Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Titans Magical Season Ends - Recapping the Loss to the Chiefs, #TitanUpTitanDown & Titans Talk

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is the end of an incredible run and the hot streak is over as the Titans do lose to the Kansas City Chiefs 35-24 in the AFC Championship game. And while obviously it hurts and it is disappointing, there's a lot to be proud of and a lot to be thankful for for a really fun season that started in a pretty low place. So can't really be too disappointed with where the team is right now, even though the loss definitely does hurt and the wound still is fresh and it stings. But while we're here, we got to make sure we take our lessons from the bruises and from the lumps that we took in this game. and from the lumps that we took in this game.

So we're going to break everything down, talk about my big keys to the game and what really kind of changed, how the outcome came out, and then we're going to do tighten up, tighten down, make sure we look at our individual performances, talk about who had a good day, who necessarily did not have a good day, and there's a lot to talk about there as well. And before we go go I do just want to leave you with the sounds of the game let you hear from head coach Mike Vrabel and his thoughts after this disappointing loss but from a place where the Titans do have a good foundation

going forward so we can keep that in the back of our heads while we discuss this season ending loss to the Kansas City Chiefs so ready to dive into everything with you guys. Let's get it. My biggest takeaway from this game at the end of the day is that Patrick Mahomes is a fantastic player and sometimes no matter what you do or what your game plan is or how sound of an idea you have of what you want to do a player like that will just beat you one way or another and we saw that take place out on the field Patrick Mahomes threw for nearly 300 yards had two touchdowns he ran for another 50 yards and had a touchdown and that touchdown run that he had before halftime to put the Chiefs

up 21 to 17 really changed the game and the way that it felt after the Titans had what you have to consider a pretty decent start. Scored on their first drive and got three points. Were able to come back and go up 10-0 with a touchdown. The Chiefs do answer and then the Titans answer back to make it 17-7. Even after the Chiefs score another touchdown to make it 17-14, you feel like the Titans are in a good place, but then that's really where I thought the drive was called when the Titans got the ball back with about three and a half minutes left. The drive was called very conservatively. We got two runs up the middle from Derrick Henry and then a screen

pass to Deion Lewis. The Titans punt, give the ball back to the Chiefs offense that had just kind of started feeling like they were waking up. And, of course, after that, that run that Mahomes had where the Titans just refused to tackle him. Rashawn Evans misses a tackle as he breaks contain and gets down the sideline. And then, for some strange reason, Tremaine Brock tries to go for the strip inside the five-yard line. Mahomes powers through that because it's nowhere close to a tackle attempt.

It was literally just a strip attempt to try to force a fumble there in the biggest moments. And Mahomes smartly powers through and scores a touchdown to put the Chiefs up. The Titans just kneel on it and go into halftime. The Chiefs come out. They get the ball. And the Titans' defense is able to make a few stops. But here the Titans' offense, when they have their opportunity,

just wasn't able to capitalize. So the Chiefs go out, eventually put more points up on the board as the fourth quarter begins. The Titans answer, but by that time, it's too late. So really what ended up dooming this team is Patrick Mahomes was just too good. The Titans tried to go man. The Titans tried to go zone, and he just had an answer for everything. And even when the Titans covered everybody down the field, he was able to beat them with

their legs. Patrick Mahomes was the leading rusher for the Chiefs on the day. Damian Williams had spot duty in the run game, but he was able to have a little bit of success, including scoring a touchdown there on the ground. So the Titans really tried to cover everything in the middle, and they were able to limit Travis Kelsey to only three catches. But what happened was that opened up the outsides, and Tremaine Brock had a pretty rough day.

Sammy Watkins had over 100 yards and was able to get the crucial touchdown that really capped off the game. Tyreek Hill had a little bit of success, but basically the Titans did everything they could do on defense to try to slow Mahomes down and he just had an answer Andy Reid had an answer at every turn and on offense they weren't consistent enough Derrick Henry didn't really get things going it's because the Titans lost the lead they were playing from behind they were down double digits in the second half it's hard to really establish the run there and that's what

is the crucial lesson that we learned from this playoffs is the Titans were winning and Derrick Henry was doing miraculous things but they were throwing the football to get those leads early and the Titans were having success and play action early and they got that lead by throwing the ball and unfortunately they weren't able to be consistent enough in the passing game to keep that up throughout the game to keep pace with the Chiefs offense. And that's going to be hard to do. So the Titans are going to have to respond with a better defensive effort against this team in the future if they hope to get past them.

