Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans MUST RUN THE BALL, Jeffery Simmons Must Dominate & Creating Turnovers is Key

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

The Tennessee Titans have FINALLY arrived at Week 1 and the are set to take on the Chicago Bears. While there is a lot of hype for Will Levis, the Titans must take a classic approach and run the football at will. That is one of the keys to victory this week. Then, dive into the players to watch in this one with Calvin Ridley and Jeffery Simmons at center stage. Finally, Tyler predicts a Titans win, but gives his take on fantasy and the betting markets as well.

If the Tennessee Titans want to beat the Chicago Bears in week one, they need to go back to a classic game plan and run the ball. I'll explain 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 PrizePix. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use the code locked on NFL, all lowercase, to win $50 instantly when you play. $5. Titans fans, we are back. It is time for our first game plan episode of the year. I'm going to tell you exactly what I'm looking for in the Titans week one matchup against the Chicago Bears. I'm going to go over my what I'm looking for in the Titans week one matchup against the Chicago Bears.

I'm going to go over my keys to victory on offense and defense, my players to watch, and I'll give my fantasy, betting, and final prediction for the game. Before I get into all of that, I 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. Because Sunday, I'm going to go live immediately after the game, breaking down everything we saw. I'm also going to have a full game recap out on Sunday night.

Monday, we're going to dive into all the biggest talking points. Tuesday, we dive into the film. So much happening with the season kicking off. Make sure that you stay with the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. Throw a thumbs up on the film. So much happening with the season kicking off. Make sure that you stay with the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Throw a Titan up down in the chat. With all that being said, keys to victory for the Tennessee Titans.

I talked about it a little bit on yesterday's crossover Thursday with Lauren Cox from Locked on Bears near the end of the show. But the number one thing I think the Tennessee Titans have to do in this game is run the dang ball. They need to go with an old-school Tennessee Titans approach. And look, I know what all of you are thinking. We hired Brian Callahan. They signed Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd.

This is supposed to be a throwing offense now. We're supposed to pass. You're 100 to pass. You're 100% right. And the time will come for that to happen. But in week one, in a hostile environment, on the road against the Bears, the Titans need to lean on the run game. Not only does that help Will Levis,

but it also helps the Titans' young offensive line. Run blocking is just an easier beast to tame than pass blocking for a young offensive lineman. A lot of draft people say, go out and get a pass blocker because you could teach guys how to run block. Run blocking is just generally an easier thing to accomplish. I think that the Titans need to pound the rock with Tony Pollard and Tajay Spears and help take that pressure off of Will Levis. Again, it's a hostile environment. It's going to be hard to make the communications, make the checks, make the audibles.

So if you run the football, you put yourself in easier situations to manage. You don't have to rely on those things quite as much. Along with running the ball, the things that play into that are like the screen game. The Titans need to use the screen game to get easy opportunities and easy throws for Will Levis. Again, help Will Levis by running the football, going to the screen game,

and ultimately play action shots. The Titans need to have a very old school game plan. And as the season progresses and the Titans new wide receivers and in the new system, and Brian Callahan is a play caller himself. He's been up in the booth helping Zach Taylor call plays. Now he is the play caller down on the field. There's going to be an adjustment period. It's going to take some time for the Titans to look like the field. There's going to be an adjustment period.

It's going to take some time for the Titans to look like the offense that we are hoping to get. I think in week one, if you want to get a victory, you need to have an old school Titans game plan and protect Will Levis in this moment. Now, moving to the other side of the ball. For me, that's what they got to do on offense. It's easier on the line. It's easier on Levis. But moving to the other side of

the ball, on defense, I've talked about this. The Titans must contain Caleb Williams. You look at Caleb Williams and what Caleb Williams has done for most of his career in college. He's made off-schedule, second-reaction plays. The play isn't there. It breaks down. He runs around. He uses his feet. He's running all over the place, Sandlot style. And then he makes a big play down the field because I don't care who your cornerbacks are. It's hard to cover for five to six seconds. You simply can't do that. Don't let Caleb Williams, number one, escape the pass rush. And number two, do what Caleb Williams does best, what is in Caleb Williams' nature,

which is get out of the pocket and make those off-schedule plays. That's what you can't allow him to do. Make Caleb Williams play grown-up football. Make him sit in the pocket. Make him go through his progressions. Make him get the ball out on time. And I would bet that he won't be able to do it. It goes against who he is as a quarterback right now.

