Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Cam Ward MUST SHOW progress, Second half KEYS & SURPRISE STANDOUTS

Episode Date: November 11, 2025

The Tennessee Titans return from the bye with the worst record in the NFL. We discuss keys for the second half of the season. We also dive into why it's imperative Cam Ward shows progress and give our first-half MVP's.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterhelpThis episode is sponsored by Betterhelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at https://BetterHelp.com/lockedon.RipplingGet Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promotermsSupply HouseJoin the free TradeMaster program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Visit https://SupplyHouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SHNFL5 for 5% off your first order.PelotonLet yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app.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)  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Julian Mendensohn coming up the keys to the second half of the season for the Titans. We'll talk about it. I'm Tyler Rowland and I'm feeling a little optimistic about the future coming out of the bye week. I'm Brad Hopkins and that's the question. Can the Titans fly after the bye? We'll see. Titan up. It's the Titans squad.

Everything Tennessee Titans every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the heart. of Music City the way only the locked on podcast network can. Squad up. The Titan Squad Show starts now. And welcome to the Titan Squad Show. I'm Julian Minneson, joined by my friends Tyler Rowland and Brad Hopkins. Thank you for making the Titan Squad Show part of your day. It's part of the Locked On podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast out there. Make sure you like, comment, subscribe. And also get your questions in the chat. We're going to answer them. throughout the show wanted to remind you guys that today's episode is brought to you by

fan duel right now new customers can bet just five dollars and if your bet wins you'll get three hundred dollars in bonus bets to use across the app and the titans now returning from the by week to face the houston texans this weekend uh they entered the bye week at one and eight and uh if the season's or the season ended today i should say they'd have the number one pick in the NFL draft so there is a um though it has been a tough season there is a school have thought that that may be a good thing to help the Titans turn things around the rest of the way. But I wanted to talk about the keys to the finish for the rest of the season, fellas. We always talk about keys to each individual game, but I wanted to go

a little bit big picture now that we're getting into the second half of the season. And I'll start with you, T. Roe. What's one thing or maybe a couple things you're looking for for the Titans, steady improvement the rest of the way, the keys to the finish for the rest of the season here. The offense has to play better. The offense has to play better. There's just, there's, there's nothing else. I think if you got a Titans fan and you asked them honestly

what really mattered the rest of the season it would just be seeing Cam Ward play better. Seeing the offense score more points. Like, have some drive, sustain some things, run the ball a little better. And that will include, if that happens, the results of that will be, or the symptoms

there will be that people played better. The offensive line must have played better. The young receivers must have made plays. People must have played better. The run game, Taj Spears must have got going. You know what I mean? If the Titans' offense simply just plays better, I'm not asking for 25, 24 points a game, turn it up and go crazy to finish the year. But can we get a couple touchdowns on the board? Can we lose 17 to 24 with two offensive touchdowns? Can like, I just think right now the offense is so desolate. And Coming into the season, what the real question was, is is Brian Callahan, your leader for the future,

paired with Cam Ward, is he the leader for the future? And I just want to, we know that Brian Callahan isn't now, and Cam Ward so far, I think it's fair to have a nuanced conversation about where he's at, but it has been a very rough start to the season for everyone on offense. So if this offense doesn't play better to finish the season, it's just going to be not only back, football to watch and unenjoyable as a fan, but it's going to be hard to be hopeful going into the rest of the season. I have hoped that they can play better on offense going down the stretch here in a couple of games, but, you know, to me, that's, the defense can be great, the special

teams, but every Titans fan for the last four or five years, it's been, man, can the offense do enough? And it's just tiring. It's tiring as a product to watch. So I just want the Titans offense to have some semblance of normalcy. You know, it's hard to be a leader when you're not playing well. You know, it's hard to have an identity when you really have no identity across the board. You know, but this is usually when leaders emerge. I'm talking about the struggle. Someone that takes control despite the chaos.

You know, what examples of leadership do the Titans have to follow? They don't. You know, leaderships create the standard, you know, the way things are done, regardless of the eves and flows of a season. That's how things change. You know, leaders find a way to put the new things in perspective and keep the wagon train moving. If it's time to forge ahead, they forge. There's time to circle the wagons. They circle and fight. You know, the postseason, obviously is not in the cards for this team this year. And, you know, after the regular season, we know they'll be home. So there's no pressure. You know, so stick to what works. And that's

it. There aren't a bunch of things that in that category for this team, sort of list is short, right perfect what's on the list get some easy wins and change the feeling about yourselves and your teammates i mean i did a lot of stat searching last night eight games left in this two thousand twenty five season since the saints beat the panthers over the weekend we now have the worst record in the league there are only three teams remaining on the schedule with losing records i mean we're dead last in yards per game yards second to last in passing only to the jets they're the only ones that are worse second to last and rushing only the bingles are worse us rushing the football, where 20 second and yards allowed per game, 20th in total yards,

16th in sacks defensively. There's only one other team better than us at holding onto the football. That's a Seattle Seahawks. That's one bright spot, right? But guess what? The Seahawks are seven and two. So at the end of the day, I just want them to identify themselves, have an identity. And that identity starts with someone stepping up and basically taking the lead and playing

as if they were leaders. That's what this team needs. Bhop, I wanted to ask you, like, go deeper into that. When you talk about the offensive line this season and offensive line, like, ownership, you know, the Titans lead the league in sacks allowed, but I know not all of that is on the O line, but a lot of, when you talk about the offense playing better, starts with the O line, right? Peter Skoronsky's been the bright spot and he's been a little bit more honest in a lot of the post game stuff this season, but he's kind of that put my head down and work type of guy. is there a leader, a vocal leader on this O line to kind of take ownership of the group for the second half of the season? Do you see that right now at all? No. No. And that is the microcosm of the problem. Your offensive alignment should be the baddest dudes on your football team. Period.

