Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans SCHEDULE RECAP: X-Factor Matchups, Must-Win Games & Likely Losses for Titans

Episode Date: May 19, 2024

The Tennessee Titans schedule dropped last week and it is a perfect time to use the microscope to dive deep into the matchups. There are some games that will determine whether the Titans hit their ceiling or floor this year and those are the X-Factor matchups. Also, there are games the Titans MUST WIN if they hope to make the playoffs. Finally, the Titans have a lot of potential wins on the schedule, but there are some games that seem like likely losses as well. 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!Yahoo FinanceFor comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor. Yahoofinance.comeBay 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) 

The Tennessee Titans need to win as many games as they can, but there are certain X-factor games that will have a major impact on how they finish the season. I'll tell you what they are 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 FanDuel. Make every moment more. is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 with any winning $5 bet. Visit fanduel.com slash locked on to get started. We got a lot to discuss.

We're continuing to break down the Tennessee Titans schedule that just came out last week. We've talked about my official record prediction, but now I want to dive even further into this schedule, talk about the biggest X-factor games that will make a determination whether the Titans are a winning team or a losing team this year. Talk about the games the Tennessee Titans must win on their schedule and talk about some games that are likely losses for

the Titans as well. Before we get into it, thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen each and every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content all year round, always for free. Make sure you get subscribed. Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast.

But of course, the X Factor games. All right, these are the games. Let me just explain what I'm thinking with these games. So I think the Titans will be, you know, in a range of 7 wins to 10 wins. I think that's generally where the Titans can be realistically. I know some of you guys are thinking 11, 12. Some people may even think that the Titans will be worse than seven wins. I don't think that's the case. I think the range for the Titans is seven wins to 10 wins.

But what are the games that will decide that? What are the games that will determine whether the Titans hit their ceiling or their floor? Those are the X-factor games that I'm talking about. And first on the list is a week two home game against the New York Jets. That is an X-factor game. If the Titans win that game, I think it puts them on a good path to have one of the better parts of that record. Nine wins, ten wins.

If they lose that game, I think that could put them in a very tough spot to be closer to that seven-win mark. All right? So, in week two, you're probably going to see a healthy Aaron Rodgers. I mean, he could get hurt in week one again, but I'm not going to put that sort of energy out in the air.

So I think the Titans see a healthy Aaron Rodgers. Also, you got to think the two offensive tackles, Morgan Moses, Teron Smith, they're both in their 30s, 33, 34. They're injury risk for sure. But they'll probably also be healthy early in the year. You think, you know, these injuries start to happen as we go. And of course, you can't predict injuries. We can see injuries in week one.

We can see injuries in week two. You never really know. But the odds are better that the Jets are a healthier team in week two than they are in, you know, week 12, for example. So a tough opponent with a good defense, terrible coaching, in my opinion. I don't think the Robert Sala, Nathaniel Hackett, I don't think those are very good coaches. And they got a lot of holdovers from the Titans like Keith Carter on the offensive line.

I don't think the Jets are a well-coached football team, but they certainly have talent. Garrett Wilson at wide receiver, Sauce Gardner at cornerback, the guys they have in their front seven on defense, including Quentin Williams. I think they have talent on that team. And of course, Aaron Rodgers, if Tyron Smith is healthy,

he's one of the best offensive tackles in the league. So they're going to be a good football team if they're healthy. And the Titans are at home coming off the road from week one. I mean, that game, if the Titans win, it sets them on a good path. If they lose, it could get them in trouble. Look, I have the Titans winning week one against the Chicago Bears. Let's just assume for a minute that that happens. I have them losing against Green Bay in week three at home. I have them losing to Miami in week four on the road. So if the Titans can win that game and get

to two and two at the bye, they're in a good spot. They've made it. Early season, you expect some bumps with all the new faces for the Titans, but if they go 1-3, 0-4, even if they get it back together, that's going to be tough to come back from. So that's a big X-Factor game to me early in the season. Another game like that is the Chargers game. Week 10, on the road against the Chargers. Alright, you come off the stretch, home against Indy, at Buffalo,

at Detroit, home against New England. You could be 2-2 there, 1-3 there. You have a big stretch of divisional games at the end of the year. You have to take care of business in some of these games if you want to reach your potential. in some of these games if you want to reach your potential. Again, I think the

Titans could lose to the Chargers and still go 8-9, 9-8, but if they want to hit their ceiling, one of the big games that they will have to win, one of the big X-factor games in determining whether the Titans are a playoff team or not, will be an away game against the Chargers. Because I think the Chargers are going to be fighting for those spots too.

