Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans PERFECT 2024 Schedule: Rookie QBs Early, Tough Middle Stretch & Divisional Rival Finish

Episode Date: May 14, 2024

The Tennessee Titans will see their full 2024 schedule officially drop on Wednesday night, but what would the PERFECT schedule look like? First, an early start with young quarterbacks and teams still figuring it out would be ideal as that is exactly who the Titans are. Next, there will be tough stretches so it is best for the Titans to test themselves in the middle of the season to find out what they are really made of. Finally, a late bye sends the Titans into a finish that is filled with divisional rivals giving them a chance to take the AFC South if they are worthy! Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitans TicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitans Follow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPod Subscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videos Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! 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)

It is scheduled release week in the NFL, and I am creating the perfect 2024 schedule for the Tennessee Titans on today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. Today's edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.

Terms apply. It is schedule release week and it is time to create the perfect 2024 schedule for the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to go week by week of what I hope to see on the Titans schedule. Before we dive into that, 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.

Make sure that you get subscribed. Stay subscribed to the number one Tennessee Titans podcast in the world. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Shout out to my everydayers. I have some great content coming your way. Tomorrow, I'm going to go live at 8 p.m.

Eastern time when the schedule officially drops to break down each game week by week. And then on Thursday's show, I'm going to give my first official record prediction, again, going week by week through the games, saying which I think the Titans will win,

which I think the Titans will lose. The schedule is obviously important with the way things shake out and how they line up, and that's why I'm going over my elite, perfect schedule for the Titans on today's show as a preview for you guys. Before we get into it, though, I do want to talk about a signing that the Tennessee Titans made. The Titans brought in tight end Nick Vanette, and they needed it. They needed a third veteran tight end. It's something that I've been talking about all season

long. Obviously, you have Chigakonkwo and Josh Wiley at the top of things, but you needed another veteran guy that you could trust because outside of those two guys, you didn't really have anybody of note. You have Thomas Odukoye, but we don't know if he's ever going to turn into a real NFL player after being an international player exemption for the Titans for a couple of years now. The Titans brought in two undrafted free agents, which we talked about earlier this week. My everydayers will remember. Don't know if you can count on any of those guys to make an impact either. So the Titans needed one seasoned veteran tight end, and they get that.

And Nick Van Etty's played in 94 games throughout his career, started 43 of them. A guy who's going to be able to block for you and understands the physicality needed in the position, but also has some experience catching the football as well. 91 catches in his career, 877 yards for six touchdowns. Obviously, he's more of a depth tight end than a starting tight end, but the Titans truly needed a third veteran tight end, and they get that in Nick Vanette, 6'5", 257 pounds. So, really good

size, good strength, something that the Tennessee Titans absolutely needed. But with that news being said, let's dive into this schedule, okay? And look, for the Titans, you got a brand new head coach, brand new defensive coordinator, brand new system, brand new vibes all over the organization, okay? You got Will Levis who played half of a year in his rookie year, but year two coming in as the starter, that's going to be a new situation for him. A ton of new players as they flip this roster. I think it's very, very important for the Titans to have some winnable games early on because I'll be honest, based on what we see from the real schedule

when it comes out on Wednesday night, I think there's a chance the Titans get off to kind of a slow start. I think that's very likely. That's very possible that with all the new pieces and all the new systems that the Titans have put in place, that they could potentially get off to a slow start. So having some winnable games out of the gate, I think will be very, very important. And that's why in my perfect schedule for the Titans,

I am starting out week one with the New England Patriots, who I think is the worst or the weakest or second weakest opponent that the Titans have on their schedule. As things stand right now, obviously when we get into the season, things change. Teams are better than we think, worse than we think, all of that. But on paper right now, the New England Patriots are the best matchup for the Titans out of the gate. Number one, it's a home game, so the Titans are at home. Got to love starting there. The Patriots will have Jacoby Brissett at quarterback,

or they'll be starting Drake May in his first game ever. I don't think the Patriots have a very good roster, and the Patriots are transitioning with a brand-new coach as well with Gerard Mayo taking over. So with all the newness in New England, the lack of talent that they have, the game being at home, I like the Titans starting with the Patriots in week one. I think that would be the perfect week one matchup.