That's how Caleb Williams needs to get better. The best version of Caleb Williams is somebody who can not only make those second reaction Sandlot plays, but somebody who can also win from the pocket. That's what Patrick Mahomes needed to do, but Patrick Mahomes had a full year to sit and learn how to do that from Andy Mahomes didn't, or Patrick Mahomes had a full year to sit and learn how to do that from Andy Reid and Alex Smith, not Caleb Williams. So when things get crazy, Caleb Williams is going to resort back to what he's done throughout his entire career, and that's try to play make. And when he tries to get out of the pocket, the Titans need to have

a disciplined pass rush. The edge rushers cannot get pushed too far up the field. Never go further up the field than the quarterback. Always make sure that you have Caleb Williams contained in the pocket and then your interior pass rush with Jeffrey Simmons and Tavondre Sweat and the blitzes up the A-gap from the linebackers. That is when that starts to affect Caleb Williams, but none of that is going to matter if they let Caleb Williams out of the pocket. So contain Caleb Williams and keep him in the pocket. Be disciplined in your A-gap. And what's going to happen if they do that? Caleb Williams is going to make mistakes. And there's a reason that rookie quarterbacks and first overall pick quarterbacks have a poor

record in recent history. It's just tough for them to adjust to the game in week one. So don't let Caleb Williams off the hook and force him to win from the pocket. And when they do, ultimately he will make mistakes. And what do those mistakes turn into? Turnovers. The Titans must win the turnover battle in this game. Look, last year, the Titans were 24th in the NFL in turnover margin, minus

six. The Titans were last in the NFL in interceptions with only six. That has to change. That's why Denard Wilson was brought in. That's why the Titans spent money at cornerback. That's why the Titans went out and got Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams. They need to force turnovers. And you look at Denard Wilson. He was with the Ravens last year.

The Ravens were first in the NFL in turnover margin at plus 12. They were third in the NFL with 18 interceptions. The Titans must create turnovers by keeping Caleb Williams in the pocket. They will get the ball back to their offense. And then when the Titans run the ball and rely on the screen game, they'll help Will Levis and get themselves a week one victory. As for the players that I am watching in this game, it's time for Jeffrey Simmons to wreck shop.

We'll talk about that. Before we do, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs has the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just a job board. LinkedIn helps you hire professionals you can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job, but they might be open to the perfect role. In a given month, over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites. So if you're not looking on LinkedIn, you're looking in the wrong place.

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Week one, Tennessee Titans, Chicago Bears. I'm going to tell you who I think wins this game. My fantasy player of the game, some gambling stuff. Before we get into that, though, we got to go over the players to watch in this game. And for me, it was a simple calculation. Before I get into it, though, I do want to thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day.

Titans podcast, your first listen each and every day. Do want to remind you for your second listen, check out the new Locked on NFL. Locked on NFL is now two shows every day. First, the madman, Tyler Rowland. Wait, that's me. Kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso, and then make sure to stop by the barbershop in the afternoon with the barber himself, Tony Wiggins, for some real NFL talk.

You're going to get locked on local experts, unprecedented NFL insights. You guys know I'm bringing hot opinions, detailed breakdowns all in under 30 minutes. It's the new Locked On NFL, and it's twice a day. Again, make me the madman, Tyler Rowland, and the barber, Tony Wiggins, your second list. And I would appreciate your guys' support. Got a lot of support this week starting the new job with the promotion. If you guys would keep hanging out at Locked On NFL,

I would appreciate it as well. But with that being said, the players to watch in this game. Guys, we got to start with none other than Will Levis. Okay? So I talked about helping Will Levis in the first segment and how running the football, screen game, play action, how all that stuff is so, so important to the Titans. But Will Levis himself,

Will Levis himself still needs to handle his end of the bargain. Okay? He's got to play smart. You can't put the team in bad situations. If the team is helping you, then you as Will Levis cannot afford to hurt the team. You have to play smart. Hit the check down. Go through the progressions quickly and get the ball up.

When it's time to take shots downfield, then take the shots downfield. You absolutely need to still do that. But be smart about managing the game. And dear Lord, please slide. Please, Will Levis, slide. Do not, please do not take big shots in week one. There is just no need for it, okay?