Because they're the most physical. They're the biggest. They're the strongest. And that's where leadership comes from. Period. I know it might sound narcissistic coming from a former offensive line. But you know what? When you want people to get physical and be violent at the line of scrimmage, who do you lean on? Who do you look towards? Defensive lines is a component of that. You know, if you don't have dudes that can be disruptive for the other offense, then you've got a problem as well. But offensively, but from a team standpoint, and that's where offense usually, you know, teams usually generate from an offense because if you don't put up points, then you're not really having much of a team. And that starts with the big bodies. It doesn't

matter who you have a quarterback. Period. It doesn't matter who you have in the backfield. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is throwing to. I know it sounds crazy, but none of that matters. The skill positions don't matter if you don't take care of the line of scrimmage. Why? Because you've got a quarterback working under duress that won't be able to hit those receivers anyway. A backfield that doesn't have holds to run through. So it starts with Dan Moore, Peter Skoronsky, Lloyd Cushenberry, Kevin Zitler, J. C. Latham. If those dudes can't get it done, if they're not giving off the perception that we own this line of scrimmage, that we own this football field, not much of a team because that's where it starts.

We were sold that that was going to be J.C. Latham. Like when he was taken seventh overall and Rancourt Thon picked him and, you know, Trench King, and he's out there in his rookie year on the practice field after practice and getting all this praise for how hard he works. And then we find out now that we hear the stories in the second offseason that he was actually super overweight at the end. end of the season. He was slow. He had to change his body. It was a big problem on tape. You know, now we know the truth of what happened there. And you just wonder, you know, is Latham really like, hey guys, follow my work ethic type guy like we were sold, you know? And then we had, they had all these conversations about Tavondre sweat, potentially being traded, you know,

all these different beat reporters are tweeting little nuggets. Like they haven't been enamored with them behind the scenes and stuff like that. And it's like, you know, we were sold that these, it makes you wonder, you go back and you look and you're like, not to beat the dead horse or anything, but Rand Carthorn, you know, Ligerius Sneed, what's his commitment, how much is he wanting to come back

and work through these injuries and like his experience here and it's just it's frustrating to see guys that are meant to be leaders even though they're in year two and the team isn't good and things like that. What you're describing what they need

on the offensive line is what J.C. Latham was supposed to be. Trench King, you know, he's got the chain, you know. It's too early maybe, but let's hope that that's not something that is impossible at this point. Let's just hope that Ranc Arthon wasn't wrong on him being that type of player, because that's what they need from J.C. Latham going forward. The problem is he shouldn't have to be that dude going into the second year. That should have already been established. That's fair.

I'm going to go back to this history of this team here. do you remember for 30 years they didn't have to have a left tackle for 30 years that sounds crazy doesn't it but that's because me Michael ruse and Taylor Leone played multiple double-digit years you see what I'm saying so in the end you had stability up front you didn't expect a rook to come in here in his first or second year and all of a sudden start laying down land and being the dude that leads us into the charge because they already had veteran presences that did that we don't stay around long enough you know put this way I would hope that Peter Skoroski plays for 13 years here because if that's the case

he'll already have the the accomplishments as far as the accolades that will go along with because he's playing really well right now and that establishes a standard you get accompaniments to those to him as a player draft more linemen develop that part of the roster. And now you've got somebody that can sit back there in that pocket like Cam Ward for the next 10 years himself and just deal. And then you just kind of plug and play guys like they've done Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. But what's the biggest problem that Kansas City has? Offensive line play. That's why they're inconsistent. That's why they got blown out of the damn Super Bowl last year because they couldn't keep their quarterback protected. And everybody

says that Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the modern football era, isn't he? But how good was against pressure. It doesn't matter. And that's the point. So if you can't develop your roster of linemen and keep them in-house, don't try and get trade value and draft equity by a guy that's a pro bowler or an all-pro, keep that dude in the house and you build around them. And you hopefully can get at least three or four dudes up front that are just some bad M&Fers that when they step off the bus, everybody shudders because that's what you want. You want your offensive line. to be the first dudes off the bus. You know why? Because when you start looking at that team and you see some massive individuals that got a scowl in their face, like they're ready to rip

your head off. That strikes fear in your opponent. And if you don't want your receiver stepping off the bus first, they're good looking guys, skinny dudes, small sometimes in stature. You don't want that. I want offensive alignment and I want defense alignment stepping out that bus. So that way, when the other team is watching them and they're going, oh, my God. It's like when you're in high school, when you're in high school and that school bus, pull up right next to the field right and you got off and you know get when you got off that's cool of us some monsters getting off there as a kid you're like holy crap man it's going to be a long day to day right versus that other team that really didn't have anybody that was striking fear in

the hearts of anybody it's real be hop you you mentioned the youth of j c latham he shouldn't have to be expected to be the big vocal leader right away as a former player And lineman at that, for you, when did that click that, that light turn on for you, that, hey, I am, I'm no longer the young player. I am, I am going to be a pillar of this offensive line and act as such. Well, if you don't know my history, my first line mate, my left guard was a guy named Mike Munchat. He played 12 years. He was our leader. Then when Mike retired and went into coaching, the guy that slid into the spot next to me for the next, I don't know, 10, 11 years, a guy named Bruce Matthews. He played 19 seasons.

So I didn't have to be the vocal leader when I first came in. They already had that on lockdown. Throwing a guy like David Williams, who was the right tackle, who was another all-pro dude. He was the first rounder out of Florida. shoot, even we had Mark Stepnoski coming in from the Cowboys, another established dude. There were so many veterans up front for us that I just basically learned from them until they left, until they retired.

