Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Will Levis UNDER PRESSURE v Vikings Blitz, Sam Darnold Reality & Turnover Battle

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

The Tennessee Titans face one of their toughest games of the year on Sunday when they take on the Minnesota Vikings and this will be a particularly tough matchup for quarterback Will Levis as Minnesota brings some of the most pressure in the NFL. Can Levis handle it and make quick, smart decisions with the football? Sam Darnold has piloted the Minnesota Vikings to a 7-3 record in one of the best comeback stories in the league this year, but how much of it is real and how much is his environment? Finally, if the Titans have any hope to win this one, they will need to win the turnover battle and the Vikings are susceptible in that area.Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow 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!5 Hour ENERGYWhat’s your Fan Fuel this week?! Whatever it is, do it with a 5 Hour Energy!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started.Ultimate GMUse the promo code LOCKEDONNFL, all caps, inside the game store to receive a free boost to your franchise. Make sure to get it, as this perk will jump start your play and give you the advantage you’ll want in creating a dynasty. Mint MobileTo get this new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to Mintmobile.com/lockedonnfl. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at MINT MOBILE dot com slash lockedonnfl.Disclaimer: $45 upfront payment required (equivalent to $15/mo.). New customers on first 3 month plan only. Speeds slower above 40GB on Unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees, & restrictions apply. See MINT MOBILE for details.Omaha SteaksFrom legendary steaks to mouthwatering desserts and more, save fifty percent off site-wide at OmahaSteaks.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra thirty dollars off with Promo Code NFL and a thirty-dollar reward card when you shop early.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)

Can the Minnesota Vikings keep it rolling or can the Tennessee Titans pull up a major upset? We'll break it down on Crossover Thursday, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. You are locked on NFL Crossover, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Podcast Network, your team every day. Football fans, welcome in to another edition of Crossover Thursday, Locked on Titans, Locked on Vikings. We're going to be breaking down this matchup. Crossover Thursday is presented by PrizePix.

Download the app, use the code LOCKEDONNFL to win $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. I am host of Locked on Titans, Tyler Rowland here, with my guy, the brain, Luke Braun, the host of Locked on Vikings. Going to be going over the big stories in this game, doing some predictions as to what will win this game for either team towards the end of the episode. Thank you for making Locked on Titans and Locked on Vikings your first listen. Make sure that you get subscribed.

Stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Podcast Network. But, Luke, we're going to jump right in to the Vikings side of this. And I would be asking you this anyway, but we got a little article from ESPN saying that uh Sam Darnold could be a guy to watch for the Titans in free agency so for multiple reasons this game and the future it's a scouting move huh real yeah yeah yeah give us the lowdown on future Titans legend Sam Darnold he's what he says on the box, man.

It's been, I think, better in September than it has been lately. I think he's honestly coming off his worst game of the year against Jacksonville. Yeah. Where the ball placement was just messed up. So he might be in a funk or maybe that's just a one game thing. Here's the skinny on Sam Darnold, though. He can throw to every level. He makes you defend every blade of grass.

He's got enough athleticism to also have that threat, just a scramble threat, not in the way of Lamar Jackson or anything like that, but he'll run around enough where you have to worry about your lanes. And so that's another thing that stresses out a defense. All those things are great. That's why he went third overall. He just doesn't protect the ball. You're just going to have, you'll see it. Your defense is going to get two or three turnovers. Just you just will like you just set your watch by it. You will get two or three turnovers in this game. It's and they'll probably mostly be Sam Darnold's fault. It's just what he does. It's what is preventing him from being someone's franchise QB.

But as like a one year bridge into something else, that's we'll take that. We're perfectly happy with that. It is, I would say, astronomically improbable that the vikings re-up with him after the year they've got jj mccarthy they're happy with that uh no he doesn't sound like he's got surgery he got an injection another surgery jj mccarthy's yeah right yeah that was misreported i think uh is what that sounds like by the way for vikings fans who are freaking out about that um it was a fairly routine part of of uh meniscus rehab so but anyways uh yeah so if you want him in your building i think that that's a great veteran presence to compete with

a rookie that you like are going to be okay with benching halfway through the year once your rookie is better i think that's the perfect place for him in the league what you end up paying for that is probably not that much as quarterbacks go. But all of that, like he's so good at having a game where he plays 25 of 28 reps beautifully and then turns the ball over on the other three. And you have to go like, well, what do we make of that? Right. That makes it tough. And listen, Titans fans know a lot about a guy who likes to give the ball away.