Of course, let me know down below what your perfect week one matchup would be for the Titans or you can tag me on Twitter at TicTacTitans and let me know your thoughts for my podcast, folks. Week number two, though. Time to get on the road. I'd like to go play Chicago. All right, again, a rookie quarterback early in the season. The Bears will probably be a better team later in the year when they've had time to gel and coalesce and all

that stuff, so I want to play Chicago early, and it's an away game. You want to knock out some of these away games early on in the season. I don't want to just go home, home, home, home, home to start the year. I know that that sounds good, but then you leave yourself with not a lot of home games at the end of the year. So you got to have some balance there. So I'm going Chicago week two after New England at home in week one in the windy city. Then week three, I'm going to keep it on the road. Washington commanders. Okay. Again, another rookie quarterback, another team that I think Then week three, I'm going to keep it on the road. Washington Commanders. Again, another rookie quarterback.

Another team that I think is very beatable that the Titans should be better than with a new head coach and a new coaching staff. It's going to take them time to figure out what they do well. Same with the Titans. So if both of these teams are in a similar spot with kind of learning what we do well, learning what works for our players, learning what within the coach's new systems fits what they want to do out on the field and what they're capable of executing,

all of those things matter. Two road games back-to-back, I know that doesn't sound great, but when you're taking on three rookie quarterbacks to start or Jacoby Brissett and two rookie quarterbacks to start, I think that all balances out in the end, and I think that's a great start for the Titans. And then we keep that going. Week four, back at home in Nashville.

And also, I want to say for Chicago and Washington, D.C., could be cold there at the end of the year. So let's play those games early. You know what I mean? And then week four, the Minnesota Vikings. Let's keep it going with the rookie quarterbacks. You're going to be playing Sam Darnold. You're going to be playing JJ McCarthy. I'm not worried about any of those quarterbacks. And I think both those teams or all of these teams that we're talking about

will probably be better at the end of the year than they are early in the year because of the nature of all of the change, the nature of having young quarterbacks. And I like the Vikings at week four at home, and I could have put them a little bit earlier, but I wanted them at week four because I want the Titans to get some games under their belt, and then I want to see the Titans' cornerbacks go up against the wide receivers of the Minnesota Vikings,

Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison. It's going to be an interesting matchup there. But again, I'm starting out that first month, two home games, two away games, but all young quarterbacks. Maybe Jacoby Brissett in week one, Drake May. We don't really know for sure what they're going to do there. But for me, again, I think the Titans could get off to a slow start because young players, new players, new coaches, all of that.

So I would like to see some winnable games early on with some of the teams, at least on paper, that we think aren't going to be, you know, confirmed playoff contenders. I think Chicago and Minnesota could, you know, probably push for a wild card spot or, you know, if things go really well, push for the division there. In the NFC North, I think more likely the wild card, obviously. But either way, I'd like to have some of these winnable games

early on with these younger quarterbacks, these new coaches. Let's see the Titans against some teams that are also in their position with new players, young quarterbacks, new coaches. I want to see that. So if the Titans get the Patriots at Chicago, at Commanders, home for the Vikings in the first four weeks, I think they're off to a great, great start. But there are going to be some tough games in there,

and we see that in the mid-stretch of the season. Before we get into it, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. It's winner-take-all time in the NBA and in the NHL. Playoffs, baby. Playoffs. And FanDuel's giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet.

That's $150 to bet on spreads, money lines, player props. You can bet on who's going to win the series, how many games, the exact order these series are going to go. Make sure that you visit Fandle.com slash locked on. That's Fandle.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. It's Fandle, America's continue today's perfect schedule prediction. Not prediction, really, because I'm not trying to predict what the schedule will be, but really just my thoughts on what a perfect schedule would be for the Tennessee Titans.

