Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Re-Watch Wednesday: Offensive Game Plan, Defensive Keys & Roster Updates
Episode Date: October 19, 2021The Tennessee Titans defeated the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 6 and Tyler breaks down the victory from a schematic standpoint on this Re-Watch Wednesday! First, discuss all the late...st roster and injury news coming out of the game. Then, Tyler looks at the defensive side of the ball and talks coverages, blitzes and more. Finally, Tyler analyzes the offensive side of the ball and how the Bills personnel dictated the run schemes used.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast.
I am your host, Tyler Rowland.
Titans fans, it is a re-watch Wednesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
I'm excited to step into the film room and go over all of my schematic notes
from the Titans win over the Bills on Monday Night Football.
I have re-watched the game as many times as you possibly can
within the about 17 hours since the final buzzer.
And I am excited to unload all of that information to you guys today.
We are going to talk about what the offense did.
We are going to talk about what the defense did from an X's and O's perspective.
So you can get a better understanding of exactly how the Titans were able to defeat
the Buffalo Bills.
Now before we get into my film notes on this rewatch Wednesday, do have to go over some
roster moves, some injury updates, some general Tennessee Titans news that we got on Tuesday.
So going to go over all of that roster news you need to know and then step into the film
room for a rewatch Wednesday
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, this rewatch Wednesday edition of the locked on Titans podcast is brought to you by McDonald's proudly serving communities since 1965.
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It's an unofficial community center. A big thank you to our friends at McDonald's for always being
there. I'm loving it. We are going to dive into all of this roster news that you need to know
about the Titans from Tuesday. Before we do, I want to thank you guys for making the Locked On
Titans podcast your first listen every day.
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Check out the show Facebook page as well.
At Locked on Titans Pod.
But we have a lot of news to talk about.
Obviously, it was set out into the universe on Monday night after the game, but we did
get confirmation on Tuesday that Titans rookie first
round pick Caleb Farley did in fact tear his ACL.
Now, there are some online doctors who are feeling very
positive about it. It is the opposite knee than the ACL that he
tore at the beginning of his college career.
So the fact that he's already gone through rehab for an ACL is a good thing. He knows the process.
He knows how long it takes and what goes into coming back from that. He's a more mature man
right now than when he tore it originally. So that should help him out. But definitely a
devastating blow for the Titans who are having some serious issues at cornerback.
Also, wide receiver Cam Batson also out for the season with a torn ACL.
The Titans have been struggling to find a consistent kick returner.
They're struggling to find consistent production at wide receiver with all the injuries.
So with that in mind, a tough blow as well.
Not quite as difficult to overcome as Caleb Farley's injury, but a tough one all the same.
But some other roster news that isn't as depressing, I guess.
The Titans did activate rookie safety Brady Breeze
to the 53-man roster,
so good to see that Brady Breeze is coming back
while it's not a cornerback.
Depth in the secondary can never hurt.
And then also, a guy who I thought has played
pretty freaking well for the Titans since he got his opportunity,
punter Johnny Townsend. He had the one shank in his first game
as a punter for the Titans, but since then, he's been booming it. A really strong
leg from Johnny Townsend, but Townsend being
waived obviously clears the way for the weapon himself,
Brett Kern, to return to the Titans roster.
Remember, he was injured and just wasn't playing for a few weeks.
Then he was added to the COVID list at the end of last week.
Looks like he's going to be ready to come off the COVID list
and be ready to get back into the lineup for the Titans.
So love to see that.
As for Taylor LeJuan, Taylor LeJuan said himself on Twitter on Tuesday, quote, I'm all right.
He's going to be in concussion protocol.
I would not expect to see him play this week against the Chiefs, but shouldn't be a long
term season ending injury or anything like that or anything even worse than that for
Taylor LeJuan.
So that's great news.
Mike Vrabel said at his press conference on Tuesday
that they are going to treat Julio Jones day by day.
It's impossible to know the severity of Julio Jones' injury
with the way the Titans handle it,
but I got a feeling that's exactly how Mike Vrabel wants it.
Also, Chris Jackson, haven't got an update on his injury.
Looked like it was foot, ankle, something in the lower body there.
Not certain the severity of that.
But what we can expect is Breon Body Calhoun,
who has been with the Titans since training camp,
who's been on the practice squad,
should get an opportunity to play in this game against the Chiefs.
And then Chris Jones, another DB,
who's been with the Titans since training camp,
that's been on the practice squad.
