Titans Tonight with Keith Bulluck | Texans Preview

Titans Tonight with Keith Bulluck | Texans Preview

[Music] It is time for Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans tonight presented by Pinnacle of course. Visit titansbanking.com to learn about their convenient mobile banking. Pinnacle Financial Partners member member FDIC. I am Amy Wells. Thank you for joining us tonight on Titans Tonight with Keith Bulock. Keith Bulock is of course here. Rhett Brian, you’re here too. I am. Gang’s all here. We’re so excited. There is a lot to talk about as the Titans get ready to go back on the road for three weeks. We’ve got three road games back to back to back to back. The first one in Houston taking on the Texans. Another division matchup and there’s a lot to talk about. It’s uh it’s been pretty busy around Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park. Things have been buzzing. There has been some news. Um, so I I think the what’s best is to just kind of buzz through all the the headlines, but before we get to that, uh, Keith, I want to take a second to talk about, uh, the game against the Colts, reactions, feedback, things you noticed that you liked or didn’t like. Give me your just kind of like a a summary of your thoughts here. Um, I think for the most part, I I saw some good things. you know, you saw the Titans offensively have a couple drives and put some things together. Um, I I like that. I think in the first half, to be quite honest, um, you were seeing, you know, a a a team effort. You know, I feel like, um, everything was intact. Um, I believe, you know, everyone’s talking about the decision. Um, you know, the two timeouts before half. All right. maybe um that’s where things started to like go downhill. But before that um you know I thought that the offense, you know, held their own defensively. Um the Titans held their own. Brett, what was the score at halftime? Um do you recall? Well, you asked me and then my bad. It was 20 to6 at halftime, but I felt as if the Titans were playing the game tighter than than 20 to6. And at the same time, I’m also looking at it um understanding and realizing that the Indianapolis Colts um have won started off the season 2 and 0, hadn’t punted yet, um and have a veteran quarterback and offensive line and offensive in a run. They have a veteran team, you know, um to to come out and go against the Titans. So, look, I don’t think that I thought the Titans were going to come out and, you know, bloody the nose of the Indianapolis Colts, but I say that first half was uh pretty decent, even though the score didn’t indicate that. And obviously, Cam uh a pick six, which would obvious make the score, you know, a twocore game, but defense was holding their own. Big Jeff, I feel like each week he is, you know, being disruptive, pushing back the pocket, putting um the center and or the guard and or both in the quarterback’s lap, but quarterback’s able to, you know, step aside and make plays. But that’s what I saw. You know, it’s still a lot of work to do. Um, and I’m not even going to go into the negative part of um, you know, what’s been said all week just because that does no good. I agree with that. I think uh, I think that there’s a lot of positives to take away as well as some areas of improvement. We will talk about all of that as we go on. Rhett, do you want to get to some headlines that have been bumping around around Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park? Sure. Um, so a couple of things after that ball game. Um, Tuesday at Ascension St. Thomas Sports Park is usually reserved for an 11:00 appearance by all of the coordinators, um, offense, defense, special teams. That was preceded by head coach Brian Callahan coming forward with the statement that he is relinquishing his offensive play calling and he is transferring that to quarterback’s coach Bo Hardigree. and um with the thought that it will help him be a better head coach in terms of the other operational things that happen during a ball game because calling plays on the offense and then handling all three phases with your assistants and your coordinators at a 30,000 foot view. I can’t even imagine what that’s like uh spinning plates wise. But, um, I think it caught some people by surprise as to who that was transferred to, not Nick Holtz, the offensive coordinator. But what people don’t realize is how all of the assistants have a part in the offensive game plan. Like Nick Holtz has his specific roles, Randy Jordan, the running backs coach, has his spec everybody. It’s a collaborative thing and to come together to to do all this. The other part of it is what people don’t realize is Bo Hardigree already has some experience as an offensive coordinator. He was with Josh McDaniels with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023 and when Josh McDaniels was relieved of his duties, he was the interim OC for the last nine games. And actually production went up in those last nine games. yardage per pass play, uh, run per yardage per carry, all