NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2020 Week 10 TNF Recap - Colts-Titans

Episode Date: November 13, 2020

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by the Athletic's Sheil Kapadia to talk about the Colts-Titans matchup. The Titans started out strong but fell off in the second half and the Hall of Fame Philip Rivers talk continues.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Nice little fake passes. Caught touchdown. What a start. Deonté Foreman with a grab. And boy, these Titans can chew up yardage in a blink. Rivers throws. Pass caught Heinz.

And in for the touchdown. And Brissette will plow forward and get in for the touchdown. And for Jacoby Brissette, his first touchdown of this. season. That was Jacoby Brassette putting the cherry on top of the Sunday for the Indianapolis Colts adding insult to injury. You got an all-time quarterback sneak. Jacoby Brissette 34 to 17. The Colts win in Nashville. I'm Greg Rosenthal. And tonight on the recap, I'm excited to be joined by Shield Capadia, you know, from Birds with Friends. It's a crossover week here on the around the NFL podcast.

Sheal writes for the athletic, long-time writer with ESPN.com to Sheel. And I'll start with this. Were you surprised that the Titans' offense only scores 17 points in a primetime game here? I was surprised, but what really stood out is that they have such small margin for error. You know, I didn't watch like the first half and think, wow, the Titans are getting shut down here but you just look at the other aspects of their team which i'm sure we'll talk about here in a second and it's like if the you know the offense has been so efficient they figured out the hard part building the efficient offense even though it wasn't at its best tonight but like

other parts of the team tonight looked like a complete disaster and so you end up with a 17 point loss yeah i um i picked the colts in this game shield's really smart everyone should check out his stuff He wrote that Carson Wentz takedown piece, I would call it, earlier this week. I'm just kidding, but you just wrote about the decline. And you've always got like an analytical bent. You're a really smart analytical writer. And I noticed your record this year on picking against the spread is outrageously good to the point where I was like, is this a misprint. But you know what?

You got this one wrong. I did. And I got it right. So if we started the season tonight, I want to know. And your own one, do you feel bad that you didn't have as much faith in Philip Rivers as you maybe should have? Yeah, you know, I really, I know you do picks also. And so I really wanted to be on the winning end of this one, knowing I was coming on this podcast tonight. You know, the Colts, it feels like to me, they need to be so efficient on offense.

Like they are not going to produce a ton of explosive plays. They had some tonight. And they moved the ball, I mean, they moved the ball inside the Tennessee 30-yard line on their first. seven possessions. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it because you watched the Colts offense at times and it's just like everything so hard, nothing comes easy. And there were times tonight where you thought, all right, they got to convert another

fourth and one. They got to convert another fourth and one. But give them credit. I thought they schemed it up really well. There were wide open receivers. I felt like all night long and Rivers did a good job of getting the ball out quickly. Yeah, I only picked them not like that had any, not that any great insight, is because I feel good about their offense, you know, against a team that can't rush the pass or against

the team that can't get off the field on third downs. If you're able to do that, then I feel like the defense can show up, do its things, and the Colts should have enough to win. You mentioned the fourth downs. They go three of five on fourth downs. There was a goal line stand. There was another turnover on downs and field goal range, which usually will come back to haunt you. But I like that Reich stayed aggressive. And they do have a big margin for error. when they play good defenses, but there's, there's like not that many good defenses. You know, there's a couple in the AFC, unfortunately, for them. They're probably going to have to go through the Steelers of the Ravens at some point,

and I think that's going to be a problem. But Rivers didn't see a lot of open receivers, doesn't throw it deep. We know he can't sneak, even one yard. He definitely can't, like, make plays. But he can throw in rhythm to these guys. And what I've been wanting to watch out of this team all year was just to find some juice. And I'm always thinking, why don't they give Naheem Hines more run? Because all the plays with Nahim Hines are good.

And like the plays with Jonathan Taylor are rarely good. And Taylor made a couple good runs actually on third and one, fourth and one. So maybe he can be that short yardage guy. But Himes has juice, man. He has burst and he's a great receiver. He's kind of what you want in a 2020 running back. I know maybe you're not going to give it to him 25 times a game, but maybe 15 and that he's kind of the lead.

dog there. So you get a little juice from him and then you get juice from Michael Pittman going over 100 yards who is really good yards after catch. That's who you need with Philip Rivers is guys that are going to make opposing defenses miss. And so if I'm a Colts fan, more of that, please. Those two guys can give this offense a chance. Absolutely. I thought the supporting cast has not been great all year. You kind of watch them and you're like, all right, who are who's like keeping the Titans up at night when they're game planning for this game on the Colts offense? you know, Jordan Wilkins, John. These guys, they have a bunch of okay guys, but I agree with you.