So, Will Levis needs help, but Will Levis has to give himself help as well and be just solid, consistent, and make the smart decisions. There's no need to be overly aggressive in week one. Take the shots when it's time to take the shots. Hit your checkdowns. Keep the offense going. Stay ahead of the chains. You're in a hostile environment. Now is not the time to get overly aggressive, okay? So, Will Levis, just play consistent. Play smart. That's what I'm watching for, okay? Because I have faith that they're going to be able to run the ball

and get in the screen game and hit play action. They're going to be able to do that, but Will has to hold up his end of the bargain. And let's be honest, we've been waiting all offseason to watch Will Levis play, and I'm just ready to see him go. Now, he needs some help from Calvin Ridley. All right, at the end of the day, Calvin Ridley was given $90 million on a new contract to come over here and be the Tennessee Titans star wide receiver to be their

most explosive threat. It looks like DeAndre Hopkins may not play in the game. That means that Calvin Ridley is going to be more important than ever. And if you can get Calvin Ridley matched up with Tyreek Stevenson, the second-year corner, that would be a big, big matchup the Titans could exploit. Look, Jalen Johnson, very good corner. Kyler Gordon, very good corner. And Tyreek Stevenson had four interceptions last year. He's not terrible.

But as Lauren Cox talked about yesterday, Tyreek Stevenson really struggled at times last year as well. He gave up the most touchdown catches of any cornerback in the NFL last year. Nine, I believe, was the total. He gave up the second most catches in the NFL last year. He gave up the third most yards in the NFL last year. Calvin Ridley against Tyreek Stevenson is a matchup that the Tennessee Titans must exploit. And Calvin Ridley comes out of the gate and needs to hit some big plays. Not only that, but the Chicago Bears, led by head coach Matt Eberflus, have been a Tampa 2-style defense that works in a ton of cover 3.

Shout out to Cody Alexander, who keeps the matchup data and the coverage data that makes it really easy to see what teams are doing out there. It's something that I'll share on my Twitter account, at TicTacTitans, throughout the season. And we'll talk about a ton throughout the year, what coverages the Titans are running, their opponents. So that's something that I really focus on. And Matt Eberflus comes from an old school Tampa 2 background,

cover 2, Tampa 2, like Tampa Bay Buccaneers under John Gruden. And, well, it's really Tony Dungy's defense, but, you know, whatever. Moving away. That kind of defense. Now, Matt Eberflus mixes in a lot of cover three too, but they're going to go to cover two looks on late downs and passing situations. Hit Calvin Ridley on post routes.

Hit Calvin Ridley on deep crossers. The middle of the field in a cover two defense is where you want to attack. So Calvin Ridley one-on-one with Tyreek Stevenson on the outside, and then So Calvin Ridley one on one with Tyreek Stevenson on the outside. And then getting Calvin Ridley over the middle. Into the middle of the hole of cover two in the center. That should be a place where the Titans are able to attack on those play action shots.

And some of those routes that we're going to get from Calvin Ridley out of the Z position. Get him in a little bit of a quick motion. Get him upfield into a deep post in the middle. See if you can attack that middle part of the zone in cover three and let me, or in cover two, and let me say this. Kevin Byard is now with the Chicago Bears, and you guys know I love

KB, my favorite Titan of all time. But Kevin Byard is not the athlete that he was in the prime of his career, and there is no way, there is no way that Kevin Byard can stick with Calvin Ridley. So attack Kevin Byard, attack Kevin Byard with speed. I feel like Wesley Snipes and what, what is the movie? Is it New Jack city? I'm, I'm going to embarrass myself here, but you know,

when he's got the gun and he's crying and he's looking down, that's how I feel against Kevin Byard this week. Like, I love you, but we're going to have to attack you because Jaquan Brisker is a better player than Kevin Byard is right now. And I would attack Kevin Byard in deep zones all day long on those shot plays because Ridley should just run by him at the end of the day. The final player that I want to talk about is Jeffrey Simmons. And it's time. Look, I picked the quarterback and the two highest paid players on the day. The final player that I want to talk about is Jeffrey Simmons, and it's time. Look, I picked the quarterback and the two highest paid players on the team. It is time. We saw last

year Jeffrey Simmons was playing great. I think they shut him down early because of injury and where the Titans are at in the season. They were out of playoff contention, so why should we play Jeffrey Simmons? Well, you're back now. The season's on the line. You need to be worth that money. I expect double-digit sacks out of Jeffrey Simmons this year. And you look at the interior trio of the Chicago Bears offensive line. I think the tackles are pretty solid. Darnell Wright from Tennessee on the right side.