of those things, scoring, a lot of those things went really well. So, he um is in charge of of calling the offensive plays. And I the other reason I think it makes sense is he is Cam Ward’s position coach. M there’s it takes a village and a lot of these guys on that side of the ball including the head coach have been intensively pouring resources and knowledge and things into Cam Ward. But uh so there’s that part of it and then the next thing that happens is all of a sudden Jarvis Brownley Jr. fifth round pick in 2024 is traded to the New York Jets. they send him and a seventh pick, a 2026 seventh round pick in return for a sixthround 2026 uh draft pick. And people are scratching their head and wondering why and how and what for. And the thing that I have just tried to when I’ve appeared on radio uh hits and things is that first of all we’re reminded this is a business and while I’m not privy to and know anything of at all about as the reasons why um that you would trade a starter um they clearly have their reasons whatever that is. And you know the thing about Jarvis is in his first couple of games he already had three penalties. he already had some things that you know in coverage allowed and allowed a touchdown. I don’t know if that’s part of it. I don’t know what any all that is only to say that um the team made the decision and they got back uh a draft pick for that and they have moved on. I think some of it may have to do with Jaylen Armor Davis uh elevating his play and because he got quite a bit of snaps against the Colts, but there’s a whole lot of stuff that has happened this week. That’s the two biggest headlines. All right, so let’s break all of this down a little bit. Bulock, I want to start with you and coach Callahan kind of adjusting his roles and responsibilities as a player in the locker room. Is that something that you guys would actually feel that there’s kind of a different I I don’t even know protocol or a different way that things are happening both in the week of preparation and then on the sidelines on Sundays. Well, I I called the plays. So, it would definitely be different if you know Jim Schwarz started letting Chuck Cecil call plays and those were just the coaches when I was playing just for reference. like that would be different because Schwarz and I have a way that we communicate and I guess that would be a situation if Schwarz had to become the interim head coach and he’s like oh I need to concentrate on this and or if he just felt that you know let’s try something different or Jeff Fischer wanted to try something different and was like you know I want to see what it’s like when you know Chuck let’s give Chuck a shot because that’s what he feels you know I’m my pause is like um trying to figure out you know why it would be done but at 3 and 20 I mean 3 and 17 you have to do something like as head coach I don’t take it as you know Brian Callahan saying he’s the problem but it’s like yo we got to do something Cam has obviously been able to develop and um form a rapport with um the quarter his quarterback coach and obviously coach um Callahan has confidence to relinquish um that responsibility that was him his um to this to to the um quarterback coach in order to maybe possibly build a stronger coaching core or and build depth within his coaching staff. What I think is interesting is that Cali was able to acknowledge this morning that he’s been able to even in the day or two that that this change has been in place, he’s been able to spend a lot more time with the defense in their meetings kind of getting an understanding of what they’re working on, what is happening over there. He’s been able to spend time in special teams meetings. Not to say he wasn’t already doing that to a point, but obviously most of his time needed to be allocated to the offensive side of the ball because he was calling the plays for the offense. Having a more well-rounded maybe understanding of what’s going on or being able to be a little bit more present in those other position groups is something that he’s talked about since the off season. he wanted to do a better job of spending more time and dividing his time up better across the different areas of the team. I mean, is that something that a defense would notice when your head coach, who has predominantly been an offensive-minded, air quotes, is now spending time in your room a little bit. Does that presence have an impact? No. Unless he’s coming in there and offering some information, you know, you’re just sitting here pretty much like, what is he doing in here? because if he’s never in our room, it’s like, what is he doing in here? Um Jeff Fischer never taught me anything about playing linebacker. Tom Coughlin never taught me anything about playing linebacker. Um that’s not what the head coach does. Now, if the head coach wants to be more attentive to see um exactly what are these defensive schemes that we’re running, exactly how my linebackers are being coached, knowing the details of, you know, how his