And speaking of that, look at this Vikings defense. I don't think it's some state secret that the Vikings like to bring pressure. I believe they blitz at like a 40% rate, second highest in the NFL. And the Titans allow pressure at the highest rate in the NFL against the blitz. 53% of the time against the blitz, the Titans allow pressure. So just how bad is this going to be with Brian Flores' blitz scheme? so just how bad is this going to be with brian flores blitz team like just how ugly is it going to be you know sometimes they walk into these games

against like porous o-lines or you know teams that have pressure issues and they don't blitz at all and they just say well actually we think we can just get there with four so we're going to do that um and they they'll simulate pressure they'll make will levis you know really struggle with what he's looking at and really try to post snap read it out everything will be disguised you basically get no good information pre-snap unless you can really crack the code in in the week uh for what you think you're gonna get i actually think the lines do a good job of that but you have to be like really on it um what they like to do is they like to zone cover behind their blitzes that's what's weird about it you know you get a lot of other blitz heavy teams

throughout history would be in man coverage, need good corners. They zone cover it. So there's a lot of cover four with like two guys underneath. There's a lot of three and three. And those coverages all will have holes in them. There are fewer guys in its zone.

There will be space to throw to. You have to find that space. But I guess it comes to, and I'll want to circle back to this with you when we talk more about the titans in in detail what the blitz plan is for your offense whether it's try to get the ball out quick whether it's max protect and try to block it up like what what the actual answer is well i think kind of determine what kind of adjustments and plans we see throughout but as much as the vikings offense

has turned it over the vikings defense has essentially gone blow for blow getting the ball back sometimes in rapid succession with each other so that we've seen a few games this year that are like the turnover battle is four to three or three to three and things are going back and forth um you know getting pressure on that quarterback but if you can block it up or if you have a quarterback that can get the ball out in time or, or create with his legs or whatever, if you have a way to, to Perry that blitz away, then you get like two or three coverages every single play. Like the variety post snap is not really a lot. Cause all the bright variety is pre snap. And then there comes these opportunities to maybe find a hole in it.

And then there comes these opportunities to maybe find a hole in it. Well, I'm not very confident in the Titans ability to find a hole in that defense. I guess I'll ask you this way. Speaking of holes, if a team were to beat the Vikings, what do you think that looks like? I mean, look at the two teams that have with Jared Goff and Matt Stafford. I don't know if this is going to be lettuce, but those two guys got the ball out on time very well. They had a lot of extra blockers, so the blitzes were a lot easier to sort out. And they used concepts that they knew were going to attack the coverages that they got because the the punish to that right if you keep eight people into block and you only have three routes well then suddenly

you don't really have an advantage against a six man zone coverage anymore there's six to your three they can all sort that out and figure it out so you have to run the concepts that are true beaters for those um that's all on tape right like and i'm sure that uh brian callahan will have those ready to go so i'm sure you'll have yourers, but the ball has to be out on time. You have to have your pressure answer. And then I think the game looks like it, and they've all kind of been these kind of swingy, the Vikings play really bad for one half and then really good in the second

half or vice versa where, you know, it's kind of never over and, and, and it's, it's streaky and it's swingy. And then if you just get the right bounce on the ball and you get the right things, then, you know, you know, it's kind of never over and, and, and it's, it's streaky and it's swingy. And then if you just get the right bounce on the ball and you get the right things, then, you know, you can, you can steal one away, but it really has to start with the offense has to

be functional under pressure. And whether that means blitzes or whether that's, you know, Jonathan Grenard on whoever getting tackle, getting pressure, um, you, you have to be functional under pressure breaks the whole thing down, then it gets really hard to move the ball and you have to kind of find other ways to do it or you have to find a way to run the ball on them against too high, which is also a thing that you can do a lot of.

They'll be too high a lot. Will Levis is in danger. That's all I know about that. But we're going to talk more about that. Yeah, I got to know about this. Yeah, yeah. We're going to talk about that right now. It's Crossover Thursday, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team

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Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandle, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. All right, Luke. It is time to talk Tennessee Titans. We've gone through Sam Darnold for the Vikings. What's he been like this year? Talked about the blitzing defense of Brian Flores, who wants to be an NFL head coach again. And I think he'll probably get the opportunity this offseason,

unless the NFL is conspiring against him. There might be, man. It's political, okay? It's political. Definitely, definitely is. But something that's not political is the Tennessee Titans. Because whether you're on this side or that side. The apolitical Tennessee Titans.

