Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Two More Titans To Pro Bowl, Championship Lessons & Titans v Bengals Film Review

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

The Tennessee Titans saw two more players be added to the Pro Bowl game this Sunday. Tyler talks about Jeffery Simmons and Rodger Saffold's seasons. Also, Titans defensive coach Jim Schwartz is potentially being poached by Indianapolis. Then, what lessons can the Titans learn from Championship weekend about their next steps. Finally, what happened against the Bengals from an Xs & Os perspective? Tyler dives into the tape for a quick review.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybwSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.GetUpsideJust download the FREE GetUpside App and use promo code TOUCHDOWN to get 25 cents per gallon or more cash back on your first tank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, it is a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. And on today's show, first, some Titans news to go over. Two Tennessee Titans will be going to the Pro Bowl and a key defensive coach for the Titans is being lured by a division rival. Then, we'll talk about what the Tennessee Titans can learn from the two teams that made it to the Super Bowl.

And finally, I will go over my all 22 review of what I saw from the Tennessee Titans and their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. All of that on a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are locked on Titans podcast. Let's get it. You are locked on Titans, your daily Tennessee Titans podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Titans fans, it is a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Like I said, we do have a lot of Tennessee Titans news to get into. Before we do, got to thank you guys for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. If this is your first ever listen to the Locked on Titans podcast, make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. Remember, I am going to be putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content,

not only during the season, but all year long. Make sure you never miss out by subscribing on whatever platform you do stream. Subscribe to the Locked on Titans YouTube channel. Smash that notification bell so you know when all of my content goes live. Check me out on social media, at TicTacT Tac Titans on Twitter, at Locked on Titans Pod on Facebook. Also, just want to remind you guys, the next three shows of the week, we are going to be going through all of the

18 games the Tennessee Titans played, kind of go through that Titans coaster one more time. So wanted to make sure I let you guys know all about that. Now let's dive into that Tennessee Titans news. So number one, two Tennessee Titans players will be added to the Pro Bowl roster and will be playing in the Pro Bowl this weekend. Who are those players? Well, number one, a guy who above all of the Titans, who will end up on the Pro Bowl roster, should have been in right away. And that is defensive lineman Jeffrey Simmons. Simmons was a second-team All-Pro, meaning he was one of the top four interior defensive linemen in the NFL,

but somehow didn't make the Pro Bowl in the first go-around. I mean, it's absolutely insane, and a lot of the time when you look at the issues with Pro Bowl voting, it's the fans. The fans are never to be trusted when it comes to a vote. That's just the reality here. But somehow, Simmons made the Pro Bowl based on the

fan vote, and it was his peers within the league that did not think he was deserving, and that is quite the shocker. If there is any player on the Tennessee Titans who deserved to be in the Pro Bowl, it's Jeffrey Simmons. Kevin Byard's right there with him, but just insane that Simmons didn't make it on the first go-round, but I guess no reason to cry over spilt milk. Simmons will get that Pro Bowl spot. And I got to say, and I'm sure Simmons would agree,

much rather Simmons not be able to play in the Pro Bowl because he'll be playing in Los Angeles. But unfortunately, as we know, that did not happen. But Simmons will be taking over the spot for Kansas City Chiefs interior defensive lineman Chris Jones, who has bowed out of the Pro Bowl due to an injury reason. This is Jeffrey Simmons' first Pro Bowl appearance, and I expect a lot more to come after this.

The other Tennessee Titan that made the Pro Bowl, I thought there would be a Tennessee Titans offensive lineman that snuck in there as an alternate, but it's not the one I expected. I thought it would be tackle Taylor LeJuan, that snuck in there as an alternate, but it's not the one I expected. I thought it would be tackle Taylor LeJuan, but turns out it's going to be guard Roger Saffold, who will be replacing Indianapolis Colts guard Quinton Nelson, again, due to injury. Saffold, I thought this was crazy, and I had to go back and double-check

when I saw it, but this was Roger Saffold, but this was Roger Saffold's first Pro Bowl appearance ever. And that's quite a shock. He had some incredible years with the Rams before he came to the Titans on a great offense, on a high-profile offense. Saffold's been a top-ten guard in this league for quite some time. Now, I will say this, if I am honest with you all, Saffold had kind of a down year, in my opinion.

