Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Passing Offense, Zone Coverages & Bud Dupree Key To Defeating Cincinnati Bengals

Episode Date: November 24, 2022

The Tennessee Titans take on the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend in what some are calling a revenge while others insist it is not. Either way, the Titans need to win. On Defense, the Titans need to let their coverage help their banged up pass rush. On Offense, the Titans passing attack must be what sets up their run game with Derrick Henry! Finally, the Titans will need big games from Bud Dupree, David Long and the offensive line if they hope to improve to 8-3!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!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BlueNileMake your moment sparkle with Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com and use code lockedon to save fifty dollars on your purchase of five-hundred dollars or more.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, the Tennessee Titans take on the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend. And if they want to come out victorious, they need to beat Cincinnati left-handed. I'll explain on offense how the Titans can win through the air rather than on the ground. And I'll explain on defense how the Titans need to focus on their coverage to help their pass rush rather than the other way around. Then we'll talk about the individual players that need to stand out for the Titans if they

want to win this game. So all of that and more on a game plan preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are Locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Titans fans, we have a big matchup ahead for the Tennessee Titans against the Cincinnati Bengals. Whether you want to call it a revenge game, whether you don't want to call it a revenge game, it really doesn't matter. The Titans need to win either way. It really doesn't matter. The Titans need to win either way.

And I'm going to tell you exactly how I think they can do so on offense and defense before we get into it. I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts. Thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listening, you just haven't subscribed yet, make sure you stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast for free Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year long on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel.

Subscribe there, smash the notification bell, and throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you think the Titans can knock off the Bengals this weekend. You can follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans for all my in-game analysis and all my film work. Check out the show Facebook page at LockedOnTitansPod. Let's dive into the game plan here, and I'm going to start with the defensive side of the ball for the Titans.

Again, the Titans. And again, the Titans need to win this game left-handed. What does that mean? On defense, the Titans are a pass rush focused team. That's usually the unit that is doing the majority of the work for the Titans and it's benefiting the secondary and the coverage units. That's how the Titans have been able to survive this year with such a banged up secondary and guys going in and out and playing different roles all year long because the pass rush has been so good that the secondary has been able to get the job done.

Well, in this game, with Danico Autry most likely out, with Jeffrey Simmons still banged up, of course no Harold Landry, and maybe Bud Dupree. I'm expecting Bud Dupree to finally play in this game. And if for some reason he didn't play, well, that would hammer this point home even further.

But the Titans have to find a way to win with their coverage. Okay. Two high safety looks. The Titans are a man team. They're going to play man coverage. They like to play man. They played more quarters coverage this year than man coverage. But when the chips are down

and they're on the table and you're all in, the Titans are playing man coverage. So they're going to play some man. But I think they need to be more heavy zone than they typically would be. I think they need to have cover two, cover two invert, like they show every single week, a ton of cover four, which as I already told you is their favorite

coverage anyways. The Titans need to have coverages that allow them to have two safeties back at all times. Because my biggest fear here is the Bengals' ability to win matchups one-on-one down the sideline. We've seen it all year hurt the Titans. Big wide receivers, wide receivers winning on the sideline in one-on-one matchups. Alec Pierce, Matt Collins, Lazard, Watson, the list goes on. The Titans can win the chess match. The Titans can X's and O's win the play. But one of the ways they still lose plays

is one-on-one matchups on the outside where their cornerbacks just get beat by a wide receiver. Well, nobody has better wide receivers to do that than the Cincinnati Bengals. So don't leave your cornerbacks on an island. Jamar Chase is playing in the game. Joe Burrow said on Wednesday, Chase is playing. He's playing in the game, guys.

Do not leave. And Christian Fulton hasn't practiced yet. Probably won't play after re-aggravating the hamstring. So you're going to have Roger McCreary, who we like Roger, but a rookie. And then you're going to have Terrence Mitchell, Trey Avery,

Greg Maben. On the other side, I mean, that's food for Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins. And even if McCreary is in the slot or Moulton's in the slot against Tyler Boyd, that's tough.

So don't leave your cornerbacks on an island and one-on-one consistently throughout the game. Play zone. Have two high safeties. Force the Bengals to matriculate the ball down the field without a running game. The Bengals don't have a run game. They're 30th in the NFL in running.