players are learning and how his coaches are coaching. Yeah. But they’re not none of my coaches and Jeff Fischer was a defensive coach. Um he’s not coming in. Nah, it’s not happening. I can’t I say it like that cuz I can’t see Jeff Fischer coming in Gunther Cunningham’s linebacker room and saying Keith O you need to do this or you know head coaches talk through their coaches. So he would tell um Jeff would say something to Gunther or Mack to tell to um the linebackers but there’s nothing that um they’re doing in the pros. Now, in college, that’s different. Like in college, coach Pascalone definitely, you know, took over some linebacker rooms. Um, he was a former linebacker. So, uh, that being said, if his guys aren’t getting it done the way he wants it to be done, Coach Pascalone would definitely get his old behind in there. Show you and show you the technique he wanted to use. Old behind. Okay. Hey, y’all got FCC, so I know that was good. That was a really good really good way of phrasing that. I I in a similar kind of vein with Jarvis Brownley Jr. being traded. It was a trade that surprised a lot of people outside of the building when things happen like that within a locker room, whether they’re expected or not, whether there’s whatever the dynamics are. And we don’t know the full story. We will never we were not down in those meeting rooms in the locker room, all of that. But how does something like that impact the dynamics of a locker room overall? Um, well, that’s one of your starters. You know, the Jarvis Brownley Jr. was someone that was a fifth round draft pick, a fifth round draft pick, worked his butt off and would had to play out of necessity. Like, he wasn’t drafted in the fifth round because the Titans needed him last year. He had to play he had to play because there was lack of depth in the defensive back back room backfield at corner last year. Um, so he had to play. He stepped up and he got a lot of playing time. Played very well. Um, I think he might have had like great out maybe as the highest rookie um, the Titans had last year or something I heard on this one of these statistic shows. They’re all statistic shows now. Um, back in my day in my day, you turn on ESPN, that’s all they’re talking about is statistics. Like I didn’t whatever, however that goes. But my point is to answer your question in the locker room. Yeah, it could have an effect because he’s one of your starters. He’s someone that’s made plays here. He’s a guy that, you know, had a voice within that locker room. And um, you know, obviously you’ll have to see how that plays out, but if they felt that they found someone within that one game that he was out, like Rhett said, like we don’t know why the decisions are made. It only plays out on the field. But I definitely feel losing someone like a Jarvis Brownley um, Jr. can have an effect um especially on younger guys um you know kind of makes them kind of look over their shoulder a little bit you know if they if if the team doesn’t know why you know what I mean usually the coach will come in and be like guys we had to make a move and it’ll explain it and break it down to the team and that’s all that really needs to know because as a player I would need to know like why you just let my dog go for less than what you got him for that really does not make sense Whether you’re dealing with money or football currency. Yeah. Let’s play devil’s advocate for just a second though. You’re in that locker room and your guys gone. But is there that killer instinct in there where it’s like, okay, now I have an opportunity for the guys who are in the log jam behind the starters, right? It’s like, hey, I hate this. I do. But I realize I’m reminded very harshly that this is a business and I have a chance to make an opportunity here. Right. I mean, look, and and that’s how it should be every Sunday. Um, and I say more importantly this Sunday for the entire team, especially obviously they didn’t play um the type of football they wanted to play, losing 40 41 to 20, but you know, if your opponent and it’s easy for your opponent to talk trash after the game is saying that, oh, I feel like they were flat and these type of things. It’s like, okay, I don’t feel like we were flat, but we have another game this Sunday. So there’s the telltale, right? What how how are the Titans going to react this Sunday and Sunday’s moving forward? Because if they’re being called out after the game and look, being a former player, that really just that to me is like after I win 4120, I’m I could talk some some trash, you know, after three touchdown win, you could say, “Oh, they didn’t show up or they were soft or they were You could say whatever you want and the media and the media is going to eat it up.” Yeah, I was probably telling the truth. But when you’re going to see them again, you’re going to see them again. Well, that’s telling me they’re not worried. They’re not worried. If they That’s my point. If if if they’re talking like that in the third game of the season, what they came