We started out with some young quarterbacks early on in the first month of the season, but there is no easy schedule in the NFL at the end of the day because, you know, any given Sunday, as we know, there's a ton of parity in the NFL. That's why it's so great. So no schedule is going to be easy from top to bottom. There's definitely going to be some tough stretches of games. And I want to see that in the middle of the season for the Titans. I want the Titans to get off to an easier start.

Let them figure out what they want to do, what works best for them. Let everyone get settled in their new role with their new team. And then let's test it. Let's see what this team is really made of in the middle of the season. So, we're through four weeks. Patriots, Bears, Commanders, Vikings. Then, after a home game against the Vikings in week four,

we get the Titans' first primetime game. A Sunday night football matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. So much story in there. Going back to the 2021 playoff defeat. These teams have had good games for the last few years. A healthy Joe Burrow. And of course, the Cincinnati connection with Brian Callahan,

Zach Taylor, the two organizations. There's going to be such good conversation around that game, especially if Cincinnati comes in with a winning record. Imagine the Titans are 4-0, 3-1 coming off that first month of easier games with winnable games, we'll call them. Imagine that, Sunday night football, the Brian Callahan playing Cincinnati in Nashville, all the conversation, it would just be absolutely electric on Sunday night football in week five. And again, it's a tester.

I think the Bengals are going to bounce back this year. I think the Bengals are going to be good again. I think the Bengals are probably going to win their division this year. I called the Ravens winning it last year. I'm calling the Bengals winning it going to win their division this year. I called the Ravens winning it last year. I'm calling the Bengals winning it again and taking it back this year. Seeing how the Titans do so, these first four weeks were winnable games, but seeing how the Titans stand up against the Bengals at home in primetime, week five, that would be an excellent tester of how good is this team really. All right? So I would want to see that.

And then I follow that up with week six with another tester on the road against the Texans. Let's do it. Let's see. You got a good, easy first month. Pick up some Ws. And then let's see how you do against the Bengals and on the road against the Texans.

I want to see how that works. Let's test this team and see what they're really made of. They're going to be tough games. So it's time. You come back from Houston in week seven and you go or week six and you go to week seven at home against the Green Bay Packers. All right. Another tough game against a good opponent,

but that's going to be a fun one. In my opinion, you got Matt LaFleur, of course, who's a good coach. Jordan Love is ascending. That would be a fun game. Again, these are three tough games in a row, but there's nowhere to hide with this schedule. This is, you know, every schedule is going to have their tough parts, and I like seeing what the Titans are made of here in the second month of the season. And that's why week eight, the Titans go back on the road against the Detroit Lions.

Now, I'm kind of thinking that the Titans may play the Lions on Thanksgiving. We're seeing these leaks that the Titans are playing on Thanksgiving this year. I don't know if I buy it necessarily, but they could play the Lions on Thanksgiving. I just don't think that that's what's going to happen. If the Titans play on Thanksgiving, I think it'll be the third game,

not against the Lions in the middle of the day. I don't think that that lines up and makes a lot of sense. So in week eight, finishing off that second month of the season, on the road against Detroit. Again, this is the tester stretch, folks. This is the tester. You got winnable games in the first month and then you come home

against the Bengals in primetime, Sunday night football, on the road against Houston, home for the Green Bay Packers, on the road against the Lions. We're going to know whether the Titans are legit or not after that. Okay, so first month, let them get warmed up with winnable games.

Second month, let's test where we're at and see where we need to go and see how close the Titans are to some of these top teams. So let me know about that stretch. Do you think I made it too hard on the Titans? Do you agree with the philosophy there? Let me know what you guys think. But then, after that second month of the season,

we get into the third month. We get into November when football really, really starts. Alright? And now it's time to play division. Alright? At the Colts in week nine. Alright? I just want to go to Indy, knock them off, and start that third month of the season right. You follow that up with a home game against the Jets. And again, I have been saying

that I want to play the Jets later in the year. They're a team that is super injury prone. And while you could say, I want to play the best version of every team. Well, the Titans aren't going to have the best version of themselves every single week, so that's not fair. You know, like, there are going to be weeks where the Titans have injuries. There are going to be weeks where some of the Titans' best players don't play.

