Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Ryan Tannehill Full Go, Deep Ball Defense & Kevin Byard: TE Stopper

Episode Date: November 11, 2022

The Tennessee Titans take on the Denver Broncos on Sunday and it is expected to be a defensive struggle, but the Titans got good news on Thursday with Quarterback Ryan Tannehill being a full participant in practice. What does this mean and what should be the Titans attack on defense? Tyler goes over his offensive game plan. Next, dive into the defensive side of the ball and what the plan should be against Russell Wilson and the Broncos. Finally, who are the players and what are the matchups to watch? Kevin Byard against a rookie may be a big one!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, it's a game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, but I bring good news. Titans starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill was a full go at Thursday's practice setting up him to play against the Broncos. What does this mean for the Titans offensive attack? Then we'll look at the defensive side of the ball.

I'll tell you what the Titans defense needs to do against Russell Wilson in the Broncos to limit their offense. Finally, we'll zoom in, look at the individual matchups to watch in this game, and I'll tell you why Kevin Byard needs to shut down the Denver Broncos' favorite rookie. All of that and more on a game plan 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 game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, and it is presented by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. And speaking of free, thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen, you just haven't subscribed yet, make sure you do.

I am putting out free Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Make sure that you subscribe there. Smash the notification bell and throw a thumbs up on the video right now if you think the Titans are going to defeat the Denver Broncos. But let's dive right in here to my offensive game plan for the Titans. And of course, it centers around the fact that Ryan Tannehill returned to practice for the Titans as a full participant. And all of the beat reporters were reporting that Ryan Tannehill was moving around a lot better than they had seen him move around recently.

I think it sets up for Ryan Tannehill to play in this game at home against the Broncos. And with that in mind, my offensive game plan. Number one, regardless of who the quarterback is, the Titans need to run the ball. The Broncos are in the bottom half of the NFL in run defense. They're allowing over 120 yards per game. They've had some really big performances on them by some big running backs

so far this season. Also, when the Titans run the ball, like they do anyways, I'm not cracking any kind of code, but the Titans need to make sure they stay in their heavy tight end personnel because one of the best parts about the Denver Broncos is their secondary. Kwon Williams as the slot guy, Sertan as the corner, you got Simmons, a Green Jackson, his safeties. Being in their nickel package with five defensive backs on the field is where the Broncos do their best work. Where they have some struggles is when they have to bring a ton of their linebackers

on the field. That's where you get the Broncos in a position they don't want to be in. So if the Titans come out in three tight end, Torrey Carter returned to practice and had a yellow jersey on, maybe he's able to play as the Titans fullback. The Titans need to be in heavy personnel on offense like they typically are so they can go up against the Broncos' base defense, not their nickel defense, because their nickel is a lot better. So in the run game, run a ton, the Broncos give up 120 a game and do it out of big packages so you get them in their base. Outside of that with the passing game, with Ryan Tannehill back in the game, Ryan Tannehill may be full go at practice,

but there's no way he's going to be 100% healthy and feel 100% fine on that ankle. The Titans have to make sure that the game plan caters to Tannehill being on a bum ankle. And the easy way to do that is quick game. We saw some of that early in the season where the Titans are taking those one-step drops or a three-step drop, quick out route to the side.

Justin Simmons of the Broncos. Yes, exactly. That's Simmons, not Jeffrey Simmons. Despite people mixing up their names all the time, I've had at least two people on crossover Thursdays and Chris Collinsworth did it on Sunday night football called Jeffrey Simmons, Justin Simmons. Just absolutely ridiculous. But anyways, moving forward before I get off on a tangent, I digress. With Ryan Tannehill, you want to throw the ball quickly, let him get the ball out of his hands quickly. Whether that be a three-step drop and a quick out route to the sideline, a quick flat route to the tight end,

it's a quick swing pass to Derrick Henry. We haven't seen one of those in a while, so want to see some quick passes, some other quick passes that could tie into another key player for the Titans, Traylon Burks, the first- rookie should be back in this game. I have said since Traylon Burks was drafted, the best way to take advantage of Burks is to get him those quick throws, a little tunnel screen, a little quick screen, a little smoke screen. Give him those opportunities on jet sweeps, things like that to get the ball in his hands quickly and let him do what he does