If the Jets stay healthy, they're going to be fighting for that spot too. Think about the wild card spots at the end. Five, six, seven. Those seeds. These are teams, the Jets, the Chargers, that will be fighting for those spots too. So not only is it about the Titans hitting these kind of fork-in-the-road games, the Jets, the Chargers, that will be fighting for those spots too. So not only is it about the Titans hitting these kind of fork-in-the-road games to be their best self,

but it's also about their competition and making sure that they have the tiebreaker over some of these teams that they play head-to-head. So those are the two big X-factor games for me early on. Week 2 against the Jets, Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers. At LA too. That's going to be a tough one.

And then my final X-Factor game is another AFC game with a team that could be competing with the Titans for one of those wildcard spots. And it's the home game on week 15 against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Titans and the Bengals have a little bit of a rivalry going here. It's only going to be accelerated by the fact that Brian Callahan came over. You got Cheeto.

You got Tyler Boyd. Some holdovers from Cincinnati. Cole Anderson, the special teams coach. So, this is another game where the Titans can lose all three of these games. And I think they go 8-9. Not a bad year. First year of Callahan, new faces.

Wouldn't be a terrible year for the Titans to go 8-9. All right. But if the Titans can win all three of these games, they're setting themselves up to be, you know, 10-7. Maybe even 11-6. maybe even to outdo my projection of their floor and their ceiling. So I think the Jets, the Chargers, the Bengals, those are three X-factor games that if the Titans can win two of those,

they're in a great spot. If they lose two of those or lose all three, it's going to make it really tough for them to make the playoffs. I think the other games on the schedule, other than the division games, are, yeah, I think they lose that. Yeah, I think they win that. But those three games were tough for me to decide who I think is going to win that game when I was doing my official prediction at the end of last week. So let me know your X Factor games down below. We're going to talk about the games the Tennessee Titans must win. They must win these games if they want to make the playoffs. So we're going to talk about that now. Today's episode is brought to you by

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Make sure that you visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and make every playoff shot count. It's FanDuel, America's continue today's breakdown of the schedule. I'm looking at the biggest X-Factor games, which we just talked about. Now I'm going to talk about the must-win games for the Titans. And at the end of the show, we'll talk about some likely losses that we can pencil in for the Titans. On tomorrow's show, we're going to talk about the quarterback matchups

up and down the schedule. Where are the games where the Titans have a better quarterback than the team that they're playing? And there are a lot more than I think some people may think. We'll talk about the toughest stretch of the schedule and how the Titans can weather that. And we'll talk about the games that I'm planning on going to. And I want to hear from you guys about the games that you plan on going to as well.

But that's for tomorrow's show. We got to talk about these must-win games for the Titans. Before we do, thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first to listen each and every day. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. But looking at the must-win games, number one is a divisional game for me. Week six, at home, against the Indianapolis Colts.

Number one, it's a division game. So, obviously those games are going to be so, so important. It's the first division game of the year. It's important for the Titans to get off on the right foot, especially when they don't have any more division games until week 12. The last, you know, seven games of the year, they have five division games.

So getting that early division game and going to 1-0 in the division, big. It'll be big. Not only that, but it's a home game. You gotta win your home division games. You have to. You have to.

And last year, the Titans got swept by the Colts. Alright? That sucked. Okay? Even without Anthony Richardson. So, I need the Titans to get back to good here. So, first division game of the year. At home. the Titans to get back to good here. So, first division game of the year, at home,

get off the schneid, get back in the win column against Indy, that'll be key, but the biggest factor, the biggest reason why this is a must win is where it's situated within the schedule. So you look at week five, bye week. The Titans are going to have an extra week of preparation. They have to come out against Indy and win that game at home. Coming out of a bye week. Absolutely have to. You're going to have a month of the season to see what

Indy's been doing schematically. It is critical. It is absolutely fundamentally critical that the Titans win that game. Not only because of what's before the game, but what's after. Week 7, the next week at the Buffalo Bills. Week 8, at the Detroit Lions. Those are difficult games against good teams on the road.

