Tennessee Titans Cam Ward MUST PLAY CLEAN v Broncos, Jeffery Simmons is KEY & Turnovers Change Game

Tennessee Titans Cam Ward MUST PLAY CLEAN v Broncos, Jeffery Simmons is KEY & Turnovers Change Game

The number one pick in this year’s draft going up against potentially the number one defense in the NFL football is back everybody and it’s crossover Thursday here. Locked on Broncos, locked on Titans. [Music] You are locked on NFL Crossover, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. The long wait is finally over. Football is officially back. The Denver Broncos are set to play host to the Tennessee Titans. And we’re so thankful for each and every one of you joining us every step of the way. My name is Sar Bettinger, co-host of the Locked On Broncos podcast. Here with Tyler Roland, host of Locked On Titans, and we’re excited for all of you joining us, wherever you are, however you choose to listen, your favorite podcast platform, as well as on YouTube. And today’s Crossover Thursday is brought to you by our friends at Prize Picks. Download the prize picks app today and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $ five lineup. We’ve got a lot to get into on today’s show. Obviously, the debut of the number one pick in this year’s draft. Coming into a hostile environment, the Mile High City, the Denver Broncos hoping to have a big time defense this year, maybe the best in the league. And they want to start fast. So, got to do it up against somebody who’s maybe playing with a little bit of house money there in a rookie quarterback. Tyler, I’m real excited for this matchup. Of course, it’s football is back, right? I mean, I know Broncos Titans, it’s not the premier matchup of week one, but it is for us because we finally get to see our guys out there with some real stakes. Yeah, 100%. Man, I cannot wait for football to be back. I don’t care, you know, what people got to say about the matchup. I think you laid it out perfect. number one defense, ascending team, number one pick. There’s juice with that. Obviously, the Titans want to get things going. We’ll get into all the storylines. I do want to say this, Sarah, before we start, I want to give a shout out to Broncos Nation. I host locked on NFL. I was very anti-Russell Wilson trade. I crushed the Broncos for that. And look, I think I ended up right, but I made a mistake. I doubled down and I said Shawn Peyton was a bad trade. Shawn Peyton wouldn’t change this team. I was wrong. I’m sorry, Broncos fans. And let me tell you this, I got the Broncos winning the AFC West this year. So, trying to learn from my mistakes out there, but shout out Broncos Nation. Some of you guys gave it gave it to me and you were right. So, there you go. I love it. I love it. I I mean, Broncos country will come after you for saying Broncos Nation cuz that’s kind of the Raiders. Is that a thing? Yeah. I don’t know. Hey, you can’t blame me for that. There’s no way I can know about that. No, I can’t. No, you can’t. It’s like anytime the team ever signs a new player, the the player will often times tweet like or or post something to their social like, “I can’t wait to join Broncos Nation.” And then every fans just like, “Don’t call it Broncos Nation.” They’re like, “Whoa, whoa.” I’m just like trying to be happy to be with you guys. You know, even when I apologize, I can’t get it right. They’re still going to be I I’m used to it now. Everyone’s always mad at me. Yeah. They’re going to be coming after you. Well, speaking of coming after you, I mean, this Broncos defense, they’re going to be coming after number one overall pick Cam Ward. I want to hear from you. Obviously from my seat, that’s the biggest storyline for the Titans, but let’s have it from you, Tyler. What’s the biggest storyline in your opinion here for the Tennessee Titans in week one? Well, obviously, you know, as you know, and I’m sure anyone could say, it’s it’s the debut of Cam Ward. I mean, the Titans last year going through the quarterback issues they had with Will Levvice. I’m sure all Broncos fans saw the Will Levis memes and his kind of meltdown last year. Mason Rudolph wasn’t much of an improvement, but what do you expect? It’s Mason Rudolph, you know what I mean? So going from even if Cam Cam Ward performs like a rookie, even if there are some struggles and things like that, it should be a a big upgrade in the quarterback department. And you wonder, you know, the Titans won three games last year. You don’t, you know, have any reason to believe that they’re going to be some great team this year, but you do wonder if you take away some of the huge Will Le mistakes that weren’t on the coaching staff, weren’t on the O line, weren’t on the wide. It’s literally Will Le doing crazy stuff. You