Braxton Jones on the left side. They're pretty solid. But on the interior, right guard, Nate Davis. Name ring a bell? It should. Nate Davis gave up 29 pressures in 11 games last year. Third most on the entire team and only played in 11 games. He had five penalties, all of them accepted last year. Nate Davis cannot hang with Jeffrey Simmons, period.

Their center, Coleman Jenkins, comes over from Los Angeles. He gave up three sacks last year and 17 pressures in only 12 games. He's not terrible, but he should not be able to hang with Jeffrey Simmons. Sorry, that's Tevin Jenkins' stats that I read. Three sacks, 17 pressures in 12 games. Tevin Jenkins is not a bad player, again, but like I said, shouldn't be able to hang with Jeffrey Simmons. And then Coleman Shelton, their new center who came over from Los Angeles, gave up six sacks and 45 pressures in his last 30 games. And it's time for Jeffrey Simmons to eat the Bears interior trio a line. So I am looking at Will Levis, Calvin Ridley, and Jeffrey Simmons. Those

are the players to watch. Now, what's my official prediction for this game? What fantasy advice would I give? What betting advice would I give? Got the return of two of my favorite segments. We're going to get into those now. Before we do though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix. Look, PrizePix is America's number one daily fantasy app, and it's for a reason. There's over 5 million active members using the PrizePix app right now because it is the most fun way to play daily fantasy sports. All you do is you pick two to six players and you say whether the player is going to do more

or less than the prize picks projection. So Will Levis, 200 passing yards. Tony Pollard, 50 rushing yards. Jeffrey Simmons, a half a sack. Kenneth Murray, four tackles. Calvin Ridley, three catches. All you do is pick two to six players and say more or less. It's that simple. And if you hit, you can win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. I mean, it doesn't get much simpler than that. So make sure that you download the PrizePix app today.

Use the code LOCKEDONNFL and get $50 instantly when you play $5. That's code LOCKEDONNFL on PrizePix to get $50 instantly when you play $5. And you don't even need to win. You just get the $50 bonus. It's guaranteed. PrizePix. Run your game. Titans fans, let's continue and cap off our first game preview episode of the year.

I can't believe that we finally made it, folks. Throw a Titan up down in the chat. Throw a thumbs up on the video. Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Again, it's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm going to be going live immediately after the Tennessee Titans matchup against the Chicago Bears. I've got a ton of content coming your guys' way next week, not only on the

Locked on Titans podcast, but I'm going to have a ton of film breakdowns up on the Tic Tac Titans film channel here on YouTube. You've got to get subscribed to that as well and get ready for the season. But I also want to remind you that I'm now hosting the new Locked on NFL. That's right.

Monday through Friday, I host the Locked On NFL podcast as well. Make sure that you check us out over there for your national NFL news. And then in the afternoon, Tony Wiggins steps into the barbershop with you to go over a second edition of Locked On NFL. So get subscribed, stay subscribed over there as well.

So, went over keys to victory, went over players to walk. Now I got to get into all my predictions. And as I said at the end of yesterday's show and at the beginning of yesterday's show as well, I have changed my prediction. I have looked at the Chicago Bears as a team. I've studied what they did on defense last year. I've thought about the matchups and I am going with the Tennessee Titans to win 20 to 17. I think the Titans are going to be able to run the ball against the Chicago Bears defensive line.

I don't think that the Chicago Bears pass rush is as good as I initially did. Montez Sweat is a great player. Give Nicholas Petit Ferrer some help over there with the tight end and make sure that Montez Sweat does not destroy your game. And I'm not really that worried about their other options, DeMarcus Walker, Javon Dexter, or Andrew Billings, or rookie Austin Booker. Like, I'm just not that worried about the Chicago Bears pass rush outside of Montez Sweat. So I don't think that the Titans the Chicago Bears pass rush outside of Montez Sweat.

So I don't think that the Titans are going to be as threatened by the D line. I think they're going to be able to run the ball and get some chunk plays. And then on defense, I think the Titans do force a turnover or two against Caleb Williams, and that's going to be enough to give them the edge 20 to 17. I think this game is a little clunky early as both teams find their balance, but I think ultimately in the second half, there's a little more scoring along with the turnovers. Helps the Titans get some points on the board. And the Titans get a week one victory against the Chicago Bears, 20-17. Let me know your score predictions for this game down below.

