Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Who Are the REAL Tennessee Titans, Bengals More Physical in Week 12 & #TitanUpTitanDown

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

The Tennessee Titans lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and now the world wants you to think the Titans are a bad team. Tyler says NONSENSE! The Titans made clear mistakes and had clear issues against Cincy as they always do, but the Titans are a good football team and Tyler feels better about their chances to win a playoff game now more than ever. Next, #TitanUpTitanDown as Tyler talks about the excellent day of Treylon Burks and the passing offense, but also goes over the poor day from the Titans cornerbacks and edge rushers.Follow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.TuroForget boring rental cars and find your drive at Turo.com  AudibleHead over to Locked On NFL for a sneak peak of Block Forever or catch the full series available anywhere you get your podcast. Available everywhere now!   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, the Tennessee Titans lost 20-16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the media narratives are already going to start to run wild about who the Tennessee Titans really are. But we know the Tennessee Titans are a good football team, and I think the game against Cincinnati showed that.

Then we're going to get into tighten up, tighten down, go over all the good and bad individual performances like the good day from Traylon Burks on offense and the rough day for the Titans cornerbacks on defense. So all of that and more on today's edition of the 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 was a tough loss for the Titans and a tough battle with Cincinnati. The Bengals are a bad matchup for the Titans,

but that doesn't mean that the Titans aren't a good football team, and the Titans may have only beaten one team with a winning record so far, and that's the Washington Commanders. I still think we know exactly who the Titans are. I'm going to go over that in just a moment before I do want to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by PrizePix. PrizePix is daily fantasy made easy. You pick two to five players and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON.

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Throw a thumbs up on the video. Definitely do appreciate the support. But diving in here. So like I said, the Titans have one game, one win over a team with a winning record. It's the Washington Commanders and you know, people could tell you how they feel about the Commanders, but you look at what the Titans are doing here. The defense has been incredible for the last eight weeks, held this potent Bengals offense that nearly dropped 40 last week, held them to only 20 points and made it tough on them throughout the game. You look at Kansas City, the best offense in the league, the

Titans gave up 20 points. Unfortunately, the Titans offense just hasn't been able to score more than that and that brings us to what we know. The Titans have a top five excellent defense with a middle of the road decent offense. That's what they have. They have an

average offense with a really good defense. And when you have good coaching like you typically get from Mike Vrabel, and you have a good plan going into games, you're going to get a team that wins a lot of games, especially when you look at the schedule early, and the Titans played a lot of bad teams. The Titans are going to beat these bad teams this year.

But when they go up against the good teams, is when the struggle is going to come in that they only have an average offense. I personally think that when you hold the Chiefs to 20 points and you hold the Bengals to 20 points, you should win. You should win. And it also brings us to some of the things that stood out against the Bengals are just realities of who the Titans are as a team. The Titans have a very good schematic defense. They have good rushers up front.

They play physical football. They have a smart plan in the secondary. But none of that matters if you just make a play. The Jimmys and the Joes, just one-on-one make a play. And this year, Diami Brown, Matt Collins, Alec Pierce, Christian Watson,

Tee Higgins, teams that have a guy that can just win one-on-one in contested situations, that is the one weakness that the Titans have on defense. They have a really, really good defense. But they have that weakness at cornerback. They have a middle-of-the-road offense that when you shut down the run game,

they just don't have enough against good teams to put up more than 20 points. But, with all that being said, when you don't play the Bengals and the Chiefs and the Bills, I'm confident that the Titans will win. I came into this season saying, I don't think there's any way the Titans win a playoff game. Well, it looks like the Bengals are going to win the AFC North because the Ravens just lost to the Jags.

So that means that the Titans are probably going to see the Ravens, the Dolphins, the Patriots, the Chargers in the playoffs because Cincinnati will win their division, which means the Titans, as a division winner, won't play them in round one. I mean, the Titans can beat those teams with who they are.

So the media narrative is going to be the Titans are frauds, the Titans don't beat good teams, it's a-ba-ba-ba, and this and that. But the Titans play incredibly competitive football no matter the circumstance with the best teams in the NFL. And I think that that sets them, maybe they're in Tier 2. But that sets them there. And I think that this team, what we know about the Titans,

the Titans can win a playoff game this year in the wildcard round against one of these wildcard teams. I truly do believe that. So although the Titans were 0-3 in the red zone, although T. Higgins made incredible plays and went 7-for-1, 14 out of touchdown, although the Titans couldn't get the run game going with only 63 yards. Although there was no pass rush with one sack.