They needed someone with some juice, and Heinz has been doing it for a few weeks with the cartwheels in the end zone the other week. And even today, like that touchdown he had, it looked to me like the Titans had a defensive lineman in the backfield, but Heinz, like, made a miss really quickly and then got into the end zone. I mean, he was incredible, 70 yards, rushing 45, 45 receiving yards. And so I think he's definitely somebody who needs.

needs to get the ball for them a lot more. There's no doubt about it. He passes the eye test. You know, we tape this podcast on video, you know, even though it's for audio. And so I can't, you know, speaking of the eye test, I can't help but, you know, think, seeing your, you know, tastefully shaved dome that you have, Sheel. And think of the other, you know, beautifully bald man that I'm usually doing Thursday nights with Chris Wessling.

He has loved Nahim Hines since day one his rookie year. always thought that he deserved more touches. I think they've missed Marlon Mack quite a bit this year, that he's actually a really good running back and has made that line look good because they haven't been like a great offensive line, at least in short yardage. They protect rivers pretty well.

But they do have a great defensive line. And that was the other thing I definitely want to hit on for the Colts. And they're going to play the Titans again in two weeks. It's a really strange stretch of the schedule here where they both play really good teams next week. The Colts have the Packers. and the Titans have the Ravens in Baltimore. And then they're playing each other again.

So it's just kind of a crazy three weeks where if one of these teams can sweep the other, that's huge. And I give the Colts a decent chance to sweep the Titans because the next one will be on turf. And I think it's a big mismatch when the Titans have the ball and they're just so used to the play-action passing game and Tanna Hill getting back there. And even though it didn't show up with a ton of sacks,

man, they get quick pressure. They get DeForest Buckner and Autry and Grover Stewart had a big game in Houston. They just got a lot of guys. I think people haven't watched the Colts a lot this year. To me, that stands out for them. And to me, that's a mismatch right now against the Titans team who's pretty banged up up front. Yeah, I think Grover Stewart would definitely be the starting nose tackle on like the football hipster or like the football tape grinder team.

I mean, no, they love a Grover Stewart. He showed up with that huge hit today down near the goal line. And you're right. I mean, this was, I'm kind of with you. You know, I've heard you talk about this before. I'm the same way. I feel like there's a few great defenses that you have to really worry about. And then, like, defenses five through 20, it just sort of depends on the day, the matchup.

Do they create some turnovers here? And the cold, you know, they're sort of making their case to be among those five defenses that really matter. And they definitely played well tonight. And it seems like with Tannahill, you know, there were a couple of plays that feels like where this game could have swung early on that A.J. Brown had that catch down the left sideline. You felt like, all right, if he makes that catch, maybe it's a different game. And then in the second half, Jonu Smith, I think, was wide open there on the right side. And Tannahill

overthrew him. But, you know, any defense, you're going to get some of those breaks throughout the course of the game. But overall, they did a great job. I thought that Danico Autry play was like an underrated play. I think it was a third and one. And Tannehill was getting out there on a bootleg. And he did a great job. staying at home and kind of just getting enough of his ankle to sack him there and then they got the shanked pun after that. Yeah, it was weird. They bench the punter they brought in last week, which was Ryan Allen's Super Bowl great for the Patriots, by the way, who had a big game. I didn't even know this, but some Titans fan was all in my mentions going like, why did they bench Ryan Allen

after he came in an average 50 a punt? It's like, I don't know, bro, but it did not work out because you mentioned it after that sack. It was the 17-yard shank. And it's one of the reasons why, you know, analytics Twitter says always go for the fourth down, of course, is because hopefully you get a defensive stop. You get great field position like the cold state, and they scored right away. Now, I heard you say, like, football hipster, tape grinder, Twitter. Yeah. Like, wouldn't you be part of it?

You don't consider yourself part of that because you're more like the numbers. But I feel like you might be a football hipster, at least. I don't know. I did shave. I'm clean shaven here. I have a solid shirt on. It's not flat. I have no mustache.

I don't know. We'll let the listeners decide on the way. Yeah, that's pretty fair. Like you're clean shape. You're kind of square. You're into the numbers. Maybe not. I did want to hit on Rivers just before we're done.