Then I took over the banner, took over the mantra of being the leader up front. You see what I'm saying? And then it was then I started trying to be more of a vocal leader because I had to be. But guess what? I learned how to do it. I learned how to do it from guys that are wearing gold jackets. That's not a luxury that this team has.

as it's unfortunate but those guys got to stick around to be revered as such right so that's where i didn't have to be that guy to answer your question is like i learned it from the best how to speak when need to be how to be how to be quiet when need to be and also as a leader the best thing is learning how to communicate and knowing who you're talking to so it was easy coming from guys like mike and Bruce that taught me just first off your work shows who you are sometimes you don't need to say anything but you go out there and lay in the lumber that's a standard man and that gives you something to follow so I was very lucky when I came in Tiro I wanted to get your opinion on something you know the Titans decided to keep Chicka Conco at the trade deadline and my thing is

you know whether it was the value for him or whatever your reason is for keeping him you might as well use them now, right? Does it feel like tight-in involvement could be increased in the second half of the season? And we talk about offensive efficiency, high percentage throws. Cam Ward lived with the tight ends throughout the training camp. Is that somewhere where maybe the Titans could take advantage, specifically winning first down and getting in manageable downs and distances, letting those guys make plays?

Well, you would have to hope, right? Like, you would have to hope that they would look at the efficiency numbers and they would look at how Cam Ward feels and the type of plays that are available when they're in 12 personnel as opposed to 11 personnel. You would hope that they would make those changes. Now, this coaching staff has given us little faith throughout the season as to being able to make the changes that need to be made and some of the obvious stuff that seems like they could be doing differently. That hasn't been done. So we will see. But I think you're right. If you're going to have a list of the talented guys on offense, Gunner Hillman,

Chikonkwa are going to be near the top. They're going to be in the top five. So you might as well have them both on the field and with Chikonkla's versatility. He can motion out and be in the slot and be a pseudo-wide receiver. He's kind of a tweener at the end of the day anyway. So I think that would absolutely work. But they have to run the football. Like that's just they have to.

You know, that has to change. Whatever they have to do to be able to run the football. And that means more tight ends on the field, which has been a trend around the NFL this whole season. You look around the NFL, you watch the NFL, other games and see what other teams are doing. Been a ton of jumbo packages with an extra offensive linemen, 6-0 linemen on the field, serving as a tight end, 13 personnel, getting the tight ends involved.

Like, it really is what the trend is around the NFL because people need to run the football against these two high coverages. So whatever the Titans have to do to run the ball, if they are running for, you know, 50, 60, 70 yards in games, they're going to have a hard time doing anything because it's just going to put Cam Ward in such a bad situation. But yeah, one of the ways that you can help that is to play with more tight ends and play with more heavy personnel and lean more into that. That also has the opportunity to do what Brad's talking about and develop an identity on offense. Like, hey, we're running the ball down your throat and just kind of go away from

that shotgun base. You look around the NFL, the top offenses in the NFL right now, they have a little bit of a pattern, like six out of the top seven I saw this morning. they're not high in shotgun rate and they're not high in first down run rate. So you are under center keeping the defense off balance so they don't know which direction you're going whether you play action, you're running,

and then you throw the ball on early downs to get some efficiency and not just run, like we saw the Packers lose to the Eagles last night and their first down run rate was like 75%. Like if you had second and 10, they ran the ball like 75%. That's just like, that's the, type of trends that the Titans offense has

where they consistently run on second and long and it becomes so predictable. So you just got to switch things up even if you're not certain if it'll work or whatever like what you're doing right now isn't working. So go more under center, scrap that Brian Callahan West Coast shotgun

quick two man route stuff just go to a more traditional more old school type of Titans offense. I think if they do that then they have more success to kind of drag people down in the mud. You get Jeffrey Simmons back. You get Calvin Ridley back. You hit one or two big plays in the past game off play action per game. Your defense plays

better down the stretch. Like we've seen them improve lately with more talent with Simmons back in the lineup. Him and sweat together. Finally, we get a good look at it. Like, I think winning games, you know, 20 to 16, 20 to 17 is the formula for this team to get two or three wins down the stretch. But that starts with the offense. Just really going back to an old school approach. You know, as the lineman, we viewed passing the football as being passive. There's you're retreating. I mean, you're having dudes pushing on you, shoving you back into the pocket versus firing

off. It's a different mentality. Whenever we had the dirty dozen, which usually were the first 12 plays that we had scripted that we were going to run, and we saw that it was run heavy, that made us feel good because guess well, we knew we were going to get to tee off. We weren't about giving up sacks. We knew that we were just gonna come across the line scrimmage and bludgeon some people.

And that's the mentality you gotta have. And I know sometimes it doesn't always work immediately, but you can't abandon it. Unless the game calls for you to start passing the ball around with more consistency, being under center is always the way. Because being under center, it opens up everything else. Unless you need to be separate from the line of scrimmage

because it's a down and distance that requires the ball to be thrown down, field being under center gives you an air of disguise because you don't know if I'm running it you don't know if I'm play action in it you don't know if I'm passing it you don't know what I'm doing with the ball you don't know if I'm drawing you know I could take ball take a couple steps like I'm stepping back in the past and then just get behind my line and run but essentially it's creating manageable down in distances that allow you the expense of your playbook because there aren't a lot of third and tens plus calls in your playbook let alone the ones that'll work. So if I'm staying in third and five, third and four, third and one, dare we say, I'm going to convert a chance. I'm going to stay on the football field. I'm going to keep leaning on this defense.

And eventually I'm going to put some points on the board. Because if I keep moving towards the goal line, eventually I'm either going to cross it or kick the field goal between the H. I said H like I'm back in the 30s. But you see what I'm saying. You see what I'm saying? But the point is being physical up front starts with running, the dang football and i was just as much lucky not only playing with bruce and munch but to have

edward george behind me you know what i'm saying that that were personified i'm going to hit you in the teeth you think anybody wanted to tackle eddie six three 240 pounds well the titans are getting calell mulling's back so he's more of a physical runner out of michigan they finally get him off i are maybe that'll help if i don't have a guy that's going to run over the tackler i at least want Chris Johnson, that's going to run around to tackle her. See what I'm saying? Play Taday Spears is what I'm hearing. I mean, he's that jitterbug that they need.