Excited to see what you guys got to say. Hit me up on Twitter at TicTacTitans as well. And let me know your thoughts. But what I want to do now is I want to bring back a couple of segments that I did for the first few years of the podcast that I really, really enjoyed.

And I've heard from you. I've heard from the people. And it's time for them to return. First, my beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy player of the week, who is the one fantasy player that I think will have the biggest game for the Titans this week? And my answer is Tony Pollard. I think Tony Pollard is going to be a weak winner in fantasy football. If you're playing

daily fantasy, I think Tony Pollard will be a cheap option for you. I think Tony Pollard scores a touchdown, maybe two. I think he has about two or three catches for about 30 to 40 yards, and I think he runs for about 60 to 70 yards. I think this is a big Tony Pollard game, and he makes an impact right out of the gate. I know that most of you, if you have Calvin Ridley, you're probably starting him. If you have Will Levis, I don't know if you should be starting him, but you could be. Either way, the one fantasy player that I really think has a better game than people expect this week is Tony Pollard. That's my beautiful, dark, twisted

fantasy player of the week. Now, we got to go into another one of my favorite segments. Keeping it plus 100. Let's talk about the gambling aspect of this game. So make sure that you guys head over to FanDuel.com. FanDuel.com is the place to go to place all your wagers for the Titans and for the NFL this year. But looking Fanduel.com is the place to go to place all your wagers for the Titans and for the NFL this year.

But looking at a couple of things for the Titans. This line has changed. I've talked about it too much. It's my fault, I do believe. But this line has been plus four and a half for the Titans for the last, I don't know, two months since the lines came out. It's been four and a half at the beginning of this week. Heck on Wednesday, it was plus four

and a half. And I guess people started listening because the line is now down to plus three and a half for the Tennessee Titans. And while obviously that's a different point and the four point threshold in the NFL is important because seven minus a field goal is four, I still like it. I think the Titans are going to win the game. Of course I'm taking the Titans with the spread. The Titans money line I believe is plus 160 now. If you think the Titans are going to win outright, I think the the Titans with the spread. All right. The Titans money line, I believe is plus 160.

Now, if you think the Titans are going to win outright, I think the Titans are going to win, but I also, and this is something that me and a lot of you guys who listen to the show tend to like not be on the same page about just because I believe something is going to happen. I also have believed a lot of things are going to happen in my life. That didn't happen. You know what I mean? So while I of things are going to happen in my life that didn't happen. You know what I mean?

So while I believe something is going to happen, I'm also not naive enough to bet everything on my opinion. You never know what can happen. So the money line sounds good, but me personally, for my gambling play of the week, I'm taking Titans plus three and a half. I love that. Even if the Titans lose this game, I think it'll only be by three points. So I love Titans plus three and a half. Now the over under on this game on FanDuel right now as I'm recording is 44 and a half. I don't feel

comfortable with that. I think it's going to be under. Again, I have 20 to 17. So that's 37 points. I think it's going to be under, but I'm not betting on that. Cause I'm not as certain there. I mean, it could be, you know, 24, 23 could be 27,

24, you know, all of that would work for the spread, but it wouldn't work for the over under. So I'm just not going to test my luck with the over underunder. The play that I like is Titans plus three and a half. Because I think even if the Titans were to lose and I were to be wrong about my prediction, I still think the Titans would cover the three and a half.

So that's my keeping it plus 100 gambling play of the week. So went over keys to victory. Went over players to watch. Went over all my predictions for the week. So went over keys to victory, went over players to watch, went over all my predictions for the week. Now it's time to sit back and watch some football. I am going to be making some Buffalo chicken dip in honor of Will Levis and his commercial with Hellman's where he said Buffalo chicken dip. Now I'm not making my Buffalo chicken dip with mayonnaise. I can tell you that I'm going to make it with cream cheese like I normally do. But I might do something a little different this year.

I might do a little like a short reel, like a minute to minute and 30 video. Put it out every Sunday morning of what my game time snack is going to be for the day. So I don't want to commit to that full season. I'll see how it works. I'm not as tech savvy as maybe you guys think with like TikToks and reels. I'm trying though. But if I can figure out how to make a good video, I might show you guys my process for the Buffalo chicken dip. But let me know your game time snack down below. Okay. It's football, football and food go together so well. Football, food, family. It's my favorite things. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today.

Folks, tighten up in the chat. Thumbs up on the video. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. And this was Locked on Titans.