He struggled mightily in pass protection. He dealt with injuries all year long, an upper body injury, a shoulder into a neck that really caused him to be in and out of the lineup. So, I got to be honest, I'm a bit surprised that Saffold was eligible and ultimately will be in the Pro Bowl, but the way I'm looking at it is, this is kind of a career achievement for Saffold. He's been a good enough player on the interior to deserve a Pro Bowl nod at some point in time during his career. So, whether or not this was the best year of his career or maybe a Pro Bowl-worthy year of his career,

it's irrelevant, quite frankly. He deserves to have a Pro Bowl selection on his ledger, on his resume, and he will get that this year. Now that makes four total Tennessee Titans who will be going to the Pro Bowl. Harold Landry, Kevin Byard, Jeffrey Simmons, and Roger Saffold. So that kind of wraps up the Pro Bowl conversation. I do want to mention one other piece of news.

Titans defensive assistant, Jim Schwartz, who it's hard to know how much credit he should get for the defensive turnaround, but he's got to get some. Jim Schwartz is being interviewed for the defensive coordinator position with the Indianapolis Colts. Gross. One, the Colts lost Matt Eberflus as he's now the head coach of the Chicago Bears.

That's a big hit to Indianapolis. But to take Schwartz away from the Titans and now get all those inside secrets about the Titans defense while also getting a very good defensive mind and Schwartz away from the Titans and now get all those inside secrets about the Titans' defense while also getting a very good defensive line and Schwartz to replace Ibraflues, that would just be an awful turnout for the Titans. So Schwartz will interview with Indianapolis

for that defensive coordinator position. We'll see if he gets it, and I'll talk more about that if he ultimately does. But damn you, Indy. Damn you. That's going to do it for the Titans news, though. We are going to get into some lessons that the Titans can learn and I guess some big takeaways in regards to team building that we can take away and the Titans can take away from the two teams

that ended up in the Super Bowl. Before we get into that, though, do want to tell you guys a little bit about BetOnline.net. There might be less football being played, but BetOnline.net has way more odds and info for this playoff season from scores, totals, player performance props to where the next fired coach is going to land. BetOnline is the number one spot for all things NFL betting in 2022. And it's not just football. BetOnline.net's got basketball, hockey, boxing, UFC odds that you

can take advantage of, and the coverage is the best in the business. From sports right down to your favorite Vegas casino games, BetOnline is your number one online wagering destination. BetOnline, the fastest and easiest way to wager on all your favorite sports and play your favorite games. BetOnline, where the game starts. Titans fans, we are going to continue with this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. Just talked about the latest Tennessee Titans news.

Two Tennessee Titans added to the Pro Bowl. That makes four total that will be going from the Titans. Jim Schwartz being interviewed by the Colts for their defensive coordinator position. Ugh, gross. But now I want to move on to some lessons that the Titans can learn from Super Bowl, the teams that are in the Super Bowl, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. And I also want to kind of go through what we've learned and check some boxes for the

Titans. Before we get into that, I do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked On Titans podcast your first listen every day. Make sure you subscribe on whatever platform you do stream. As I said at the beginning of the show, I am the only Titans content creator that is putting out daily, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content via podcast, via YouTube. So make sure that you subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Got a lot of great content coming up this offseason for you guys. But talking about these lessons Titans can learn from the Super Bowl teams, there are four things that really stood out to me during the championship Sunday games. Number one, you need an elite quarterback. To be in the conversation, you need an elite quarterback. To be in the conversation, you need an elite quarterback. That's just the reality here. Yeah, you may be able to get by like San Francisco

and Jimmy G went to the Super Bowl a couple of years ago, but there was a big play in the fourth quarter where there was a wide receiver streak and wide open down the middle of the field that would have basically sealed the win for San Francisco. And guess who missed the throw? Jimmy Garoppolo. for San Francisco. And guess who missed the throw?