Yeah, they are not very good this year. Radical centrist Tennessee Titans. Will Levis, you know, had his best game of the year. No turnovers, you know, took a bunch of sacks,

but Hey, it's still his best game of the year. Nonetheless, uh, I'm curious to see what, what you are wondering about with this Titans team. Well, I haven't paid any attention to it,

to good old Billy blue jeans since the draft. Um, what is, what it was, is, is he just like a turnover machine because like the only thing i've seen about him is that every week he generates a funnier screenshot than the week before but that's like is it just everything is a circus or am i just only seeing those plays or like give me the the levish stick i know your fans have probably heard it a million

times i haven't give me the levish spiel he didn't do a meme last week he just played the streak is broken right he just played regular old okay quarterback you know what i mean like it was just a a regular old i'm not a great quarterback but hey i played out there look he's got a huge arm he can get the ball down the field he could throw with velocity he's got plus mobility like he's not a statue in the pocket he can run around the titans used him on a couple design runs last week there was a fake of a fake jet sweep into qb lead there was a qb sweep on third and two with two pullers out in front of him like you know he's got that stuff he really does but he just does not process quick enough, whether it be, you know, holding on to the ball too long and taking sacks, whether it be not getting the ball out on time for somebody who's open. And then by the time

that he throws it, it's just not as open, whether it be, you know, so that's the main problem is the processing time and getting the ball out of his hands on time. And he just doesn't have that. Luke, he was, he was like a running back and a linebacker who was taught to play quarterback because he was the best athlete on the team. He does not have actual natural quarterback instincts, you know, like some of the best, like a Joe Burrow or a CJ Stroud who just float around in the pocket.

And you can tell that they've been doing this since they were a little kid. He doesn't have that timer in his head of, Hey, I can't on, on the tape last week, he would take a little kid. He doesn't have that timer in his head of, hey, I can't, on the tape last week, he would take a third hitch. So he would hit the back of his drop,

hit the back foot, he would hitch up, hitch up, ball needs to be out, and he'd take another hitch up. And it's like, you don't get three, Will. You don't get three. You don't have time for that. Yeah, they take this forever. Unless you're going through like a whole progression, it's like hitch to one, hitch to two, hitch to three. Yeah, and that's not the plan whole progress. It's like hitch to one hitch to two hitch to three. But yes, and that's not the plan, though.

He's just climbing the pocket and holding on to the ball too long. He has to make that decision in his head of. And a lot of people are like, oh, everybody was mad that Will Levis was getting rid of the ball so quick against Indianapolis and wasn't throwing the ball downfield. Now everybody's mad that he's holding on to the ball and taking sacks. It's like, yes, I do need you to thread that needle. It's called playing NFL quarterback. You can't get rid of the ball so quick that you take nothing downfield. Ain't the big 12 anymore, kid. Yeah. You also can't hold onto it so long that you take sacks. Nobody said that the job was hard. That's why they get paid $50 million if you're even competent to do it. So he just has to develop a better sense, and he's 25.

So is he going to develop that sense? It's probably too late for that to happen, but he is a smart guy. Scholastically, he was really intelligent. Maybe he can figure that out. But outside of that being the biggest issue, there are some plays where he's just a little inaccurate. There was a third and six out route, isolated coverage,

wide receiver is open on the sideline, and he just throws it two yards short and dirts it into the ground. And it's like, you just can't miss on those. You just can't. He's okay. He had his best game of the year, but some of the struggles that he has

as a player, at 25 years old, I just don't know. I just don't know if the feel and the instincts come, if they haven't come already. Well, it's going to be definitely under a lot of fire. Right. And so I would guess that if you're,

if that's your quarterback, if I'm trying to prepare this game and I'm the Titans, I would probably say, okay, we just got to have like seven, eight and protection all the time. And that's going to be the plan. I was going to try to win running the ball.