So they can do a couple of things. But the thing is, the risk is always ran to have what's going on in Philadelphia. Sequele and Barkley got all the love, got all the credit for them getting to the Super Bowl, right? AJ felt a certain way about that, especially as the season progressed. And then put more pressure on Jalen to try and get him engaged

and involved to the point where like, talking all this crap about AJ and, you know, trading them or all this other stuff because he seemed unhappy because why he wasn't getting the football. At the end of the day, Jaylin doesn't care who gets to football. It's about winning the game. And if you don't have their mentality, then you know what? You're just basically a liability to your team. But sometimes that happens. You run that risk when you run committed like we were.

Because think about it, who was some when Eddie was running the football, name three receivers that made a name for themselves that were already established. Derek Mason really is I mean the Titans have a have a tortured wide receiver history so it's always a short list when you talk about good wide receivers but I mean that's really I mean I loved Kevin Dyson he was my favorite wide receiver shout out Katie you know you know he was my favorite wide receiver of the bunch but Derek Mason is the only one that made the Pro Bowl during that time you know so but you see the most success that we had so in recent times for the Titans was when Just like shot by Buddha said, when 22 was back there,

Derek Henry was back there, you was getting a mouth full. You know what I'm saying? And him and AJ together was unstoppable. Come on, man. So I could imagine. If I was Cam, I'd be ticked out the fact that I didn't get to play with Derek. You know what I mean? Imagine Derek and Cam?

That would have been, that's an offense right there, man. Absolutely. And we'll talk about Cam. here on the other side of the break what we want to see from the rookie quarterback the rest of the way when the titan squad show returns keep it here all right if you're a business owner here's the truth sass promised to make work easier but now the average company is buried by hundreds of apps that slow down your teams and simply don't work together that's not sass that's sad software as a disservice that's why you need rippling rippling is the unified platform from

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months free terms and conditions apply all right fellas wanted to talk about cam ward of course priority number one going into this season was his development we've seen some good things and some not so good things kind of a mixed back for cam war throughout this point what's something that each of you guys are looking for for this second half of the season for cam consistency i want to see consistency i want to see some of these I don't know how to describe it the plays just get the ball comes out of his hand weird

and it's not even close maybe miss an open guy on a route I don't expect him to be perfect but I just like to see more consistency down to down now we want that from the whole offense and it's hard to do that when wide receivers drop passes and there's constant pressure

and I think quite frankly the biggest issue like we've talked about throughout the year is coaching the Titans offense is predictable watching it on tape. It's like the other defense knows the play call. You know, last week we saw, or a couple weeks ago, the Colts are screaming on the line of scrimmage. Cam changes the play to something to deal with the pressure.

The Colts back off and the play is just, you know, ruined. You know, like it seems like they aren't prepared and the defense knows what the offense is going to do, which makes all of it hard. And that's why having these discussions about Cam Ward is so frustrating because mixing in where, he goes wrong, where the coaching is falling short, the situation around him, the players around him not playing as well as they need to, like, how do you mix out that pie when you're

evaluating each play? You know, it's nearly impossible, which is one of the more frustrating things. But I just want to see him be more consistent with the football, not have so many misses, not have so many wonky plays, I'll say that go up and down. I think that's going to be important for him and if he does that that'll help the offense too and a big part of that is just getting the ball out of your hands making the easy read

dumping it off like just go through the progressions faster now that you've had a half a season to kind of acclimate yourself. You were a rookie but at this point you're starting quarterback for half a season in the NFL you know it's time to be more consistent than we were

if he gets to help to do it but I think they have the chance with some of these opponents they're going to play. They have five games down the stretch, which I think are winnable. And I think that if Cam Ward plays more consistent, can we see a great Cam Ward game? Like a true breakout game, three touchdown passes, 275 yards. I don't even care if they win that game. Let's just see it. He just has to be more consistent. Put a four-quarter performance together at some point in time. That's really all that I care about.

Well, first thing's first. He's a rookie. We have the idea that the first pick of the draft should make the team better for the most part. But that's not reality. 2019, Kyler Murray, 5 and 10. 2020, Joe Burrow, 2 and 7. 2021, Trevor Lawrence, 3 and 14, 2023. Bryce Young, 2 and 15. 2004, Caleb Williams, 5 and 12.

Now, Carla Murray became a pro bowler in 2020 and 2021. Joe Burrow became a pro bowler 22 and 24. Trevor Lawrence, pro bowler in 22. too. Bryce Young, noticeably better. Caleb Williams, noticeably better. The only one that doesn't have a new coach since the day he got here is Joe Burrow. So that part has already been taken care of, obviously, with Brian Callahan no longer being here. But I'm hopeful that the next guy coming in can unlock Cam's potential. Control, which you can control, and don't stack bad days. When I talked about what he was going to be doing during the buy week, he said, hey, just working on being the better version of himself, basically. He wasn't going to take time away from the building. He was going to be doing the things that he felt he needed to do to improve on. And that's all we can ask him to do. Do your part in your development. At the end of the day, everything else will fall where it may. So I think our expectation needs to be lowered because at the end of the day, this guy has

the least amount of experience in the NFL than anybody on that roster. So I don't expect him to come in here and be a world beater. I don't expect him to come in here and be our leader. I don't expect none of that. I expect him to learn. I expect him to develop because if you look at the track record of first picks of the draft, especially at quarterback, it don't always happen. Not in the first year. You know, to that point, and Tyler, to your point, too, about the whole offense and where do you kind of place where the issues are. One area is obviously the third down conversion rate. They're 28% right now in the NFL, which is the work. but that's cam's finding out the hard way that playing third and long in the NFL is is not so