Jimmy Garoppolo. So, the reality here is you got two quarterbacks that have elite talent. Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford. His time in Detroit, I could get a people want to get in the comments and say Matt Stafford's not elite. I get it. But he's got elite talent.

And that's what we all know. That's what we've always known. And now, you put the guy in a good situation, an actual franchise that wins out of Detroit, maybe the worst franchise in the history of the league, and he's going to a Super Bowl. So, the proof is in the pudding. As people like to say, as the saying goes.

So, you need an elite quarterback. That's just the reality here. Just look through all the Super Bowl wins of the last 5 to 10 years. I mean, how often is it an all-time quarterback? It's just too often to deny. So that's one of the realities that you're going to need. Number two, you're going to need a great play caller. Look at the four guys who were the coaches on Sunday.

Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. Two of the best play callers in the NFL. Period. Andy Reid. Eric Biennemi. Enough said there. Now Zach Taylor. Okay, Zach Taylor.

Yeah, I can accept that maybe he's not amazing, but maybe he is. I mean, he got hired as a very young coach to coach the Bengals coming from that McVay, Shanahan tree. And even with a terrible, absolutely terrible offensive line, the Bengals still find a way to score points and win. Now a lot of that has to do with Joe Burrow. A lot of that has to do with the weapons that he has. But somebody's calling the

place. Somebody's organizing things. Somebody's installing game plans every week that have allowed them to go to the Super Bowl. Zach Taylor. Gotta give him his credit here. There's no way around it. He deserves credit for what he's done with this team. So, elite

quarterback and a great play caller. Those are the two things that the Titans are missing. But the next two things. Number one, you gotta have a stud wide receiver. Okay, look at Kansas City, Tyreek Hill, Cincinnati, Jamar Chase, San Francisco,

Debo Samuel, Cooper Cup on the Rams. I mean, one freak elite top 10 wide receiver. And Titans fans, here's where the good news comes. The Titans have that. A.J. Brown is a certified stud.

When A.J. Brown's healthy, he's a top 10 wide receiver in the league. He's a freak. You got to pay attention to him. The entire defense has to pay attention to him. Takes all that attention. Incredible gravity on the field for A.J. Brown. So the Titans have that.

Boom. Check. Good to go. Titans have that. Stud wide receiver. Thank the heavens. That's one. And after this offseason,

A.J. Brown's going to be locked into being a Tennessee Titan for a long, long time. And that's exactly what we need. Because here's what I'll say to you guys. Even if Tannehill isn't the guy, even if Todd Downing can't get it done, you still need a structure in place. So that when you add the QB. You still have your Super Bowl roster.

If you don't have a stud QB. Build your roster so that if you got one. You're good to go. And that's really where the Titans are at right now. So I know it's not where Titans fans want to be. But it's not a bad place to be either. And then the fourth and final thing that really stood out to me is great defensive line play.

The Chiefs had Chris Jones, Frank Clark, Jaron Reed, Melvin Ingram. The Bengals had Reeder, B.J. Hill got an interception. Hendrickson, Hubbard. You look at San Francisco, they had Armstead, Bosa. You look at Los Angeles, I mean, Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd.

I mean, elite defensive line play is so, so critical. It's the most important thing on defense, in my opinion. Some people like to build from the secondary down. Not me. I'm starting in the trenches on defense and dominating up front.

That's what I want to do. So, great D-line. A stud, freak wide receiver. Check, check for the Titans. And the D-line ain't going anywhere. Jeffrey Simmons is going to be back. Danico Autry is going to be back. Bud Dupree is going to be back.