As you would imagine, Patrick Mahomes would have this team in a good position in the playoffs throughout his career. So that's something to take going forward from that. I thought that the Titans didn't play a terrible game overall. That's one thing that has me, although disappointed with a loss, it's kind of couched with optimism. The Titans didn't play terrible. They weren't consistent enough. It was a road game against a team that's very hot right now, that's healthy, that's playing their best football of the year. So got to take away some positives from a disappointing loss. Of course, that's really the only word to come back to. It is disappointing that the run will end, but the Titans did give a good effort on the road in the

AFC championship game and can be happy about the future of this football team and their prospects going forward. And the last thing that I want to say about this game, and I really don't like to focus on these types of things, as I've said throughout the season I like to focus on the game and the players and everything that decides a football game that has to do with the X's and O's and the actual sport itself but it is unfortunate that it seems like it was a pretty rough game for the officials looking at some of the you know officials. Looking at some of the screenshots and slow motion, some of the replays coming out of the game, there was some questionable behavior,

especially on that crucial third and one with Dennis Kelly where they called a holding. I thought the holding call on Jack Conklin early was very suspect. I thought Tremaine Brock did look back. I understand that that call is probably going to get called past interference most times, but I thought he did make an attempt to look back. I understand that that call, it's probably going to get called pass interference most times. But I thought he did make an attempt to look back. But that call on Dennis Kelly for a holding on a third and one was just ridiculous.

You see the video. It looks like the official is pulling out his flag before Kelly even makes contact with a defender. So you can't help but see those things. Like I said, I don't like to comment on those. I don't think that we should be looking at those. You need to focus on what you can control, and you should never be blaming referees for wins or losses. But I can't help but say it is disheartening to see some of those replays

and some of those lookbacks at the behavior of the referees. So just wanted to make sure I mentioned that. It's obviously going to be a hot topic. Like I said, the refs are not to blame for what happened on Sunday in Kansas City the Titans should have played better themselves but it is disappointing when you feel like you have to go into an environment like Kansas City and not only beat the team in front of you but beat the officials who are making questionable decisions and throwing questionable flags out there but that is one of the reasons why you try to get home field advantage sometimes just a little bit of home cooking it's only natural the referees are human too so

something that the Titans need to continue to look forward to and build towards is maybe having a better record winning the division having a few home games and maybe they can get the benefit of some of these natural bad decisions that the referees are going to make so I didn't think it was critical or crucial in the outcome of the game, but like I said, it is a little bit disheartening to see some of those things going against the Titans in such a crucial situation. So with that, we are going to move into tighten up, tighten down, talk about some individual performances. There are plenty on both sides, so we will jump into that next. Fellas let's talk about the bedroom. Remember

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Just pay $5 shipping. Again, that's B-L-U-E-CHEW.COM promo code LOCKEDON to try it for free. Blue Chew is a better, cheaper, faster choice. And we thank them for sponsoring the podcast. Tighten up, tighten down. Let's talk about our individual performances coming out of the loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. We will start here with all of the wide receiver options, all the skill position players on offense other than the running back position, of course. I thought that Corey Davis, who had five catches for 65 yards, A.J. Brown, three catches, 51 yards, John U, three catches, 38 yards. Adam Humphreys even had four big catches for 25 yards

in a third-down specialist role coming off an injury. He had a lot of big catches on big downs to keep drives going, as he was paid to do, so it would be nice to be able to see him back healthy next year in this offense and have a little bit of continuity. Ferkser caught a touchdown pass, as I guess he's just always going to do in playoff games for all eternity. So I felt like everybody kind of stepped up there when they needed to, even though that wasn't the game plan and the Titans were hoping to run the ball a little bit more, of course, than they ended up being able to do. But I thought when the Titans skill

position players and receiving options needed to make a play and the ball was there, they made plays. So pretty impressed by them in a moment where they haven't really been called upon a lot in the playoffs so far, just with the way the game flow went. It's been giving the ball to Derrick Henry 30 times a game, and they haven't really gotten their numbers called consistently. So hard to be in a rhythm, hard to be ready, especially in the cold environment that was in Kansas City today. And they said that it felt like single digits with the wind chills.