know, if you take away three or four of those crazy things that he did, do the Titans win two or three more games and then is it as bad? Now, they wouldn’t have got Cam Ward, so maybe Titans fans are like, we don’t want to know what would happen in that scenario. But you do wonder what this Titans team will look like with improved quarterback play. So, that’s obviously what everyone’s looking at. But at the end of the day, this is like the least ideal environment that a rookie number one pick can start their career with. So, I’m not going to even if Cam Ward struggles in this one. I’m not going to be like, “Oh, no.” You know, overreaction. He’s terrible. It was It’s a bust, you know, like that. This is a really, really tough environment. So, I’m not going to judge too harshly, but it it would be, you know, malpractice to act like Cam Ward’s debut isn’t the clear biggest storyline for the Titans. But, Broncos, you know, you guys had a great season last year. Bo Knicks surprised a lot of people, including me. What are you guys thinking about this year? What’s kind of at the top of the mind for the Broncos knowing that you do have a good roster? Well, it’s really going to be can this team actually compete for the AFC West title. I think that it’s funny because like you mentioned, you know, they’re your pick for the AFC West this year. What’s really been difficult I think for Broncos country to grasp is the idea that the team might actually be good again because it’s been 10 years of the team not right. And so, nobody really wants to be like overly optimistic. Nobody wants to be putting the the cart before the horse, you know, in a I guess to, you know, a horrible pun for this situation, but yeah, nobody wants to get too excited for this team right now, which I think there’s this huge tension in the fan base of, man, we actually have a quarterback and we have a a really great head coach and we have all these things that are going weapon. Yeah, exactly. You got this. I mean, you made all the perfect additions. Like if if the Broncos were a puzzle, everything that they did in the offseason is like, “Oh, you got the missing piece here, you got the missing piece there with Evan Ingram, Hufanga, Dre Green Law.” So, I think it’s just this tension and struggle with can this team actually look like a contender in the AFC West as a major storyline. And then along with that is Shawn Peyton wants to start fast. last two seasons that he’s been the head coach of the Broncos, they start 0 and3 in 2023 and they were 0 and2 in 2024. So, they want to get off to a much faster start this season. Well, that makes sense. And if you’re going to win the AFC West with teams like the Chargers and teams like the Chiefs, if you want a home playoff game at all, you got to start fast. Let me ask you this from this perspective. So, I know that, you know, people are kind of cautiously optimistic right now. And I, if Cam Ward goes in as a rookie QB into Denver, where, you know, incredibly hard place to play early in the season, especially if the Titans were to find some way to upset, do you think that maybe Broncos fans might overreact and spiral a little bit because they are so like, uh, I don’t know if I can trust it? 100%. I think 100% it would spiral because everybody would be like, “See, I told you we can’t believe that this team’s going to do any, you know, that that’s exactly what it would be.” And you know what? Yeah. Right. I mean, it’s it’s just that’s the tough part of, you know, the fandom of anything is like, and I know anytime I’ve ever talked to the Chiefs guys on crossover episodes from my seat, I’m looking at the Chiefs as they’re an inevitable final four. Every year you’re going to the Super Bowl. We’re all sitting here like, “Yeah, just what’s the road to the Super Bowl going to be like?” And those guys are like, “Oh yeah, so and so is going to be potentially down this week and we’re, you know, we’re worried about, you know, this that.” And I’m like, “What are you guys worried about?” So, I mean, I guess that kind of just comes with the territory of like when you’re good, maybe the targets on your back and even the fan base feels that. But to your point on Cam Ward, I’m interested to know your takeaways from the preeason because obviously you only get so much action in the preseason. you’re not necessarily going up against a defense like Vance Joseph that is blitzing at a crazy, you know, angle he can dream up in his mind. What are your thoughts on Cam’s debut here? Do you have any gut feelings as far as what he’s going to bring to the table in week one? Well, I think he’s going to make I think it’s going to be the Cam Ward experience. He’s going to make some good plays that kind of save the Titans when the rest of