Tony Pollard is given the Vikings fits in the past as a cowboy. But I'm actually the thing I I really do have a concern in this game about the Titans defense because the Vikings offense has been in a weird spot. You know, red zone turnovers they've had. You know, they haven't scored as much as they probably should have in the last couple games against other rough AFC South teams right um and this Titans defense is good right I mean Jeffrey Simmons you got a good secondary like what is the identity of this Titans defense all I know is it has a good reputation but I don't really know the nature of it well what the Titans like to do is they disguise I mean that they love two high shells

rolling down into cover three they're going to roll that safety down to the passing strength trying to take away like a crosser or an in route on the front side that's what they like jefferson justin jefferson on the back side and then really stress that huh like on the weak side well i'm sure that will be the plan and right now legerius is out. He's been out for a while with a quad issue. Chido Ouzier, the Titans' other starting cornerback, has been out. They have the number one pass defense in the NFL, and they're playing a rookie, Jarvis Brownlee Jr., out of Louisville at one corner spot,

and Daryl Baker, who was cut by the Colts with their cornerback situation. But they've played pretty solid. I mean, obviously on the inside, Roger McCreary is a slot corner. He's one of the best slot corners in the NFL. Very underrated player. He's great, but what the Titans want to do is they want to use their linebackers and pressure packages. They want to confuse you. They want to show this.

They want to drop out here, and they want to roll their coverage in the back end and kind of force you into throwing into where they're rolling to and hoping to create some turnovers that way. They didn't have a lot of turnovers during the beginning of the year, but they got three against the Patriots. They've been able to do a little bit better here recently with that. Didn't get one against the Chargers, unfortunately,

and that obviously makes a big difference when the offense isn't doing what it needs to do. But, yeah, I would say that it's different from the Vikings who are a big cover for cover to team. They play a ton of cover to and cover for the Titans are a ton of cover for man where the outside corners are playing man. And you got cover for from the safeties on the inside and they play a lot of cover. Yeah. So it's kind of like that mike mcdonald raven's defense really okay uh that's fascinating that's all very cool to talk about uh and and chew on but so then what does that mean the the the plan would be for somebody like justin jefferson or other teams that maybe you've faced that have like a very clear number one guy that they're gonna feed that's

gonna get all the targets whether it's you know i don't i don't remember the titan schedule but like davante adams or somebody like the bengals with jamar chase um like what what is the preferred plan are we bracketing this guy are we you know if you've got corners hurt like maybe it would have been trust to legeria sneed but yeah that's what the plan would have been is just throw speed over there but you know you're asking me a question that quite frankly i don't get paid to answer like Like, how else have they handled, you know, big-time No. 1 receivers? Because Justin Jefferson's a different breed, but have they not really played?

Have they played the Dolphins? Yeah, they haven't really played. They played the Dolphins, but Snoop Huntley was a quarterback. You know what I mean? So it's like you're not going to defend Tyreek Hill the same way as if he had to, uh, as if you did there and they had Snead in that game as well. So it kind of changes the equation there. If I'm the Titans, what I would do is I would roll that safety down to Justin Jefferson's side. And I would say, just watch him. You know what I mean? I know that Jefferson likes to hit those crossers over the middle of the field. I would just have

my quarterback play outside leverage and say, don't give them the sideline. You know what I mean? And then I would have a safety rolling down over the middle. And the Titans do a lot of like, I know when it's linebackers, it's like banjo coverage, you know, where you like pass it off. Well, it's like if you put in a bunch, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that's the way that I would play it.

But if you put Justin Jefferson in a bunch per se, you bring him in, you know, that inside, that outside to inside motion and get them going across, just attack the middle of the field where the linebackers are because Jack Gibbons and Kenneth Murray are terrible in coverage. So I'm hitting Justin Jefferson underneath in this game and letting him get yards after catch because the Titans middle of the field defense,

especially with Quandre Diggs out for the year now, you're going to get Mike Brown. And Mike Brown is a solid third safety, but he's not a starting level safety in the NFL. So, Amani Hooker's probably going to have to play back deep to not get beat deep on the post from Jordan Addison. You know what I mean? And Justin Jefferson should just have his way over the middle of the field.

So, I don't get paid to have an answer, and I don't have a good answer for you of how to stop Justin Jefferson. I don't know if Denard Wilson, who gets paid a lot more than me, is going to have an answer and i don't have a good answer for you of how to stop justin jefferson i don't know if denard wilson who gets paid a lot more than me is going to have one either well and some teams have like the detroit lions aaron glenn came out before the game and said yeah he's just going to get his yards and we're just going to hope we win the game anyways and they did so like that can kind of be a valid answer is we're just going to play our normal defense he's going to get his we're going to hope we shut everything else down uh or you say maybe we'll bracket him which is kind of what the jaguars did all day tight ends go off for 140

yards in that game um so yeah there's there's been i think a lot of different people trying like you can you can kind of choose your your door it's like a monty hall man lately though and i think that has to do with the cornerbacks they don't want to put their cornerbacks on an island with daryl Baker and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. So they played more man earlier in the year. Not a lot of man lately. So I would be surprised.