So having your receiver receiving options out there really just step up when they were called upon after not getting a lot of run in previous weeks. I was impressed by that and them being ready and ready for the challenge there. And I didn't think that, like I said, I don't think that the Titans played a terrible game. It wasn't a bad game. It just wasn't a great game. And you have to play great to beat Kansas City in Kansas City on the road when they're hot the way that they are right now and when they're healthy. So not surprised by, you know, the outcome there, but I am pretty surprised by how well the Titan skill position

player stepped up to the plate. On the defensive side of the ball, I do want to shout out Kamale Correa. I thought he had a fantastic game, and in the past, I've been critical of him saying, you know, he's not really excellent at anything. He's kind of just, you know, average at everything, which makes him a useful depth player, but not a real starter, and while I still agree with that point generally, I thought here in the playoffs, he made a lot of big plays against the Ravens he had a sack and he had a sack in this game against Patrick Mahomes he had six tackles solo four assists so 10 combined total tackles led the Titans in that category I thought that he played fantastic in this playoff run and he's a nice piece that the Titans need to keep around for special teams and for depth on defense as they continue trying to build this roster and build this team. I thought Jayon Brown, after losing

Rashawn Evans to the foot injury, we'll talk more about him in the Titan down section, of course, but I thought Jayon Brown played a pretty solid game. There's a reason that Travis Kelsey was held to three catches and the Chiefs weren't really having a bunch of success over the middle. They were attacking outside. Jayon Brown was doing a good job inside of covering his zones or covering his man and doing what he could to help out the defense from that perspective. The last Titan up that I want to give here is for Greg Joseph. I don't expect him to be on this team next year. It's not really something that I'm expecting.

The Titans will have to be aggressive in fixing the kicker situation, of course. But hey, he made his only attempt, a 30-yarder, made his extra points. He wasn't a detriment to this football team. They needed to do more, and at the end of the day, through the kicking struggles throughout the season, kicker did not end up being the reason that they won or lost any of their playoff games. And I thought that he did very well in what he was asked to do throughout here at the back half of the season even if I don't really see him having a future with this team going forward so that covers all of the tight nups that I thought really stood out to me

everything else was just you know a decent performance but not really fantastic going into the tight end downs like I mentioned in the tight n, Rashawn Evans had a re-aggravation of his foot injury, left the game for a moment of time, was questionable to return, came back out for a few snaps, but it seemed like later in the game he wasn't really out there to make an impact. We got more of David Long, Wesley Woodyard, and that left Jayon Brown out there as the primary linebacker for the Titans, and that's where I make the comparison comparison I thought Jayon played pretty well Rashawn didn't play well

in the time that he was out there and I know after he suffered the injury anything that happened after that you know obviously he's hampered but he didn't end up with any solo tackles had one assist and quite frankly he missed a huge opportunity to push Mahomes out of bounds or at least take him down on that long TD run before halftime he missed the tackle with the line of scrimmage that really let Mahomes get loose down the sideline so Brock played his part and playing terrible in that play as well but it started when Rashawn Evans missed Pat Mahomes and got outrun to the outside Pat Mahomes just outran Rashawn Evans and dealing with an injury that's obviously going to impact him, but got to find a way to bring down Mahomes there.

And that leads me into Tremaine Brock. That's my biggest Titan down of the entire game. I was praising him on Twitter at Tic Tac Titans early in the game because his addition and playing starting cornerback has helped this team throughout the back half of the season once he got comfortable. So a nice waiver pickup from John Robinson there but in the game that mattered the most he got absolutely torched by Sammy Watkins out there for over 100 yards and it wasn't just that he was getting beat by his man that wasn't all of it even though Watkins had 114 yards and seven catches and you know the game kind of clenching

touchdown there at the end but he got the pass interference penalty he missed the tackle on Mahomes at the goal line trying to strip it throughout the game he missed assignments there's a specific play on a third down where there was a completion to Travis Kelsey and Kenny Vaccaro is literally asking him after the play, like, why aren't you closer in your zone to help me cut this off? So while Brock was a good addition and he helped this team stay afloat, he cost them quite a bit there at the end of the game and throughout the entire course of the game, and it was obvious that the Chiefs were targeting him when they had the opportunity to do so. You know, it's hard to blame Tremaine Brock.