That is how the NFL works, all right? Everyone, injury rate in the NFL is 100%. Everyone gets injured. It's just about how quickly they can get back on the field. All right? So I would like to play the Jets later in the year. And week 10, after going that tough stretch in the middle, on the road to the Colts,

and then you get to come home and play the Jets in week 10, to me, that's a bounce-back game. If they've had a tough stretch here, get back on the good side of things. And then week 11, head to Jacksonville. Let's do it. Again, division games here.

On the road against Indy. On the road against Jacksonville. I'm ready for it. I cannot wait for these division games this year. It's going to be so great. And to go on the road and take on these teams, I love that. And if you're following,

we've knocked out every away division game. I know it's not going to line up like that, but hit all of them in the middle of the season. And that sets you up for some home division games at the end of the year. So I want winnable games at the beginning, a tough stretch in the middle, and then set up for a

great finish to the end of the year. And we're through 11 weeks now. Home for the Patriots, at Chicago Bears, at Commanders, home for the Vikings, home for the Bengals, at Houston, home for the Packers, at Lions, at Colts, home for the Jets, at Jags.

Now it's time for Thanksgiving. And the Titans are going to kick things off with a primetime game before they hit their bye and get ready again for a great finish to the season. So I'm going to go over the end of the year right now. Before I do, though, I do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Look, we're talking about the NFL schedule coming out. That makes it the perfect time to buy tickets on GameTime for the games that you want to go to this year.

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Redeem the code LOCKEDONNFL. That's L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L for $20 off. Download GameTime app today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price. Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's cap off today's edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm planning out a perfect schedule for the Titans in 2024.

We've gone through the first 11 weeks of the season. Let me know what you think about the schedule that I've plotted out so far. But we're going to start here on the back end of the year with a holiday prime time game for the Titans. Excited to dive into it. Before I do, thank you once again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Remember tomorrow night, Wednesday night, I'm going to be going live at 8 p.m. Eastern when the schedule officially drops to go week by week through the games and give my reaction. Then on Thursday night show into Friday morning, I'm going to be doing my first official prediction

for you guys based on the schedule that we got. Hope you guys enjoy that. And then next week, I'm going to have a ton more schedule breakdown. We're going to preview OTAs because the whole team is coming together. Not next week, but the week after to get things going. Very excited for all of that. But with that being said, Thanksgiving.

There's an old saying in the NFL. I can hear like the NFL films music behind me. That's how I feel right now. Setting the vibes, right? Thanksgiving is when the NFL season really starts. That's when the teams really reveal themselves and who they are. All right. Thanksgiving.

And in week 12, Thanksgiving week, I'm going to go with one of the leaks here. All right? It's probably going to be wrong, but we have seen some rumors online that the Titans will be playing on Thanksgiving, and they have an 8-20 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers in Los Angeles.

Well, I'm riding with that because I want to see the Titans on Thanksgiving. And I think it'd be absolutely fun to do that. Justin Herbert and Will Levis, two absolute cannon-armed quarterbacks. Jim Harbaugh,

who's wildly different than Brian Callahan. I think that would be an incredibly fun matchup on Thanksgiving. You get your traditional matchups with the Cowboys and the Lions early in the day, and then you get two teams that are just, well, the Chargers probably won't want to air it out because they're going to be such a run-dominant team,

but Justin Herbert certainly can air it out. So you can get some very exciting action in that game. Let's do Thanksgiving Thursday night night football, 820, in Los Angeles against the Chargers. Now, traveling across the country to Los Angeles can be a tough thing for teams on the East Coast. I know that Tennessee isn't the East Coast, but Eastern part of the country. It can be tough

to travel all the way over. So after week 12 on Thursday night football, the Titans get their bye. I love having a late bye. That's what I want. I want the season beat you up, and if you have your bye too early, and you got to play 10, 11 straight weeks of football to the finish line, it's just hard. So I prefer the bye week at the end of the year and having it at week 13 after a Thursday night game. Now the Titans get three days after Thursday to Sunday of extra rest, a full week of the bye week of rest. So now we're at 10 days. And then the next full week leading up to the next game.