best, which is beat people in space with a size and a speed combination. Well, it would be a perfect game plan for a banged-up Ryan Tannehill to execute some of those easy, quick throws to Traylon Burks and allow him to do what he does best. You're helping out your injured quarterback. You're putting your most explosive offensive pass catcher in the best position that he could possibly be in,

keeping it simple for him, and giving spoon-feeding opportunities to him that he succeeded with in college. So those are things that I think would really help. Quick game, some of that stuff. Screen game to Traylon Burks, and of course, screen game to the running backs and the tight ends as well. One other thing that I'm really watching, and I don't have an answer for you right now, because the answer is going to be determined by what the Broncos do. The Broncos are a zone coverage team. The Broncos run man coverage, some of the smallest amount of any team in the NFL. Well, most teams, most weeks, play tight man coverage on the Titans consistently. Why? You

know why. A lack of people with the wide receiver position or tight end position that can consistently win in man coverage. So teams, even if they're zone heavy teams, will eventually go to man coverage against the Titans because that's proven success against the Titans if you're looking at it from a defensive perspective. So, will the Broncos stay with their tendency and stay zone?

Or will they do what beats the Titans most weeks and play man coverage? That's what I'm watching for and Todd Downing has to be ready. If the Broncos want to stay in their zone coverages, then he needs to flood zones. He needs high-low concepts. He needs half-field concepts where he's only looking at one defender.

High-low. He goes low, he goes here, he goes high, he goes here. Make it easy against those zone coverages. If the Broncos do go man, like most teams do on a week-to-week basis against the Titans, then Todd Downing has to be better prepared for that than he was against Kansas City. And he even admitted that running the ball 70% of the time on second and long is predictable.

He admitted that he's got to do more to help the receivers get open and create separation. How do you do that? Like I've been preaching all week, bunch formations, stack formations with wide receivers. A bunch is where you get them in a triangle at the line of scrimmage. Stacks is when you have two wide receivers basically in a row at the line of scrimmage. Condensed formations where you get everybody in tight. All of those things are going to confuse man coverage. They're going to create communication confusion, and they're going to give easy releases and separation early in the route

to your wide receivers that aren't very explosive, that need that help from the jump. It could all be so simple, Todd. Will Todd Downing adjust properly to what the Broncos adjustment is in game? That's what I'm watching for. The chess match that will take place on that side of the ball. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of faith that Todd Downing will win that chess match. So let's hope that some of the Titans players make individual plays

that can kind of elevate them above the coaching on offense. But we're going to talk about the defensive side of the ball. Titans players don't need to elevate from the coaching on defense because the coaching on defense is elevating them. We're going to talk about how they got to take away Russell Wilson's best option. And I don't mean a player. I mean a place. I'll explain in just a moment before we get into it.

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for free. Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We just talked about the offensive game plan and what they need to do there. Now we're going to dive into the defensive game plan, what I want to see from the Titans on that side of the ball. And at the end of the show, I'll reaffirm my prediction, which has changed a little bit from yesterday.

And we'll talk about the individual players and individual matchups to watch in this game. So a lot of content coming your way, including on Sunday after the game, I'll be going live immediately after the conclusion of that matchup, and I'll be going live here on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel to break down everything that happened. You get two episodes on Sunday, a 10-minute instant recap, and then a 30 minute full breakdown later on Sunday night. So make sure you stay subscribed to the Locked On

Titans podcast. But on the defensive side of the ball, number one, this seems simple, but it's so important is you got to stop the run. Stopping the run wasn't important against Kansas City. Who cares? They don't care to run the ball anyways. As we saw, they tried to throw it 50-some times. But with Denver, Denver doesn't have that kind of passing attack. So Denver has to have a balanced offense. And if you watch locked on Broncos, my guy Cody Roark and Sayer Benninger, they would tell you that one of the keys to beating the Titans

is having a balanced offense and finding a way to have some success in the run game on early downs. The Titans have to take that away entirely and it becomes even more important when you dive into the statistics. The Denver Broncos have three wins on the year. In all three of those wins, the Broncos went over 100 rushing yards. You can't let them get over 100 rushing yards.