When they had the opportunity to do so. You know, it's hard to blame Tremaine Brock. He stepped in late in the season and tried to make an impact. And I thought he did pretty well. But it's clear that the Titans need some additions at cornerback. And the loss of Malcolm Butler ultimately hurt them more than I expected to see. Because I thought that they would not let something like that be one of the reasons they lost but unfortunately with a matchup nightmare out there Sammy Watkins against Tremaine Brock even though Brock was playing decent football

the Chiefs just found a way to take advantage of it and a good coach like Andy Reid is going to do that so wrapping up our tightened downs we are going to give one to the interior three offensive linemen part of the reason Derek Henry wasn't able to get big chunks in the run game like we've seen is because Chris Jones for the Chiefs, who did end up playing after missing a lot of practice with injury and missing last week, and defensive tackle Mike Pinnell for the Chiefs, who didn't play in Week 10. Both of them were very stout against the run in the middle throughout the game and gave Ben Jones and Nate Davis and Roger Saffold fits. Chris Jones just kind of took it to Saffold fits. Chris Jones just

kind of took it to Saffold quite a bit during this game. So the interior three offensive linemen really struggled with the interior defensive linemen of the Chiefs like they hadn't throughout the playoffs, Chris Jones and Mike Pinnell. So kind of a tighten down for the interior trio of Saffold, Jones, and Nate Davis. And then my final Titan down here is gonna be Arthur Smith he had a fantastic year I have a lot of faith in Arthur Smith hopefully he is back there are some rumors he may take a college job but I'm hoping that he's back as the Titans offensive coordinator again and tries to pursue an NFL job going forward so hopefully we get him back and he can continue working and learning but I thought with

three minutes left in the first half getting real conservative in that drive run run screen to Deion Lewis that allowed the Chiefs to get the ball back and score before halftime and take the lead I thought that really changed the way that the game felt and then coming out of halftime the Titans defense actually did their job and were able to prevent the Chiefs from getting on a roll immediately and the Titans offense just wasn't able to answer I thought that they really got away from the play action pass game that was successful for them to start the game they were having really good success with dig routes over the middle those deep ends over the middle Corey caught one AJ caught one I thought that was being you know very successful for the Titans and

it seemed like they just went away from that in the second half so really disappointed by some of the play calling in the middle of the game late in the second quarter at the beginning of the third quarter that I thought you know didn't give the Titans offense a chance to do their part when the defense was miraculously stopping this Chiefs offense at least a couple of times and really the only stops I'd say with air quotes, were when the Chiefs dropped the ball on third down. So sometimes offenses like that, the only way you're going to get a stop or the only way you're going to get any kind of win is if they beat themselves.

And the Titans got those opportunities, and the offense wasn't ready to capitalize. So ultimately I thought that doomed the Titans just as much as the defense being unable to get stopped. So that kind of wraps up our tighten up and tighten down segment. So tighten up, tighten down, tighten all the way around. We are going to move into our sounds of the game here. I want to let you guys hear from head coach Mike Vrabel. Hopefully it'll help with the recovery process for the Titans.

I know that I am shot emotionally, mentally. My voice is given out here at the back half of the podcast just from all of the emotions going through the game, the yelling, the screaming. It was such a wonderful season, so we're going to cap things off hearing from head coach Mike Vrabel. If you've been a listener of this podcast, I'm sure you've heard all the great advertisers working with Locked On to reach sports fans, but you may not know that Locked On Titans is a great way for your local business to reach passionate Titans fans just like you. Unlike any other podcast, Locked On gives your local company the unique ability to reach local podcast listeners, and not just any podcast listener, a Locked On podcast listener.

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As we continue to digest this loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and transition into an offseason where this team will focus on improving, let's hear from head coach Mike Rabel directly after this game and his press conference and get his feelings moving forward and his takeaways coming out of this loss. Audio, of course, is courtesy of titansonline.com. I told him it was an honor to coach him. I felt like we left that locker room before the game as a family. We need to stay a family when we leave it after the game. I'm proud to say that I coach them, appreciate their efforts. There was a lot of guys that were battling through, beat up, banged up. And I felt like they fought. I felt like we got off to the start that we wanted in all three phases.

But I think when you play teams like this, or teams that are good as the Chiefs, as explosive as they are, you kind of knew that they were going to make a run. Again, I'm not going to say that that was, you know, that three and out was the difference in the game. We punted down there and we just, we couldn't, you know, had some stops that we didn't get. The quarterback was able to scramble on that series. And in a perfect world, yeah.

Did I say, Arthur, hey, this has to be the last drive of the half? Absolutely. But that didn't happen. Doesn't mean the game was over. I felt like we still battled and competed. But that certainly was a big series for them. You know, I'd have to look at it, and again, just being able to see, I don't think we were able to run as many snaps and get things going. You know, they didn't break a big one, but I felt like it was efficient.