Totally makes sense. I would be surprised if that was the plan, quite honestly. Yeah. Well, so what Justin Jefferson will do in this game and what everything else will happen in this game, we should probably get into our predictions. Yeah, you're right about that. Let's talk about what happens. And I got to tell you,

it's all about the turnover battle for the Titans. Today's episode is brought to you by Price Picks. Price Picks makes daily fantasy sports so simple, so easy, and so much fun. That's why they have over 10 million members and have awarded billions of dollars in winnings. All you have to do on PrizePix is pick more or less. On at least two players, first shot to win up to 100 times your cash. You can run your game all season long on PrizePix. Again, it's so easy.

Here's how it works. PrizePix has a projection for every single player. Jamar Chase, 79.5 receiving yards. Patrick Mahomes, 1.5 passing touchdowns. Travis Kelsey, 59.5 receiving yards. Saquon Barkley, 79.5 rushing yards. You just pick two to six players, and like Justin Jefferson, take more on the receiving yards this week,

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Run your game. All right, Luke, we are going to cap off today's crossover Thursday. Locked on Titans, locked on Vikings. Thank you for making us your first listen each and every day. For your second listen, check out Locked on NFL. I'm one of the lead hosts of Locked on NFL. Luke joins me every single Wednesday episode. It's the bad man in the brain.

You don't want to hear me rant about the Bears. Woo boy. Woo boy. I went off. Yeah, you guys should definitely check that out. But hey, you get all your Vikings and Titans news in under 30 minutes every day with us. Get your NFL news in under 30 minutes with us.

It just makes so much sense. Get subscribed on whatever platform that you watch or listen to the show. But Luke, I'll let you go first as you are the visitors. And that is the format of the show. What are your kind of keys to victory for the Vikings to take care of the Titans and not get upset in this game? Well, I won't steal yours about the turnovers because I think that really is it. But I think pressure will be big.

Whether the Vikings do like there's kind of two main flavors you'll get they've kind of jekyll and hide their defense sometimes their defense doesn't blitz at all yeah like i don't think they blitzed much well no they did blitz aaron rogers a little bit against the jets but like in the first parts of the game against the jaguars they didn't really blitz they seemed a lot of pressure they they faked a lot of blitzing but they did a lot more backing into coverage tried to win with four they ended up adjusting that and going more blitz heavy later in the game which worked out better uh but sometimes for the vikings honestly i think they're gonna fake blitzes just to sim out and then see if you can't and then just force them to throw a dumb yeah you're keeping in the the tight end and the

running back to deal with this pressure that we're showing you. And then we get out of it and now we have seven people back in the zone. You only have three people in the routes. Will Levis is thinking, I got to get rid of the ball because that's the big thing. And then he makes a mistake and just throws it to somebody who isn't open. I honestly think they'll do that early, get him comfortable, and then go to the blitz late. They like to do that against like quick strike offenses like if you're if your answer to the blitz is to throw a slant they want to back somebody off into your slant window and sort of confuse you that way and then suddenly you've done quick game your o-line has done quick game and if

nobody comes open all that stuff really falls apart because of the way those pass sets are different the drops are different um and so it falls apart really fast you can get disruption but if your answer is to try to block it up and then go deep or something like that, they might just say, OK, we'll just take this on. So I don't know what they're going to do. Right. If we did, we'd probably be more involved in podcasting. Whatever that is, it has to get home. It has to get to Will Levis. You have to get Will Levis rattled. Somebody like him. I want to see him out of rhythm if you let somebody like that get in rhythm and then none of the bad stuff that he's done all year

actually comes to fruition in your game you did a bad job right any other keys i'm thinking about justin jefferson and so i don't know off the top of my head i'm looking to see if fanduel has a a receiving prop up yet they don't they probably just have touchdown scores yeah they usually don't know off the top of my head. I'm looking to see if FanDuel has a, a receiving prop up yet. They don't, they'd probably just have touchdown scores. Yeah. They usually don't put those up until like Friday or Saturday with the player props. Yeah.

Yeah. So a little early on that. Does it really matter, Luke? Does it matter where they set the line? The line's at 39 and a half and the under kind of looks juicy for me. Well, I meant for Justin Jefferson's personal prop.

Like, does it really matter? Well, I was going to say receptions prop. Cause if you say that, maybe it's an underneath thing, maybe it's a lot of seven yard catches, but not like maybe they, they go back off. They'd be quarters. They don't let up the explosive, but you hopefully get a few like dinks and dunks, which might be a good, a good operation against the Vikings and say, okay, have a 12 play drive

without Sam Darnold doing something idiotic. That might have to be the plan. Well, the Titans are one of the best teams in the NFL at not allowing be the plan. Well, the Titans are one of the best teams in the NFL at not allowing explosive pass plays. It's the Denard Wilson effect, quite honestly, because you look, the Ravens already have allowed more 20-yard pass plays this year than they did all of last year. And Denard Wilson has been involved with the number one pass defense in the NFL for three seasons straight now. The Eagles and then the Ravens last year. Now the Titans are the number one pass defense in the NFL, three seasons straight now the Eagles and then the Ravens last year now the Titans are the number one pass defense in the NFL even with the injuries that we've talked about with three starters out in the secondary they allowed one last week on a flea flicker but I think the Titans

have only allowed I think it's five pass plays of 20 yards or more so far so they limit explosives so I'm taking under on like all the longest yards ones, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would on that. But I like your idea of the reception. So, I mean, if you're getting Justin Jefferson involved the ton underneath, over the middle against those linebackers and zone coverage, that would absolutely be the play. Yeah. But so elephant in the room, though, is yours, right?

Turnovers. Yes. Yeah. I mean, if the Titans don't win the turnover battle they stand no chance to win the game they don't have as good of an offense um and i'm i'm worried about the turnovers if they can limit the turnovers that's i think will levis has to use his legs a ton in this game i think he's got to get out of the pocket he don't waste time waiting for something to come open against this excellent defensive scheme. If you're getting pressured and there's a little window,

tuck the ball and run and get what you can because if the Titans don't stay on schedule in this game and they're in third and longs, they are just cooked because then Will Levis is going to have to wait for somebody to get open on a deeper route. You can't just check it down for three yards. Tajay Spears, make a man miss. Chigga Conquo, make a man miss.

And get a first down and keep the drive going. Like, the Titans are going to have to check down the ball, and the only way that those check downs are going to result in first downs is if you're in third and manageable situations. So, really, they have to run the ball great, period. But Will Levis has to – I think they really got to ramp up the Will Levis-designed runs in really got to ramp up the will levis designed runs in this game because what the titans do like to do against pressure and this is a common thing

around the league i'm sure you see this go five wide because then it's like sure you know spread everything out and then run on it run a qb draw on that yeah yep run qb draw all right it will levis outside like that's what i would be looking to do because if they don't run the football and they don't use will levis's legs enough they're going to be in third and long and then the Vikings can just do what they do best and when they do that Will Levis is either going to hold the ball and take sacks or he's going to try to get rid of it too quick when it's not open yet and he's going to create turnover so third and long is the devil normally but it's even going to be accentuated in this game so if the Titans want to win the turnover battle which they absolutely have

to do teams getting an upset to beat a team that's significantly better than you you have to win the turnover battle it's the great equalizer in football you need big explosive swingy plays and if you're going to talk about like down and distance too then the other big thing is and this has been huge for the vikings too is penalties and the vikings have had a lot of pre-snap operational issues they've been in a lot of like second and first and 15s same so whoever can I think pull that together right and like how cliche are we turnovers and penalties right but you know what I mean the Titans are at home so you would think yeah that would benefit them in that way what are the Titans wearing do you know this one uh it's gonna be all navy blue all navy blue okay yeah we'll see if we get the annual uh all whites

for the vikings or if they wear their perps over there their purple pants well that'll be interesting to see uh i love the color combinations and at this point in the season that's something that actually brings me joy seeing the color combinations but no you gotta it's very important the vibe is very important i'm a big aesthetics guy. Dress well, test well. Well, hey, as Deion Sanders say, what is it? Look good, feel good, play good. They pay good. So with that being said, though,

a little fashion advice for you guys to end today's crossover Thursday edition. That's going to do it for me, Tyler Rowland, host of the Locked on Titans, and Luke Braun, host of Locked on Vikings. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. We're going to have a full game preview for you on tomorrow's episode. And then obviously we're going to have some content for you guys after this

game ends on Sunday. But with that being said, that's going to do it for us today. You guys take care and it's going to be a great weekend of football. Everybody enjoy.