Harold Landry, he's going to be back. Danico Autry is going to be back. Bud Dupree is going to be back. Harold Landry, he's going to be back, folks. Don't you worry your little hearts. He'll be back. So the Titans have two of the four. Now, they can't really do anything about the quarterback right now. And we have seen teams win Super Bowls without

an elite quarterback. We have. We have. Okay, it's happened. You just gotta be perfect in all these other areas. Play calling, wide receiver, D-line. You just gotta be so perfect everywhere else. The margin of error is slim to none when you don't have one of the elite

quarterbacks, but it's possible. But when you're shooting two for four and you're keeping Todd Downing even though it's obvious that he's not one of the top play callers in the league, not even close, well, now you're hurting yourself. So, will the Titans remedy the one thing they can control

and hopefully set things up for that fourth and final piece in the coming years? We will see, but those are big lessons that I learned from these Super Bowl teams and Championship Sunday in general. You've got to have an elite quarterback, a great play caller, a stud wide receiver, and a great D-line, and the Titans are close. They're not there, but

they are close, and that's the biggest piece of optimism that I can possibly give you all, but that's going to do it for the lessons that the Titans learned from Super Bowl teams. Now I'm going to go into a quick all 22 review of the offense and defense. If you can stomach it from that loss to Cincinnati, then I will be there to give you the information that you need.

Before we get into that, though, I do want to tell you guys that this episode is brought to you by Rock Auto. With the ever-increasing number of makes and models, it's basically impossible for your local chain auto parts store to stock all the parts you need. So why would you endure pointless and seemingly intimidating questioning about your car and wait while the person behind the counter checks all their parts on their computer

and goes through the parts that are only available in their warehouse? You can cut out the middleman and go directly to rockauto.com at your house or in your pocket. Save time. You don't have to go to the store. You don't have to wait behind somebody. And if they do have your part in the warehouse, they're going to ship it to you. Well, if you're getting your part shipped to you anyways, why would you again not cut out the middleman and go directly to Rock Auto? I mean, they have everything. Brake parts, tail lamps, motor oil,

even new carpet. So anything you need, you can find at rockauto.com and their website's really easy to use, really easy to navigate. You can quickly see all the different brands, all the different prices, all the different parts that they have. So go to rockauto.com right now. See all

the parts available for your car or truck. And when you do, make sure you write locked on in the how did you hear about us boxes right underneath your shipping information. That's locked on in the how did you hear about us box so they know that I sent you amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need, rockauto.com. Prices all the parts your car will ever need. rockauto.com Titans fans, let's cap off this Tuesday edition of the Locked on Titans podcast

by doing a little all 22 review of the Tennessee Titans loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round. It hurts, but we still need to go through it. Before we get into that, though, do want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, I told you earlier in the show where to make your bets at betonline.net,

but now I want to tell you where to get the best advice you can get before you place those bets, and that's on the Locked On Bets podcast presented by the Locked On Podcast Network. You got your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling doing the hosting. They're going to give you daily picks, upset specials, Lee Sterling's lock of the day.

Make sure you guys check out the Locked On Bets podcast anywhere you can find podcasts and always free. But diving into the tape here, stepping into the film room, it hurt. It hurt to watch this game because the Titans did so many things right. I mean, usually in a loss,

I'm finding a bunch of issues and just not a ton of issues here. It's just insanity to me right now. I'm still like, I'm sure you guys understand, I'm still not over this. I don't know that I ever will be. And to see the Chiefs play the way that they played on Sunday against the Bengals, like,

if Tannehill just doesn't throw that RPO interception, his second interception, if he just doesn't throw that pick, I mean, the Titans ran for like 70 yards on three plays in the first pass play of the drive at the nine-yard line, and it's a pick. I firmly do believe that if the Titans beat the Bengals, the Titans are in the Super Bowl right now.

I really believe that, and I may be wrong. But man. Anyways, let's dive in here. So on the offensive side of the ball, the Bengals came out like the Dolphins, and they played 6-1 up front. Four down defensive linemen, two outside linebackers, and then a linebacker in the middle.

Typical alignment. The Titans went a lot of two tight end against that, trying to stack one side, but they didn't have a lot of success against that, so the Titans said, screw it, we're going to go with 11 personnel and treat Nick Westbrook-Akina like a tight end. So we saw them do that. Got to mention, Cincinnati did a good job of bringing defensive back blitzes, blitzing off the slot.