the team isn’t good enough to make a play. But I also kind of see a scenario with with the way that the Broncos play defense and what they can do where Cam may have to try to do too much because they’re losing at the end of the game. And we know that the Broncos can take advantage and create turnovers. A great turnover creation team last year. So I I think that we might get the full Cam Ward experience where he makes some great plays that get you excited about the future, but also because the team is maybe losing and from behind, he’s got to make some of those plays that make you wonder what, you know, what’s he doing there? but he’s just trying to make a play when things are down. So, uh, again, I try to I’m trying to keep my expectations kind of low. But from what we’ve seen, what we’ve seen in the preseason, I just want to see Cam Ward stay clean out there. And I don’t mean no turnovers. I just mean like the operation. Guys aren’t in the wrong spot. There’s not a bunch of false starts, illegal motions, ille, you know, illegal procedures, all different stuff like that. Like I want it to look like a an NFL operation out there, even if they don’t have the talent to necessarily compete against the Broncos defense successfully and win. I just want to see the Titans look like a professional offense because at the end of the day, a lot of times last year they didn’t look like that. They didn’t look like they were a professional NFL offense. So, even if I, you know, spoiler alert, even if I think it’ll be tough for the Titans to win this one, I still want to see Cam Ward look like he’s ready to be that guy even if things don’t go perfectly. Well, we’re going to be breaking down some of the key matchups that will will determine whether or not that happens in this game. Of course, we all eyes will be on Cam Ward in this game, but Pat Certan, is he going to be going up against Calvin Ridley in this game? We’ll break down that match up as well as maybe some others and that will be really crucial to determining the trajectory of these two teams going into week two. Uh but Broncos country and Titans fans, we’re excited to continue to break it down on today’s crossover Thursday edition. Locked on Broncos locked on Titans, this Crossover Thursday is brought to you by Door Dash. It’s almost the weekend, which means it’s time to take a look ahead and crown this week’s potential MVPs on who delivered. powered by Door Dash. Just like you can win every Saturday with Door Dash streaks, saving more every time you order, these players, they’re going to be expected to deliver when it matters the most. Let’s break it down. For the Denver Broncos, quarterback Bo Knicks, they want to get off to a hot start this season. They’re going to be expecting their quarterback to lead the charge in that way. And how about for the Tennessee Titans? Number one overall pick Cam Ward. He’s got to go into a hostile environment and play with some ice water in his veins. And just like Bo Nicks and Cam Ward are going to be expected to deliver for the Broncos and Titans this weekend, Door Dash delivers your Saturdays. With Door Dash Streaks, you save every Saturday you order. Stack it up all season and you could save up to $250, including $100 in Door Dash credits. Order this Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your game day only with Door Dash. Terms apply. Promo period through November 18th. It’s always going to be fascinating to see who matches up against Denver Broncos reigning defensive player of the year, Pat Certan. We’ll find out on Sunday how the Tennessee Titans plan to attack him. But we’ve got some other matchups as well that could ultimately determine the outcome of this game. We’re going to break it down on today’s Crossover Thursday edition. Locked on Broncos and Locked on Titans. But first, want to say thank you to every single one of you that makes us your first listen of the day every single day. you know, locked on Broncos, locked on Titans. We’re part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. So, take a couple seconds, hit subscribe wherever you listen, as well as on YouTube. We appreciate you for doing so. Tyler, let’s talk about some of these key matchups that’ll determine the outcome of this game. Of course, we teased Pat Certan. Maybe we just dive in right there from the Titans perspective. What are your expectations of are they going to avoid throwing at PS2? Are they going to move Calvin Ridley around? We’re gonna see a lot of this rookie that I I was listening to your show. I heard a lot about this rookie out of Stanford. What are we expecting to see there in terms of the matchup against Pat Certan? Well, I think, you know, if you look at the Titans wide receiver group, I’m excited about