Do not allow them to have any kind of semblance of balance on offense. Make them a one-dimensional team and make them throw the football nonstop. That's what you want to do. So not only when you have success in the run game, stop in the run, which the Titans are, in my opinion, the best run defense in the NFL. I think statistics-wise, they're number two or number one right now. So one of the best run defense in the NFL. I think statistics-wise, they're number two or number one right now. So one of the best run defenses in the NFL already.

But when they do that, they're going to be able to create third and long situations that will help the Titans get off the field quickly. So the Broncos are the worst third down offense in the NFL, converting third downs 29.2% of the time. The Titans are still the best third down defense in the NFL converting third downs 29.2% of the time. The Titans are still the best third down defense in the NFL, only allowing opponents to convert 28.6% of the time. So that seems like an absolute smash spot for the Titans. They have to win on third down and get the Broncos off the field. Again, point number one is stop the run because that'll create third and long situations

to which the Broncos have been the worst in the NFL at converting. You stop the run, you keep them under 100 yards, you get them in third and long, and you will get off the field quick. The reason it's important to get off the field quickly, two reasons. Number one, the Titans played a million snaps

last week on defense. They've been resting guys all week on defense in practice. This Titans defense cannot afford to go out and play another 80 snap football game. They just cannot. Especially with a Thursday night football game against the Packers next week. You cannot afford to play 100 snaps, 80 snaps, and then play on Thursday night on the road. You can't. Guys are going to get hurt bad.

You can't do that. So the Titans not only have to get off the field because they got to protect their defense and limit the snaps, but the Broncos had success against the Jaguars in London with up-tempo offense. You can't let the Broncos get momentum into their drives and allow themselves to get up-tempo. If they get up tempo and the Titans get off the field quick, well, that's just a shorter amount of time that the Titans' defense had to be out there. But if you don't get off the field quick, you allow the Broncos to have long drives.

Not only do you compound the snap issue from last week, but now you're wearing down your own defense in-game in this game as well. So a lot of different factors are included in this, but the Titans have to get off the field. They got to get off the field quick and they got to stop the run, make Denver one handed, and then use that great third down defense against that terrible third down offense of the Broncos and get off the field.

More specifically, in pass coverage, the Titans played a lot of too high against Kansas City, so they should be well-versed in this. But the Titans need to play a ton of too high safety in this game with two safeties up top. One, Denver doesn't have a very good run game, so I don't think the Titans need to have eight in the box to stop it.

I think the Titans, like they've done all year, can stop the run with six or seven in the box at best. And worth mentioning that Elijah Molden, the Titans' early down physical nickel cornerback, should be back in this game. And that'll help with stopping the run on early downs a lot as well. But I want to see the Titans in two high. And the reason for that is

Russell Wilson has his best pro football focus grade when throwing deep. Better than throwing intermediate from 10 to 20, better than throwing short. Russell Wilson is best at throwing deep. And not only that, but deep right. To the deep right, Russell Wilson has a 92 quarterback rating when throwing 20 yards plus down the field to the right-hand side, on the right sideline. That means Terrence Mitchell, because you're going to have McCreary in the slot on passing downs. You're going to have Fulton on the outside. Hopefully Fulton went to DNP with

the hamstring. So hopefully. And then you're going to have Mitchell on the other side when the Titans are in their passing down dime. So McCreary, Fulton, Mitchell, and they're going to put Cortland Sutton on the right-hand side and they're going to throw bombs to him. So who can stop him? What I think the Titans need to do is they need to have Mitchell and Bayard on one side when they're in zone coverage, and they need to have Adams and Fulton on the other side because Fulton and then Bayard, and they can help out the other guys. So, I think that's the pairings that we need to see.

When the Titans are in man coverage, though, which, of course, the Titans will play man. They love man coverage. My article this week, my film article, was about the different coverages the Titans are using, specifically the way that they varied cover one. I talked about it on Rewatch Wednesday. It was awesome.

But when the Titans do go into man coverage, there's one matchup that I'm specifically going to be looking at, and it's Kevin Byard against a talented rookie for Denver. So we're going to get into the matchups and my individual players to watch in just a moment. But that's what the Titans need to do to have a good defense against the Broncos. If you want to have a good defense, then you need to know that today's episode is sponsored by SimpliSafe. SimpliSafe home security is fantastic.