out and played against, they’re not even worried when they play the ne play the Titans the next time. That’s what type of talk that is. So, that’s what they feel about the Titans. So, yeah, that’s bullets and board talk. That’s how they feel about the Titans. So that’s on the guys in that locker room to go out and rectify that situation for the for themselves, the players, I mean for themselves, the coaches, the fans, for everyone. All right, I want to talk more about this, but we have to take a quick break first. So when we come back, more talk about the Titans getting ready to face the Texans right here on Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans Tonight. Welcome back to Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans tonight with Keith Bulock presented by Pinnacle Financial Partners. Of course, Amy Wells, Rep Brian, Keith Bulock were all here and we had an interesting conversation about before we took a break about um kind of some bulletin board material pretty early in the season. Another thing that has been said this week that I thought was an interesting comment for a coach to make was coach Callahan was acknowledging the fact that the Titans are 0 and3 looking for their first win and the Texans are 0 and3 looking for their first win. And the way that he characterized it was we will see who is more desperate for a win this week. That to me was an interesting way to phrase what this matchup means because I thought that desperation was an interesting thing to to call upon. And my first thought was, hm, that’s an interesting way for a coach to say it. But but then in my brain I flipped it over to desperation not as like a negative oh they’re desperate but as as a motivator almost like it am I off base on this? Is there a motivation in desperation where we are willing to do literally anything to get this win? That is how bad we want to write the ship to get things back on track. Well, both teams are 0 and3 staring 0 and4 in the face. So, there’s definitely desperation there. So, I feel um by him saying that like he knows if you’re 0 and three, neither team is playing good football. Neither team is being playing good football because they would have a win in the win column. So, it might be an ugly game. We’re gonna go out and play our best, but we’re gonna do everything to win because we’re desperate not to go 0 and4 because 0 and4 it starts things start sliding. I’ve been 0 and6 um before. I’ve been one and four, 0 and six, but I’ve also been, you know, one and five with with no, you know, real help coming, you know what I mean? I’ve been 0 and6 when we had things play young players and you know people that could make plays we just had to figure it out as a team figure out our chemistry right now I feel like the this Titans team is still trying to gather an identity you know so yeah there’s some desperation okay talk to me about 0 and6 um because looking back on it now it’s like ah we just need to find our identity in that moment when You’re 0 and4, 0 and5, 0 and six. Did you feel like ah we’ve got all the pieces, we just have to figure it out. Is that what you’re feeling in real time? Absolutely. I mean, look, we were 0 and6. We were just 13 and three the year before. So, we had all the pieces, we just had to figure it out. And then we went on a six-game winning streak and missed the playoffs by a game. So, yeah, 1,00%. But if I take you back to um one of those 2005 2006 teams or 0406 teams um you know we were I think we were 5 and 11 then we went four and 12 so we got worse. So those are like um those are the times and those are the games where um yeah you’re absolutely desperate for a win because a win cures everything. You hear that all the time in sports. Winning cures all. So, if you can get that one win, get off the schneide, you know, it gives, you know, your young secondyear coaches an opportunity to come in and have something positive to talk about because even in um a win, you can find a lot of negatives to get better on, but they’re overlooked because at the end of the day, the name of the game is to win the football game. So, yeah. Um, I can see how both teams would be desperate this week because nobody wants to be talked about as one of the worst teams in football next week. So, should we examine why the Houston Texans are 0 and3 and look at the matchup? Rhett, you just read my mind. I love it when this happens sometimes. Yes. So, here Keith framed it perfectly though. He’s been a part of he was a part of a a team that went one and four in 2002 and went to the AFC Championship game. Mh. And there was one that still had a loaded rod. There’s there’s a difference. And there like there’s a different story as to why the Titans are 0 and3 and the Texans are 0 and3. Yeah. And the Titans 0 and3 is more to the uh stylings of after they had a salary cap purge and guys were gone and they need like Keith was one of the stalwarts in this thing and they’re bringing young guys in. They had Vince Young, they drafted third overall out of the University