A lot of times they were able to confuse Ryan Tannehill and confuse the pass protection because they weren't expecting a blitz to come off of the slot like that. So good job by Cincinnati there. Also do got to mention, Cincinnati played mostly man in this game. Now there were some times where they would show man coverage like on the first interception of the game. There's a slot cornerback

Titans have two wide receivers to one side, twins. The Bengals have two cornerbacks over there though. The cornerback looks like he's in man with the way that he acts towards A.J. Brown. towards A.J. Brown.

So A.J. Brown's on the inside. Julio is on the outside. The inside cornerback basically stays with A.J. Brown as he starts his wheel route, and it makes Tannehill think it's going to be man coverage. But then the cornerback just sits down and takes the flat, and it's zone, a cover three zone. And Tannehill just doesn't see the inside safety.

He thinks it's man coverage where the outside cornerback is on Julio, and he's just not completely confused. Tannehill on the first play of the game. And they did that little mix throughout the day where they'd show mostly man, but every now and then they'd flip it to zone, even though they show man at the beginning of the snap. And Tannehill was just flustered all day long. Couldn't really get much going for the most part.

Back to that RPO interception. So the Titans ran an RPO earlier in the game. RPO, read, pass, option. Ryan Tannehill fakes that handoff to the running back and then tries to throw a quick screen to Chester Rogers. You guys know the play that I'm talking about. Well, one, my big issue is the Titans ran that same exact play early in the game and the cornerback came off the edge and almost tipped the pass

and got the interception on that one. So, one, that's a problem in itself. Cincinnati immediately diagnosed that play and knew what was coming when the Titans lined up in that formation with two wide receivers to the right-hand side and shotgun with the running back on the left side. They knew what was coming when the Titans lined up in that formation. That's film study, and that's predictability from Todd Downing. But more than that, but more than that. Okay?

You're running that play to Chester Rogers. The Colts don't have a good wide receiver group and they let Chester Rogers go off their practice squad this year. The Titans cannot throw space routes to Chester Rogers ever again. The guy is barely an NFL player, okay? That's just the reality.

He's barely an NFL player. He should be a practice squad guy. And you got him as your third wide receiver and you're throwing bubble screens to him off RPO action. The first one was complete and Rodgers got two yards because he's not any, he's just not a good player. Chester

Rodgers is a practice squad level player. And your goal is, hey, we want to get our athletes in space. But the athlete is Chester Rodgers. That's not a good setup. Put AJ in the slot then and have Westbrook Aquino be out there instead of Rogers.

At least get it to somebody worth a dang. We're scheming up plays for Chester Rogers in space. I mean, you want to be mad at Todd Downing, there you go. So, of course, the Titans tried to run that same exact play on the interception. And this time, Mike Hilton did get hands on it because he knows what's coming because the offense is so predictable. That's literally like the only RPO action we run.

We've run a slant to Julio one time in week 18. A play that I diagrammed after that game. Just so predictable. And even if the play works, you're getting it to Chester Rogers. What are we doing? And then you can pound the fact that the Titans ran for about 70 yards on three plays before that play. Why are you throwing the ball and why are you in

shotgun? He's a great coach. He's a hard worker. Thanks, Mike. Thanks. Great analysis of Todd Downing. Sounds like you're keeping him. Awesome. Awesome stuff. Great. So, that's kind of the stuff that stuck out to me on offense. On defense, the Titans played nickel all game. Nickel means five defensive backs. They weren't worried about Cincinnati running the ball whatsoever, and they shouldn't have been. So, the Titans defense really morphed into a nickel-only defense for a lot of the time throughout the year

because they're so confident in their front six guys to stop the run, and they should be. The Titans showed a ton of too high. Basically every single play, the Titans showed too high safety looks with Amani and Kevin Byard back. Now, they rolled a lot. They'd roll a safety down and go into single high, but they were going to show a two high look