And in their wins, they don't really run the ball that well anyways. They don't need to run the ball. So play too high. You don't need a third. It's not like the Packers where you needed to have that third, second level defender to have eight in the box

against a good run game. This is a terrible run game. And Joe Mixon would probably be out with a concussion. So keep two safeties back at all times. Play zone coverage. And if you do play man, play man where David Long is one-on-one on the running back

and you have the safety as the other zone defender. You have one safety back deep and then you have the other safety as the middle zone defender so you have a little bit more speed. You can shade that guy towards Jamar Chase. You can do a bunch of different things with that. So the Titans need to be coverage focused. They need to have two safeties back. Don't worry about this run game. And then of course, at the end of the day,

the coverage needs to be there to confuse Joe Burrow, to give the pass rush time to get there. This isn't the top tier version of the Titans pass rush. It's not going to be, but it should have Bud Dupree and it should have Jeffrey Simmons. So they have to find a way to get pressure. I think the Titans in this game are going to do a lot of cornerback blitzes and a lot of linebacker blitzes where they drop a defensive end back into coverage. They're simulated pressures that they still only rush for. They're going to have to do a ton of that. This Bengals offensive line is nowhere near as bad as it was before.

In their wins this year, they've only given up 13 sacks in six games. In their losses, they've given up 21 sacks in four games. But 13 of those sacks came in the first two weeks of the year when they played the Steelers and the Cowboys. So what I'm trying to say is this offensive line doesn't look great on paper, but when you actually look at the trend of how they're playing, this O-line has been good in pass blocking. They have been very good lately.

Over the last five, six games, they've been very good. So don't think that this is last year's Bengals and the Titans' pass rush, even though battered, is just going to run over them because it's not. They need the coverage to confuse Burrow

to give them just a split second of extra time to get home. They have to. And if they don't get home, another big key here is tipped passes. The Titans have to get their hands up in passing lanes. Going into the game against the Steelers, Joe Burrow had one of the highest tipped pass rates in the NFL. 3.6% of his passes are being tipped at the line of scrimmage.

The only people higher are Justin Herbert and Jimmy G. So if you're not going to get there, get your hands up. Tipped passes will be key. Not only do they eliminate completions, but they create turnover possibilities. So, two high safety looks, zone coverage, don't leave your cornerbacks on an island,

pass rush, try to get there. If you can't, tip, pass. And then at the end of the day, this isn't like a schematic thing, it's just a note of what the Titans have to do. The Bengals are number one in the NFL in red zone offense. 75% touchdown conversion rate. You got to force field goals.

You just absolutely have to. But with that in mind, we're going to move to the offensive side of the ball for the Titans, where again, they must win left-handed. Before we get into it, I do want to tell you guys that today's episode is sponsored by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. PrizePix has a projection for players in the NFL. 100 yards for Derrick Henry, 250 passing yards for Joe Burrow, a receiving touchdown for Justin Jefferson. All you do is pick out two to five players. You look at their projection and you say whether you think the player is going to do more or less than that projection. If you win, you can hit up to 10 times your money on your entry. And right now, if you go to the PrizePix

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Go to the PrizePix app. Sign up. Use that promo code LOCKEDON for an instant deposit match up to $100. Titans fans, let's continue today's game preview, game plan preview edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We just talked about the offensive or the defensive side of the ball. Now I'm going to get into the offensive side of the ball and what the Titans need to do.

And again, my theme of the day is the Titans need to win left-handed. On defense, they need to be coverage-focused. On offense, they need to be coverage-focused. On offense, they need to be passing-focused. So let's dive into how they can do that successfully against the Bengals' defense. Before we do, I want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day.

I will be going live immediately after the game on Sunday to break down exactly what we saw from the Titans against the Bengals. So make sure you join me for that. And then later on, on Sunday to break down exactly what we saw from the Titans against the Bengals. So make sure you join me for that. And then later on on Sunday night, I'll drop a full length 30 minute recap of the game. So double the content coming for you on Sunday here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Subscribe, smash the notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video. I do appreciate it.

But on offense for the Titans again, they need to attack through the air like we saw against the Packers last week. The Titans attacked early and often in the passing game. They were throwing on first down. And we're not just talking about play action. We're talking about line it up and shotgun, throwing the ball, quick game, throwing the ball out from a three-step drop, a one-step drop, boom, getting the ball out of your hand, creating yardage and creating positive plays to keep the chains moving despite the fact that the offense wasn't able to generate a lot in the run game. The run game wasn't incredibly efficient. It's not like the Titans went for a ton of yards either. Green Bay really made the Titans work for it in the run game, and the Titans didn't care. They were able to still score, get down the field because they created explosive plays in the passing game. That has to be the focus going into this game as well. The Titans have to know going in, hey, the run game is going to be a compliment to our passing

game today. The Titans got to flip that. Now, why do I think that's the case? Well, like the Green Bay Packers, the Cincinnati Bengals run a 6-1 against the Titans. They have four down linemen with their hand in the dirt between the tackles. They have two edge rushers, and then they'll have one off-ball linebacker in the middle. A lot of the time, they'll take that extra safety, and they'll walk that safety down. So now you have eight in the box,

but you have six on the line of scrimmage with two people at the second level. Makes it very, very difficult for the Titans to get anything going. Hard to get double teams executed in the interior. It just really takes away what the Titans like to do in the run game. And every team that's run it against the Titans so far has really had success against them in some way. Even if it's not completely shutting it down, it's not letting the Titans run the ball the way they want.

So how do the Titans combat that? Throw the ball on them. If you're going to put that many people on the line of scrimmage, then there are going to be a lot of gaps open in the middle of the field. So throw the ball. And one of the ways that I want to see the Titans do it, a lot of weeks I come on here and I tell you, I want to see the Titans get heavy packages.

I want to see the Titans run 13. I want to see the Titans run 12. I want to see the Titans run 12. I want to see the Titans run 22 all game long. Well, I'm not telling you that now. I want to see the Titans in three wide receiver. I don't want to play against the Bengals' base defense with DJ Reader and BJ Hill at defensive tackle and Jermaine Pratt and Logan Wilson at linebacker

and Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson on the end. Nope. Nope. I am good on that. I'm good on that. I want to have more Cam Taylor Britt on the field, more Vaughn Bell, more Eli Apple. Yeah, the Bengals have a really good defense. So it's not like there's a ton of weaknesses out there to just pick on. But if there are any weaknesses at all, I think that you could win some matchups against those cornerbacks.

And I think getting those guys on the field and making them defend the run more than the base defense of the Bengals is the right move. I think that's the logical move. Even if it is a very good defense, it's going to be tough either way. That's what you have to try to do. So I want to see the Titans come out in three wide receiver sets where they have Chigaconquo as the tight end. And like they did last week a little bit, they would motion Chigaconquo into

the backfield and let him play as a fullback. Why does that work? Because the Bengals are going to run 6-1 against the Titans when they have multiple tight ends on the field. Well, when the Titans come out in three wide receiver sets, the Bengals are probably only going to have five guys on the line of scrimmage. You motion a tight end into the backfield, and now you have a box advantage because now you got five offensive linemen against five defenders on the line of scrimmage.

The tight end that motioned into the backfield as the fullback can now take on the linebacker. And now you have a math advantage. And the run game and motion and formation shifts, all of that is just trying to create an advantage in the math in the box for the run game. So do that stuff.

I like that. Also, have one tight end, three wide receivers, Burks, Woods, and NWI. Use Nick Westbrook-Akina as a tight end. You like running out of two tight end formations, whether that be two tight end twins on one side or just even tight ends, one on either side. Use Nick Westbrook-Akina and Jeff Swain as those two tight ends and be in three

wide receiver sets so you can get the Bengals in their nickel and dime packages out on the field and then make defensive backs have to tackle Derrick Henry more than linebackers and defensive linemen. So, go light this week with more wide receivers. And one thing that I want to see

is, with the Bengals always having a guy on the front side edge and the back side edge, you're taking away right there the cutback. So when teams do that what offenses will often do is create split flow

action in their offense. Which is where a tight end or an offensive blocker on one side goes all the way across the formation to block the defensive end on the other side, the edge guy on the other side. Let the wide receiver come in motion from the strong side to the weak side and then come through on a wham block on the defensive end. wham block on the defensive end.

So run inside zone with split flow action using wide receivers during at snap motion. That is a deep cut for you guys but if the Titans do that I think they could open up a huge cut back run for Derrick Henry. So I want to see that.

I want to see the Titans incorporate that sort of action into the offense this week. I think it would be fantastic. So hopefully we see some of that. With that in mind, like I said, a ton of motion is what I want to see from the Titans in this game. I bet the Bengals play a ton of man coverage, just like they did last year. And I think the Titans have, it may have worked out to where the Titans have more weapons available to beat that man coverage when the Bengals don't have their starting cornerbacks. Chidovia Wuzier is out with injury. So Cam Taylor Britt is in.

I think there's some advantage to be taken there. So attack through the air. Three wide receivers. Use your tight end and Nick Westbrook-Akina in motion to create advantage against nickel packages on defense. Tons of motion. And don't just run into that 6-1 formation over and over and over again. Don't make it easy for the Bengals who have DJ Reeder, BJ Hill, Jermaine Pratt,

Logan Wilson, who are very, very good players. The Bengals aren't a great run defense on paper, but just like the Packers weren't a great run defense, and the Broncos weren't a great run defense, they end up doing a good job because they have smart coaches who have a good plan. So, make sure that you're ready

to adjust to that Todd Downing coming off a lot of adversity. We'll just say that, but either way, we're going to zoom in a little bit and talk about the individual players and the individual matchups that I think will decide this game before we get into it.

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That's their biggest discount of the year, so don't wait. SimpliSafe.com slash LockedOnNFL. There is no safe like Simply Safe. Titans fans, let's cap off this game plan preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about the defensive side of the ball. We talked about the offensive side of the ball, what they need to do schematically

and from a philosophical standpoint to win this game against the Bengals. Now I want to zoom in, talk about the individual players and the individual matchups that I'm watching in this game. Before we get into it, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. For your second listen today,

check out the Locked On Sports Today podcast from the games that matter the most to the biggest stories in sports. Go beyond the scoreboard and behind the scenes with local experts and insights. Only Locked On can provide Locked On Sports Today available on this app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. But diving right into the individual matchups on defense.

Raise your hand if you're a big time Bud Dupree supporter. If you're one of the people getting my comments, whether it be on Twitter, whether it be on YouTube, tell me just how great Bud Dupree is. There's no chance they're cutting him next year. He makes this team just so much better. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. He's worth the $20 million. Ba-ba-ba-ba.

If you're one of those people, well, this week is the week that you need to be right. Because with Autry going to be out and of course no Harold Landry, Bud Dupree's got to dominate. Not only that, but Jonah Williams,

the left tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals. I said their offensive line is improved and it is. But Jonah Williams is the vulnerable spot. He's given up nine sacks this year. That's more than double the second closest person on the Bengals. He's given up 28 pressures this year. Bud Dupree must beat Jonah Williams for the Titans to win.

If he doesn't, they will not. Period. Period. So, that's the matchup that I'm watching for. Bud has to win. He has to be worth the money. Everybody talks, oh, Bud Dupree makes everybody else look better when he plays.

Well, that's great, but when you get paid $20 million on the cap, you got to just be good on the cap, you gotta just be good on your own, too, and win one-on-one. You can't just be the garnish. You gotta be the meat. So, be the meat,

Bud Dupree. Also, I mentioned it earlier, I am just so incredibly concerned about the wide receiver versus cornerback matchup. If the Titans cornerbacks lose one-on-one situations all day long, they will lose. Period.

Those cornerbacks, McCreary, hopefully Fulton plays, maybe by now on Friday, when you guys hear this, you'll know. I don't know right now as we stand, and he didn't practice on Tuesday. And it looks like he's not practicing Wednesday. So I don't think Fulton will play. But if he does, he better be ready to go one-on-one with Chase. And he better make some plays in contested catch situation. Combat catches. Titans cornerbacks got to win because Joe Burrow is going to give his team a chance. He's going to throw the ball up and give his guys a chance. So, T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, if they just take over as superstars, the Titans will lose.

That's why it's important to keep two safeties back. Give those guys help, man. Do not put McCreary and Avery and Maben and Mitchell on an island out there against those guys. Don't do it, please. I beg you. I beg you, give them safety help. Also, just want to mention David Long on Samashae Pirine.

Pirine had three receiving touchdowns out of the backfield. If the Titans go man coverage against the Bengals during those times, it'll be David Long on the running back. He's got to win that matchup. And in the run game as well. But I'm not really that concerned about the run game here. So in man coverage on the running back, in passing situations, and then, like I said earlier,

I think the Titans need to bring some blitzes off the slot. The Titans need to bring some blitzes up the middle. You can drop the defensive end on the other side if you want to keep it only four rushers. But the Titans need to do that. And when they do that, David Long's got to get home. He's got to get pressure on Burrow, and he's got to take him down. So David Long needs to have a huge game if the Titans are going to win this one. That's how I feel about that. So on offense, the interior offensive line,

Aaron Brewer, Nate Davis, Ben Jones, or Dylan Radins, whoever it ends up being, depending on last update, was Ben Jones is not out of concussion protocol. So with Ben Jones being an older player and Mike Vrabel's son, I'm sure they will take it easy on him. So maybe Ben Jones doesn't play. Either way, last year the Bengals had a lot of success against the Titans with that interior front, and they didn't have DJ Reed. So

DJ Reeder, BJ Hill The Titans can't let them completely ruin the game plan. They just can't so I'm watching that also Just the entire offensive line here Hendrickson and Hubbard against Daly and NPF I just think the Titans are at such, such a disadvantage when you look at the defensive line of the Bengals versus the offensive line of the Titans. It is a bigger disadvantage right now with the current state of the units. There's a bigger disadvantage between the Titans pass rush or the Titans pass rush and the Bengals

offensive line than there is the Titans offensive line and the Bengals pass rush or the Titans pass rush in the Bengals offensive line, then there is the Titans offensive line and the Bengals pass rush. So I'm worried about that. Usually the Titans have that advantage. They do not have that advantage right now. So I'm worried about that. That's going to really determine the game because like I said, I think the Titans need to win through the air. And if the Bengals defensive line just wrecks the Titans' offensive line,

you can't do that. You can't do that. So we'll see what happens there. Preston Smith and Kenny Clark are pretty good rushers for the Packers, and the Titans held up there. So there is hope. And then, of course, Traylon Burks has to keep it up. And like I said, Eli Apple and Cam Taylor Britt

are some of the only weak spots on the Bengals' defense. It's a very good defense collectively. But those are two players who you feel like, you know, Traylon Burks could win some matchups. He won some matchups against Jair Alexander last week. You could think he could win some against Eli Apple and Cam Taylor Britt. So Traylon Burks has to be a first-round wide receiver stud. He's got to be.

That's just what it is. And the Bengals' wide receivers are going to make plays in this game. The Titans have to be able to match that. So Traylon Burks has to be the guy to make some plays. And then finally, Tannehill, Ryan, come in here close. Let me tell you something. Don't throw the ball to Jesse Bates. Every effing game that we play, that you play, against the Bengals, you throw the ball to Jesse Bates. You almost threw the ball to Kareem Jackson.

Threw the ball to Rizal Douglas. Getting a little shaky. Not reading the backside of his own defense on early downs. The outside deep third will come over. The safety responsible for the vacant side of the field on those two-route, one-route combinations is smart enough to come into the middle of the field. Do not throw the ball to Jesse Bates, Ryan Tannehill.

Okay. Now that we got that settled, that is my game plan preview. So we talked about the defense. We talked about the offense. We talked about the individual matchups. The Titans have a chance to win this game.

But they have to execute these game plans. And if you get to Joe Burrow, put him on the ground. Don't let him do the Jedi mind trick, pocket manipulation stuff, man. Because if you start doing that like you did in 2020, you're cooked.

This is going to be a tough game. It's going to be a tough, tough game. This is outside of Buffalo. This is the best team the Titans have played all year long. So let's see how they do. That's going to do it for me today, folks. I'll be back with you guys on Sunday live after the game to break it all down. I am your host, Tyler Rowland,

and this was Locked on Titans.