That makes it even more important that they beat Indianapolis. They have to win that game. That is a must win if the Titans want to make the playoffs. If they don't win that game, and they go from their bye week, loss at Indy, maybe losses at Buffalo and Detroit, coming off what could be an up and down first month of the season,

that puts them behind the eight ball in a major way. A major way. I mean, they could be three games under.500 at that point. So, they have to win that game against Indianapolis, not only because of the standalone aspects, but because of where that game fits within the schedule. That is a must win. 100%. The next two must wins are just teams that the Titans are better than.

They need to beat them. Number one, the New England Patriots, week nine. So I told you, by week, week five, week six at home at Indy, week seven away at Buffalo, week eight away at Detroit, and then you come home for week nine against New England. In that stretch of games, you got to win that game against New England. You have to. You just have to.

You're back at home, coming off a tough stretch, some difficult teams. I do not believe in the New England Patriots at all. I don't. I think they're going to be god-awful. Okay? Drake May is going to take some time. They're going to play Jacoby Brissett.

Maybe by this time they put Drake May in. That would at least make it interesting. But I don't care who's playing quarterback. Either year one Drake May or Jacoby Brissett, the Titans need to win that game. I don't trust the coaching hire that they made with Gerard Mayo. I think if you were going to get rid of Bill Belichick, you should do a clean slate and bring in fresh blood and fresh ideas.

And they basically kept everybody around and said Bill Belichick was the problem and got rid of him. Whoa. Okay, then. All right, then. The Titans have to win that game. There's just no doubt about it. They absolutely must win that game.

Critical. And then finally, week 13 at the Washington Commanders. Similar situation here. Similar answer. You have a rookie quarterback in Jaden Daniels with a crappy offensive line with a good supporting cast of wide receivers. I mean, Terry McLaurin's their one.

Jahan Dotson, they're okay. You know what I mean? But the Titans' cornerback should shut them down. I don't think Washington's going to be a good team at all this year. I think they're going to be terrible. I hated their coaching hires with Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury. I've talked about this. I do not like Washington this year.

I am under on their 6.5 win total on Fan this year. I am under on their six and a half win total on FanDuel. I'm under, heavy under. Which means they're going to be a bad football team. And they need to win. The Titans need to win that game. No question about it. I don't care about the circumstances. Mason Rudolph could play in that game.

And I think the Titans need to win that game. And especially you look at the last stretch of games. Houston. At Houston in Week 12. Then you go at Washington. Home against Jacksonville. Home against Cincy. At Indy.

At Jacksonville. Home against Houston. That is a tough stretch to end the year with all those division games and a ton of road games as well. The Titans got to find a way to scratch out one and keep their head above water. And I think that absolutely, absolutely has to be that Washington game. They need to win that game.

It is a must win for the Titans. Let me know your must win games for the Titans down below. But now we got to talk about these games that I think they're likely losses for the Titans, if we're being honest about the schedule. So we'll get into those now. Want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime.

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We talked about the games the Titans must win. Now we need to talk about some likely losses that the Tennessee Titans will face and just kind of accept that they're in a tough spot when it comes to these games. But before I get into it, thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. Remember tomorrow, we're going to go over the games in which the

Titans have the better quarterback, and there's more than you think. We are going to go over the toughest stretch of the schedule for the Titans and how they can weather that storm. We're going to go over the games that I'm excited to attend. Alright? Because that's always a fun conversation with you guys when I hear what tickets you bought and all of that. So, can't and how they can weather that storm. We're going to go over the games that I'm excited to attend. All right? Because that's always a fun conversation with you guys when I hear what tickets you bought and all of that.

So can't wait to talk about that stuff tomorrow. But finishing off here with the likely losses. Obviously, I've been talking about these two back-to-back games in the middle of the year. At Buffalo in week seven, and then at Detroit in week eight. First and foremost, I think Buffalo is still going to be a very competitive team. Absolutely.

