Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Victory Monday - Game Review, #TitanUpTitanDown & Song of the AFC South

Episode Date: October 28, 2019

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Welcome to the Locked on Titans podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Rowland. Titans fans, we are streaking! That is two back-to-back victories for the Tennessee Titans, so two back-to-back victory Mondays for us here on the show. Excited to break down the game. I'm going to do a little bit of a Rowlands review for you in the first segment. Just give you all of my, you know, takeaways, key takeaways from the game, some of the bigger points that I saw out there on the field. In our second segment, as always, everybody's favorite, tighten up and tighten down. So we will hand out some individual awards. In our second segment, in our third segment,

we will do a little song of the AFC South and give you guys a review of what happened in the division. Unfortunate day for the Titans, but they were able to keep pace and take a look at how things are starting to stack up for the playoffs. Excited to go over everything with you guys. Let's get it. Your Tennessee Titans lead story is a huge victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-23 at home in Nashville. The Tennessee Titans are officially streaking at this moment in time. That is two wins back to back. They'll have to continue to do so to stay and remain in the playoff conversation. The Titans were able to beat the Buccaneers in two simple ways on Sunday,

and that is in the turnover battle and in the penalty battle. The Titans were able to force four turnovers on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense that did have quite a rhythm to it for most of the game. They were able to win the penalty battle 9-6, so the Titans were able to clean that up when it's been a little bit of a struggle for them so far. The Titans did fumble once, but the Buccaneers had two fumbles and two interceptions and really set the Titans offense up early with some easy opportunities. The Titans offense needs to be more consistent, quite frankly, in every offensive player, every player that the media talked to after the game said in their press conference that the Titans offense needs more consistency.

But they were still able to get it done in some of the moments that mattered most. They were 5-13 on third down. You would like to see a little bit better percentage from them there. That is something that the Titans offense has struggled with throughout the entire season. But they were 3-3 in the red zone. When the Tampa Bay offense gives you so many turnovers and they give you position in the red zone twice on turnovers you have to capitalize so although the Titans offense struggled on the day they did exactly what they had to do when they

had to do it so scoring two touchdowns on the two first half turnovers for the Buccaneers where the Titans offense was put within the red zone to start. That's really important that they capitalize on those. We saw Jonu Smith with a big touchdown. Tajay Sharp and Ryan Tannehill clearly have a good connection. We'll talk more about that in our second segment, Tighten Up, Tighten Down. But the O-line was really impressive in the final moments,

able to score that touchdown to A.J. Brown. About six minutes left to give them 27 and give them the margin of victory that they needed to pull out the W. Now, that's even more impressive when we consider how the offensive line dealt with injuries throughout the game. Ben Jones was injured and ended up returning, but there were times where Dennis Kelly was at guard. Jameel Douglas was at center.

You're already playing with Nate Davis, a rookie, at right guard, so losing Saffold, losing Ben Jones momentarily. Taylor LeJuan dealt with injuries throughout the game. Just really difficult to keep shuffling people in and out at all times and staying consistent on offense, but they were able to battle through that and take advantage of the opportunities that the Tampa Bay defense, which is pretty strong, at least against the run,

was able to give them. The Titans offense was still able to have 75 yards with Derrick Henry, which is more than the average of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, which was 68 going into the game. So have to take some small successes there. And without that fumble by Derrick Henry, they might've had more, but Tannehill had 198 yards and three touchdowns. Wasn't phenomenal, but definitely better than we've seen for most of the season. The Titans defense, pretty phenomenal as always, despite giving up a season high in points and letting Mike Evans kind of run wild for the first three quarters. The Titans defense gave up 106 rushing yards, but 58 of that was Jameis Winston's scrambles,

so I'm not really too concerned about that. And more importantly, in the fourth quarter, Mike Evans had no catches. So the Titans clearly had a plan to play the Buccaneers offense. They didn't really want to change what they were doing for any one player. They thought Logan Ryan could take away Chris Godwin, which he did, and was very successful with holding him to four catches, even though he's clearly been the Buccaneers' leading receiver. So far, the Titans were able to bottle up the run game with the running backs. Winston got those scrambles late.

So the Titans' defense really did what they needed to do. They forced a bunch of turnovers. This Tampa Bay Buccaneers' passing offense has been very successful throughout the season, and they're a pretty good unit. So the Titans' defense knew that they were going to have to deal with this aerial attack. Forcing four turnovers, having two interceptions, sealing the game with an interception, limited Mike Evans to no catches in the fourth quarter was just phenomenal from this defense. And though they didn't have their best day, they really made the plays that mattered when it counted most. So you have to give the Titans a little bit of credit here for never really giving up on the game and sticking with it

and giving the offense multiple opportunities. Mike Vrabel, another incredibly head-scratching decision on a fourth down. If you're going to go for it there, put the offense out there and go for it. If you're not, then kick the field goal. Cody Parkey was perfect on the day. Just really baffling decisions by Mike Vrabel, hoping it doesn't cost this team in the field goal. Cody Parkey was perfect on the day. Just really baffling decisions by Mike Vrabel, hoping it doesn't cost this team in the long run, but the Titans are 4-4 and looking to make a playoff push. We're going to talk about all the playoff seeding and how the division

results shook out today in our third segment. Before we jump into that though, we are going to do tighten up and tighten down in our second segment and give out some individual awards and talk about some individual performances, both good and bad for the Titans on Sunday. Right before that, I want to remind you guys the folks at Roman, a men's health company, are changing the game with Roman Swipes, the secret to longer-lasting sex.