Both of those guys I would expect to either get pulled up to the active 53-man roster,
depending on IR and what the Titans want to do with the injured players,
or at minimum, they're going to get that practice squad elevation for the Titans
so that they can play in the game.
I think the Titans' first move when it comes to replacing their cornerback depth,
it's going to be to look within, look inward.
If anybody catches my Easter egg for that one.
But I think that the Titans are going to go with Breon Body Calhoun,
go with Chris Jones first.
If those things are diabolical and terrible and just depressing
and don't work out at all,
then I would expect the Titans to maybe look elsewhere.
The Titans are going to play this game,
and then next week we're getting closer to the trade deadline.
The Titans will have to make some moves before their week 8
game. They could look for a guy
like Kyle Fuller, Cam Dantzler
Kendall Fuller
and there are other names that we are going
to discuss next week before the
trade deadline. One name I do want to mention here
isn't a cornerback but
long time edge rusher Whitney Merciless
was cut from the
Houston Texans it was a mutual mutually agreed parting of the ways for a veteran who's in the
late stages of his career wants to compete on a championship team and a team like the Texans who
needs to get younger and needs to see some of their young guys so those two parted ways Whitney
Merciless is a free agent he's's got history with Mike Vrabel.
The Titans have had issues with their depth on the edge as well.
If Bud Dupree were to go down again,
if Harold Landry, God forbid, were to get hurt,
the Titans would be in a terrible situation again at outside linebacker.
So I would go get Whitney Merciless.
Since the offseason, I've been wanting a veteran cheap free agent to be part of the pass rush rotation. A guy like
Ryan Kerrigan, a guy like Melvin Ingram, a guy like Justin Houston.
The Titans can finally make amends and do right and get that veteran
rotation pass rusher in the building with Whitney Merciless who has history
with Mike Vrabel and his system. So I would love to see that. But that's going to do it
for all the roster news, all the hot topics for the Titans coming
out of Tuesday.
Now it is time.
We are going to step into the film room.
We are going to talk X's and O's, and I'm going to tell you schematically what the Titans
did on offense and defense to come out victorious in this game.
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Titans fans, let's do it.
Let's step into the film room,
take a look at my film notes.
I just want to throw this out here for you
guys. I get all kinds of comments
on YouTube. Oh, it's a film breakdown
with no film on it?
Listen guys, I cannot put
film on
the YouTube channel. It is a copyright
strike. You know the little
message you see from the NFL?
The NFL is the express written consent
owner of this content. Any recollections, any videos, any of the see from the NFL at the end of the NFL is the express written consent owner of this content. Any, uh, recollections, any videos, any of the prohibited from the NFL, blah, blah, blah,
blah. It's a copyright strike. Not only will it shut down my channel, but it'll shut down my
entire network. Also people do put film breakdowns on YouTube, but their accounts aren't monetized.
Their videos aren't monetized. They're not making money off YouTube
for that content. And guys, I have
no shame in saying, I want to make
some money off all this work
that I put in. So I do
all of the film work with the film clips
with the All 22, all that stuff
on my Twitter, at TicTacTitans.
You cannot listen to this
analysis and then not go check out
my Twitter
and see all the actual clips and films
that I post all week.
So that's my PSA.
That's my little preamble before we get into this.
Just based on some of the reaction
that I'm getting,
some of the comments that I've been getting
from the YouTube crowd,
who quite frankly,
the YouTube crowd are savages.
There's no other way around it.
Those people get real crazy,
but I love the passion always. So let's dive into my notes. We're going to start on the defensive
side of the ball this time. I usually start with the offense. I'm switching it up. So
first I want to outline my keys to victory. My game plan for the Titans are exactly,
exactly what they executed out there. It's the same game plan we saw with the Ravens in the playoffs in 19,
with the Ravens in 2020, with the Bills in 2020.
You must rush.
You have rush integrity.
Don't let Josh Allen escape the pocket, especially to his right-hand side.
Keep the Bills in front of you by playing zone defense,
all eyes on Josh Allen.
Don't let him get free lanes to run,
make him dump it short, make them nickel and dime it all the way down the field, five yards,
six yards here. The Bills are going to go up and down the field, but you have no problems with that.
They're a good offense, but it's all about stopping them in the red zone. Red zone defense was my
biggest key to victory for the Titans. They held the Bills to 2-5, including that game-winning fourth down stop
at the end in the red zone on the goal line.
So no big plays.
Play zone defense.
Keep everything in front of you.
Make them nickel and dime it.
Stop them in the red zone,
and then force a couple turnovers.