Alec Manor, but at the end of the day, he is a fourthround rookie and I think it may take him a little bit of time to turn into the player that I think he will be. Like, it’s week one. I don’t think he’s going to be who I think he’ll be by the end of the season early on. So, I think it only makes sense for the Broncos to match. I don’t know how much the Broncos match, but Pat Certan should certainly be on Calvin Ridley and especially if that’s what they want to do with man coverage because the Broncos last year ran 30% cover one on third and medium to long. So, when the Chips are down, I mean, they were varied. They ran quarters, they ran cover two, and they’re at like 16 17%. So, it wasn’t like some vast thing like that. They are a multiple varied coverage defense, but they did run a lot of cover one. And what teams like to do against the Titans regardless of their scheme is play tight man coverage because the Titans don’t have a lot of guys that can win. So if you feel confident that Pat Certain can shut down Calvin Ridley, which I love Calvin Ridley. I think he’s underrated, but Patan’s the best quarterback in the NFL. Him, Dererick Stingley are fighting for it. So like Patan’s a better player than Calvin Ridley, folks. I’m sorry. You know, that’s just that’s just the truth. So, if I’m the Broncos, I’m going to play man coverage. I’m going to say we’re going to have, you know, one of our zone guys in cover one, our middle hook defender, we’re going to have him keep an eye on Calvin Ridley because I think the Titans are going to have to run drag routes and they said they’re going to have to, you know, move him around the formation. It’s probably because they want to get him away from PS2 a little bit, you know, like give me a little bit of Riley Moss here and there, please. I’m begging you not like Riley Moss is bad, but we’re talking about going against PS2. I’d take anybody else at this point. So, I think the Titans are going to have to get real creative with how they use Calvin Ridley within the formation, getting him in motion so he can use his speed. He’s faster than Pat Certan, you know, so like Ridley’s a burner still even at 30. So, that’s what the Titans are going to have to do. But if I’m the Broncos, I’m going to line up in man coverage on moneydowns and I’m going to say who on your team, 34y old Tyler Lockett, corpse of Tyler Lockett, rookie fourthrounder from Canada, Ellio Manor, are you guys going to beat me in man coverage consistently all game? I don’t believe so. So, I think Calvin Ridley versus PS2, if the Broncos decide to match that on third downs, that will absolutely be one of the most critical matchups in the entire game. Yeah, and you mentioned it. A healthy Riley Moss really changes the outlook for this Denver defense. He is a good player and and he was part of the reason why when he went down last year, they decreased their amount of man coverage substantially. Um, but he obviously excels in that area as well. So, they are going to want to, you know, see what he can do again after a rough finish to last season, especially against the Cincinnati Bengals and T. Higgins. He had a rough game coming off that knee injury that he suffered in week 12 last season. So, we’ll be interested by that one. But one thing that Cody and I have been talking about all week long is that Titans defensive line. Everybody’s got a very healthy respect for Jeffrey Simmons at this point, but couple of underrated guys. Sebastian Joseph Day is a very good player, very good run defender. Tore Sweat, an ascending secondyear player, and then a familiar face, Draymond Jones. He’ll be out there on the Titans side of things. So, my one of my biggest matchups in this game, Tyler, and I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this, is that Denver offensive line that you and I were kind of talking about off air a little bit, and this Titans defensive line, I know it’s not player v player. I mean, in some instances it is, but unit v unit. Let’s see what these two do two, I guess, Titans can do, for lack of a better term there. I feel like this is going to be one of those things that dictates the the energy and pace of this game. If the Titans can kind of match that Broncos offensive line, it could be a tough sledding sort of Sunday for Bo Nicks and company. You’re 100% right. And I think one of the only advantages that the Titans would have any Sunday is the interior defensive line. The the one that I’m looking at is Luke Watenberg, the center. I’m not here to say that the Broncos have a weak link, per se, because that’s a very good offensive line. Like I’m very high on the Broncos this year, obviously. But if you’re looking for a weak link, maybe you could test Ben Powers. Quinn Miners is