fun in Miami his third down conversion rate was 56% and they were the best offense in college football last year now he can get away in college with some of those backyard football plays can't really do that all the time in the NFL so when you're thinking about winning first down is that go back to that run first mentality that you guys were talking about because that you know getting ahead of the sticks obviously is important Well, I don't think that I would say that running on first down is the key to the run-first mentality. I think you can have that run-based offense, but what happens is, in my opinion, you look at the film every single week and certain shifts that the defensive line makes,

where you see a second-level defender then come up and get on the line of scrimmage to disrupt the blocking assignments of the offensive line. Where you see certain pressure comes from, the Titans' offense shifts the tight end from this side to the other side, and now the defense is rolling down a backside safety and they're coming on the line of scrimmage and providing back pressure. It's like every defense the Titans plays. You can see their adjustments during the game

and the moves that they make based on what they see the Titans do. And when people say that football is like a chess match, this is what they mean. It's, hey, they're starting to do this. They're bringing down this backside pressure. They're coming down and rolling down that backside safety. Now we're going to do play action in a quick backside slant right in that hole where they're rolling down.

That's an adjustment. and then the defense sees that, they adjust to that, you adjust to their adjustment, it's chess. Boom, boom, boom. That's the game within the game, that's the scheme. But every week on defense, it seems like to me, and this stuff is so high level, I admit, on my film breakdowns on the show,

I don't know 100% like, schematically what it's called, what these teams are doing because I'm not an NFL head coach. Like, I can't be on that level. You know what I mean? But I can see every week that the Titans do this thing, the other team does this, and they're perfectly sitting there ready for the run play.

They're providing easy penetration through a certain gap that they know is going to be open. They're following the pooler around. And it's like all of these defensive coaches just have the Titans' offense figured out entirely. Their players know what to expect. They know what's coming, and it makes it difficult for the Titans to operate. Even in a talent deficit, it makes it difficult to operate in that situation. So for me, it's about going against your, tendencies, going against the conservative nature of the offense that you've called in the first

half. They need to throw more on first down, whether that be play action, quick hitters, but they need to do that out of heavier formations and out of under center formations, not shotgun. That's how they need to spin this thing on its head. And I think if they do more of that, they're going to go against their tendencies, call less second and 10 runs. You know what I mean? You're just so predictable at this time that they need to they need to go more heavy but pass out of that earlier so it's almost like spinning it on its head and I think that will allow them to then be able because then they pick up three or four or five or six on a quick easy out route out of under center 12 personnel and then it's second and five second and six second and four

and then you can run the football and even if you don't get it you know and it can't work like that all the time. You got to run on first down. You got to run on second and 10. You can't do one thing all the time because then it becomes a pattern. So I'm not saying do this exactly like it's madden and blah, blah, blah. It's got to be more nuanced than that and more complex than that. But those are just simple trends and patterns in their play selection so far this year that are indisputable based on the data that they need to spin on its head a little bit to catch defenses off guard. Well, my only pushback to that is it's execution. And it's getting into a woodback. We're talking about the past game, right?

Because it doesn't make any difference if I got this past call that then ends up in an incompletion or my quarterback gets sacked. You see what I'm saying? So if receivers aren't getting separation, if a quarterback isn't getting into the rhythm and trust the throw that he needs to make to get that ball out of his hands to create that consistency of getting three yards here, five yards here, 10 yards there, let alone the deep stuff, then that's where you have the inconsistency because all you're doing is creating incompletions. Now you're creating longer down in distances because if you start in that first and 10, And you throw an incompletion, now what do you got? You got second and 10. Now what are you going to do? Try to run the ball in second and 10 and get second and seven.

You see what I'm saying? Or run the risk of getting a sack. Now you're in third and longer than it should be. But I'm just saying, balance what you do. You see what I'm saying? And you're right. There are a lot of predictable situations, but the prediction comes from what?

Only being able to do what I can do. There aren't a bunch of exotics that this offense has in the playbook. Why? Because it don't work. Because they don't have the consistent dudes that can pull it off. You know, if I knew that Cam War was going to step back, and nine times, eight times out of ten, he's going to find an open receiver. A lot of times, like we're seeing, working against our defense, then I would say, do that. But what happens more so than not is incompletions,

is sacks, you know, the things that end up negating a drive or getting you three and out. You know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, it's finding what works. And sometimes it doesn't matter the defense knows what you're doing if you can do it you see what I'm saying you might just go up to the line scrim and say you know what I'm going to do hey because you guys haven't been able to stop me I'm running the ball right over you and until you stop me from being able to do that guess what I'm going to do the next play I'm going to run the ball right over you because that's what I do consistently and that's what I do well but they need to find out what that is that they confidently can run so that way everything else can build off of that the problem is they can't do that they can't

say, I'm running here, we're running over you. They literally can't do that. And I'll say, I don't expect exotics. Let's play action more on first down. Like, that's what I'm asking for. The Titans play action rate on first down, and the Titans throw rate on first down, and the Titans run rate on second and 10.

These are very, very high percentage that are just based on what we've seen so far. So for me, I don't think, I don't, I'm not asking for anything exotic per se. I just want to see them mix in some more play action on early downs mix in an under center short pass on early downs and I would say that there are downsides to that like sacks and incompletions

but the problem for the Titans right now is is that the other side of it isn't a one or two yard gain or a three yard gain in the run game the other side of it is a two yard loss in the run game so it's not like we're weighing a three or four yard gain in the run game on first down against the potential of an incompletion or a sack, we are basically weighing a one to negative two yard gain on first down versus an incompletion or a sack or, you know, a blitz against the play action on

first down that loses yards. I just feel like there are no good answers. So you might as well go against some of your tendencies that could be seen as more conservative play calling wise throughout the season, regardless of the execution or anything like that. Like they just have to change things up in the way that they're calling the offense or they're going to continue to be super predictable and get out-schemed every week because the other defensive coach is better than our offensive coaches.