I don't think that Buffalo is going to crater. I still think that they win that division. They probably go 11-6, 12-5. I know that Buffalo has had some change, for sure, losing Stephon Diggs and the defensive names, the older guys moving on. It's a transition year for Buffalo. But they have Josh Allen.

And they still have Sean McDermott. And I think that they are still going to be a good football team. And playing them in Buffalo is just tough. It's just a tough place to play. We saw the Titans pull one out a couple of years ago, but for the most part, the Titans have lost in Buffalo pretty consistently over the last 10 years. You know what I mean?

It's just a tough place to play with a good fan environment. There's not going to be a ton of Titans fans there. At least it's early in the season. Week 7, you know, it's not too late. It's not going to be snowing or crazy wind and all that stuff to make it kind of a throwout game. But it's just going to be a tough game to win. And even if the Titans lose that game,

I don't think that they're in a bad spot. I think they can lose that game against win. And even if the Titans lose that game, I don't think that they're in a bad spot. I think they can lose that game against Buffalo. Really just want to see them put up a good showing. You know what I mean? Don't get smoked. Be competitive. Show that you can play with that level of team. I just want to see a good showing from the Titans. They can lose that game and I'm not going to be overly concerned about the direction of the team. It's not going to be an alarming loss for me, no matter what happens in Buffalo. It's a tough place to play. That's a good team. So a likely loss in my opinion. Also, like I said, that next game against Detroit, I think Detroit is a bad matchup for the Titans. They don't really rely a ton on their great

receivers. Amon Ross St. Brown is good, but you know, Sam Laporta, I don't really rely a ton on their great receivers. Amon Ross St. Brown is good, but Sam Laporta, I don't really trust the Titans linebackers right now. Need to see something from Cedric Gray to think that he can handle Sam Laporta. James Williams as well, both the rookies, can they handle Sam Laporta? We'll see. The offensive line for Detroit is just so good, so dominant. I worry about the Titans' defensive line matchup-wise. I don't like the talent on the Titans' defensive line right now

outside of Jeffrey Simmons. So I just think it's a bad matchup. I think it's a bad matchup. You're on the road, back-to-back weeks, two tough opponents coming off a division game in week six against Indy that will probably be hard fought. I just think it's tough to expect the Titans to win either of those games. Now, if the Titans can steal one of those games from Buffalo or Detroit, that would be massive. But I'm not going to count on that. I'm not going to bank on that.

I'm not going to be upset if the Titans lose both those games back-to-back. That's my expectation right now. Again, the Titans could win, but I think they're likely losses. And then finally, the third likely loss for me is that Week 12 matchup on the road against Houston. The Titans haven't played a division game at that point in six weeks. Those division games are just a little different. And Houston's crowd is going to be so ready to go at the Titans. They're going to be so ready for that game.

I like Houston's team. Again, like I said earlier, I think their offseason is a touch overrated. A touch. But for the most part, they have a good, solid team with good, solid coaching, and they're going to have a better quarterback than the Titans, and that matters. That matters quite a bit.

So I just think it's a tough matchup right there. Week 12 on the road. You went to Los Angeles, flew out to Los Angeles in Week 10. You came home for a game against Minnesota, but then you got to fly out for a divisional game. I just think it's a tough matchup. I think it's out of the entire schedule, the three most likely losses to me are at Buffalo, at Detroit, at Houston.

Those are tough games. Those are just tough games against good teams on the road. Tough to look at those and be confident that the Titans are going to get the win. I think the Titans can beat Houston. That Week 18 matchup at home, we talked about that. I think that's a really good chance for the Titans to cap off their season in the right way. Might even be something that pushes them into the playoffs.

That Week 12 matchup on the road, definitely going to be difficult for the Titans. But with that being said, that is going to do it for me today, folks. Let me know your big X Factor games, your must wins, your likely losses, all down below. I'll be back with you guys tomorrow to continue breaking down the schedule.

The next two days after that, we're doing mailbag, and then we have an OTA preview at the end of the year to get you guys ready for the weekend OTAs with the full of the year to get you guys ready for the weekend. OTA is with the full team, so can't wait for all that. But as always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.