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Smith was a great pickup in daily fantasy if you use Delaney Walker just stuck in the tight end wasteland or a great option in Daily Fantasy as well if you wanted to stack your lineup with some high-priced top end talent. Also, Tajay Sharp, while only having three catches for 18 yards, did have a touchdown on the day and he's clearly been a red zone target for Ryan Tannehill and I just wanted to point out Tajay Sharp as having a really nice connection, a good chemistry in the red zone with Tannehill. Also, Rashawn Evans, again, the shark, 12 tackles, leading the Titans, one tackle for loss. He was great.

Another one, Logan Ryan. He should, at some point, start getting some defensive player of the year conversation. Eight tackles, a sack, two passes defended, two quarterback hits, the game-sealing interception. What else could you ask from your slot nickel cornerback than to be a linebacker, to be a safety and get an interception, to constantly be in the backfield? And they blitzed Logan Ryan over and over throughout the game. Anytime the Titans brought a blitz, they were sneaking Logan Ryan in from the slot and bringing him in to try to put some pressure on Winston and force him out of the pocket.

So Logan Ryan again. Jarrell Casey. He's had kind of a slow year. Hasn't been quite the player that he had been in previous years that the Titans had to know at some point he was going to start slowing down just a little bit. But clearly he was able to make plays when the Titans defense needed it most. Five tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, two QB hits. Also, while we're talking about pass rush,

Hale Landry, a big sack strip recovery, the triple threat, the holy trinity for a pass rusher. Just absolutely fantastic from the Titans pass rush. Not all game long, but in some of the bigger moments they were able to make plays that were really necessary. And Casey on the fourth and one was a monster and pushed his man, Ryan Jensen, the center, back into the backfield and enabled that play to happen. So don't run on the Titans on fourth and one. When are defenses or offenses gonna learn? We will go to the Titan downs here for a moment, and there are more Titan Ups.

I could go over a lot of different people, but those are the ones I decided to go with. As for Titan Down, LaShawn Sims, I mean, you're going up against Mike Evans. I don't think that he was put in a great spot, and that's why I'm giving half of the credit for the Titan Down for LaShawn Sims to Dean Pease. There had to be a better game plan going into this game than to let the Titans defense just play regular, not pay attention to whether Mike Evans was on this side, that side, not mark him with Malcolm Butler and just play your regular defense. That is not going to work, and Mike Evans shredded the Titans for three quarters. Now, on the flip side of that, Dean Pease was able to

adjust. Mike Evans didn't have a catch in the fourth quarter, so great job there, but early on, letting LaShawn Sims just be on one side of the field and take Mike Evans on one-on-one sometimes, just disastrous game plan to start with, and luckily the Titans adjusted when they could, but tighten down for Sims and Pease. Deion Lewis, I mean, I didn't really want to throw him in here because it's low-hanging fruit at this point, but he's just not really giving anything to this team. The Miami Dolphins sat out Kenyon Drake for the game on Monday night against the Steelers.

They're not playing him tonight. That means that a trade is imminent. Honestly, if the Titans are giving up a six-round pick or less or a conditional seventh or something like that, I'd be really excited to add a player like Kenyon Drake to this offense. I think he would most certainly be more effective than Deion Lewis, and it is something that the Titans' offense needs right now, that kind of back. Arthur Smith, again, just some really baffling play calls.

The Titans were in a good position at one point during the game with good field position. He comes out run-run against the best run defense in the league. The Titans get stuffed. The drive goes nowhere. It's things like that that just really hurt this team. Just very questionable play calling. I'll just lump that in with Rabel again. I just have to say it again.

What is he doing week to week with these in-game decisions? It's insane. If you're going to go for it on fourth down, put the offense out there and go for it and try to win the game. If you're going to kick a field goal or put a field goal formation out there, then put a field goal formation out there and kick the field goal. Don't fake it to your punter on a run on fourth down. Just really bad decision making, even if you do want to go for it on fourth down, which

I'm not completely opposed to at that moment in time. One slight tighten down is Ryan Tannehill. We saw the bad that Ryan Tannehill can give us. Some of those throws last week against the Chargers were great throws to see. We want to see those tight window throws, those tough contested catches down the field. Give them a chance. Give the wide receivers a chance. However, some of those can turn bad for you, and he threw two interceptions to Carlton Davis that ended up being turned over

by penalties and gave the Titans the ball back, but we just saw some of those passes can be pretty risky, so we saw the good of Ryan Tannehill, but this week we did get a little bit of bad Tannehill. Lucky enough for the Titans, it didn't cost them. And Corey Davis just wasn't very effective on the day. Two catches, nine yards. You just want to see more out of him for being the fifth overall pick and what he gave you last week. So the Titans were able to pull it out despite a lot of bad performances and a lot of yards left on the field on offense. But they made the plays when it mattered most.