freaking disgusting. You know what I mean? And like Luke Watenberg, maybe I’m thinking that the Titans are going to be blitz heavy. So if they can use the defensive line to pull that attention, you got to put two guys on Jeffrey Simmons. You got to put two guys on Tavandre Sweat. That will allow the Titans blitzers in passing situations or their linebackers and run situations to really make plays. And I think that’s what the Titans defensive scheme is set up to do is to let those linebackers run free. So that matchup front, especially in the run game with combo blocks, getting up to the second level. If the Titans defensive line can hold that down, then it’ll put the Broncos and third and long situations. And look, the Broncos are a good team, good offense. Shawn Payeyton, one of the best offensive minds that we’ve had in my lifetime. But third and long is going to be tougher than third and short and third and medium. So, I think for the Titans who don’t have a great pass rush, we could talk about the ideal, which is Simmons and Sweat and Sebastian Joseph Day, but the edge rush is really a problem for the Titans in the pass rush. So, if you get in third and manageable, third and short for the Broncos with Shawn Peyton dialing it up, it’s just going to be easy money down the field. So, the Titans really, really need their interior defensive line to step up on early downs, stop the run, and get the Titans in situations where they can unleash the Hounds and Blitz. because I don’t think they can just get to Bon Knicks rushing four against this offensive line. I don’t think the Titans could do that against any offensive line in the NFL, let alone one of the better offensive line. So, they need Simmons, they need Sweat, and they need SJD to completely free up the linebackers and the safeties to make plays in the run game early on. You’re you’re right. That is if the Titans can beat the Broncos. You know, we’ll talk about this in a second, but if something if you could look at the rosters and be like, uh, they might have something right there, it’s definitely the the interior defensive line against the interior offensive line. Yeah. And Shawn Payeyton has been really excited all off season about the difference in the running game. I don’t know if it’s just the devil we know versus the devil we know. Don’t because Javvante Williams was really bad the last couple of seasons. And I think that, you know, without saying it as directly as he possibly could, I think all off season Shawn Payeyton has kind of been saying like, “Hey, I just I’m letting you guys know kind of the running back position was the reason why our running game wasn’t what I envisioned it being over the last two years.” So now you’ve got JK Dobbins out there, the rookie RJ Harvey out there. It’s a completely revamped running game for the Denver Broncos, and they plan on attacking the outside outside of the tackles more than they have the last couple years. That’s a great idea. The Titans were terrible in perimeter run defense last year. They did not set firm edges. That’s why they went out and got Draymond Jones. That’s why they went out and drafted a 63 260 Femi Deio. Like the Titans knew that they could not set a proper edge last year and they just got gashed in perimeter runs and quarterbacks escaping out of the pocket. So if the Broncos are dedicated to that and feel like that’s a strength of their team, that could be a big advantage for the Broncos there. Another matchup too that I want to touch on really quickly from your vantage point as well. We’ve got a reunion. I I guess this is kind of a bit of a reunion episode in a way. Cody Barton is going to be playing linebacker for the Titans. One area that the Broncos have not really, I guess, had in their offensive arsenal the last couple of seasons is this Joker that Shawn Peyton keeps on talking about all offseason. Evan Ingram is now that guy. So obviously the linebacker versus the tight end on both sides because the Broncos have struggled also to defend that. I know Chico Conquo is a playmaker. Broncos fans loved Gunnar Helm, a Colorado native coming out of the draft as well. So big time stuff there on both sides of the ball. The tight end linebackers in coverage. Yeah, I think that with Cody Barton, while he may not be as Bronco fans would know, it’s not like he’s a savant in coverage or something like that, like he’s not, you know, Fred Warner or anything, but he’s a massive upgrade over Kenneth Murray, who Broncos fans probably also know from his time with the Chargers, you know what I mean? Murray is a downhill and nothing else type guy. So, I think Cody Barton, especially with some defensive back history, should be a massive upgrade for the Titans over the middle of the field. But