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Go to simplysafe.com slash locked on NFL. And remember, there is no safe like Simply Safe. Titans fans, let's cap off today's game plan edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about what the Titans should do on offense with Ryan Tannehill back in tow. We talked about what the Titans need to do on defense

to combat the specific tendencies of the Denver Broncos and what they want to do on offense. Now I want to zoom in a little bit, talk about individual players, individual matchups. Before we get into that, do want to 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 for daily,

Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year around. As for your second listen, check out Locked On Sports today. 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 here on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast. But number one for me, I'm going to start on the offensive side of the ball and it's Titans rookie wide receiver Traylon Burks.

So, you don't want to throw at Patrick Sertan. That's all there is to it. Don't throw at him. Don't throw at him. Period. Do not throw at Patrick Sertan. Ryan T. Period. Do not throw at Patrick Sertan. Ryan, Tannehill, do not throw at Patrick Sertan.

The Titans don't have the wide receiver talent to win that matchup, and they're not going to scheme people open against Sertan either. Don't do it. So, when you look at the rest of the Broncos secondary, which I talked about earlier, is absolutely excellent. Excellent. You got Kwon Williams in the slot, Sertan, as I mentioned, outside. You about earlier is absolutely excellent. Excellent.

You got Kwon Williams in the slot. Sertan, as I mentioned, outside. You got Kareem Jackson, Justin Simmons at safety. I mean, they have a good secondary. They really do. The star of their team is their secondary. But notice, I mentioned it's a slot corner. I mentioned it.

I mentioned a slot corner. I mentioned an outside corner and two safeties. Well, who's their other outside corner and nipple? Well, that is Damari Mathis, and that is where you want to attack. Damari Mathis has allowed the most yards of any player on the Broncos this year, and if I'm the Titans, I'm doing everything in my power.

If the Broncos want to have Sertan match up on Traylon Burks directly and follow him around the field, well then, dang it. But if I'm the Titans, I'm going to throw Woods or NWI or Hollister or Conley or somebody like that on Sertan's side, and I'm putting Burks on the other side. So let Traylon Burks go up against Damari Mathis all game. He's going to be able to physically dominate him with a size advantage, on the other side. So let Traylon Burks go up against Damari Mathis all game. He's going to be able to physically dominate him with a size advantage. And I think that's the matchup that you want to attack

in the passing game. Because Kwon Williams in the slot against whoever will be playing in the slot for the Titans, Robert Woods, NWI, if they elevate Mason Kinsey, I guess. That's not what you want. You don't want to go against Kwon Williams with that guy. And I already talked about Sertan

and whoever he could be going against. So, attack a matchup that makes sense. And that's Traylon Burks on Damari Mathis. Get your best receiver on their worst corner. Seems like simple math, but Todd Downing is the offensive coordinator. So, let us pray.

Moving forward, on the offensive line, there, let us pray. Moving forward, on the offensive line, there's always a matchup on the O-line and the D-line that I'm going to be looking at. For me, it's Draymond Jones, the Buckeye, O-H-I-O. Draymond Jones leads the Broncos in pressures with 31 this year. He has six sacks,

which is the most on the Broncos, by double. The next closest person only has three. Now that Bradley Chubb is gone. So, on the Broncos by double. The next closest person only has three. Now that Bradley Chubb is gone. So on the interior line, Aaron Brewer, always looking at Brewer who struggles in pass protection

against good defensive tackles. Looking at Ben Jones who has struggled a little bit in recent weeks. I'm expecting Ben Jones and Aaron Brewer together to try to deal with Draymond Jones. And the reason for that is

there's not going to be a lot of threat on the edge for the Broncos. No Bradley Chubb, obviously, who's traded to Miami. Barron Browning has not practiced so far with a hip injury this week. Don't expect him. And then, obviously, Randy Gregory is out. So, they're going to be looking at Nick Benito. And while I think Benito's a decent player,

I'm just not incredibly scared of that matchup. I think this is a good week for NPF. Nicholas Petit-Ferrer should have a good week this week. And if they, instead of having seven guys in to max protect at all times and have a running back chip on one side and a tight end chip on one side, while you only have three guys out in the route, instead of needing to do that like they have for so long, maybe now the Titans can just leave a running back into Chip and help out Dennis Daly because MPF can hold his own. Maybe the Titans can just have Austin Hooper or Chikokonkwo chip for Dennis Daly and have Hilliard get out into a route. Maybe the Titans could even do some empty and slide the O-line to the left.