The Titans were able to get one turnover in the interception,
but with that fourth down stop at the end,
that's a turnover on downs, and that's essentially a turnover in the interception. But with that fourth down stop at the end, that's a turnover on downs.
And that's essentially a turnover in itself.
So two turnovers, good in red zone defense.
The Titans defense executed a great plan.
Now the Bills had a pretty good plan themselves.
They wanted to take advantage of the Titans with read pass option passes.
And the read pass option, of course, as I outline every week,
you have the option either to
hand it to the running back or throw the pass behind the defense. Just depends on what one
single defender does, your key, Josh Allen's key. And basically, in the red zone, the Bills were
doing a read pass option, but the whole goal was to attack Jackrabbit Jenkins in one-on-one coverage.
Even if the Titans are playing a zone,
what the Titans like to do is bring those safeties in the middle of the field up and cover the middle of the field.
So the Bills were trying to run a double move on Jackrabbit or a skinny post
and just fit the wide receiver in right behind the safeties
with nothing but Jackrabbit on the outside hip.
And it was working.
I mean, they got a DPI on the double move with Gabriel Davis.
They got the touchdown to Stefan Diggs on that. So that was working for the Bills. They were
going at Jack Rabbit a lot. Another way they were using the RPO game is the Titans were bringing a
slot blitz all the time with Elijah Molden all day long. You saw Elijah Molden blitzing off the
slot all day long. Well, the Bills had RPO action where they would fake a handoff,
and then if they see that cornerback blitz from Elijah Molden,
they're just going to throw it instantly to Cole Beasley in the slot,
and you attack the blitz in the pass game, throw at the blitz.
That's where less defenders should be because they're blitzing,
and the Bills did have some success with that in the first half.
The Titans got smarter, got accustomed to it, didn't bite on that read.
And I'll tell you why the Titans didn't bite on that read.
It's because the front seven of the Titans, the defensive line and the linebackers,
were good enough to stop the Bills' run game,
which was fifth best in the NFL coming into this game.
They were able to stop the Bills' run game completely,
turn off the faucet with just the front four and the two linebackers.
When you only need those six guys to completely hem up the Bills' rushing game,
then you don't have to worry about those fakes.
You can stay in your zone and not have to worry about run defense in the secondary.
So more than anything, that really helped the Titans.
It really set up the game.
The guys in the secondary, the pass coverage,
could really focus on stopping the passing attack because they weren't worried about the run game
because they had confidence that their front six could stop that up. And I say front six because
the Titans stayed in nickel all game long. They rarely went to dime with six defensive backs
because then they'd be too small. They rarely went to base because then they would be too big and too slow.
The Titans stayed in nickel all game.
Got to give a lot of credit to Elijah Molden,
who was out there all game long playing his best in the slot as a rookie.
So a good job there.
With the zone, though, what zone?
The Titans played cover to invert.
They got beat on the touchdown to Cole Beasley right before halftime.
After that, they kind of quit running that.
But they played a ton of cover three in this game with a deep safety.
And then the two corners playing the deep thirds.
They were flipping their safeties back and forth.
So Josh Allen never really knew exactly which safety was going to be the deep safety.
You love to see that.
Much more cover three in the second half after they got burnt on that cover two invert,
which I've been talking about for a week now.
They're going to get burnt on the cover two invert
if they keep running it as much
as they were. The Titans did mix in
some man in there as well, but
I wouldn't say that it was anything too
overwhelming. They just wanted to keep the Bills on
their toes, but mostly zone because
it fit with the game
plan. One big thing that stood out to me was those blitzes off the slot, though.
And if you notice, what the Titans were doing is they were blitzing Elijah Moulton from
the wide side of the field.
So you're going to be on either hash mark or in between the hash mark.
What the Titans didn't want is they didn't want Josh Allen to get out to his right-hand
side.
He makes a lot of great plays.
Mike Grable talked about this in his press conference. He gets out to the right-hand side, his dominant hand side, and he makes lot of great plays. Mike Vrabel talked about this in his press conference. He gets out
to the right hand side, his dominant hand side,
and he makes a ton of plays outside the pocket.
So what the Titans were doing is they were bringing
a slot blitz to Josh
Allen's right hand side so that
it would force him to the left instead
of allowing him to go right. So again, great job
by Elijah Molden. Not just coming on those
blitzes, but staying wide
and understanding the purpose of why he is coming on that slot blitz. When the coming on those blitzes, but staying wide and understanding the purpose
of why he is coming on that slot blitz.