Going into this second half of the season, Cam Ward 5 touchdowns, 6 interceptions and a completion percentage rate of about 57.6%. Obviously, fans would love to see some improvement going into the back half of the season. Now, on the other side of the break. Oh, B. Hop's got the jams going on. There we go for a morning.

The slow drive this morning. We're going to talk about some players that maybe were standout, maybe some first half MVPs. And we'll talk about which players maybe exceeded our expectations on the other side of the break. The Titans Squad should return. Today's show is brought to you by friends over there at Peloton. Look, folks, it's time to break through the busiest time of the year

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And Peloton IQ also provides personalized workout plans and recommendations. That's something that I use right now during the busiest, time of the year covering the NFL. They plan my workouts for me based on my mood, my vibe, and also my favorite instructors. So make sure you check it out and use it because it also helps you correct your form in real time and it maximizes your reps. It counts your reps so that you can do it smarter, safer, and more efficient. Let yourself run, lift, flex, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross training, tread plus at one peloton.com. All right, fellas. So we talked about things the Titans need to improve on for the second half

of the season, but I wanted to get your take on maybe a player or two that have caught your eye that maybe has been better than expected, exceeded expectations, kind of a first half MVP where, hey, we are excited about this player moving forward. Tyler, I'll start with you here. It always starts with ChimDK. There's no other place to start. There's it, that you want to talk something good about the Titans. You want to be happy. You want to have a small. smile when you're talking about the Titans, you just talk about Jim D.K. That's really all we got. There's a couple of bright spots that I'm sure we'll hit at, but if we don't start with him, then we're just lying. He's been absolutely incredible. You want to talk about

an all-pro level player. Look, Jeffrey Simmons is the other one. I'm sure we'll get there. He played great, but then he missed time again like he's been doing, and that's going to limit his production on the year because he missed his time quite a bit recently in the last, you know, three years now, including this one. He's missed quite a few games. Think up to 10 games at this point. So I think you look at consistency, all pro level play. Like watching an all pro level player on Sundays for the Tennessee Titans. Chim D.K. has been the one all season long.

He's been great. It's not just the big returns, the flashy returns. He's just consistent with the amount of yards he gets on his returns. He's not only, and what Titans fans have been through the last couple of years, we're just hoping, I mean, when Mason Kinsey was called up last year for a couple of years and just literally caught the ball and didn't fumble it, just literally caught the punt and didn't fumble it. We thought it was ecstasy. So to have a guy that not only you can count on to catch the ball and be consistent in that way, but also make explosive plays and help the team,

like, very encouraging to have Chim D.K. and the start that he's off to, and then you sprinkle on the wide receiver plays that he's made and how he's kind of emerges a utility guy there. He's certainly the surprise standout when he was the least height, fourth round pick of the three guys that were drafted in the fourth round. He was the one who fans were like, oh, Jim, D.K., whatever, you know what I mean? Back to Iyo and Helm. He's been the big standout this year. Bhop. Well, I see your Jim D.K., and I raise you two more in that fourth round, so I'm going the entire fourth round, Elykeye Manor. He needs the team in receiving and touchdowns. Jim,

Obviously, he leads the whole league in all purpose yards. Gunnar Helm has identical stats as Chigua, the starter, except he's got a score this year. So I think that what they did in that fourth round has really been exceptional. I mean, throw Cam in here in his development as the future of this, future face of this franchise. But yet and still, last year's draft, and when you look at the guys that are in that fourth round that are really making an impact for this team, all three of those dudes can be viewed as the future of this team. So I see you, Jim, I recognize that. But I also throw Elican Gunner in there as well.

I'm going to go from the fourth round last year, Cedric Gray. Yes. And it seems like this fourth round's hitting for the tightens. I mean, he's third in the NFL and tackles in 91, right? And remember at the start of the season or in training camp, I should say, one of the big position group battles was who's going to start alongside Cody Barton? Is it going to be Cedric Gray or is it going to be James Williams? And now looking at it now, you know why Cedric Gray won the job.

And maybe that position battle competition might have been the best thing for him because the dude's violent. I asked him probably two weeks ago before the by week. If somebody told you when you were hurt last year that you'd be near the top of the NFL in tackles, what would you have said? He said, I would have believed it absolutely. And when you think about what Mike Borganzi said about finding pillars to the team, foundational pieces, guys who pay attention to detail, every day. He's certainly somebody who's earned the job and has worked his way back from injury and is kind of checking all of those boxes there. What do you guys think about Cedric Gray? Because, you know, we mentioned Jeff, but Jeff's missed some time. So I'm trying to think of

somebody on the defensive side of the ball here. Hey, Julian, and not only did he win the position battle, he came from behind. Like, James Williams was ahead of him going into the first preseason game. I mean, Cedric Gray didn't really take that over until later. in the process too so not only did he win he came from behind to do it which gives him even more credit for being able to pull it off but you're right his violence his physicality the juice that he brings downhill it is even more apparent when you watch him next to cody barton it's like the tortoise in the hair out there it's insane there's one of my favorite plays of the year even as Cody barton is like chasing a runner and trying to get him from behind and he's so slow and can't

get to him and cedric gray is fired like a shot out of a cannon from behind Barton, it comes past him and takes down the ball carry, or it's just like the juice that Cedric Gray has played with and his downhill intensity when the Titans really needed something at linebacker over the last couple of years, kind of a barren spot for him that they were trying a lot of stuff and it didn't work. And they're still trying stuff that didn't work like Cody Barton, but they're going to have him back next year no matter what. You look at the contract.