So that's going to do it for Tighten Up and Tighten Down. When we come back, I'm going to give you Song of the AFC South, and we are going to talk about how the Titans division rivals did today and where the Titans are within the playoff conversation after some of the other contenders had their results come in on Sunday. We are going to wrap up this Monday with our third segment, Song of the AFC South. Let's talk about how the division rivals did and where the Titans sit within the playoff conversation. So, the Colts were able to win at home against the Broncos, 13-12. Really disappointing.

Felt like the Colts were going to lose this game. They were backed up on their own goal line, down by two. Thought that the Broncos had Jacoby Brissett wrapped up in the end zone, possibly for a safety, but definitely for a sack. Brissett makes just an incredible play to shake off two defenders, which we saw in the game zone, possibly for a safety, but definitely for a sack. Brissette makes just an incredible play to shake off two defenders, which we saw in the game against the Titans. He has the ability to do, break those sacks. He broke a sack through a really nice strike down the sideline to T.Y. Hilton to give them some room to operate. They benefited from a nice penalty call that was

a little controversial, and Adam Vinatieri, the legend, despite really struggling throughout the day, was able to give the Colts the victory, 13-12. So they moved to 5-2, leading the AFC South. The Jaguars went against the Jets. The Jets were kind of in the game for a little bit, but as expected, the Jaguars were able to hold on and win 29-15. Will be interesting to see how that team handles the quarterback situation. Minshew has been pretty good for the Jaguars.

And Nick Foles seems to be getting healthy. So it'll be interesting to see how the Jaguars handle that. And if that hurts the chemistry or if that hurts their team whatsoever going forward. Again, thought the Raiders had a good opportunity to beat the Texans. The Raiders are up 24-20 in the fourth quarter, and Deshaun Watson just makes an incredible play. One of the best plays of the NFL season, for sure. The guy's phenomenal. He's great at football. He's fun to watch. He's a really good quarterback, and it sucks having him in the Titans division, but the Titans are going

to have to find ways to get pressure on Watson because he's able to do the things we saw today with the game on the line. The Texans are in the red zone. Deshaun Watson spins around, breaks out of a sack. A literal foot goes through his face mask and kicks him in the eye. He adjusts his face mask, touches his eyeball, rolls out of the sack, and then throws in the eye. He adjusts his face mask, touches his eyeball, rolls out of the sack, and then throws a touchdown pass. The Texans win 27-24. They are currently 5-3. The Titans were able to keep pace with all their division opponents,

but disappointing that some of the rivals looked like they were in line for a loss and were able to pull it out. One thing of note for the Texans, J.J. Watt did announce on Twitter on Sunday night that he has torn his pec and is done for the season. You never want to see anybody get injured, but clearly he had really gotten back into form here in midseason and was playing very good football and really making an impact for their defense.

So from a Titans perspective, it does help them going forward throughout the rest of the season to have J.J. Watt not able to make an impact on the two games the Titans have left against the Texans in week 15 and week 17. So really important there. The Eagles were able to defeat the Bills 31-13. That helps the Titans big time. The Bills now go to 5-2 on the season.

Hopefully this Bills team, who isn't really as good as I think maybe their record shows right now, catches a few more losses and kind of brings them back to the pack and opens up both those wildcard spots instead of right now looking like they have a stranglehold on the first one. They still have a sole lead for the first wildcard spot right now, but it is very early in the season. Another one is the Raiders. They took that loss to the Tex wildcard spot right now, but it is very early in the season. Another one is the Raiders. They took that loss to the Texans. They're now three and four. They're behind the Titans. The Titans do have a game against the Raiders going forward throughout the season. They'll control their own destiny when it comes to taking out the Raiders from the playoff picture.

So all in all, not a great day for the Titans in terms of how their competition fared, but not a terrible one either because the Titans were able to keep pace. One thing I do want to mention that I missed in the Titan up, Titan down segment is how important Cody Parkey was for the Titans today. I feel like I'll give him his shine here before we take off for the day. He made two field goals, made extra points, made a 50-yard field goal. Having the issue that we had with Cairo Santos and missing all of those field goals against the Bills, it's really nice to see Cody Parkey come out here and have a phenomenal game. And what's even more hilarious and ironic about that is the Bears

had an easy game to win. All they had to do was make an easy field goal, and their kicker missed it. The Bears can't get right when it comes to kickers but I'm glad that the Titans were able to get Cody Parkey and he was available so that he could help them win that ball game today so really important for the Titans to get that victory in Nashville at home they have a very tough game against the Panthers this weekend it'll be really really really important that the offense is more consistent than it was today because despite the victory feeling good and the game being fun to watch, the Titans offense still leaves a lot to be desired. So that's going to do it for our show today, and that was Song of the AFC South.

So we reviewed the game in Roland's review, did Titan Up, Titan Down, Song of the AFC South. I had a great time watching the game. Follow me on Twitter at TicTacTitans where we can interact every Sunday and I post a lot of visual content for you guys from the tape that I break down throughout the week as well. So really enjoyed going over it with all of you guys. Once again, I'm your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. you