Although Kevin Strong and Mike Vrabel made bad decisions at the end of the game. Vrabel kicking that field goal at the end and putting the rest of the game in Joe Burrow's hands. And then Kevin Strong with the dumb mistake at the end. Yeah, there were things that didn't go the Titans' way. But it was 20-16 against a very good football team. I guess no matter what the media narrative is out of this game, no matter how down you're feeling about the Titans losing, I think that this game, although a loss, reinforced what we know.

The Titans are a good team. And with the way the AFC is shaping up, I think the Titans can win a playoff game. Do I think they can beat full strength Bengals? Do I think they can beat the Chiefs? Do I think they can beat the Bills in the divisional round? No, I don't. But the fact that I see the Titans as a team that can win a playoff game, and who knows once you win a playoff game and you advance, what injuries happen, what weird things happen, it's the playoffs. Who knows? They give themselves a shot. It's like how Vrabel always says, get the first first down on an offensive drive.

You get that first first down, and who knows what happens after that? You can get it rolling. I think the Titans are in a position, and they're a good enough team, that they can win their first playoff game in the wildcard round and who knows after that. And that's the big takeaway for me coming out of this game from a macro perspective, from a big picture perspective. I'm encouraged by the game against the Bengals,

despite some people being very upset about it. So I hope you guys can have a little bit of optimism and see it the way that I do, that this is, you know, while I would love to have won, it's not a nightmare scenario for me when you look at this game. But moving forward, we are going to zoom in a little bit. We're going to talk Titan Up and Titan Down. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad in this game to go over.

So make sure you guys throw your Titan Ups and your Titan Downs down in the comments right now. Before we get into that though, do want to tell you guys that this episode is brought to you by Audible. Audible is releasing a new slate of football podcasts, and we think that you're going to love them. That's why you're going to be able to find Block Forever available as a bonus episode on the Locked On NFL feed right now. Block Forever, available as a bonus episode on the Locked On NFL feed right now. Block Forever is a new podcast from former NFL All-Pro Ryan Khalil and Audible. Khalil takes the conversation about football to the next level.

He gives football fans an insider's look at the game through the eyes of the greatest players and personalities of all time. Head over to LockedOnNFL for a sneak peek of Block Forever or catch the full series available anywhere. You get your podcasts available everywhere now. Audible, get in the game. Titans fans, we are going to continue today's game recap edition of the Locked on Titans podcast by diving into Titan Up and Titan Down for all the good and bad individual performances in this game. We just talked about my big picture thoughts coming out of this game,

and it's really generally positive, and I'm more optimistic about the Titans right now than I have been pretty much any time throughout the season, other than maybe right after that win against the Packers last week, because, boy, we were riding a high on Thursday night. We weren't the only ones as well. But moving forward, I'm pretty optimistic about where the Titans are. I'm more optimistic about what they can do this season

than I was going into the year. So I like that. But let's zoom in and talk about this game against Cincinnati a little bit more. Before we do, I want to thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. Remember, Monday through Friday, free Tennessee Titans content all year round on all platforms. Make sure you stay

locked in to the Locked on Titans podcast and get subscribed. Stay subscribed. Tomorrow, we're going to be breaking down the game by the numbers, snap counts, pro football focus grades, different data points coming out, the biggest storyline coming out of the game. All that Wednesday will be rewatch Wednesday.

I dive into the tape and tell you what I saw from the Titans from an X's and O's standpoint. Crossover Thursday is going to be with the guys from Locked On Eagles. We know that's going to be an interesting one. Friday is a game plan preview Friday where I go over what I want to see from the Titans from a schematic standpoint. And boy, the last two weeks, the Packers and the Bengals, I've had these games down to a T schematically as to what to expect, what you're going to see,

and where the matchup hinges, really. So you don't want to miss any of the content coming up here on Locked on Titans. But the number one Titan up for me, Traylon Burks. I thought Burks was fantastic in this game. He had four catches for 70 yards. He hopped on that ball in the end zone and saved Derrick Henry from the fumble. He made the big play

in the second half on the 51-yard catch. Six targets, four catches, 70 yards. Traylon Burks developing into the explosive weapon that the Titans hoped he would yards. Traylon Burks developing into the explosive weapon that the Titans hoped he would be. Traylon Burks looks like he was worth the first round pick. That's what it comes down to. That's what matters. And that's exciting for all of us. So my game ball in the postcast went to Traylon Burks. I thought he saved the Titans offense throughout most of the day. He is the number one Titan up. I also have to give a tighten up to Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill didn't make any back-breaking mistakes,

didn't make any turnovers. I thought he ran when he had to, even though it's obvious that he still banged up on that ankle when he said he re-aggravated it. He went 22 for 34, 291 yards. I mean, it was a pretty good day from Ryan Tannehill. Tannehill really did his best. Ran for nine yards, picked up a first down.