When the Titans weren't blitzing off the slot,
they were trying to confuse the Bills,
showing the slot blitz,
but then bringing the inside linebacker up the middle.
David Long had some really good plays
getting into the middle of the Bills' pass protection
and up into Josh Allen's face.
So the Titans were trying to confuse the Bills there.
They were doing a good job.
Now with those inside linebacker blitzes
and with those slot cornerback blitzes,
like I've talked about last week,
you've got to cut down on the twists and the stunts.
Harold Landry's been running that inside loop all year for success.
Well, the Titans had to cut down on those games and twists and stunts
because like I've been talking about at the beginning of the season,
that leaves you more vulnerable
to letting the quarterback outside the pocket
because you're bringing your outside guy and you're looping him in.
If your inside guys don't get an outside push,
well then you're just leaving it open.
That burnt the Titans throughout the first five weeks of the season.
They corrected that here as I was hoping that they would.
More straight rushes with just the four guys or just an inside twist.
We saw a sack from Harold Landry that was just an inside twist
with him and Jeffrey Simmons on the inside of the defensive line,
not compromising the edge pressure and the rush integrity.
So you love to see that.
I do want to mention in the second half,
because the Titans were getting pressure on the Bills
throughout the first half with the blitzes,
Buffalo said, you know what?
Your secondary is garbage.
We are going to play three on six.
So we're going to keep in.
Buffalo's offense kept in their tight end.
They kept in their running back.
And they said, we're going to make sure you don't get pressure on Josh Allen.
And we think that even with your six defensive backs out there covering,
our three wide receivers are going to be able to beat them and get open.
And guess what?
They were right.
They were able to do that.
And Buffalo took what the Titans defense gave them.
They nickel and dimed it all the way down the field.
And then the Titans were able to hold firm in the red zone.
And I have a feeling the red zone defense for the Titans,
which I've mentioned as a key all week,
will be the subject of this week's film study
that I write for the USA Today and the Titans Wire,
so make sure that you guys check that out as well.
But that's what I saw on defense.
They followed the game plan that they followed before the game plan
I outlined in the game preview.
They executed it perfectly.
There was a little bit of give and take throughout the game,
but overall an excellent plan from the Titans.
Now, we are going to talk about the offensive side of the ball next.
Very excited to get into that with you guys.
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Titans fans, let's cap off this re-watch Wednesday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast by
diving into the schematic analysis of the Titans offense.
What were they doing with the X's and O's on Monday night to beat the Bills?
We're going to dive in, but before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast
your first listen every day.
And as for your second listen, make sure that you check out
the Peacock and Williamson show Monday through Friday.
Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt Williamson
give you a national perspective on all of the latest NFL news.
Make sure you check out the Peacock and Williamson podcast
on whatever platform you do stream.
But diving into the Titans offense.
So the Titans wanted to run the ball with success.
They needed some explosive plays in the passing game.
And they needed to control the ball.
And they did all of those things.
And what I will say is throughout the first five weeks,
we've seen the Titans have more success with the inside zone game, inside handoffs.
But in this game, they really started to get the outside zone working.
They were great in the red zone because of the outside zone as well.
So let's kind of dive into exactly what was going on.
The Titans played 11 personnel a ton in this game.
That's one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers.
And the reason for that is they wanted to spread the Bills defense out.
Of course, everybody wants to stack the box on the Titans,
but if you spread out those wide receivers,
you can't have that extra safety, that extra cornerback in the box.
It's just not going to work for you.
And when you do that, the Bills can't go to their
base defense like some teams like to do against the Titans, even when they're in 11. So the Titans
were spreading out the Bills, creating less stacked boxes for Derrick Henry. A lot of his big
runs and his touchdown runs, the Bills only had about six guys in the box because they were trying
to cover everything else and they were trying to stay spread out against the wide receivers and shotgun,
what have you, inside zone, outside zone, mostly that outside zone.
So the Titans did a great job with their formations of keeping the Bills spread out.
And because of that, they were able to have that success
in the outside zone game
because there weren't as many second-level defenders
to be ready for Derrick Henry.
I will say the Bills did a good job of breaking tendency at times.
They played it as everybody does against the Titans.
They played a ton of press man with a bunch of guys at the line of scrimmage early on.
But the Titans, especially in the second half, started getting it going
and started beating that press man and having guys get open.
Hello, A.J. Brown.
It's crazy having one guy that consistently beats man coverage
can totally open up the Titans offense.
It's just crazy.
That's all they need is one guy who can get open against man coverage.
And when Julio is finally healthy, if that ever does happen,
having two guys who can consistently do that,
that's the Titans offense that we dreamed about.
But here's the thing.
They started confusing the Titans late in the game on third and short when they had typically
been running man the Titans would come out in a man beater
formation they would run a man coverage beater play but
the Bills would be in zone so that chess match went back and forth throughout
the second half really but a good job by the Bills defensive coordinator
and head coach Sean McDermott for doing a good job of mixing up coverages
and keeping the Titans on their toes.
But ultimately, the Titans were able to find success because they got it going in the run game.
And really what I want to point out is the Titans had success on first down and play action.
Todd Downing went play action on first down in this game more than I remember the rest of the season.
And that's what we have been asking for all along.
And it's no coincidence that when the Titans started going
with play action on first down,
they started having success with A.J. Brown
over the middle of the field.
How many times did we see that in the second half?
Play action fake on an early down.
A.J. Brown over the middle for 15, 20 yards.
Explosive pass plays. They are back in the Titans offense. Let's go. The Titans needed that so bad.
Now, here was a big element of this game, and I believe that Louis Riddick pointed it out during
the broadcast, but as we see teams do, the Titans can be really deadly with the bootleg, with Ryan Tannehill.
So what teams will do is they'll make sure that they have pressure coming off both edges.
That way they're setting an edge if you do hand it to Derrick Henry. And if you're running that
bootleg to the backside, they have a defensive lineman right there for Ryan Tannehill. But what
happens with that is that defensive lineman on the backside covering Tannehill, he's going to
come up the field and try to take Tannehill on the bootleg.
Well, what if you hand it off to Derrick Henry,
and instead of going to the left, he cuts back to the opposite side?
Well, now that defensive end that's supposed to have backside contained,
he's all the way up the field worried about Ryan Tannehill.
Well, Derrick Henry and the Titans had some real success on those cutback runs.
Now, remember, at the beginning of the segment,
I told you that the Titans were playing a ton of 11 personnel and they were
spreading the bills defense out.
Well,
if you spread the defense out and you don't have that extra safety or slot
cornerback in the box and Derek Henry runs that cutback run and the backside
defender is up taking Ryan Tannehill five yards up the field,
well, who is going to be there at the second level to stop Derrick Henry?
The answer is no one.
And that's why the Titans were able to have such good success.
And then you start worrying about the cutback
and you pay less attention and give less attention to the front side of the play.
And then Derrick Henry gets touchdowns in the red zone.
The Bills early on in the game were really stacking the weak side too. If you have, let's say, a fullback,
a tight end, and then the two wide receivers, one on either side, your typical 21 personnel.
Well, the Bills were actually having two linebackers on the weak side of the formation
where the tight end isn't because they know the Titans like to run to the weak side.
Well, the Titans said, okay, stack it.
We're going to run play side.
We're going to run front side, strong side, whatever you want to call it.
And that's how the Titans were able to play that chess game,
and they played that chess game all day long.
Also, I do want to mention out of shotgun,
the read option with Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry is truly undefeated.
I mean, that play works in short yardage situations over and over.
Also, the Titans have really been incorporating some trap plays
where they let one of the defensive linemen rush free up the field
and they'll pull the opposite side guard to kick him out.
I just hit the mic, so sorry if that caused any...
I get too excited for
offensive line play, baby. I was raised by an
offensive line coach. Let's go.
So anyways, traps,
which the Titans are a zone team. Traps aren't
a zone play, but the Titans have been incorporating
trap plays in the red zone out of shotgun
with Derrick Henry to give him
some more room and take advantage of an over
aggressive defense on second
down and third down. So love seeing that
from Todd Downing. And the last thing I want to do
is just big shout out to the offensive line.
Zero sacks allowed.
Really bullied this Bills front
in the run game. I'm shocked by it.
The Bills defensive line group,
they have about eight guys in their rotation
that all have been playing excellent
football early on in the year. The Titans
offensive line has had their struggles early on throughout the year.
So the fact that they were able to play this well against this front,
that's a great sign.
And remember, I said in my Can the Titans Win the Super Bowl Still episode,
I said that the problems with the offensive line were correctable.
And they got corrected.
So hopefully this can continue. But that
is going to do it for a re-watch Wednesday
edition of the Locked on Titans podcast.
Make sure that you subscribe
on whatever platform you do stream.
That is going to do it for me today though
folks. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow
for a crossover Thursday.
As always,
I am your host, Tyler
Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.