Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Survive Minshew Mania: Game Recap, #TitanUpTitanDown & Song of the AFC South Recap

Episode Date: September 21, 2020

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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, this Victory Monday edition of the Locked On Titans podcast is brought to you by Pepsi. This football season will be different and Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch this season. Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through game day

and become a member of the League of Football Watchers because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game. It's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football watching. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. What a nail-biter against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, but the Titans do end up victorious, winning 33-30 and claiming first place in the ASC South all by their lonesome.

And I'm going to break down everything from the victory over the Jags on today's show. But we have a ton of amazing content coming for you this week on the Locked on Titans podcast. Going to break down the game today. But tomorrow on Tuesday's show, we will have Tic Tac Tuesday. I'll be bringing you my Tic Tac four pack, breaking down the four most impactful plays from Sunday's win. On Wednesday, we have Rewatch Wednesday, where I go through all of my additional tidbits from re-watching the game multiple times.

On Thursday, we have our Crossover Thursday conversation. This week, we will be talking to Luke from Locked On Vikings, excited for that. And Friday, of course, is our Football Friday Friday where I give you guys my game preview with my keys to the game, players to watch, gambling, fantasy, and much, much more. So a big week on the Locked On Titans podcast. Make sure that you are subscribed on Apple Podcasts, following on Spotify, or whatever platform you do stream. And make sure that you follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans as well

so you can see all of the visual film breakdowns that I will be posting that marry up to some of these segments that we will have on the podcast this week. But a big game and a big victory for the Titans over the Jags. Tannehill was slinging it and the defense made plays when they had to most. And of course, Gostkowski came through in the clutch. So we are going to break it all down today, starting off just looking at the keys to victory for the Titans after the game was played. Then, everyone's favorite segment, Tighten Up and Tighten Down, where I take a look at some of the individual performances from the Titans players and we will round out today's show with our song of the AFC South recap

and take a look at what took place in the division outside of the Titans victory over the Jacks. So a lot to talk about on today's Locked On Titans podcast. Let's get it! The Tennessee Titans came out of the gate hot on offense, scoring their first touchdown in just three plays, a long pass to Jonu Smith to open the game, culminating in a Jonu Smith touchdown pass where the Titans attacked man coverage with play action in the red zone. The Titans then forced an interception on Garner Minshew in the very first possession

for the Jaguars offense on a high throw by Minshew that was intercepted by rookie cornerback Christian Fulton. On a high throw by Minshew that was intercepted by rookie cornerback Christian Fulton, the Titans took advantage of a short field and Tannehill hit Corey Davis in the end zone for a second touchdown pass, giving the Titans a 14-0 lead. But the Jacksonville Jaguars answered quick, hitting DJ Chark and then Tyler Eifert for big gains against Malcolm Butler and Kenny Vaccaro who were targeted often in man coverage. The next possession for both teams saw no points though as the Titans were inefficient in the run game and had penalties on theirs and then a Jack Crawford sack disrupted a Jaguars

drive. Then the Titans responded with a long methodical drive combined with a bunch of short runs and short passes that ended up with Jonu Smith's second touchdown catch giving the Titans a 21-7 lead. The Jaguars were able to get a field goal on their next possession just before halftime, but due to a poorly executed squib kick, the Titans took a short field and were able to respond with a field goal right before halftime to give a 24-10 score in the first half. The Jags were not ready to go out without a fight, though. They came out of halftime with an eight-minute drive where running back James Robinson ran

for 35 yards and a touchdown to respond and make the score 24-17. and a touchdown to respond and make the score 24-17. Then Tannehill carried the Titans down the field with different passes, leading to a nasty dime to Adam Humphreys in the end zone to extend the Titans' lead back up to 30-17 after a missed extra point by Gostkowski. But the Jaguars' offense responded again with a drive led by rookie running back James Robinson. He ripped off big runs, led the Jags down to the end zone to score, making it 30-24, and then the Titans offense stalled out again, which led to another scoring drive from the

Jags, a Garner Minshew touchdown to running back Chris Thompson, but the Jags kicker Josh Lambeau missed his extra point opportunity, leaving us with a tied score 30-30. And this is where we saw the Tennessee Titans' most important players step up when it mattered most. On the next Jaguars drive, we saw Jadavion Clowney get a pressure on Garner-hew to force an incompletion on third down that led to a Jacks punt the Titans got the ball back used two big runs by Derrick Henry short passes to Adam Humphreys and an Anthony Ferkser drawn pass interference call to get down the field which led to a Gostkowski 49 yard kick to put the Titans up 33 to 30 on the next drive by the Jaguars, again we saw some of the Titans' biggest players step up. A Jeffrey Simmons tipped pass at the line of scrimmage leads to a Harold Landry interception

to ice the game for the Titans and give them sole possession of the lead in the AFC South. of the lead in the AFC South. The first place Tennessee Titans through two weeks in a victory over the Jags 33-30 where the defense came to play when it mattered most despite a poor performance. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill

continued to impress and the special team stepped up with kicker Gostkowski making the game winning field goal for a second week in a row. Overall, the biggest takeaways from the game is that Ryan Tannehill continues to impress at the beginning of the season. He's thrown for six touchdowns, 488 yards on 70% completion rate so far this season.

The defense, while surrendering a ton of yards, close to 500 to the Jags, made plays when it mattered most, had two turnovers and two sacks on the day. And good teams find a way to win games when they don't play their best. And because of the lack of preseason, football will be sloppy early in the season. The Titans simply need to survive in advance, and they were able to do that in Week 2. So that is my game recap of the Titans 33-30 victory over Jacksonville. I am going to go a little bit deeper next when we break down some individual performances

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It is time for everyone's favorite, tighten up and tighten down. Let's take a look at some individual performances from the Tennessee Titans victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. First off and foremost, one of my biggest takeaways from the game, one of the keys to the game for the Titans that I talked about at length in our first segment, was the performance of Ryan Tannehill. Again, 18 for 24, 239 yards, four touchdowns. That for the season is 488 total yards, six touchdowns tied for the league lead, 70% completion, 120 passer rating. Ryan Tannehill has been absolutely fantastic. The run game has been

inefficient to say the least. It hasn't been terrible like most people are saying just because we're not seeing the home run, you know, paint jobs that we typically would get from Derrick Henry, but the run game has been inefficient. That is the big knock on it, but Tannehill has been doing it in the short and intermediate game. He's been getting out in the play action boot. Taking the running lanes that are available to him. If they're there. Just making all the plays.

He was 4 of 4 for 44 yards. And 4 touchdowns in the red zone. For the Titans. I mean I can't talk enough. About how fantastic Ryan Tannehill has been. And with all the hate that he continues to receive I mean at some point people who actually watch the games are going to have to stop hating on Ryan Tannehill he's been too fantastic through two weeks he's been the Titans MVP no doubt about

it next Jonu Smith I mean if you want a secondary MVP on the defense or on the offensive side of the ball it's got to be Jonu Smith four catches catches, 84 yards, two touchdowns, opened the game like a bat out of hell, a long 60-yard completion, ended up getting a touchdown, got another one later when the Jags went to zone in the red zone to try to stop the Titans, got around a dropping defensive lineman, pushed over a linebacker to get into the end zone. Absolutely fantastic from Jonu Smith. He wasn't as good in the run game blocking, but we're going to forget about that

because of how impactful he has been in the passing game. Another receiving threat, Adam Humphreys. I don't know if you guys realize this, but on Friday's show, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I told all of y'all, Jonu Smith, Adam Humphreys fire him up in daily fantasy stack him with Ryan Tannehill too much value there a great opportunity against a bad secondary once again that actually played out Humphreys five catches 48 yards and a touchdown was absolutely fantastic he's so good at finding the holes in a zone or in a short or intermediate route,

beating his man and man coverage quickly just to get open. And he doesn't try to do a lot after the catch. He secures the catch. He gets the yards that are available for him, and he keeps the drive moving. So you have to respect Adam Humphreys. And then another receiving threat who stepped up big not just for his catches but for his activity and that is Adam Ferkser four catches 45 yards and like I said it's not just the catches that he got he drew a critical pass interference on Miles

Jack late in the game so Anthony Ferkser going up against linebackers in man coverage, sitting down in zones. He is like the tight end version of Adam Humphreys, and it's really, really important for the Titans to be able to line up in two tight end sets and keep base defenses on the field, but one of those tight ends be practically be a slot receiver when you have Ferkser out there. So absolutely fantastic day from Ferkser. Really impressive there.

On the defensive side of the ball, I thought Harold Landry was fantastic throughout the day. Holding up in the run game, obviously not a great performance for the Titans against the run, but I thought Landry did a good job in the run game. He had multiple pressures out there despite not getting a sack. And then that interception at the end to seal it, he just always seems to be making the end to seal it he just always

seems to be making the big play when it matters most the pressure on Drew Locke last week Harold Landry makes plays when it matters most also defensive lineman Jack Crawford I thought he was great against the run he ruined a drive at one point in time with a sack he also had a tackle for loss in the game. I thought Jack Crawford, he was a big question mark for me coming into the season. A little known player who's been mostly a rotational and role player in his career. I thought he's been pretty good throughout these first two games, but especially today. I thought Crawford made a big impact.

And although Jeffrey Simmons was the person who had the tip pass that led to the interception for the game winner. It was Jack Crawford who was right there next to Simmons who got a little bit, maybe not a piece of it, but was in that window, in the visual window for Gardner Minshew making it difficult. So Jack Crawford was right there doing his job as well. Pretty impressed by Crawford today. And then the pass blocking. I do want to mention that before we go.

Offensive linemen don't get a lot of credit. The Titans offensive line wasn't dominant in the run game today like they were in the playoffs last year, but they really held up in pass blocking. Only allowed one sack on the day, so you have to give credit where credit is due. And the offensive line kept Tannehill upright so that he could have the tremendous performance that he had on Sunday. And finally, we have to show more love to kicker Steven Gostkowski. Three for four on his extra points. Yeah, I hate that he missed an extra point, but two for two on his field goals, a 51 yarder, and then a 49 yarder for the win.

I mean, these aren't short field goals. These aren't bunnies like last week, the 25-yarder. These are 49, 50-yard field goals. I mean, he's getting his confidence back. And this is why I talked about last week on the show, you don't cut Gostkowski now. The Titans have been going through. I gave an example. You keep running through girlfriends, running through girlfriends, running through girlfriends,

never settling down with anybody, and by the end of it, you're going to have no girls who want to date you because you dated all their friends, you dated them already. You're not going to have any options left. The Titans had a terrible season with kickers last year. Yes, Gostkowski was up and down last week, to say the least, but you can't just keep trying out different kickers and rolling them through here all the time like speed dating. You've got to settle down at some point in time, and I think the Titans should show confidence in Gostkowski,

show that they believe in him, and this is the result. Gostkowski was, for the most part, very good for the Titans today compared to what they've got over the last year or so. So glad to see him have some success. Hopefully he can get his mojo back. He is one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history. As for the Titan downs, the number one Titan down isn't even a player. It's a unit and that's the run defense. The Titans run defense was absolutely terrible. They gave up 165 yards on the ground and that's just unacceptable and the big part about it for me is

the Titans it seems like they came out of halftime with a 14 point lead and it was kind of like a basketball team that gets up by 20 and starts to relax on their defensive principles and starts to play iso ball and starts to settle for jumpers instead of going to the hole the Titans defense came out in the second half and acted like the game was over. Their offense had done enough, and they're good to go. And it showed in the ground game. They just weren't physically up to the task against the run of the Jags late in the game. Defense of consistency in general.

Like I said, when it mattered most, the Titans were able to get stops. They were able to get pressure. But throughout the game, the consistency in coverage, the consistency in getting pressure on the quarterback, it's just not there right now. And, of course, like I said, I'm not panicking. The first four weeks I expected some strangeness, some sloppy football. But the Titans have to get the consistency cleaned up

and hopefully maybe some health in the next few weeks on the defensive side of the ball will help them do that. Derrick Henry, I don't want to crush him. This is like a miniature tighten down. Again, the offensive line isn't blowing big holes, but Henry isn't necessarily getting all of the yards that are available to him either. 3.4 yards per carry, under 4 yards per carry again for a second week. 25 carries for 84 yards.

He is second in the NFL in rushing yards right now, though, after two weeks with 200 yards. So that's why I said I don't want to kill the guy here or say he's doing terrible. But the Titans simply aren't being efficient enough in the run game. Henry's partly to blame. The offensive line is partly to blame as well. But the Jags have the time of possession battle, 33-23, and the Titans simply just can't let that happen.

They have to be more effective in the run game. And then Malcolm Butler, he was just targeted all day. Same with Kenny Vaccaro, in-man coverage. The Titans played mostly man coverage throughout the day. That's their go-to at the end of the day. But when the Titans are in-man, Malcolm Butler and Kenny Vaccaro just get targeted over and over and over again. And it's no surprise that they led the team in tackles.

Vaccaro had 10 tackles on the day. Butler had 8 tackles on the day. DJ Chark had 84 yards on 4 catches. Teams are going after Malcolm Butler. They're going after Kenny Vaccaro in the red zone, manned up against tight ends. It's something the Titans have to adjust to. Tyler Eifer and O'Shaughnessy combined for seven catches, 76 yards, and a touchdown.

The Titans still struggling mightily against tight ends. And on third downs, the Titans defense has to find a way to improve. 10 for 14 on third downs for the Jags offense. Not going to get it done as the Titans progress throughout the season. But that is my individual performances in Tighten Up, progress throughout the season. But that is my individual performances and tighten up, tighten down. We are going to cap off today's show with song of the AFC South recap and take a look at the other results in the AFC South with our division rivals. Before we get into that though, I got to tell you guys about Bilt Bar. Last time we had a deal with Bilt Bar here, you guys sold out their inventory because the product speaks for itself. Built Bars were delicious before with their 12 original flavors, but now they're even

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So once again, that's BuiltBar.com. Use promo code LOCKEDON for $10 off and a free cooler with your purchase. Let's cap off this Victory Monday with a little song of the AFC South recap. Take a look at what happened in the AFC South outside of the Titans game against the Jags. Before we dive into those results, I do want to remind you guys, Tuesday is Tic Tac Tuesday. Going to be bringing you guys my Tic Tac 4-pack, the four most impactful plays from the Titans victory.

Wednesday will be re-watch Wednesday where I give you all of my extra insights, my additional tidbits from my re-watches of the game. Thursday is crossover Thursday. We are going to have Luke on from Locked On Vikings to preview the game against Minnesota this upcoming weekend. And then of course, Football Friday where I get you guys ready for the game with my keys to the game, my players to watch, my schematic preview, and everything from gambling to fantasy to the latest updates on injury.

But let's dive into the Song of the AFC South recap. First and foremost, of course, the Titans beat the Jags. That is a division loss for the Jags. It also brings them down to 1-1 on the season after that win against the Colts in Week 1. And speaking of, let's take a look at the result from the Colts game. The Colts played the Minnesota Vikings, who the Titans will see in Minnesota next week. So we need to pay some extra attention to that game. The Colts keep showing us our line and reading the green for us, you could say, to a point. So I will have my eye on that Vikings-Colts game and make sure that I bring you guys all

of the information I glean from my rewatch of that game. But the initial takeaways that I have here, the Colts defense just destroyed Kirk Cousins. Cousins had three interceptions. He was tackled for a safety during the game. I don't know if it was that the Colts defense was so good or that Cousins was just absolutely miserable. That's something I'm going to find out from watching the tape, but that was something that popped out to me is how bad the Vikings were on offense, specifically in the passing game. And then on offense for the Colts, rookie running back Jonathan Taylor took the starting

opportunity and was fantastic. He went over 100 yards on the day. The Colts rushing attack had 180 yards total. I mean, that's absolutely ridiculous from an NFL team. A great day, a great game on the ground for the Colts. Clearly, that is the foundation of their team with that fantastic offensive line. So obviously, the Titans will have to watch for that when they play the Colts later in the season. But Phillip Rivers had an interception, had a fumble that was forced that the Colts ended up recovering.

Phillip Rivers still looks like he's prone to turn over the ball. If you can hold up against the Colts' rushing attack and make Phillip Rivers still looks like he's prone to turn over the ball. If you can hold up against the Colts rushing attack and make Phillip Rivers beat you, that seems to be like the best way to try to beat the Colts. But Mo Alley Cox had five catches for 111 yards. I'm not quite certain what the Vikings defense was doing. I know that they're incredibly banged up. Those are things that you can't expect to repeat. But a great game from the Colts who were able to beat the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 28-11.

Moving into the Texans. Just finishing up the Texans game as I'm recording right now. The Texans are going to lose that game 33-16 against the Baltimore Ravens. Now let me say this. The Baltimore Ravens are a great team. The Kansas City Chiefs are a great team. So the Texans being 0-2, there are definitely positive ways as a Texans fan that you could spin that. That might be the two best teams in the entire NFL.

But here is what's shocking. The Texans gave up 200 rushing yards to the Ravens. I know that the Ravens have a great rushing attack, but I was mind blown by the Vikings giving up 180 to the Colts. Definitely blows my mind that the Texans can give up 200 rushing yards to the Ravens. I know a lot of teams have done that, especially in 2019, but if the Texans want to be a contender for the division for the playoffs like they certainly expect to be internally, that is unacceptable right there. So clearly the Texans are having trouble stopping the run, and on the flip side of that, the Texans had about 50 yards rushing, and 15 of that was

Deshaun Watson. So the Texans can't run the ball with any consistency. They lost, well, they got rid of, by choice, voluntarily, got rid of their best weapon in the passing game. Deshaun Watson is running for his life. No one's creating separation. They can't run the ball. They can't stop the run. The Texans are in disarray right now,

and where the Titans are in a very, very positive position, their first 2-0 start since 2004, I believe. 2008 it could have been. 2004 is what I'm going with right now. The Titans' first 2-0 start in a really, really long time. If you flip that, starting out 0-2, the odds are, historically historically speaking you're not really going to have a chance at making the playoffs so very interesting to watch the AFC South going forward but the Titans are in sole possession of first place in the AFC South after Sunday leading the division at 2-0 with the Jags and the Colts at 1-1 and the Texans at 0-2. But I am going to be back with you guys for Tic Tac Tuesday.

We will have the Tic Tac 4-pack tomorrow. Breaking down the four most impactful plays from the victory over the Jags. Also, make sure that you follow me on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans. So you don't miss the visual breakdown that I pair up with our TicTac four pack segment in tomorrow's show. And if you're going to follow me on Twitter, you might as well go ahead and subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast as I have a ton of content coming your way, not only this week, but throughout the entire season here on the Locked on Titans podcast.

But that is going to do it for me today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.