I thought Tannehill had a very good game. He's been playing very good football since he came back. Also, Derrick Henry, I know it wasn't his best day in the run game, but to me, that's more about the offensive line. The only time that Henry got any kind of wiggle room at all

before the line of scrimmage, he was able to make something out of it. So I'm not going to hold that against Derrick Henry. We saw three catches, 79 yards. He did have the fumble, of course, but he was able to get the Titans down there. Titans probably would have ended up putting on that play. So yeah, he fumbled. But without Derrick Henry making the play in the first place, the Titans never have a chance to get down there.

So I'm not going to hold it against Henry. I thought he made explosive plays when he could. Also, I really just want to give a big Titan up to the entire passing offense. Chica Conquo continues to be the most explosive tight end option for the Titans. Five targets, three catches, 35 yards. I thought he should have been more involved in the game plan.

NWI, when you put Nick Westbrook-Akina in the correct role, in the proper role as a third or fourth or fifth or sixth option on the offense, he can take advantage. Four catches, 58 yards. Moved the chains a couple of times. Austin Hooper, Robert Woods. Again, chain movers. Woods only had two catches for 16 yards. Hooper, three catches for Again, chain movers. Woods only had two catches

for 16 yards. Hooper three catches for 30, but they were big catches that moved the chains. That's their role in the offense. So good job there. Moving forward, on defense, not a lot of tighten ups, but I thought Kevin Byard and Imani Hooker played very well in the game. They did what they had to do. The issue that the Titans had were really on the edges and at cornerback is where I thought the big issues were for the Titans defense. I think Bayard and Hooker did a pretty good job. Those are really my only tighten-ups

on the defensive side of the ball, though. I think everybody else struggled. Well, struggled maybe isn't the exact words other outside of the cornerbacks, but I don't think anybody on the Titans defense played their best game in this game. I think Hooker and Byron were good, though. Also, tighten up for C.J. Board.

C.J. Board has come in. He's held on to the ball. He had one kick return for 20 yards. Solid. He had four punt returns for 42 yards total. I thought he was just incredibly solid. And that's all the Titans need. I thought Ryan Stonehouse, five punts, 269 total yards.

Two of those five, he pinned them deep. One of them was a 71-yard punt that yet was a touchback, but that's still a great net punt for the Titans at 51 yards. Put two inside the 20. Ryan Stonehouse is the best punter in the NFL. So the last person that I want to mention is Trey Avery. Trey Avery had two PBUs. He did have one catch or two catches given up against him.

But he had two tackles. I thought Trey Avery played great. And Terrence Mitchell was inactive in this game. So the Titans said, you know what? We're going to thought Trey Avery played great. And Terrence Mitchell was inactive in this game. So the Titans said, you know what? We're going to give Trey Avery a shot. And I thought he held up pretty well. It wasn't Trey Avery that was getting beat by Tee Higgins. It was Fulton and McCreary, not Avery.

So I thought Avery did a pretty good job out there. So tighten up for Trey Avery. But we're going to move forward. It's time to talk about the Titan downs. And there were enough of those that we're going to move forward. It's time to talk about the Titan downs. And there were enough of those that we're going to spend a little bit more time there than we normally would. I think the Titans not only got out-physicaled,

they got out-coached. And that typically doesn't happen when you watch Titans games. So I thought that was kind of interesting to see. But before we move forward, I do want to tell you guys that today's episode is sponsored by Price Picks. Price Picks makes daily fantasy simple.

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you get it right, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. All you have to do, it goes up, go to prize picks.com right now, or download the prize picks app, enter the promo code locked on. That's one word, LOCKEDON. First time users can get a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with that promo code LOCKEDON. So you deposit $100, you get $100.

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of the Locked on Titans podcast with Titan down. Time to talk about some of the performances in this game that weren't so good. And there were quite a few more than I was hoping to have. But with that in mind, it's been a great episode. We talked about who I think the Titans really are as a team. And I don't see it as all doom and gloom as some people are acting after this loss. We talked about all the Titan ups, and there were a lot of things to be encouraged by.

The Titans passing game, some of the play in the secondary, despite the cornerbacks getting beat generally overall. So some good in there, generally positive. Start to the show, which considering that some of you guys think I'm one of the more pessimistic Tennessee Titans content creators out there, I hope you find that as a welcome surprise. And I hope you guys are a little more encouraged and a little more hopeful after hearing that. Maybe not, but either way, it's time to get into Titan Down because the Titans did lose and we do have to, you know, ride on the negative train at least for a little bit.

Before we get into it it though, thank you guys again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen every day. As for your second listen, make sure that you guys check out the Locked on Sports Today podcast. The biggest stories of the day plus instant reactions, big game

recaps, and the take of the day available on the Odyssey app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Locked on Sports today. But starting with Titan down, the offensive line just got bullied. The Titans pride themselves

as being the team that wins on the line of scrimmage. It's the Titans that bully people up front. Well, the Titans got bullied in this game, and it starts up front. The offensive line could only allow three yards per carry, 63 yards total. 63 rushing yards total. The Titans average around 130 a game. That is not

good enough. Everyone on the offensive line deserves a Titan down. With how excited we were about the pass blocking last week from the offensive line of the future, this week you have to be just as discouraged with their inability to get movement in the run

game. But what I come back to and why I'm not that discouraged about it is because the Bengals are really good. And they have really good personnel up front with B.J. Hill and D.J. Reeder and Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson and Jermaine Pratt and Logan Wilson. I mean, they have really good personnel up front against a lesser defense, which there's a lot of lesser defenses out there in the NFL.

The Titans are going to be able to have their way a little bit more. So credit to the Bengals. Credit to the Bengals. But the offensive line just wasn't good enough. Got to be a Titan down. Jeff Swaim. And it's not a tight end down. Jeff Swaim. And it's not necessarily a tight end down for like Swaim that he should play better.

It's more of the fact that it's a tight end down for tight end downing, Todd Downing. And why is Jeff Swaim being motioned out into the slot and then running a slant in the red zone? Why can't that be Chigaconqua? Why can't that even be Austin Hooper? Why can't that be Nick Westbrook-Akina, a guy you want to take advantage of his physicality?

At the end of the day, Todd Downing wasn't terrible in this game at all, by any means. He was not terrible. But he's just not good enough to give the Titans the advantage that they need to be a Super Bowl winning team on offense. It's unfortunate, but it's the truth. It's the truth.

He's not a smart enough play caller and a smart enough offensive mind to give the Titans the advantage they need to overcome having okay personnel. He's not. So, Downing escaped it for the one week that Todd Downing escaped being a Titan down. He got a major Titan down for a DUI. So, it's just Titan down, week 12,

Titan downing, repeat. Excuse me. Continuing. Not a great game for David Long. Thought there were some missed tackles. I thought in pass coverage he lost Hayden Hurst quite a bit

in the run game. I think the big issue is David Long is a really good player. He's a really good linebacker. But he has his deficiencies. And one of his deficiencies is he can't get off blocks as easily as other people. He's not a guy who engages the offensive lineman in the chest and then sheds the block. He uses his quickness and his aggressiveness to

slither around blocks and kind of juke offensive linemen out and then make plays. Well, the problem is is when you don't keep him clean to do that, he can't even use his intuition. He can't even use his awareness and his agility

and his speed and aggressiveness to get downhill. Because the Titans defensive line is getting pushed backwards. So, it's imperative. The reason that David Long is so good with the Titans is because the Titans defensive line keeps him so clean. When they don't do that, credit to the Bengals offensive line played very well in this game. When they don't do that,

then it makes it harder for David Long to have space to operate and in this game. When they don't do that, then it makes it harder for David Long to have space to operate and play his game. You don't want David Long in a phone booth with an offensive lineman. That's not how he plays. So David Long, a Titan down, no way around it, but a lot of that has to do with the defensive line play. And at the end of the day, it's like when Saquon Barkley had a good game against the Titans early in the year. It's the Titans' edges. Bud Dupree, Rashad Weaver, mostly. Sam Oakway and Onu. Mario Edwards.

