunting in his big physical nature

against T. Higgins. I am putting Jamar Chase friend Christian Fulton, who they also played in high school and college together, coincidentally. But I'm putting Christian Fulton on Jamar Chase. It's a better speed matchup. I'm going to have Roger McCreary go against Tyler Boyd,

and then no matter what, I am going to have a safety shadowing over Jamar Chase. In this mode that the Bengals are in, Jamar Chase is the ultimate weapon because he's always open. Burrow doesn't have to be Burrow because he's got Chase. He can just take it easy and get the ball. Last week he had 12 catches over 100 yards. He was dominant. Zone, he found any nook and cranny in any zone

that the Rams tried to throw at him. And in man, it's obviously going to be tough, but the Titans have to have a plan of, we're basically bracketing bracketing, right? Bracketing Jamar Chase the entire time. And we're going to bring five man on pressure and we're going to get to Burrow and you're going to get rid of the ball quick, sure. But it's going to be short

and we're going to be right on you to try to disrupt it immediately. Press man at the line of scrimmage. Blitz pressure. Normally, again, normally that would be a death sentence against the Bengals. But with Burrow's condition and the Tennessee Titans' desperation, the Titans need to flip the script on what they've done early in the year, go back to blitzing with tight man coverage, and force this Bengals team to take those shots downfield.

Force this Bengals team, because watching Joe Burrow reminded me of Carson Wentz in week four of 2021 when he had two bad ankles and he was just throwing the ball into the ground instead of taking sacks. That's the situation that Joe Burrow is in right now with his mobility, and the Titans have to do everything they can to pressure the Bengals early on

and let them know it won't be that easy. We're not going to sit in zone and let Jamar Chase sit down in the nooks and crannies and the holes. We're not going to do that. We're going to be in your face nonstop. And if you want to take advantage of that and try to beat us deep and you want to take advantage of that and try to run a double move or blah blah blah blah blah, well we're bringing five people. So you better

hope your guys pick it up so that you have time to even do that. It's dangerous, but again, desperation for the Titans in this game. They can't do what they've done before. They need to bring the fight to the Bengals instead of just laying back and letting the fight be brought to them. Doing it one way has already lost you nine out of the last ten games. Let's try it the other way. On offense and defense, let's do something different.

That's all I can say. They need to flip the script. Doing it over and over again the same way against this Bengals team is insanity. They have to take advantage of the opportunity that's in front of them and bring the fight to the Bengals early on. All there is to it. But with that being said, I'm going to confirm my predictions, talk about some of the individual matchups that I think will matter most in this game.

Before I get into that, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's game plan episode is brought to you by GameTime. Look, guys, the GameTime app is absolutely fantastic. It's the best place to buy last-minute tickets. You're going to get great deals without all the hidden fees. You can buy tickets in seconds, literally two taps. You can buy tickets. And GameTime has deals on tickets right up to the start of the event,

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of the Locked on Titans podcast. We've talked about what I want to see the offense do schematically from a philosophical standpoint. Talked about the defense as well. I want to kind of zoom in here, talk about some of the individual matchups, confirm my prediction that we talked about on yesterday, which I'm sure not a lot of you enjoyed, understandably so, but just the way I think things are going to play out.

Before we get into it, thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. I want to remind you guys I will be live immediately after the game on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel, giving you my instant emotional reactions to the result of the game, win or lose, and then I'll release my show on Sunday night

with a full recap, 30 minutes of what I saw from the offense, what I saw from the defense, tighten up, tighten down, of course, a fan favorite segment. So all of that, Tuesday we'll dive into the film, Wednesday look ahead to the next game. So much coming up here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Make sure that you get subscribed.

Stay subscribed. It's your team every day. Let me know your guys' predictions down below. What do you think is going to happen in this game? But some of the individual matchups we've talked about already, and the reality here is, can Andre Dillard block Trey Hendrickson?

Hendrickson had two sacks against the Rams, had 10 pressures. He was dominant. I don't think that Andre Dillard is significantly better than the backup left tackle on the Los Angeles Rams, so I don't think that it's like there's a big talent difference in what we're going to see. I hope that the Titans adjust here and try to help Andre Dillard in more creative ways than what we saw last week

because if they do, the Bengals are just going to knock on those doors again and the Titans aren't going to be there to answer them. We know that already from the film from last week. But Mike Frabel said in this press conference on Thursday, or I believe it was Wednesday, that Andre Dillard is going to have to block Trey Hendrickson one-on-one sometimes. They're going to have him some help, but they can't give him help every single rep. And you know what? Mike Vrabel is right.