Cedric Gray being exactly what you hope he would be in a balance to what Cody Barton has given you, that is critically important, even in the defense. struggles. Cedra Gray is absolutely one of the other bright spots on this team that you can actually be excited about. Yeah. It just shows you how you can get good value and how important those middle round players are because we just talked about a set of fourth rounders in the last two drafts that are

having a huge, huge impact on this team. 91 total tackles, 52 on his own. I mean, throw a sack in there in a couple of passes, defense. The guy's all over the damn football field. That's what you want from a dude that plays that backward spot, right? And you wanted to play with a level of ferocity, a level of violence that strikes fear in the hearts of any ball carrier. And that's what he does consistently. So I like his mentality.

I like his flying around sideline to sideline ability. And the fact that he sticks his nose in there when need be. So I think that he's a great compliment to this defense. And he also shows exactly just what kind of equity you can get in those second, third, and fourth rounds. And let me just say as a side note that this goes to me, why it was smart for the Titans to make. those trades before the deadline because we're talking about fourth round picks that third fourth fifth round that's where you really build a team man like you hit on those middle round guys you can really find some key starters for value contracts

build out your young team if the Titans get this thing back on track it's gonna be because Mike Borganzi hits on three fourth round picks it's because he hits on these middle round picks the first round picks have to hit they're expected they're going to be decent players that's usually what you expect but Hitting in those middle rounds is really, really, really key. And we see that there's the ability to do that. So when the Titans get a fifth round pick, a sixth round pick, it's not just that they're going to pick in the fifth or picking the six.

Now they can combine those things and move up in the draft, get more fourth round picks, get back into the top 100 in the third round. That's the type of stuff that has to happen for this team to turn it around. So I know some of the trades frustrate certain fans because they're giving away players or whatever. but the vision for the Titans has to be hitting in these mid-round and players like Cedric Gray

and the weapons on offense. That's what we have to hope happens for this team to actually get better. And to that point, Mike Borganzi said he did not want to trade Raymont Jones, but got a conditional fifth that could turn into a fourth if he gets two sacks and the

Ravens make the playoffs. So Titans fans rooting for the Ravens the rest of the way. Make sure you get your questions here in the chat. We're going to answer them on the other side of the break, the Titan Squad show returns. Don't go anywhere. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get on on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, Fanduel has live bets on everything from who will score

next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team's making that late push. Now, Fanduel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when you bet your first $5 bet, and that bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up, play your game with Fanduel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, guys, wanted to get some of the chat involved here.

We've got a ton of questions actually throughout the show. Somebody asked about Matt LaFleur, if he were to get fired by the, by the Packers, where would he shoot up on your list? I know we still have half a season left, but the season, you know, the Titans are looking towards the future and have a vacancy as head coach. First off, I'm a huge Matt LaFleur fan, just even as a person. You know what I mean? I've had a chance to chop it up with him on a number of occasions and just the respect he has

for players and how he can get the most out of those dudes, how he can help create a culture. to me that's that speaks volumes you know obviously in being the head of one of the more iconic franchises like the Green Bay Packers it comes a lot with that you know what I mean and he might not have had the most success but he's made them extremely competitive they haven't fallen off by any stretch but I think that you know when you look in at guys that could actually do it and I'm not going to put this way he would have to get fired for him to be an option so I'm not hoping that that happens for you know what I mean but as far as a person as far as a coach as far as they play caller you know like what he brings to the table set things right

the reality is the Titans had Matt Lefleur and Mike Rable at the same time and there are some who think that maybe keeping Matt Lefleur as the head coach instead of the OC would have been the the best possible move for the Titans get Matt Lefleur back let's do this he's been here before he knows the area you go go ahead and fight. I mean, there are so many, like, Kevin Stefansky, there are people in Minnesota mad at Kevin O'Connell. Like, you guys don't know how good you got it. Matt LaFleur has one of the best, like, winning percentages in NFL history, and just his team just wins a bunch of games every year. I just, go ahead. Go ahead and fire him, please. I would, I would ban for that.

Please fire Matt LaFleur. Please fire Kevin Stefansky. You know whose name came up in the building. This is, yeah, in the building. The guy that's calling the plays in Pittsburgh. Please know. Yes. I know. I saw a report that mentioned Arthur Smith, too.

I am begging them. Please do not do that. I'm watching the Steelers is so frustrating. Art Smith does some of the things that we were talking about, Tyler. He has that run first mentality. Brad, I agree. You know, last week the game against the Chargers where the Titans would do normal stuff

and then they'd run Wildcat or they'd run a flea flicker or they'd run some sort of orbit motion fake wide receiver reverse into a backside tight-end screen like they'd run these sissy foo plays to me that is what I call them, okay? That's what I call them and to me like Arthur Smith

leads the NFL and Sissy Foo plays. He thinks he is so smart and all these little working plays that he runs out of the team personnel. He thinks he's such an evil genius out scheming everybody, taking Bejean Robinson off the field to play

Tyler Algier and stuff. Like I just can't I can't do the overthinking mad genius Arthur Smith nonsense. I'm sorry. I would die. I would die. I know you said to get the questions going. And I hate saying the guy's name

because it just sounds weird. Nipple twerk. Oh, yeah. A man's on to something. He's on to something because that's called foundational. That's called consistency. Mike Brable is what,

8 and 2 right now? Leading the division. Go to the year. And then getting fired, right? Yeah. I mean, just go back to the AJ trade. If you just, if you could just go back in time, if we could just spin the dial back,

and just grab John Robinson's phone and smash it with a sledge here. If they just don't trade A.J. Brown. If they simply don't do that, everything is different. That is the inflection point in the fork in the road that changed everything. It's like we just saw the Dallas Mavericks general manager get fired. Nico Harrison for the guy who traded Luca Donchitz. And that is an even worse version of the A.J. Brown trade. That is like that magnified by 10, especially if Luca goes on to win championships.