It was very efficient in the first half. And then they put some long drives together to kind of get the, to chew up some clock there in the third quarter. It's probably a pretty good chance that we would have gone for it. But, you know, again, there's penalties are part of the game. You have to overcome them and, you know, make sure that, you know, we're focused on a situation, but, you know, it just didn't work out. Well, I mean, it's all 11 guys. I mean, you're going to need all 11 guys to, you know, you're going to need a great call.

You're going to need great execution when they're operating like that. And, you know, there's times you try to blitz them, and then there's, you know, there's issues there just in coverage, not as many guys in coverage. And then when he's able to hold the ball cuz you're trying to spy him and then guys uncover and it's a challenge every play. I thought we had really some really nice snaps. And then again, we gave up some big plays.

It was some quarterback play extension that cost you. Well, just being fast in itself isn't the answer. You have to be fast and talented, but there's ways sometimes to defend the speed. I mean, give them a lot of credit that they're talented. When we're trying to play certain coverages, they're working and redirecting, and they've seen a lot of double coverages by Kelsey and Hill. But, you know, we mixed in zone, mixed in man, tried to hit him, and again, I thought there were some good snaps,

and there were some snaps that we certainly would like to have back. We watched it last week. It's just we didn't make a play on him, and we were fully aware that he was healthy, and that was a dimension of his game. It just, we didn't do a good enough job today. The expectations have always been really high. Whether you lose in the AFC championship game, you win the Super Bowl,

I want the expectations to be high. I know that's what Miss Amy wants, that's what John wants, and that's what I want. So it wouldn't change. However, we ended the season, the expectations are always high. I don't know, I didn't prepare the speech after the game that I didn't know what the schedule was. I didn't know what time we would meet. I didn't know what the exit physicals, I mean, I didn't even bother to look at any of that.

So I don't know. Just try to figure out, any of that. So I don't know. You know, just try to figure out, you know, worry about the guys, worry about the players. I think their health, the guys that finished this game that were kind of banged up, there were guys that didn't finish the game. And I think that's to me, the most important is it's about the, you know, it's not, this isn't about, you know, how I cope.

You know, I mean, it's about how the players cope. You know, there's a lot of guys in there. You know, every year is New Year. And, again, it's not – my concern is about the players. Again, it's hard to figure. I mean, I think they started probably rushing a little bit better the way that the game, and it got to be 18, it got to be three scores that they figured that they could probably pass rush and cut it loose a little bit.

So you don't get down 18, that they're not front runners, that when people have opinions and comments and games don't go the way we want them, they don't pout, they don't disappear. You know, because it's easy to listen to the noise sometimes that gets created in media and fans, outside influences. They stay the course. They're mentally and physically tough. And again, that's part of the reason why I'm proud to coach them. I guess there's a lot of things we could have done differently.

Sure, yeah. Again, I try to be gracious in victory and gracious in defeat. Can't say enough about Andy, his family, the Hunt family. An organization I played for two years. Happy for Andy, happy for some of those players that I know on that football team. They deserve to go play for the championship. I completely agree with head coach Mike Rabel's sentiment there at the end. Obviously, you hear about Andy Reid and everything he's done as a coach in the NFL and just as a person off the field.

So obviously happy to see a coach like Andy Reid get another shot at a Super Bowl. But keep going back to the same word. It is disappointing to have everything come to an end here the way that the game unfolded. But we have a lot to look forward to throughout the offseason as this team tries to improve and get ready for the 2020 regular season to make another run at a Super Bowl title. And you have to feel a lot more confident and a lot more comfortable with the team's chances to do that next year now than we did last season.

And I'm going to be here with you guys Monday through Friday breaking it all down every day throughout the offseason going to keep giving you guys content we are going to talk player profiles we are going to do some film studies from the regular season we are going to talk draft needs we are going to talk team needs we are going to talk free agency cover all the headlines throughout the offseason dabble in a little bit of general NFL talk as well. So I'm going to have something for you guys every week coming through. Might be two segments per show as compared to three here and there as we go through the dark ages and the dark times throughout the offseason. But I'm going to make sure that I'm consistent with you guys and giving you guys content at all times.

So please follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans if you aren't already and subscribe to the show so that you are there for all of that throughout the offseason. We are going to dive into more tomorrow and start turning the page on this season into the upcoming offseason as the Titans look to improve this roster and continue building on the success that they've had so far. So that is going to wrap up our show today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. Thank you.