of Texas in 2006. And it took a minute for them to get to that point when they were at 2008, went 13 and three, went started 10 and0. Mhm. So, we know the Titans issues. There is depth issues in position groups. There’s penalties pre- snap. There’s uh lack of, you know, the ability to score with consistency as far as scoring touchdowns. Um there’s a there’s a bunch of things you can point to. The Houston Texans, it’s interesting because of their three phases, the offense is the issue. The defense, we’ll get to in a minute. And that’s what Cam Ward and this offensive line’s going to have to face on Sunday, but their offense um 172 yards per game passing, 95 rushing. They are 32nd in scoring. They only have 43 first downs. that’s last in the NFL. Um, and when you look at the crux of it, they have been trying to find the winning formula of their starting five on their offensive line. They have four guys on that offensive line that are new to that line. Titus Howard, the right tackle, has been there for a while. He’s the one mainstay in this. So, they trade away Laramie Tonsel to the Washington Commanders. They draft Arante Ursery, who we saw at the Senior Bowl, a big guy from uh Minnesota that they took in the second round. He’s the starting left tackle. Um Ed Ingram is the right guard. Jake Andrews is the center. Jake Andrews actually performing pretty well in this and only had one career start before this season. So this is start number five for him against the Titans on Sunday. And then the left guard is an area of concern because they actually rotated guys at left guard last week. In that loss to Jacksonville, they split time between Lake and Tomlinson and Juice Scrugs. In fact, Juice Scrugs had 57% of the snaps. Lake and Tomlinson the other 43%. And they’ve, you know, Arante Ursery has had his issue. He’s had three or four penalties and protection issues that you would expect out of a rookie left tackle who is seeing battle for the first time at this level. CJ Strad 64% completion, 599 yards passing, two touchdowns, three interceptions, a passer rating of 76.9. Their rushing attack because they’re missing Joe Mixon right now. And Nick Chub’s doing it all right, but the Texans are 29th in rushing attempts, 23rd in yardage. So there’s there’s where some of the numbers lie in this. You know what that says? This game is winnable. Yes. Because that’s right. Because Big Jeff can get after the interior of that offensive line. Big Jeff against left guards. They’re rotating in and out. I like that for Big Jeff all day long. You know what? Um, Red I look to me, Big Jeff is like he came out, he he kind of gave his testament. You know, I got leaner. I want to push the pocket. I want to get, you know, put lineman in the quarterback’s face. In the first three games of the season, I’ve seen Big Jeff do everything that he said. He’s fighting, clawing through double teams. You’re not always going to get home. And to be honest, like I I’ve watched the games at home. All the quarterback, you know, Big Jeff’s out there in his red Payton Manning. No, Payton and um Hasselback told me this. They just come out and they look for the red gloves and they knew where I was. So Big Jeff is out there with his red sleeves. And Matt, if you you know, you watch the game, Danny Dons was so cool. Jeff has pressure. All he did was just step to the side. Step to the side. So, we need those ed edge rushers and some of those guys that are coming on those blitzes to get home. You know, uh we’re right there, but you got to finish. Got to finish the plays. There were some opportunities against the Colts to get negative yardage plays, but we didn’t finish the opportunities. and think I wasn’t here last week, but even against the Rams, you know, the um I can’t remember who it is off top of my head, but the safety on Puka Canua Makua’s touchdown safety or um the defensive back shot in there. He was right there, but just got to condense it a little bit more. So, we’re this close. The Titans are, my point being, and the Titans are this close from having um the tackle for loss, having the multiple sacks, having these plays on defense that’s going to help this offense even more. Let me ask the question. When you say you need to condense, you need to do one more one more step, one more thing to finish a play, what can you do throughout the week to to get over that hump and actually finish that play? Is that a mental thing or is that a preparation thing? practice how you play. So, you know, obviously you cannot practice the full contact aspect of, you know, taking on blocks and stuff, but you can stand your ground in practice. You know, um, you know, you’re going against the scout team, so they’re not trying to hurt you. You’re not trying to hurt them. You stand your ground. You know the space that you have to get to, and you just don’t, you know, let your space be denied. Now, the game is different. And sometimes you got to break glass, meaning you just have to throw your body into a pile, be reckless to do your