Cedric Gray is another linebacker for the Titans. just won the second linebacker job. He’s a guy who’s got good movement skills. He’s good downhill, but he had some good coverage moments in college as well. A little banged up last year, but came back in year two and stole the job. You’re right that and Cam Ward loves to throw over the middle. That’s where Cam Ward does his best work is in between the hashes and in those little holes. So, linebacker play and pass coverage will be a critical matchup on both sides of the ball. 100%. And we’re going to talk about winners for this game. who we think is going to win, how we think it’s going to go down. We’re going to be talking about it up next on today’s Crossover Thursday edition. Locked on Broncos, locked on Titans. Crossover Thursday is brought to you by our friends at Mazda. Mazda crafts cars for those who choose to do more than simply move. They follow what moves them every time they drive. And that’s what makes Mazda stand out. They go beyond safety, style, and performance to deliver a driving experience that feels alive in every detail. You can feel it the moment you get behind the wheel. The smooth handling, intuitive controls, and standard all-wheel drive in every crossover SUV. Whether it’s a quick drive to practice or a weekend road trip, Mazda makes even everyday drives feel special. It’s the small details that make the big plays. And just like there’s more to every player, there’s more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda move and be moved. Today’s Crossover Thursday is also brought to you by our friends over there at FanDuel. The NFL season, it’s here officially, finally. And FanDuel is making sure that you’re ready for kickoff with a can’tmiss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using FanDuel because it fits however you like to bet. player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. A lot of fun action this week on Broncos rookie running back RJ Harvey, who is plus 160 to score a touchdown. So, you can get in on all that action and much more by checking out FanDuel. Are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to place your first $5 bet. How will week one be won by the Denver Broncos or the Tennessee Titans? We’re going to break down our keys to victory here on today’s Crossover Thursday edition. Locked on Broncos, locked on Titans. And once again, just want to say thank you to all of you that make us your first listen of the day, every single day. You know that we’ll have you covered over there. Locked on Broncos. For all you Broncos fans, you know that Tyler’s going to have you covered, not just with the Titans, but tons of NFL coverage all throughout the season. You do amazing work, Tyler. So, appreciate all that you do and and thankful that we get to start off the season together here. And I know you and I kind of touched on this be before, but I think the running game is going to be key in this game for both teams, but I want to hear from you. How do you think this game is going to be won if the Titans are going to get the job done? Simple answer, turnovers. Uh, so some stats and maybe you can contextualize this, but just as somebody on the outside going through looking at the Broncos last year, which you know, it’s a new season, but that’s all we can go off of right now. The Broncos were 0 and4 in games that they lost the turnover battle. They were three and seven in games that they tied or lost the turnover battle. So even tying in the turnover battle, just not winning. The Broncos were three and seven. Like that is to me that is an obvious one. If the Titans go in there as a turnoverheavy team from last year that didn’t get a lot of turnovers that had a terrible turnover margin and they go in there and they cough up the ball to the Broncos, they’re going to get blown out. Period. Now, if the Titans were to win or at least tie the turnover battle, they at least statistically give themselves a shot. So when you have a rookie quarterback, a great defense, a new offensive line B, you know, Titans special teams group was terrible last year and they go out and get Bones Fossil. So hopefully that’s improved. But if the Titans go out there and they lose the turnover battle on the road against a better team on paper, there is zero chance that they’re going to win that game. So, the Titans must must at minimum at minimum if they don’t win the turnover battle. They simply can’t lose the turnover battle if they expect to have a shot. Well, what’s interesting about the numbers that you just posed there is in terms of being three and seven when the Broncos either tied or lost the turnover battle is that obviously stealing extra possessions helps a team throughout the course of a season. But