They're just getting sucked in and washed down. And it's given cutback lanes to running backs on power plays up the middle. It is what it is. The edges were not good enough. The Titans have a philosophy on defense. Edge. Wall. Swarm. a philosophy on defense. Edge, wall, swarm. You create an edge.

You make a wall on the line, and then you swarm forward. Well, the Titans were not setting the edge. And if you don't do step one, you can't do step two, you can't do step three. And that's on the edge play. And without Danico Autry in there, relying on other people,

it is what... And at the end of the day, Bud Dupree, this is what I'm talking about, guys. When you have Jeffrey Simmons, and you have Harold Landry, and you have Danico Autry, even if you have Danico Autry and Jeffrey

Simmons, and then you add Bud Dupree to that, then they're good. But, when you just have Bud Dupree as one of the main focal points, he's not a good enough player to get it done. And that's why he's an NFL starter, and he deserves to be a starter,

and the Titans are better with him on the field because he's a starting-level player, but he's not worth the contract. That's been my point since the contract was given. It was my point after last season. It's been my point throughout this season. He is a good player. He's an NFL starter, but he's a good player, he's an NFL starter,

but he's a complementary player, not one of your stars, not one of your foundation players. And he didn't do enough out there, and neither did Jeff Simmons. Now, Simmons had a tackle for loss, six tackles, made a mark out there at least. Bud Dupree had two tackles. One QB hit on a broken play for Cincy. Just not good enough. Just not good enough. So, moving

forward, we got to talk about the cornerbacks. Roger McCreary, not big enough to play on the outside consistently. Christian Fulton. Christian Fulton, very good player. I would say he is a B plus cornerback, but he's not an A. And when he gets in these one-on-one situations with some of these A wide receivers, he loses. He is good within the scheme. He is a good cornerback. Again, a B-plus cornerback, but he's not an A, and we need to make sure we remember it

because it's just the truth. Caleb Schuttick missed the field goal. You can't miss a 37-yard field goal, man. Come on. He made a 38-yarder, so let's not be ridiculous. But 3-for-4, 4-for-5 overall, it's really just a tighten down of the Titans kicker situation. So let's not be ridiculous. But three for four, four for five overall. It's really just a tighten down of the Titans kicker situation. Can't really blame Caleb Shudick all that much,

but it just sucks to have this kicker thing pop up all the time. But even if Shudick makes it, and by the way, I've heard three pronunciations for his name, so I'm riding with Shudick. But even if he makes it, the Titans lose by one point. You know? So it's not Shuttick's fault. Sucks, but it's just not. It's not on him or anything like that. Finally, Kevin Strong, boneheaded play. Kevin Byard told the truth. That was a penalty. He committed the penalty. It was stupid. Unnecessary. What are you going to do? It's a short field goal for McPherson anyway. What, you think you're going to get there in time?

That was so dumb. Boneheaded. But it was only possible because I think Mike Drable made a really bad decision kicking the field goal at the end rather than going for it on the fourth and gettable. Number one, you kick the field goal, you got to get a stop on Burrow to get the ball back just to have a chance. If you get the touchdown, you at least tie the game,

which adds pressure to the Bengals, in my opinion, because they're not playing with a lead, it's tied. So they're going to actually be trying to play offense and get down there. I just think it changes the tenor of the game. And even if you don't get it, you still need one stop on Burrow and the Bengals offense is going to be all the way backed up,

which gives you a better chance of stopping the Bengals quickly and not losing a ton of field position for when you got to turn back around and go score again. So I just didn't like that decision. I don't think it blew the game for him or anything like that. Like it's one of those debatable things. I get the logic of, hey, you're going to have to get a stop on Burrow at some point anyway. At least if you get the stop, you're going for the win instead of the tie. I get all of it, but I would have liked to see the Titans go for it there. Try to tie the game, put the pressure on Burrow to go score.

If you do get that stop, you get the OT. So that's just a nitpick, I guess. But the Titans got out physicaled. The Bengals are a better football team. That's the reality. But I think the Titans are still a good football team. And I think the Titans can win a playoff game. A lot of good and bad performances. But overall, the sky isn't falling for me. I hope you guys feel the same. But that's going to do it for me today, folks. Make sure you subscribe to the Locked on Titans podcast on whatever platform you do stream.

I am your host, Tyler Rowland, and this was Locked on Titans. you