I'm letting my Laker flag fly a little bit here. But the point is, we have not seen a trade so obviously stupid since the AJ Brown trade until the Luca trade happened. Like that was so obviously a terrible decision. You know what I mean? And it just like, that is what changed everything. That is what ruined everything. That is what poisoned the well. They could have survived the draft class misses.

they could have drafted better. They could have remade the team with AJ and still the end version of Henry. They could have figured it out, but the AJ trade ruined everything. It just blew everything up. He was so important. He'll never be appreciated for how important he was

to what it turned on, even the appreciation he gets. But regardless, off on a tangent. Yeah, but unfortunate thing is that the unfortunate thing is that AJ Brown wouldn't have become a household name here in Nashville, and that sucks. He already was.

I disagree. He already was. In 2021, he already was. He was that good. Everybody knew. Derek Henry and A.J. Brown were household, big-time, superstar guys. He already was. He's bigger at the Eagles.

You're right, Brad. He's bigger with the Eagles. He's way more of a star with the Eagles than the Titans. But by God, what if, what if the Titans didn't trade him? What if they got the draft class back on track? What if they hired Ryan Cowden for Mike Vrable, who he wanted to work with him? And right now, the Titan. are still a great dominant team,

and A.J. Brown may be just as big as he is now and more happy. You can't talk me out of it. You couldn't trade A.J. Brown is terrible, and now I'm sad. Yeah. Mike should have actually hired Brian as his offensive coordinator because Brian's a good offensive coordinator, just not a good head coach. You know what I mean? Of course, Mike McArthur or Mike Rabel, he had his hand in some of the offensive development, what he wouldn't call it plays. You know what I mean?

He could put that right is the big problem. He could top down. Tim Kelly. Yeah, if he'd have found the right guy on that side of the ball to just call the plays and let him manage the team, that would have been the perfect balance that they would have needed. Because look at it with Josh now. Josh McDaniels is making Drake May look like a goddamn pro bowler.

Mistakes were made. If a time machine, if we could build one and we have a time heist, Tyler would go to the Titans facility to destroy John Robinson's phone. That's the number one mission right there. I'd probably have to go back to 1999. and I'd be like angels in the outfield and reach the dice and over the goal line. You know what I mean? That's what I would do

with the time machine, probably, and go back and buy stock and Apple too. You know what I mean? You both, Tyler. You and me both. Right. Right. If this franchise had at least one Super Bowl win under its bill. Man, just bringing up all the curses and all the pain

today, literally from the start. My last thing, and I want to make this quick before we go. How many wins would you feel better about the Titans having by the end of the season. Because Tyler, you mentioned there are five winnable games. You got the Jags twice. You got the Saints.

You got the Browns. What's the fifth one that's on your list there? The Saints, the Jags twice, the Browns. Is it this week? I think it might be. It might be this week. Maybe I'm also not very good at math, so it could be four. I got to check my notes.

That's literally what I'm talking about to lead my show later on tonight. We're going to tune in. I'm going to talk about what they can do the rest of the way. But yeah, I mean, both those games against the Jags, the Saints, the Browns, I think those are winnable games, all those teams. The Jags are 5 and 4, so they seem better. But no, they're not. They're the Jags.

The worst version of the Titans can beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. We always have had their number since Brad was stomping them out three straight times. You know what I mean? And in their season, like we've always had the Jags number. They're our ugly cousin. We can whoop them if we need to. don't matter how good or bad either team is. The other one can lose.

So they can beat Jacksonville. They can beat the Browns. They can beat the Saints. Whether they should or not, for draft pick reasons, we'll let the fans cry and complain and decide on that. But I'm okay with this team winning a couple of games down the stretch, even if it gives them the second or third pick. Like, I think Cam Ward improving,

the young guys improving, tasting victory, playing better. They have been a disaster. Like, remember that Raiders coach, that anonymous Raiders coach, said that was the worst team he's played in 25 years? Like the bad habits that must be forming and building and just the thoughts and their minds as young players coming in the league with not just that they're losing. How bad they are.

They are bad, man, and they're getting destroyed all the time. Playing some good football, win in a couple games. You know what I mean? Win a couple games, I think that would be more important. to me than, like, they actually do have a young team that needs it now. This isn't the last couple of years where it's like, whatever. Like, they, it would be better for Cam Ward to taste victory and for them to play well enough to get victories down the stretch,

at least just a couple, than it would be for the draft pick. Like, the quarterbacks aren't that good. There's enough defensive talent at the top. You'll get a good player. I'd rather see Cam Ward and the young guys play some good ball. You know, it's worse. The only thing worse than having a losing season is getting swept by a team in the division. Yeah.

That sucks. That already happened with the Colts. Yeah, let me ask you this. If the Titans jumped out to a 29 to 10 lead heading into the four, you think they could hold off the same team that scored 26 points in the four quarter to win. I'm talking about the Texans from last week. One of the most dramatic comeback games of the year. Yes. The only thing that gives the Titans a chance is what?

Nashville So it's on you and only you Titans fans If the Texans win it's because you didn't make it hard enough to play here It's obvious the Titans can't do it on their own So what are you going to do, Nashville? You're going to show up and show out? You're going to fake until we make it? What are you going to do?

You're going to make it raucous for DeMarco D'Amico Ryan's and them to come in here and get a W on us and to sweep us We've yet to score on the Texans. The only way we're going to win is if we do that. So I'm putting it on you. You fan fateful, you don't show up, the Titans lose. You show up, we can probably win. Let's go, Nashville.

I think that's a good place to end. A little pep talk from Bhop message to the fans right there. Yeah, there you go. All right, everybody. Thank you for joining us here in the Titans Squad Show. Make sure to check out Tyler Rollins locked on Titans every single day. Make sure to like, comment, subscribe, all that fun stuff here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network out there.

But I'm Julian Minnesone. Tyler Rowland. And of course, that's the legend Brad Hopkins. We'll see you guys on game day.