He is now fifth, all time, and passing yards, which I don't put a lot into, but it's just kind of, I find it interesting when you pass Dan Marino on that. Do you think he's playing, do you think he has a chance this year? I picked them to win the Super Bowl just because I decided to pick something I want to root for this year. And I didn't really believe in it. I don't believe in it now. Do you think there's like any scenario where Philip Rivers could be good enough to go on a run, like to the Super Bowl? I don't see it.

I don't see the Colts having that ceiling. And I love Frank Reich. I like this team. I picked them to win the division before the season. but I just, I look at their offseason and, you know, like the Jonathan Taylor pick or even Michael Pittman, I felt like they needed to add a receiver or somebody, you know, we're talking about Naim Hines, you know, who's a good player. Pittman looked good tonight.

Pittman look good tonight. Yeah, but, you know, I don't see like enough there where their offense is going to be good enough and explosive enough throughout the course of like an entire postseason to keep pace with a Patrick Mahomes or even a Steelers or a Ravens team. So I've got them in kind of next tier. But, you know, I have to remind myself that, like, week 10, not everything's figured out. And so a month from now, you know, I feel like Rivers has probably played good games in three of the last four. They had a tough half last week against the Raven.

So maybe they can prove me wrong, but right now I would say they don't have that seal. You know, you host an Eagles blogger and Eagles Homer, I guess. I don't even know. But you like Frank Reich. You know, what do they look like in week 10 before they go on the run? There is a long way, there's a long way to go. But is he a Hall of Famer? How about that?

I think so. I heard a nice, you know, back and forth on Twitter tonight where Robert Mays was just going hard doing the work of the gods, really, for showing, like, how many top five passing attacks that Rivers has led over the year. I think he is, but it would be nice to see him win. And I think, I really think they have a chance to win this division by sweeping to, and we'll wrap up with this, which is, which is the,

small margin that you kind of started with with titans like it's a tough recipe i think tanna hill's great and you're right if brown catches that pass everyone is talking about that uh tanahill throw as he's getting just absolutely hammered and brown goes down the field they've completed that pass so many times it actually was a a play brown would say that he would make um but not great pass pro combined with bad defense uh and a team that wants to run the ball and pretty shaky special teams. It's like, I just have thought all year they've been a little shakier than their record indicates if you throw away the Bills game, really, almost every week. Yeah, their defense, I mean, I was looking at it. Philip Rivers got rid of the ball in like

2.3 seconds tonight. And I feel like their pass rush and their coverage don't mix, you know, like there are times where you look at it and say they need more pass rush. But tonight, I just felt like their coverage was leaving guys open time after time after time and leaving, uh, leaving open guys for Rivers to find. And Saffold goes down tonight. They already lost Luan. So if that's a serious injury, their offensive line isn't going to be good. I'll tell you what I was very nervous about like an hour ago just furiously Googling Trevor Daniel. I'm like, of course, the one time I'm on, that's the punner. And all I found out was what they said on the broadcast, which was that he was delivering packages for FedEx. And I don't, is this coincidence or not? Because Arthur Smith, the Arthur Smith, the, the, Titans OC, his dad is the founder of Fed. Like, was Trevor Daniel doing a terrible job delivering those packages? And his dad's like, yo, Arthur, like, you guys got to sign this guy, get him out of the company. I don't know what was going on there.

Oh, that was such a good value add to the program here. Your buddy, Bo Wolf, who joined us on Tuesday's Feel and the Heat, because, yeah, I didn't even think of that. You just benched like a Super Bowl winning punter, Ryan Allen, coming off a good week. Just because your dad runs FedEx, and there's this great story. It almost feels like they were looking for free advertising. And they got it. They got it here on this wide listening to a podcast, which is probably more important to them than even getting it during the Troy Aitman saying it,

I would say, in my eyes. It would be amazing if that, like, costs the Titans a playoff spot. All right, the AFC South, it's fun. It's been some down years in the AFC South this year, not a bad one. Not a bad spot at all by U.S. Shield. Thank you for joining me tonight for the. first time but i've known i've known you a long time uh and it's good people should really check out she'll's work at the athletic um being serious one of the the best uh writers in the game

you know you've you you were kind of a beat guy and now you've moved on past plebs like that and you're a national guy now i'm i'm just glad you said i had to edge over bow wolf so i i didn't say that totally i'll put i'll put words in your mouth you had a good you had a good parting shot yeah their podcast is Birds with Friends at the Athletic. All right. Colts win. We will be back on Sunday with the flagship show. We are into week 10.

Double digits. Thanksgiving is almost here. We are making progress. Let's get out of here. Thank you. This is an IHeart podcast.