Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Reclaim AFC South, Down Commanders 21-17: Henry Runs Wild & #TitanUpTitanDown Recap

Episode Date: October 10, 2022

The Tennessee Titans reclaimed the AFC South on Sunday by defeating the Washington Commanders 21-17. It is the third win in a row for the Titans after starting 0-2 and it was led by the King, Derrick Henry. Tyler discusses the offense for the Titans and how Henry alone saved the day. Also, what happened on defense and, like Henry, how David Long saved the day! Next, time for #TitanUpTitanDown as Tyler reviews the individual performances! The Titans special teams coverage units had a great day along with the defensive line, but Caleb Farley and the offensive line had less than stellar performances.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.BetterHelpIt’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn 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 moved to 3-2 on the year with a 21-17 victory over the Washington Commanders. I'm breaking down everything you need to know from the game. First, my big takeaways on offense and defense. Derrick Henry saves the day and David Long with the major interception. Then we'll continue breaking down

the individual performances, both good and bad, in everybody's favorite segment, Tighten Up, Tighten Down. After five weeks, the Titans sit atop of the AFC South. I'll tell you how they got there on today's Victory Monday 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, it is a Victory Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast. We're going to break down exactly what happened with the Titans on offense and defense to start. Before we get into my big takeaways from the game, I do want to let you know that today's Victory Monday is presented by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. Pick two to five players and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First-time users get a 100% instant deposit match up to $100

with promo code LOCKEDON. That's prizepicks.com, promo code LOCKEDON. Thank you guys for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. I am bringing you Monday through Friday free Tennessee Titans content on all platforms all year round. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast.

So make sure you subscribe. But diving into my big takeaways on offense and defense from the Titans win over the Commanders. Number one, on the offensive side of the ball, how can you start anywhere else but with Derrick Henry? And it wasn't even, here's the thing about Henry's performance. 28 carries, 102 yards, two rushing touchdowns. It was no guarantee that the Titans were going to get some of those short yardage situations.

And Derrick Henry made it happen while he was getting contacted behind the line of scrimmage. While there weren't a lot of holes, I remember a third down in the second half where he was contacted four yards behind the line of scrimmage, and he juked out a few guys and got up and got the first down on third and one. Absolutely insane. Some of those goal line carries where he was able to punch it in with not a lot of room. This wasn't one of those games where I get on here and tell you guys that the offensive line was good and run blocking because they weren't that great. The Titans only had, I believe,

3.3 yards per carry. 3.9 yards per carry at best, if my memory serves me correct. So not a wonderful performance from the Titans overall as a rushing offense, but Derrick Henry just put them on their back, basically. And Derrick Henry just carried the offense when they had nothing else to give. Other than that deep shot to NWI, which, not to toot my own horn here, guys, but if you watch the game plan show on Friday, I said Derrick Henry had to have a massive performance. And I said the Titans have to take some deep shots to NWI down the field.

They simply have to just to make the defense respected. And guess what? They hit one. And it was a huge play for the Titans in the game. So other than that deep shot to NWI, it was just Derrick Henry and not even just the running game. He had 30 yards in the game. So other than that deep shot to NWI, it was just Derrick Henry in it, not even just the running game. He had 30 yards in the receiving game, had a big screen for 24 yards, had another great contested catch, I believe in the red zone for a six yard pickup.

I mean, Derrick Henry did it all because the Titans offensively, nothing in the passing game. Robert Woods is dropping passes. The Titans give up five sacks in pass protection. I just simply don't know what the Titans are going to do when they play teams with good pass rushes who aren't also terrible. Like the Commanders are a terrible football team, but they have a pretty good upfront pass rush.

When the Titans face a good pass rush and also a good team. I guess that's what Buffalo is, right? So because the Raiders aren't that good of a team, they're mid, but they have a good upfront group and the Titans were able to win barely. Same thing here. So I'm worried about the offensive line going forward. Dylan Raidens.

Dylan Raidens got the start at right guard. I got to tell you, it looked ugly at the beginning, but I didn't really see any major, major issues from Radins later in the game. That's something I'm going to be focusing on in my tape breakdown this week, so make sure you don't miss Rewatch Wednesday. But overall, the big thing is, despite the sacks, the penalties, the negative plays for the Titans, the mistakes, the drops. They have Derrick Henry and they continue to be amazing in the red zone.

I believe they're up to 11 for 12 in the red zone now getting touchdowns. The Titans were 3 for 3 in the red zone in this game. Despite only being 4 for 14 on third down, if the Titans got to the red zone, they score touchdowns this year. It's just getting to the red zone that is tough to do when you have all the penalties, negative plays, sacks, mistakes, all that. There's only so much Derrick Henry can do here.

And I think we saw the limit of what Derrick Henry can do in this game for this team. I mean, he literally carried the offense for most of the game. On defense, the Titans' defense is just so Jekyll and Hyde, if not for those explosive plays in the past game. The Titans were able to get, I believe, three sacks on Carson Wentz on the day. The Commanders were one for 11 on third down.

The only third down conversion they had was right at the end of the game that set them up for their on third down. The only third down conversion they had was right at the end of the game that set them up for their last four downs. That was the first third down conversion they had the whole game. They were 0 for 1 in the red zone. 2.5 yards per carry. I mean, the Titans completely shut them down other than like four or five explosive plays.

Which the Titans cannot stop giving up every week. But at the end of the day, David Long and the Titans played a ton of man early. They had to switch to zone because they just don't have the dogs in the secondary right now with Amani Hooker not playing with the disaster that is the cornerback group right now. Andrew Adams, Josh Kalou, and safety.

I mean, the Titans had to go to zone because they just can't match up one-on-one in man coverage. But at the end of the day, they were able to limit explosives at the end, make the commanders take up a bunch of time, get them in a goal line stand, and David Long seals the game with the interception. They make us sweat. But either way, the Titans are back above water. They're back above 500.

Sit at 3-2 with Jacksonville losing to the Texans. The Titans now lead the AFC South. I'm going to talk more about that at the end of the show, but now it's time to go into tighten up and tighten down. Talk about all the good and bad individual performances in this game, and I'm sure you won't be surprised where I start tighten up in just a moment. But before we get into that, I do want to tell you a little more about our title sponsor, PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made simple. So PrizePix sets a projection for every player. Derrick Henry, rushing yards, 98.5. Ryan Tannehill, 2.5 sacks.

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instant deposit match up to $100. Titans fans, thank you for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen. Every day, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream tomorrow. I'm going to be diving into the game, looking at the numbers, the pro football focus grades, coverage statistics, pressure statistics for the offensive line. I always have some good statistical nuggets on Tuesday. Wednesday is rewatch Wednesday. We dive into the film, take a look at what happened in this matchup.

Usually we have a crossover Thursday, but the bye week is upcoming. So I'm going to do kind of a whole recap of the Titans season so far. Same thing on Friday. I'll probably have a bye-week mailbag for you guys, so make sure that you tune in for Monday through Friday free Tennessee Titans content on all platforms here on the Locked on Titans podcast. Also, make sure you check out NFL Key Predictions

on the Locked on NFL YouTube channel and Locked on NFL podcast. They basically give you the key predictions for some of the biggest matchups every week, like Monday night football, Sunday night football. It's just good football content, and it's free. So check out NFL Key Predictions every Friday on the Locked On NFL Podcast feed or Locked On NFL YouTube channel.

But time for Tighten Up and Tighten Down. Make sure to put your tighten ups and your tighten downs in the comments right now. But how can we start anywhere else but with Derrick Henry? Derrick Henry, again, 28 carries, 102 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns,

two catches for 30 yards. He carried the Titans in this game. I mean, that was basically the offensive takeaway because he was incredible. Derrick Henry is back to being King Henry. He's the best running back in the league. Even when the Titans offensive line is not good, he's still finding a way to make big plays. Thank you, Derrick Henry. Totally back. Rust is knocked off. He's back in mid-season form. Got to give a Titan up to NWI. Nick Westbrook

Aquino. Two catches, 72 yards, but that 61-yard catch that he had down the field was so, so big. I mean, without it, they lose. Literally, without it, they lose. So, shout out to NWI. Again, I said, my game plan keys. They have to throw some deep shots and make the defense respect it, and if you do it, heck, you might even catch one. Good job by Ryan Tannehill, too. He almost got smacked on that throw. I'm not giving Tannehill a tighten-up.

He hasn't gotten a tighten-up, really, for most of the year. Tannehill's okay, man. You know, if they give him some blocking and somebody gets open, he'll put the ball there. If they don't block it up and nobody's wide open, it's going to be tough. He's not really going to do anything super special. He made one pretty good play out there today, though, where he got that pass to Dontrell Hilliard

and converted for a first down when he was getting wrapped up by Montez Sweat. God, Montez Sweat, boy. Woo! Man, he had a good start to the game. But, I mean, other than that little play by Tannehill, this didn't do anything. I don't know.

He's just, eh. Not a tighten up or a tighten down for Tannehill. But NWI, that's a tighten up. That's a big play. I know the offensive line wasn't very good, but I thought Ben Jones was pretty solid. With offensive line play, I always, unless it's blatantly obvious,

which today it was some circumstances with some offensive line play. You think you see some good play. You got to check. I think Ben Jones played pretty well today. I think he played pretty well. Going to have to double check the tape, but tighten up for Ben Jones. Dontrell Hilliard, again, incredibly important player because he's the only guy that can get open when teams go man coverage because he's going to get man coverage against a linebacker. And that's a matchup that the Titans can win. Any other matchup out there, the tight ends, the wide receivers, tough.

It's tough to win, but Hilliard on a linebacker. The Titans found some success there. I'm wondering when teams are going to start to wake up and put a defensive back on Hilliard and let a linebacker take the tight ends, but they didn't today. So Hilliard, four catches, 23 yards, touchdown. Made some big plays.

Got some conversions for the Titans. He's been a very valuable player so far. And like I said in the offseason, bringing back Hilliard was a much better move than paying Deontay Foreman $2 million. Barely even used him in Carolina. Also, tighten ups on defense. Jeffrey Simmons, five

tackles, a pass breakup, one and a half sacks. I mean, he was in Carson Wentz's lap most of the day. It's not always explosive on the box score, but trust me when I say this, Jeffrey Simmons is playing at an all pro level right now. He's awesome.

Incredible. And he got banged up in the game, got his ankle taped up and came back in and kept balling. T.A.R.E. Tart continues to be awesome. Three tackles, knocked down two passes at the line of scrimmage. I mean, Tart, baby, pop Tart. He's popping off the tape every game.

Good for him. Danico Autry. Four tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss. Disruptive. He got injured on a dirty play by one of the commander's offensive linemen. I'll post that on Tuesday on the Tic Tac Tuesday film thread so that everyone can see it. Came off the field for a couple of plays. Came back the next drive.

Instantly impactful. Has a sack. Danico Autry. The Titans just can't afford to lose a good rusher anymore. They have Weaver. They have Autry. They have Simmons. I mean, they were running defensive tackle Sam Okwe Nuno at edge after bringing him back onto the roster on Saturday. So tighten up to Autry. Tighten up to Tartt. Tighten up to Simmons.

They continue to just be a bright spot on this Titans defense. Tighten up to David Long. 11 tackles. Had a pass breakup. And, of course, the game-winning interception. And I thought David Long, again, like Derrick Henry, is an instinctive player who needs good feel while he's playing. So, David Long didn't play his best football early,

but starting last week, and now we're seeing it, he's starting to play some great, great football out there. So great job by David Long, a major tighten-up for David Long. Kevin Byard didn't make any crazy plays, but he was just solid. There was a third down against, I believe, Terry McLaurin caught the pass. Byard was right there, wrapped him up, got him on the ground, forced a punt. The third down against, I believe, Terry McLaurin caught the pass. Byard was right there, wrapped him up, got him on the ground, forced a punt. Nothing special from KB, but with all of the crappy play in the secondary right now,

Kevin Byard is literally doing his best to hold things together. So tighten up for Kevin Byard. Tighten up for Christian Fulton too. That was a questionable DPI call. Questionable DPI at the end. I thought overall Christian Fulton had a good game. He got a little banged up, but came back in. The tackle where he got banged up, incredibly physical run defense from Fulton.

He's really been getting his body in there and being willing to tackle. So you got to give a lot of credit to Fulton. A tight nut for Christian Fulton. Just for not being a sieve in the secondary. Also, tight n ups on special teams. Stoney, man. Ryan Stonehouse continues balling. What a monster of a punter. I mean, he's going to be the best punter in the league.

He's going to be the best punter in the league. If he's not already, awesome. Stoney time, baby. Stoney time. I thought the coverage units on special teams were awesome on Sunday. Andrew Adams had a good special teams tackle. Kevin Radar, the tight end, had three special teams tackles. He was awesome on special teams.

Hassan Haskins had a nice special teams tackle. I thought Dylan Cole made some good plays on special teams. Hassan Haskins had a nice special teams tackle. I thought Dylan Cole made some good plays on special teams. Great job by the Titans coverage units on special teams. Continuously making good tackles and not allowing big returns. Good day. A good day from the special teams group. Randy Bullock, I'm not going to give you a Titan up because all you did was make three extra points.

But hey, Titan up to Morgan Cox, the Titans long snapper, who never seems to be a problem. Oh, please. Knock on wood. Knock on wood. But, just a tighten up for the Titans special teams overall on the day.

Now it's time to get into tighten down. Not a lot of tighten downs, but there definitely are some to go over. I also want to talk about the stretch coming up for the Titans, where they're at right now, and how the Titans, at the end of five weeks, despite starting 0-2,

lead the AFC South. Craziness. Craziness. Before we get into it, though, I do want to tell you guys about our friends over at Built Bar. Built Bar is the best-tasting protein bar in the galaxy. All the bars are covered in 100% real chocolate and they have some of the best flavors you're ever going to try. Some of their

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of the Locked on Titans podcast going over my Titan downs. We did the Titan ups. Now it's time to get into some of the less than good performances we saw out there in the Titan Downs. Before we get into it, thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day, Monday through Friday, free and available on all platforms. Locked on Titans, your team every day.

As for your second listen, check out the Peacock and Williamson NFL show. Brian Peacock, former NFL scout Matt Williamson, break down all the big national stories for you. And Matt Williamson had the Titans finishing third in the AFC South. So I always like to tune in on Mondays and see what Williamson had to say about the Titans winning again. It is a three-game winning streak for the Titans. They sit at 3-2 now after starting 0-2. Agame winning streak for the Titans. They sit at 3-2 now after starting 0-2,

a great winning streak for the team. According to Kevin Byard, they had a players-only meeting after the beatdown in Buffalo, and it really kind of changed the way that they wanted to handle things. The Titans have a chance now going into the bye to come out healthier with a lot more of their, there are like five starters that they could have back after the bye. They play the Colts again. Sweeping the Colts would be huge. And they're at home. And then they play the Texans.

If the Titans can start 3-0 in the division and win those two games and be at 5-2, I feel confident going into the tough stretch with the Chiefs and the Packers and the Eagles and the Bengals. I feel confident going into that stretch that if the Titans can win one or two games there, they're going to win the division. But we'll talk about that more as the week continues.

It's time for Titan Down. First, the pass blocking for the offensive line. I mean, truly despicable stuff. Dennis Daly just getting whooped. NPF getting bull rushed into the back. I thought Dylan Radins didn't give up a ton of, like, sacks because other people got there first and stuff, but he got pushed around a little bit.

NPF, while being good, I think he's probably been the best rookie offensive tackle, it's still not great all the time. Jeff Swaim got destroyed by Montez Sweat and pass blocking at one point in time. I mean, the Titans can barely have explosive plays in the passing game because they simply don't have time to uncork them,

especially against a good front like the Commanders have with Payne and Allen and Sweat. They didn't even have Chase Young. So just a terrible day by the Titans offensive line in general. Derrick Henry was able to save them and make them look okay in run blocking, but just not good from this unit. Also, the tight ends, not giving you a lot in blocking.

And the tight ends total had two catches for 12 yards. Now, I think they got to get Chigaconquo more involved, in my opinion. And I'm not going to give him a tight end down, but on that catch in the end zone, Chigakonkwo stuck. He caught the ball with two hands, and as he's going to the ground,

rather than securing the ball and just taking the contact to the ground, having your knee down in the end zone and it being a touchdown, he tried to put his hand out to brace himself as he went to the ground. Not only did that make his hand go out of bounds and make it too hard to challenge,

even if I think the knee was down first, it was bang, bang. And I don't blame my Vrabel for not challenging it. But he did that and didn't even secure the catch. You're bracing yourself for impact on the ground so that you can hold on. Just do what every good receiver and tight end does in the league. Catch the ball with two hands and roll and secure it.

And just take the impact. You're going to hit the ground hard. But it's a touchdown. I had somebody reply to me on Twitter and say, Oh, I'd like to see you get out there and make that catch. I'm 5'5". I do a podcast. Why would you expect me to make that

catch? Chica Conquo is an NFL player. It's always the dumbest reply I ever get is, oh, you couldn't. Well, duh. Are you going to compare all the Titans to my level of skill at football? Is that, is that the level that we're judging our NFL players on

right now? Oh, you couldn't do it. Well, duh, idiot. Give me a break. You couldn't do it either. Neither of us are in the NFL for a reason. You know? You got to compare NFL players to NFL players,

not five-foot-five podcast hosts. Quit being obtuse. Ridiculous. Anyways, I'm just saying. Like I criticizeduse. Ridiculous. Anyways, I'm just saying, like I criticized Michael Pittman last week, Michael Pittman should have had two touchdowns. The out route in the flat in the end zone against

McCreary and then the seven route to the pylon against Bayard. He should have had both of them. But he didn't have good enough body control to get his toes inbounds. We see wide receivers and tight ends make that catch that Chigaconquo had every week. So he's just got to get a little better.

He's a rookie. He's just got to get better. That should have been a touchdown. Okay? That's all I'm saying. I'm not going to give him a tight end down, but the tight ends as a collective. Tight end down, man.

The Titans tight ends. Tight end down is what I'm calling it. They just haven't been any kind of difference maker for the Titans at all in any way. Hoop had a catch. Swaim had a catch. Chig didn't. I mean, same thing.

Robert Woods had eight targets, four catches for 37 yards, had two terrible drops when the Titans were just trying to get quick game, going on early downs to soften up the defense. The Titans' offensive philosophy makes those drops magnified and makes them feel even worse because of the way Titans play offense, but Robert Woods is supposed to be a sure-handed veteran. He can't drop those easy ones in the flat with no one on him.

And I'm just saying this, he doesn't really get open that often. And as I said, the entire offseason, Woods was brought in here to be a number two with A.J. Brown. He can't be a number one, and he can't. He can't be a number one. So, they need Traylon Burks, who's on IR now. Tighten down for that. Traylon Burks goes to IR.

Sucks. Cody Hollister, I see him out there missing blocks. Like, if the guy is just going to miss blocks, play NWI or Josh Gordon to make the defense at least think we might throw it. Lord. Caleb Farley. I preached and preached and preached that, hey, even while this guy's making bad mistakes, he just needs

reps. He's got all the physical talent. He hasn't played a lot of cornerback in his life. But the problem is, the Titans just can't afford to give him reps anymore. If he's going to give up a huge play every single game, they just can't afford to do it. Him grinding his teeth and getting reps is costing the Titans points. So play Terrence Mitchell.

He's probably a bust. J-Rob got his ears boxed off in scouting during COVID, man. Lord. Joshua Kalou and Dylan Cole are awful in pass coverage. They just can't hold up. Kalou especially, man. Wow. And then McCreary has just been struggling.

He had a good pass breakup over the middle in the slot, but he gave up the touchdown to Diami. Diami Brown is like the Dez Fitzpatrick of the Commanders. He was a draft pick that isn't panning out. It's losing reps to other guys who were drafted later or aren't as talented. Dyeemee Brown is the Titans' Des Fitzpatrick, and the Titans made him look like a god. Because McCreary and Farley. Man, Mac Hollins

and Daimi Brown and Jesus Lord. But those are my Titan downs. Again, the Titans are 3-2 though. And listen guys, I'm just gonna say it. This Titans team isn't doing crap this year

in terms of long-term goals. Team ain't winning a Super Bowl. I'd be shocked if they won more than one playoff game. Maybe underdog Titans win a playoff game. This team can rattle off wins, but do any of us really buy this team? The Titans are probably going to win the division at 10-7, 9-8, something like that.

Losing the first round of the playoffs. So they may have won this game. They may lead the AFC South, but does it really change how you think this season's going to go? For me, personally not. So let's just have fun with some of these awesome moments. Derrick Henry going nuts, David Long,

interception, making fun of the Colts and the Jaguars. Let's just enjoy it. Let's just enjoy the moment. Okay? Live. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. I will be back with you guys tomorrow to continue breaking down this win.

As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.