So that is like 17 days between games. Rest up. Heal injuries. Get ready. Remember, we had a winnable games at the beginning. We had a tough stretch in the middle. Now the Titans get a huge gap of rest. And not only that, but week 14,

at home, Monday night football, Titans versus Texans. Titans wearing the oiler jerseys. I can see it. I can see it in my mind's eye right now. Titans-Texans. Monday night football. Off 17,

18 days of rest for the Titans to smash Houston and let them know you aren't taking over this division for the next decade like you thought. And doing it in the Oilers jerseys. That right there is perfect. That is cinema, okay? It's a movie, folks. It's a movie.

But anyway, we move past week 14 at home against Houston on Monday Night Football after an 18-day rest for the Titans. We go up to Buffalo, and hey, can the Titans play in the cold weather now? They changed their identity as a team. They're going to throw the ball more. Can they play in cold weather? I want to see it. So at Buffalo in Week 15, follow that up with the home game

against the Colts in week 16 will Anthony Richardson still be playing by then? who knows, guy loves getting hurt so we'll see but at home, week 16 again, the end of the season the last 5 weeks of the year 3 home division games

I think that is ideal for the Titans just absolutely perfect if the division is on the line at the end of the year, the Titans are going to have three home games against their division opponents to make it happen. I love that. So, Houston week 14 Monday Night Football. Week 15 at the Buffalo Bills. See how they play in the cold. Week 16 home against Indianapolis. And then week 17,

we're going, going back, back to Miami. Yes. The man who owns the Miami Dolphins, Will Levis, goes back to Miami in week 17. I just think Will Levis is going to own the Dolphins his whole career. It's a projection I'm making. I think he's going to crush them. All right?

He just has that confidence, knows he can win there. They don't have the best home field advantage or anything like that. So it's a week 17 road game. But, I mean, and if I recall, that Monday night football game, there was a big contingent of Tennessee Titans fans there. Like, you could hear real cheers for the Titans in Miami. And Miami fans may not be hyped to play the Titans, so that'll mean more Titans fans because Miami fans aren't as

concerned with going. I love that. At Miami week 17, it's warm, it's nice, but it's not too hot because it's not too early in the season. It's in December. That is good. Or it might be January. Week 17 might be January at that point. Or it's the last weekend of December. Either way. I would love that. And if they made it a Saturday night primetime game, that would be even more fun because we got a great game from those teams last year on Monday Night Football. So why not give them primetime love again on that, you know,

whenever the last couple of weeks of the season come around, they do some Saturday games. I think that Miami game could be a great one. And then finally, Week 18, as we always do, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Home against Jacksonville. Send them home again. Send themselves to the playoffs.

After three home division games in the last five weeks, cap it off with Jacksonville in week 18. I think this is a great schedule. So, one more run through. Week one, home against the New England Patriots. Week two, away at the Chicago Bears. Week three, away at the Washington Commanders. Week three, away at the Washington Commanders. Week four, home Minnesota Vikings. Week five, home Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football. Week six, away at the Houston Texans.

Week seven, home versus the Green Bay Packers. Week eight, away at the Detroit Lions. Week nine, away at the Indianapolis Colts. Week 10, home versus the New York Jets. Week 11, away at the Indianapolis Colts. Week 10, home versus the New York Jets. Week 11, away at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Week 12, at the Los Angeles Chargers. Thursday night football on Thanksgiving. Week 13, bye. Week 14, home. Houston Texans. Monday night football, wearing the Oilers uniforms. Week 15, at the Bills away. Week 16 home versus the Indianapolis Colts. Week 17 away at the Miami Dolphins. Week 18 home against the Jacksonville Jaguars to cap things off.

Let me know how you would grade my mock schedule for the Tennessee Titans. Again, I'll be back with you guys live tomorrow night to break down the real schedule. Can't wait to go through it. But with that being said, that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.