job. And sometimes, you know, people might flinch. Sometimes people might not go all the way in. You know, it’s a it’s a business decision, as we’ll say. So, um, you know, I guess it just depends on the player, right? Well, and and what you saw a bully is what I’ve heard both defensive coordinator Dinard Wilson say this week, head coach Brian Callahan this week. Tackling has to be better. It has to be because evidence in in that Colts game, I mean, here’s Daniel Jones should have been a loss. Should have been a quarterback. It’s 11 yards, 12 yards, first down. The big run that that Jonathan Taylor had, I think there was five missed tackles on that one. Um, so your point is so valid because regardless of this Texans offensive line, they have weapons. They still have Nico Collins. They still have Dalton Schulz at tight end. They’re the two main targets. They have weapons in this. So, you got to be on task. You have to be. Yeah. And and tackling is an attitude. And I saw um coach Dard Wilson up there this week and speaking about exactly what you’re talking about. Tackling is an attitude. And what I will say is one of the hardest things to do in the NFL is make an open field tackle. So my thing was I never wanted to be in a position where I got to tackle one of these great running backs one-on-one. I don’t care who the starting running back is. There are they are a great player. There are no slouches at the running back position in the NFL. I don’t care if they’re not a household name. They wouldn’t be in that position if not. Trust me, I got broken off by many of those guys that didn’t have a household name. Uh, that being said, that’s the attitude you have to take. You gota, we as Titans fans have to expect to see the Titans defense flying around from all levels. Um, from the secondary, the linebackers flying around making plays because it’s essentially you got called out, you know. So, when you get called out, you want to be able to show up. And when Rhett was uh breaking down the Houston Texans, that’s what made me um jump in and say this game is winnable because of the way um that they’ve been playing. So it even makes more sense what coach Callahan said. He’s like you who’s going to be more desperate because neither team is playing well. I feel that’s coach Callahan realizing look my and he says it that look our team could be playing better. So this is the team and it’s um this is the game that the best team will win. the team that plays the best will win because statistically the Titans are better, but if you go to Vegas or the main pickers and everything, the Texans are supposed to be the better team, but they got to put it together. That’s what you got to love about Sundays because you always got to go out there and prove it. All right, we’re going to take another quick break. When we come back, I want to talk a little Texans defense. Right, you down? Let’s go. All right, Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans tonight with Keith Bulock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans tonight rolls on. Amy Wells, Keith Bulock, Rhett Bryan, we’re all here and we are about to start talking about the Houston Texans defense. Rhett, give us a little preview of what the Titans offense is about to encounter in Houston. Well, they are one of the main reasons why the three losses for the Houston Texans have only been by one score each loss. They have kept this team in this ball games and they are the pressure kings, quarterback pressure kings of the NFL currently. 39 total pressures, quarterback pressure rate 32 and a half% and it’s really started with the two guys as the edge rushers. Will Anderson their top draft pick from Alabama a couple of years ago in the same CJ Stra draft. 17 pressures through three games, three quarterback sacks. opposite him, the former Viking, Denil Hunter, 11 pressures, two quarterback sacks, and the thing is they have all of these weapons throughout the three levels of the defense. And it really speaks to what you can do when you have a top draft pick who’s a quarterback who’s on a rookie deal, and that becomes friendly. That’s what the Titans are trying to do here with Cam Ward, being on a rookie deal. So what they did is they were able to go out through both free agency and the draft and build the defense up in this thing. So outside of those two guys, Sheldon Rankings, who’s a DTackle, five quarterback pressures there, Mario Edwards Jr., but I’m looking at their depth in this, Derek Barnett backs up Will Anderson on the depth chart. And Daryl Taylor, the former V who played for the Seattle Seahawks, he he backs up Denil Hunter on that side. And then they look in the the middle level of this. There’s a Zile Sh. There’s Henry Tooo to Christian Harris as a backup back there. EJ Speed, the former Colt that they picked up in free agency is actually third on the depth chart. And then you go to their secondary, Derek Stingley Jr. probably one of the better corners in the National Football League. People talk about Sauce Gardner