every single time. And one thing that I noticed was when they rolled the coverage and they rolled the safeties, one safety comes down, another safety goes into the middle instead of both being high. They rolled away from Jamar Chase to make sure that their slot cornerback was on Chase's side instead of having the safety in the cornerback on Chase's side. So I like that. Also do want to mention the Titans did run some cover to invert which I was projecting before the game. But they ran a lot of cover three

cloud. Now what's cover three cloud? Well first before we get into that we got to discuss what cover three is. Cover three in general is the field being split into three segments. The two outside cornerbacks have the outside thirds, and one safety has an inside third. Well, cloud cover three is when instead of having two cornerbacks and a safety play cover three,

you have two safeties and one cornerback play cover three. And the Titans were using the cornerback opposite of Jamar Chase, so it more often than not be Jackrabbit Jenkins so now you have Amani Hooker and Kevin Byard covering two of the deep thirds with Jackrabbit Jenkins covering the other deep third and that would allow Christian Fulton to stay tight up against Jamar Chase so that you didn't give Jamar Chase easy opportunities underneath so I loved seeing that cover three cloud coverage from the Titans. An incredibly smart defensive game plan that led to nine sacks.

I'm sorry. I know that was probably loud, but I'm just so distraught, guys. I can't help it. The Titans were stacking the line of scrimmage on third and short because the Bengals were going into empty. So if the Bengals were in a third and short situation, the Titans were crowding the line of scrimmage on third and short because the Bengals were going into empty. So if the Bengals were in a third and short situation, the Titans were crowding the line of scrimmage, putting six or seven guys up there and getting a free rusher, making Burrow get rid of the ball quickly.

And it worked a ton. It worked a ton. Man, I will say a good counter by the Bengals though. What they were doing is in the second half, and this is how they got the mix and touchdown run on the first drive of the second half. What they were doing is, they were taking a wide receiver on Higgins' side and

they were motioning him over to Chase's side, usually Tyler Boyd and what would happen when that took place is the Titans would have Elijah Molden flip over to go with the slot wide receiver and they would switch the linebackers as well, David Long and Zach Cunningham. And what that would do is that would leave a ton of space on the backside,

and they were running zone runs that put an emphasis on a cutback. So basically the Bengals were finding a way to move the slot away from the backside, cut back backside, and they gave them a great numbers advantage, and that's how they got that touchdown run from Mixon. The overall thing I want to mention here quick, too much reliance on role players. Way too many times, I saw Ola Adani in there instead of Harold Landry

or instead of Bud Dupree. The Bengals ran Higgins, Chase, and Boyd every single play, essentially, out there because those are their guys. The Titans are rotating in Nick Westbrook-Akina on critical third downs with no A.J. or no Julio. What are we doing? I get that Mike Vrabel wants to keep everybody fresh, but taking it to an extreme when other coaches who were just coaches, who weren't NFL players,

who don't think like a player, who think like coaches say, hey, I got to have my studs in there. If Mike Vrabel really believes it's the Jimmys and the Joes, not the Xs and the Os, then why don't you have Julio Jones and A.J. Brown out there for every single passing play? Why would you ever have either of those guys on the sideline? You can't say that the guys get tired because they're out there running routes. So doesn't Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins.

But they play basically every single snap. Too much of a reliance on role players. Way too much rotating. The rotating is a mechanism to keep guys fresh for a long season. You're in the playoffs. Throw that rotation crap out the window and play your best players. There should never be a third down where Julio and A.J. Brown aren't both on the field. In lieu of Nick Westbrook-Akina?

Just perplexing. Just truly, truly perplexing on the offensive side of the ball. But that's going to do it for me today. That's an all-22 review of that Titans-Bengals game. Titans news, lessons we can learn from the Super Bowl teams. I'm going to be back with you guys tomorrow. It's going to start a three-day stretch where we go through all 18 games of the Tennessee Titans season.

Going to call it the 2021 Titans Coaster. So excited for that. I will catch you guys tomorrow. That's going to do it for me today. As always, I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans.