Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Survive Raiders Comeback Attempt, 2nd Half Issues Explained & #TitanUpTitanDown

Episode Date: September 26, 2022

The Tennessee Titans just barely held on against the Raiders to move to 1-2. The Titans offense came out hot, but faded in the second half. What happened? Tyler goes over his big takeaways including how the Titans offense changed and what the Titans defense did to keep them in it. Next, Tyler dives into #TitanUpTitanDown to go over all the individual performances both good and bad. Derrick Henry looks like himself and Kevin Byard makes more big plays while Terrance Mitchell and Todd Downing almost cost the Titans the win!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!BriteCoThe guys at BriteCo Jewelry Insurance made buying insurance for your engagement ring, your watch, or whatever so easy you can get covered in 2 minutes on your cell phone. You won't find a better deal on coverage that's so affordable. Go to https://brite.co/lockedon/PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONBetterHelpIt’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, it's our first Victory Monday episode of the year as the Tennessee Titans defeat the Las Vegas Raiders 24-22 in a nail-biter. First, my big takeaways on offense and defense. How did the Titans get going so quickly on offense and what slowed them down in the second half? What did the defense do to win this game and what are the problems the defense has going

forward? Then we'll look at the individual performances, both good and bad, and everyone's favorite segment, tighten up and tighten down. So a 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 a win to discuss. The Tennessee Titans won that playoff game in September against the Raiders on Sunday and moved to one and two on the season. I'm breaking down everything you need to know from that game. Before we get into it, I do want to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast

your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen or you haven't subscribed yet, make sure that you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream. I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content for free all year long on all platforms, including the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Subscribe there. Smash the notification bell.

Throw a thumbs up on the video if you're happy that the Titans were able to pull out that win against the Raiders. You can follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans for instant analysis during games and all of my film work throughout the week. You can check out the show Facebook page at LockedOnTitansPod. Again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Nearly 25 years as a Tennessee Titans fanatic and a certified film junkie. Ready to break this down.

Let's talk about what happened with the offense. Well, all week long, I have been saying the key to victory for the Titans is to get back to being the Tennessee Titans. Find your identity once again. And I thought the Titans did that early on. They come out, they're running outside zone again. They're running outside zone runs. I mean, it was just absolutely heavenly. Derrick Henry was getting some creases to run through, could finally get downhill. The Titans' offensive line, we'll talk about them more, but I thought they did a pretty good job,

especially on that left side. I saw Dennis Daly moving some folks around. The Titans were hitting play-action passes. You got a couple long ones to Robert Woods. You get the touchdown to Jeff Swaim. I mean, that looked like Tennessee Titans offense. You run the ball with outside zone. You work the play-action pass off of it. They ran a reverse to Traylon Burks. I mean, the first half was what the Titans are supposed to be on offense. That is the way that they're supposed to execute.

None of these funky things with personnel. You put in your best players, Robert Woods, Traylon Burks, Nick Westbrook-Akino with Kyle Phillips out in this game. Austin Hooper got a catch. You run your bread and butters. Mike Vrabel talked about it leading up to the game. The Titans have to be better with their bread and butters. Todd Downing echoed that throughout the week.

Outside zone. Play action pass. The Titans finally got back to doing what they do best. Loved it. 5-4-10 on third downs. The Titans were 3-3 in the red zone. Critical. Critical. Critical. They only gave up one sack

against this vaunted pair of edge rushers the Titans were going against. One sack. Ran for 109 yards. What a great day for this patchwork offensive line. They really did their best out there. I was impressed with the offensive

line. So all of that was the good stuff. The problem is, in the second half, the Titans quit running outside zone. I think they only ran it once. They started running duo. They started running pools and traps. Why? Why did we get away from the outside zone run? Why did they try to change the philosophy and go back to the inside run with duo?

The Titans finally got back to their bread and butters, and then all of a sudden in the second half, they went away from it. Not only that, but they started doing that tip thing with the personnel again where they start tipping their plays. You got Nick Westbrook-Aina, and Cody Hollister out there. And two tight ends.

You're probably running it up the middle or running it with Derrick Henry. And I'm okay with a run to Derrick Henry on the third and one in the second half. But run outside zone. It's been working all day. No, you go back to duo. You run it up the middle. And you get stopped because you're running straight at the teeth of the defense. The Titans got conservative in the second half.

It's frustrating, I know, but what the offense was able to do in the first half, if they can look at that, if they can build on that, if they can continue that forward, then maybe, maybe that's enough to shake this team out of its doldrum and get them back on the right track because they got a lot of big games ahead where they can really make back that bad start. They really can.

And we're going to talk about that more on tomorrow's show. I'm going to examine where the Titans are right now within the division and the conference, where they need to go these next few weeks. But moving forward here on the defensive division and the conference, where they need to go these next few weeks. But moving forward here, on the defensive side of the ball, look, the Titans' defense isn't terrible, but they have a few weak links that are just going to kill them. Terrence Mitchell was despicable in this game.

Eight catches for 158 yards and a touchdown for Mack Hollins. Now, some of that was on Christian Fulton, too, but the Titans just have to get better cornerback play. And I'm sorry, but Terrence Mitchell is playing over Caleb Farley with what we just saw from Terrence Mitchell. How can Caleb Farley be worse? How can Caleb Farley be worse? I simply don't understand.

At the end of the day, though, the Titans bend, but didn't break a few times. They gave up 300 to Carr. Like I said, the big day to Hollins. But the Titans' defense was two for six, well, four for six in the red zone, if you think about it that, but the Raiders' offense was held to two for six

in the red zone. The Titans got a couple of, Titans got an interception. Titans got a stop. I mean, the Titans' defense bowed their neck, and when it mattered, they made plays. When the Titans offense totally fell off the map in the second half, the Titans defense held in there, and it wasn't pretty,

but with zero pressure on the quarterback, with awful play from your edge and your linebackers, and with the cornerback issues that the Titans have right now, for the Titans defense to hold that team to 22 and look Devontae Adams and Darren Waller did not kill this team the edge rushers of the Raiders did not kill this team the Titans found a way to slow down the best players that the Raiders have and because of that they were able to hold on long enough to come out 1-2 on the season. So a big win for the Titans. It was ugly,

but a win is a win is a win. Ladies and gentlemen, and the Titans are 1-2. We're going to go into tighten up and tighten down. Talk about all the good and bad performances from Sunday's game. Before we get into it,

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Titans fans, it's time for Titan Up and Titan Down, everybody's favorite segment. Make sure that you put your Titan Ups and your Titan Downs in the comments on YouTube. Tag me on Twitter at TicTacTitans. Let me know your Titan Ups and Titan Downs. Once again, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, of the Locked on Titans podcast, free and available on all platforms, Monday through Friday, usually a bonus episode on Sunday

night as well with the postcast. All platforms, including YouTube, make sure you subscribe. Stay locked into the Locked on Titans podcast. It's your team every day. But getting into tighten up and tighten down, I have quite a few tighten ups. Number one, Derrick Henry. Derrick Henry finally had another, or finally had a good game.

I thought it was a combination of Henry ran harder. He ran with more balance. He ran with more aggressiveness. But also the Titans offensive line opened up a lot more obvious holes for Derrick Henry as well. I cannot wait to go through the all 22 and take a look at what the Titans offensive line opened up a lot more obvious holes for Derrick Henry as well. I cannot wait to go through the all 22 and take a look at what the Titans offensive line was able to do in that first half.

That reminds me, Wednesday's show, it'll be up Tuesday night on YouTube, will be rewatch Wednesday where I dive into the tape and tell you what the Titans did schematically on offense and defense. Tomorrow I'm going to examine the Titans position in the division and look at some of the injuries and things that have happened. Thursday is crossover Thursday. We got new hosts of Locked On Colts, Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur. Can't wait to talk to them about this huge matchup between the Colts and Friday will

be a game preview. So make sure that you stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast. But other than Derrick Henry, who had 20 carries for 85 yards, had the touchdown, had a career high with five catches for 58 yards, I love that.