also along with that, I mean, the Broncos were among the worst teams in the league last year at, you know, getting three and outs offensively. So, they had the benefits of, I suppose, a talented rookie quarterback along with all the struggles that come along with that in terms of there were games that Bo did turn the ball over, namely weeks one and two, and then a couple of other games where the Broncos managed to win, but also the offensive operation was just not efficient enough on the whole that they could really win a lot of games without stealing those extra possessions, if that makes sense. I know it does, but it’s just a it’s one of those things that you just like, okay, you look back at last year, you see a top 10 scoring team, top 10 offense in terms of points scored, and you see a team that had a rookie quarterback that was two touchdowns behind the all-time record for touchdown passes by a rookie. And it was great. It was awesome. But yes, it did require the defense to come through, leading the NFL in sacks, forcing a lot of turnovers, being dominant week in week week out, you know, creating those extra possessions. So, yeah, you’re right 100%. If this Broncos team gets in trouble in the turnover department, they are going to be in trouble in this game. I think another major key to victory in this game. And maybe the biggest key for the Denver Broncos is going to be creating long fields and also making life miserable for Cam Ward. I mean, special teams, you mentioned it, how important it’s going to be. Maybe the special teams is getting a a necessary highlight in this game because the Broncos have a rookie punter who stunk in the preseason. Jeremy Crossaw was not good concerning everybody. If the Titans are getting short fields, I mean that’s anybody can move the ball 10 15 yards and get a field goal here and there and and just continue to kind of chip away. So the Broncos need to make sure that they are flipping field position and giving Cam Ward long fields and making his life miserable in that way. And Sailor, let’s be honest, as as guys who, you know, know some football, have played, have covered, we know that when you’re the lesser team on paper, when you have less talent, you have to win on the margins. You have to make plays on special teams and flip fields and give yourself easier situations. You have to get turnovers and stuff like that. So whether it be the Titans perspective of saying, “Hey, we got to win on some of these not so obvious things to people, not offense, not defense, some of these not so obvious things. We got to win on those to give ourselves a chance.” And for the Broncos, it’s like if we make stupid mistakes and beat ourselves, then we’re going to give a team that we’re better than a chance to beat us. You know what I mean? That this is just classic special teams, turnovers, penalties, like especially early in week one. You know, anybody could get on here and say these things, but week one specifically, most teams are not going to be in a great spot and fully functional and playing clean football. So, those mental mistakes, a lot of the times early in the year, you know, people say week one overreactions and stuff like week one’s a liar. Okay. Well, what I would say is the reason for that is because even the good teams are still just starting out and aren’t quite as clean. And then as the season goes on, the bad teams don’t get any better at that stuff. And the good teams do get better and that’s the separator. Football is all about not beating yourself. So special teams, turnovers, penalties. Honestly, those are the things that could get the Titans back into the games if the Broncos just play dumb football. Honestly, 100%. It’s the little things. And you know, Shawn Payeyton had a pretty funny quote earlier in the preseason. It had nothing to do with the game, but he’s like, “I got a list of 14 things that ticked me off, you know, and it was from the sound system.” You know, all these sorts of different things. So, the little things really matter. Bad hotel stuff, too. Like stuff. Yep. Right outside of a concert or something like that, you know? He just like he’s like, “Why are we booking hotels when there’s a concert over here?” Like I mean the guy is he’s a I guess in many ways he’s kind of a you know mastermind of things but I think when you look at this game overall Tyler I know that you and I kind of joked around about this before the show but you know I’m always on board with the Broncos. They’re 17 and0 until they ain’t and then I guess you know somebody always comments 20 and0 until they ain’t. Um but where are you at with this game? I know uh this is going to be a a obviously a fun opportunity to see a rookie quarterback, but what are you expecting