Maybe. Maybe. Just maybe. Just maybe. So, that's the matchups that I think matter most to me on the offensive side of the ball for the Titans. I will throw in, as a side note,

the safeties against Tannehill Tannehill threw an interception to Justin Simmons last time that these teams played they have good safeties and good safeties often really box Tannehill's ears in because they read his eyes and when they're studied in the film they know where he's going and Tannehill

has this tendency sometimes where he's just like screw it I'm sticking the ball in there which is a double ededged sword, of course. And when you have lesser wide receivers, the odds of them making a play in that situation are less so. More dangerous. But either way, those safeties, watching Ryan Tannehill's eyes,

please God, Tannehill, be careful. Moving to the defensive side of the ball. Right now, we don't know if Jeffrey Simmons is going to play. Big Jeff is in a boot. And it's worrisome. Christian Fulton was limited on Wednesday. And then DNP on Thursday. Never good to be downgraded.

Bud Dupree, DNP, hip injury. Both days. Not to mention the toll that last week took on everybody on defense. Titans defense may not be up to snuff this week like they normally are because of that wear and tear, but I still think that there are places to attack like the right side of the offensive line. Attack, attack, blitz off the right side or blitz onto the right side of the offensive line

with slot blitzes, bring linebackers in the B gap on the right side of the offensive line. I would do those twist stunts where the Titans go three guys heavily on one side and have the outside guy loop inside as the two other inside guys kick out. I would do one of those. Do that quite a bit because Billy Turner at right tackle and Quinn Myers at right guard are the weak link in this weak offensive line.

This is a weak offensive line. There's no way around it. It's one of the lesser offensive lines in the league right now because of the injuries. Garrett Bowles, the starting left tackle, out. Starting center, Lloyd Cushenberry, out. So, I'm just saying the Titans defensive line, even if tired, even if beat up, should still win this matchup.

And attack the right side with blitzes, I think that could be pretty effective for the Titans. Jerry Drudy against Roger McCreary in the slot. No KJ Hamler. So Jerry Drudy has played a majority of his snaps in the slot this year. I would expect that to keep up. Jerry Drudy averages the most separation against man coverage of any wide receiver in the league.

By far. So if the Titans run cover one man and they have McCreary in the slot guarding Judy, I would absolutely use that lurk coverage where you have the safety be the intermediate zone guy and have that safety kind of monitor Jerry Judy because I am a bit worried about the Jerry Judy, Roger McCreary matchup in man coverage.

Also in man coverage. This is what I teased. Kevin Byer played pretty darn well against Travis Kelsey last week when they were matched up in one-on-one man coverage. Casuals are going to say Kelsey had 10 catches for 106 yards, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But looking back at the tape, I thought Byer did a pretty solid job with just matched up in man coverage. He's going to need to do a great job again against Greg Dolchich.

Silent H in there somewhere. But Dolchich has had, since he returned to the Broncos or made his debut, he's played in three games. He's got 12 catches, 182 yards and a touchdown. He's really opened up the middle of the field

and the middle of the field has been vulnerable for the Titans throughout the year. So can Kevin Byard in one-on-one man coverage against Dolchich take him out of the equation? I think it would really hurt the Broncos if they were able to do that. So those are some matchups in the secondary that I'm looking at. Attack the right side of the line of scrimmage. That's what I'm looking for matchup-wise and player-wise in this game. So that's a full comprehensive breakdown of everything I think the Titans need to do

on offense, what they need to do on defense and then the individual player matchups that I am watching for in this game. Remember, I'll be going live directly after the game on Sunday to break down everything that took place. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream for free Monday

through Friday. That's daily Tennessee Titans content all year round. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.