If people are just going to ignore Derrick Henry, dump it off to him. Get him in space. Get him rolling. Get the ball in his hands where he doesn't have guys hitting him behind the line of scrimmage and he can feel comfortable. I loved every second of that. That has to continue for the Titans. Robert Woods, Bobby Trees finally showed up in a big, big spot. He had four catches for 85 yards, had multiple big plays on the day. Even his

punt return for 21 yards was a nice, nice play. And with all the upheaval at punt returner for the Titans and all the mistakes we've seen early this year, critical that Robert Woods could just catch the ball and then not only that, but catch the ball and then make a couple of plays. Really awesome game from Robert Woods. Welcome to the Titans, Bobby Trees. This is your welcome game. Love seeing that. I got to give it up. We got to do it, guys.

We crush the man all the time. We talk about him all the time. It's time to play the Swaim. Jeff Swaim. I thought he was good in blocking on the outside zones. Caught the touchdown pass. Had three catches for 19 in the touchdown. Shout out Jeff Swain.

Play your role. And if he's the best blocking tight end the Titans have, then he better be. And I thought he had a good game on Sunday. So shout out to Jeff Swain. Nick Westbrook-Akina made some big catches. Three for 40. And Ryan Tannehill got hit in the pocket and fumbled. Nick Westbrook-Akina made some big catches, 3 for 40. And Ryan Tannehill got hit in the pocket and fumbled.

Nick Westbrook-Akina jumped on it. So that in itself gets a tighten up. Like I said, the offensive line, specifically Dennis Daly. Dennis Daly, I thought had a great day. Did you hear Chandler Jones' name? I didn't. What a day for Dennis Daly. I cannot wait to watch Daly on film, but it wasn't just Daly, the entire offensive line really. Like I said earlier, one sack against Chandler Jones and Max Crosby? One sack? And the sack was a play-action bootleg

that Max Crosby just read from the start. It wasn't a pure, a true pass set. So, open up holes in the run game, and if it wasn't for the predictable play calling and going away from what was working, I think the Titans would have been able to get to 130, 140 rushing yards. One sack, I mean, the only offensive lineman that I think struggled,

and I got to go back and watch to confirm, is NPF going against Max Crosby. Thought he had some troubles in run blocking. But, I mean, it didn't derail the game. Both these tackles did better than Taylor LeJuan did in week one last year against the Cardinals against Chandler Jones.

So, all right. All right. There we go. O-line. Proud of their effort today. On defense. Dream Weaver. Rashad Weaver had a sack,

had a tackle for loss, had two tackles total. Thought he made an impact. Now, I'm still not very happy with the linebackers and the edge rushers and run defense. I think it's bad. But, but, Lever, good job in pass rush. Good job there to get some pressures.

Same thing, Danico Autry wasn't in the box score, but he got pressure on Carr a few times on the third down throw or fourth down throw in the red zone to Darren Waller where Imani Hooker was behind. I thought Waller was open, but Danico Autry got some pressure. I believe Rashad Weaver also got some pressure

and got their hands up in Derek Carr's passing lane and affected the throw. Red zone stop. You love to see that. Roger McCreary. It wasn't perfect out there, but the Raiders thought they could put Devontae Adams in the slot to get better matchups.

That was silly. The Titans' best cornerback was in the slot. His name is Roger McCreary. He is the best cornerback the Titans have. I'm willing to say that right now. And McCreary had 10 tackles on the day because he was getting targeted. But I thought he did a dang good job. And there were a few times where the play was for Devontae Adams and he wasn't open because Roger McCreary. So yeah, there were ups and downs. But I thought it was overall't open because Roger McCreary. So yeah there were ups and downs but I thought it was overall a good game for McCreary.

Same thing. Christian Fulton had some bad moments. No lie. No doubt had some bad moments but six tackles had two tackles for loss early in the game making physical tackles. Love to see that from Fulton. Had a pass breakup in the end

zone late in the game. So, it wasn't perfect for McCreary and Fulton, but God, when Terrence Mitchell was being Terrence Mitchell, got to give a lot of credit to Fulton and McCreary for minimizing the damage. Also, I want to go back and look who guarded Darren Waller. I don't know. I think it was Imani Hooker. I saw some Lonnie Johnson late, but tighten up to whoever guarded Darren Waller. I don't know. I think it was Imani Hooker. I saw some Lonnie Johnson

late, but tighten up to whoever guarded Darren Waller for most of the day. I got to go back and check how the Titans decided to do that. Kevin Byard, four tackles, had the interception. Dylan Cole really got the pass breakup on the two-point conversion at the end, but Kevin Byard was there to make sure

nobody got to it. Kevin Byard made a big play in a big moment when it looked like the Raiders were about to score. He always does this. This is why he's one of the best Tennessee Titans of all time, period. And definitely the best safety in Titans history. Point blank, period. No arguments. Also, Dylan Cole, I've given Dylan Cole a lot of grief, and while I still agree with my evaluation of him as a player and being on the defense, he had two tip passes, had two tackles.

I mean, got to give a shout out to Dylan Cole. That's a tighten up. And then finally, Stoney. Ryan Stonehouse. He's a stone. Found out house. Had three punts for 181 yards. That's 60 yards a punt.

Two of them were inside the 20. One landed on the one-yard line and bounced in the end zone. I forgive you. The Titans made the right call, man. Stonehouse is a monster. Just a literal monster. Wow. Insane.

But a good win for, well, you know, an ugly win, but a good win nonetheless for the Titans. That's all my Titan ups. Superstars made big plays in a big game. Derrick Henry, Kevin Byard. But we're going to move forward to the Titan downs. And I know you guys can guess at least one. We're also going to talk a little bit about the injuries ahead of the Titans

or that the Titans are experiencing right now. It's getting a little bit out of control, but thank you very much for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Tighten down. Coming up next. Titans fans, we are going to cap off our first Victory Monday recap of the season. I know it was ugly, but God, it feels good to win. And boy,

did the Tennessee Titans need it. The Jaguars are giving the Chargers hell right now as I'm recording. The Colts found a way to beat the Chiefs at the very end of the game at puke. Sucks. So the Titans needed to win this game. And boy, do they have a big one

next week against the Colts. Speaking of that, crossover Thursday, game plan Friday coming at you. Make sure you stay locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast by subscribing on whatever platform you do stream. Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year round. Locked on Titans, it's your team every day. But we went through my big takeaways on offense and defense. We went through my tighten up performances. Now we got to get into tighten down and dear God, guys, you know

where I got to start. It's Terrence Mitchell. So I got to say, I thought that Terrence Mitchell would be a nice addition as a depth cornerback in 2021's off season. cornerback in 2021's offseason? Well, I was wrong. Depth cornerback, any cornerback. Mike Braybill even said we're going to throw some other guys in there and see what we got. If Terrence Mitchell is the option, find another one. And Terrence Mitchell, obvious tighten down.

But know who else is a tighten down here? It's freaking Caleb Farley, man. You're telling me that your first round pick is healthy? And can't play over Terrence Mitchell? Matt Collins embarrassed Terrence Mitchell. I mean, on that fourth down and 18 at the end, to let Matt Collins get behind you, then an embarrassing display in the end zone for the final touchdown for the Raiders. I mean, what in

the world was that, Terrence? You're telling me Caleb Farley can't do better than that? At least try. Man, a massive tighten down to Terrence Mitchell. My expectation is he'll probably be cut. But even more massive tighten down to Caleb Farley. That he can't get on the field over Terrence Mitchell. That's how bad he's been?

Man, what a tighten down to J-Rob's 2021 draft. Yikes. I mean, Weaver, Molden do look good. There's some undrafted free agents in there like Naquan Jones that look good. But what a massive, massive whiff on those first two picks. I mean, I don't have time to get into it now. I'm giving

a tighten down to J-Rob for the just during COVID, he was garbage. I mean, just terrible draft classes. Now, you're hoping that this 2022 draft class that we've seen, hoping that you get more of these since we're out of the COVID era. I believe,

I believe, don't get me wrong, I'm not a doctor, but I believe that the COVID pandemic is now officially over. Well, dear God, let's hope so for J-Rob's drafting ability. It's clear that the Titans don't have good intel.

They don't have good relationships. They don't have good relationships with people in college football and on college staffs to give them real evaluations of these players. They can't get real evaluations. They're being lied to by coaches in college about guys' personality, about their work ethic, about their talent level. The Titans clearly don't have good intel on these draft picks, which is why the COVID era impacted the Titans so much because they couldn't have as many one-on-one meetings. They couldn't have as much time with these guys in person. And clearly, that is a gap in the Titans scouting department that was exposed due to the COVID era that hopefully doesn't plague them plagued them anymore. But yeah, massive tighten down.

My next tighten down is tighten downing. What happened in that second half, Todd? I mean, what is that? You go away from outside zone to run duo and run pools. You're tipping

your hand with, it's third and one and Cody Hollister's on the field with Nick Westbrook, Akina and two tight ends. What do you think they're going to do? They're going to run and then not. Okay, that's great. All right. I still give Derrick Henry a shot, but you go away from the scheme that's been working all day with outside zone and you go back to duo up the middle and you get blasted instead of getting your guys on the move and going laterally. You try to go straight downhill at the teeth of the defense. So good first half, Todd, but the second half completely ruined it.

The Titans cannot continue doing this, man. These half-to-half situations. Just terrible. Tighten down to Cody Hollister. I'm going to go back and look. I want to go look at what the average yards per play is for the Titans when Hollister is in the game.

Because if he's in there because he's a good blocker and the Titans aren't really doing much when he's on the field, then what's the point? You might as well have Burks or someone else out there that can threaten the defense if you're not going to get big chunk plays in the run game when you got Hollister out there.

What is the point? All you're doing is tipping your hand and then not having success. Tighten downing. Tighten down for Cody Hollister. Tighten down for Joe Jones with the holding penalty on the big return by Hassan Haskins on kickoff return. What are you doing? It was a clear hold too

and he was all huffing and puffing on the sideline. It's an obvious hold on the replay. The Titans inside linebacker, Zach Cunningham got hurt. That sucks. But David Long has just not been very good. They need Monte Rice back so bad just to have someone else in there

I gave a tighten up to Dylan Cole he deserved it but tighten down again to David Long and Zach Cunningham who just aren't getting the job done in run defense they simply aren't now they don't have a lot of help without the edge rushers out there how important was Harold Landry I tried to tell you guys during

his contract situation how vital he was to this defense, and you see what it's become now without him up front. And then just a final tighten down to the injuries, man. LeJuan announced out for the season. Zach Cunningham, elbow injury, Bud Dupree

setting money on fire for the Titans, out another game. Kyle Phillips was out. I mean, boy. Injuries have not been turned off. Rough.

I'm just going to cap it off with this. This win is good for reality. Like, the Titans needed a win to stay in the division hunt and to get back on the board and all that. You can't say that the win is bad. But here's what I will say. Does this give you guys any confidence that the Titans are better than we thought?

Does this shake off the worry and concern from the first two weeks? Does this win make you feel any better? At halftime, I thought it was going to, and then it didn't. This win doesn't make me feel any better about this team. I still don't think it's a very good team.

They're going to go 9-8, 8-9, be in there for the AFC South, but basically this win didn't change my mind on who the Titans are as a team with that second half collapse. They showed us what they could be when they're playing their best, and then they reminded us that they rarely do. So,

I know that's not the vibe that you guys wanted to end on, I'm sure, but that is the reality that we're facing here. So good win. For all technical standpoints, the Titans needed it. But man, that second half performance just reminded us that this team still isn't the team that we've had the last couple of years. A win is a win is a win. That's going to do it for me today, though, folks.

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