You're a starting left tackle in the NFL. They literally cannot give you help every single play. There are just plays that can't work with that. So there will be times where Andre Dillard has to win one-on-one against Trey Hendrickson. And if in those circumstances, like we saw last week, Hendrickson wins nearly every time. And the Titans aren't going to be able to win. They're not going to be able to operate on offense.

He's going to wreck the game, create turnovers, all that. It's the truth. So that matchup, Dillard's going to have to bow his neck here. He's going to have to step up. I mean, that's the best answer. The reality is, I don't think Peter Skowronski plays in this game. He's going to have to step up. I mean, that's the best answer. The reality is, I don't think Peter Skowronski plays in this game. He didn't practice on Wednesday and didn't practice on Thursday.

And Mike Vrabel is not the type of coach who's going to put a rookie out there if they didn't get any practice time in after missing multiple weeks. Just not going to happen. So I don't think Skowronski plays. Which means the Titans don't have any better options. If things get really rough, they might throw Justin Murray in who got elevated to the 53-man roster this week, but... How much of an answer is that going to be? I'm skeptical.

Even if they do it. If Skowronski was back, I would say maybe put Radins at left tackle. Try that out, but Skowronski's not going to be back in my opinion. Now, maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong, but with that being said, Dillard's just going to have to step up. There's no way around it. The coaches can only do so much. At some point, you've got to win. You can't just lose every time, and let me just say this. Dillard's saying that Miles Garrett whooped him all day

and then gave him advice afterwards. Andre Dillard is older than Miles Garrett. I don't know. That's embarrassing. But anyways, moving right along. On to the defense. Jeffrey Simmons against Cordell Volson. The Bengals left guard. Aaron Donald had like third, like, well, the Rams had three sacks

and 15 pressures total, and Aaron Donald had a lot of that on Cordell Volson, the left guard of the Bengals. So if Jeffrey Simmons doesn't absolutely dominate like he did in the playoff game, then the Titans are probably in trouble anyways. And then again, Christian Fulton against Jamar Chase. If Fulton plays as bad as he did against Amari Cooper, the Titans have no chance. If he steps up and plays a better game,

maybe the Titans have a chance. So, I mean, it really comes down to those three individual matchups. In this game, betting-wise, Titans are two-and-a-half-point underdogs at home. I'm staying away from that. The Bengals have won by three points or more every time, I think. 20, but it was 19-16. I forget what it was last year in 2022. But I think they've won by three points every time.

So if I'm not getting three points for the Titans, I ain't touching that. The over-under, I do like the under. And that one is 41 points. It's not a lot. I'd love to get that up a little bit, but with a T somehow. But if I had a gun to my head, I'd have to say under. Betting information courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. And then finally, just to reaffirm my prediction here,

I'm going 24-6. I might go 24-9 now. I'm always a little more optimistic the day after my first prediction. But I just, you know, I laid everything out that I think the Titans should do. I don't think they do any of it. I think they do what they've always done. I think they try to be who they are. Uh, and the Bengals haven't totally figured out. So I think this is

one of those games where on Sunday night, Monday morning, it's, oh yeah, the Titans are as bad as we thought they were. Uh, the Bengals have turned it around. The Bengals are back. Joe Burrow be fine. The Bengals are forced to be. This is just one of those moments where, and unfortunately, I hate to be so depressing, but I've been a Tennessee Titans fan for nearly 25 years now. And the Titans are a lily pad. The Titans are a stepping stone for better teams and more exciting players to continue to rise.

It's what they've always been because they've never had the star quarterback that people want to see. McNair was the ultimate game manager. But if you're honest and you talk to people who were watching back then, McNair wasn't considered one of those star elite level quarterbacks, even during his MVP season. He was just the best version of a game manager you could ever have. No disrespect, but it's just the reality.

We've kind of romanticized things now, kind of forget the way that McNair was treated during that time by the fan base and everything. So it's hard for me as a long-standing Titans fan to think that the Titans are going to beat a team with Joe Burrow that they've never beaten. Even when the Bengals were bad, Burrow's rookie year, Burrow beat them.

It was magic. I was there in the building. So I just have a hard time seeing the Titans in their lowest of the low here slaying the dragon of all dragons that they simply can't beat. They can beat Mahomes. They can beat Allen. They can't beat Burrow. So if they do it, it will be a miraculous win that will feel incredible.

But I'm not putting my chips there. And with the way the Titans offense looked and how good the Bengals defense has been against the Titans offense. Yeah, 24 to 6, 24-9. That's my prediction. But let me know your guys' predictions down below. Either way, regardless of what happens, I'll be live on Sunday immediately after game for an instant reaction

and then a full 30-minute recap on Sunday night. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.