in terms of game prediction here? Yeah, I’m I’m going to enjoy just having football back like we talked about at the beginning of the show, you know, regardless. I’m not going to go in being like, “Oh, but you know what, Ser, as a Titans fan, I found even when I feel like that going into games, they find a way to do something really stupid and kind of rip me out of that calm mindset like, oh my god, if you could just be normal.” But I’ll be honest, I, you know, I’m not going to do my score right now, but I do think the Broncos find a way to win the game. There’s just so many historical things going against the Titans here. Number one, the Titans were three and 14 last year. So, let’s just start with they aren’t a very good roster. Uh, number two, Cam Ward is a rookie quarterback making their first start. And although the Titans found a way to blow that opportunity against Caleb Williams last year because the Titans always find a way, the odds are that a rookie quarterback in his first start on the road is not going to win. Like that’s a historically bad percentage. Um, if you look at NFL history, so not only are those things going against the Titans, they’re the worst team on paper. Rookie starting quarterback week one. You’re on the road. And Broncos fans know the Broncos are historically incredible in the first month of the season because guys bodies are not ready to play in that elevation. And then a great fan base with a loud crowd and a hostile environment. So many things that I just listed like four or five things that are just like red alarms banging off. So I would love for the Titans to come out and get a win. And if they do, you want to talk overreactions. People are going to start freaking out, you know, about the Titans and how good they could be if they knock off a playoff team on the road week one. But I I can’t have the Titans winning this one. I I’ll go with the Broncos. Um even if I think, you know, the Titans will get some wins later in the year. They’ll be better this year. I I just don’t think that this is an environment where they can prove that. Yeah, they may not be necessarily the second coming of the Jaden Daniels le commanders this year, but I do think they’re a better team than a lot of people are expecting. They’ve got to be the Panthers. I want them to be the Panthers of last year. You you play some good games down the stretch. almost beat the Chiefs and almost beat the Eagles. Bryce Young looked like, okay, he got better. He’s the answer. I want a a nice five and 12 with some good competitive football at the end of the year. That would be good for me 100%. I I think I think that’s great. And I think that would be an awesome set to for Cam Ward to prove that he’s the franchise QB. That’s what we want to see from the Titans this year. So, uh for Broncos country, they just don’t want to see that in week one. They want to see him a little bit miserable in week one. And I think I I agree with you in terms of the prediction on the game. I think Broncos win this game. I at least I hope that’s the case every single week. I hope that’s the case. U but at the same time, you know, for the reasons that you mentioned, it feels like a right prediction potentially here. We’ll see what happens in week one. Broncos country, we always like to kind of just we don’t want to count the chickens before they hatch all the time. There’ll be a time where we maybe feeling a little bit more zealous about these teams as the season goes along like Tyler mentioned. But hey, we appreciate you all for listening to today’s episode, Crossover Thursday. always a blast. For your next listen, make sure you’re checking out Locked on NFL. Obviously, Tyler does great work everywhere across this division. A lot of other great hosts out there. You can binge content on YouTube, do all that sort of stuff. But we appreciate you all so much. We’ll catch you on the next episode.

The Tennessee Titans take on the Denver Broncos in Week 1 and Sayre Bedinger from Locked On Broncos joins to preview the matchup! Cam Ward’s debut is obviously the biggest story of the game, but the Titans need Cam to play clean if they hope to win. On defense, they will need Jeffery Simmons and the rest of the interior defensive line to win their matchup and if they do it will cause a domino effect that could lead to a Titans victory. Finally, the Titans are underdogs and have a tough task ahead on paper, but if they can find a way to win the turnover battle, they give themselves a great chance at an upset.

Tennessee Titans Cam Ward MUST PLAY CLEAN v Broncos, Jeffery Simmons is KEY & Turnovers Change Game
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP3332GMOh4y5PX3q9NFybw

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