and these guy, that guy ridiculously good. Kamari Lacer good with him back there. Jaylen Petri has been a a really nice player for them. He got a huge extension in the off seasonason moneywise as their nickel corner. They just released CJ Gardner Johnson. Like and we’re talking about, you know, well, what in the world happened to to Jarvis Brownley Jr.? Why they this is not just a Titans thing. This happens in the league. This is a this is just business. Yep. CJ Gardner Johnson. Three weeks ago, they they reduced his salary to vet veteran minimum and converted all that to a signing bonus to save them some money. He’s now gone. Yep. It’s going to be like a $5.5 million cap hit for them. Um, but they have defense. They clearly do. They bring it. Um, and again, you talk about CJ Gardner Johnson in all of those three losses gave up significant big plays towards the end in all three of them that ended up resulting in their opponent going with the go-ahead score. Um but yeah, they’re a problem. And so this Titans offensive line, we’ll see what the right side look looks like healthwise, but this is going to have to be Cam Ward uh with now under the toutelage of Bo Hardigree and the rest that are helping him along. Got to get rid of the ball. And I think the other part of it is if you can if you can deliver the football in the run game in this, you can probably help help yourself quite a bit because their run defense is I think it’s like 18th in the league right now. Um and on third down they’re pretty low there too. 40 and a half% third down is what they’re allowed. So there’s some things there you can take advantage of. But Tony Pard is the key to this and trying to get some things going. But Cam Ward is going to have to have his head on a swivel. He’s going to have to because those two big dudes that are the edge rushers, they’re the problems. So Keith, when you’ve been when you’re getting ready to face a defense that is as hot as it seems Houston’s is right now and you have had some troubles offensively, where do you start? Is it that offensive line? Is that the place that you’ve got to make sure you’re short up there before anything else can really work the way you want it to? Yeah, I mean, you want to make sure that you’re able to protect the quarterback when you’re when you need to pass and that you know, you’re getting push off of the line of scrimmage when you want to go when you go to run. So, you want to put the five best linemen out there. And then sometimes if if you need to use an extra tight end or go two tight end sets or look man, run two man routes with the back of leaking in the flat. I’ve never been an offensive coordinator. Close as I’ve come is playing Madden. Um but but if you know you’re going to be get you’re going to have heat and pressure coming off the edge, I’m definitely chipping Will Anderson. I’m definitely um you know seeing how they’re going to attack. Obviously you have your first 15. you hope that you’re able to get through your first 15 um first 15 plays are scripted usually on offense. Um and then you go from there. But I’m just doing things over the last three weeks that I see that I’ve had success with offensively. I feel like they had success with an offtackle run last week with Pard. There’s several different runs that I’ve seen in the Titans run game that they’ve had success with more than others. There’s certain p pass concepts and pass routes that I’ve seen be successful. Look, if you just have to throw um drag routes to Calvin Ridley to get him involved, you got to get him involved early. Um you know, that’s the type of player he is um that he has to be involved early. So, just want to protect your quarterback, give him things that he can get confident in himself, which will exude confidence to the rest of the offense, which will lead to the rest of the team. Speaking of Calvin Ridley, Brian Callahan said that he’s trying to do things to really instill some confidence. um in Calvin Ridley trying to get him back, trying to help him get out of what seems like a slump that he’s in right now, like a baseball player or a golfer or gymnast or something or a football player. Well, but I mean, you don’t think about slumps in football as much, but it is a really real thing, isn’t it? Yeah. Look, I remember um Man, I I remember this like it was yesterday. We were playing good football as a team, but like I was just shaky on angle tackles. I just knew for myself I was shaky on angle tackles and we played Tampa Bay here. Um, and we won. But there was two swing passes Thomas Jones had and I had to make an angle tackle and for whatever reason I I couldn’t make the angle tackle. Like he cut back on me two times. Like and we won that game by like 17. It was a nonfactor in that game. But coming in to that game, in my head, I knew something was up. Like, yo, I I had a tough time. Not that I missed one the game before, but it was just on me that week. And then I get it in the game and lo and behold, I miss angle tackles. So then I go practice next week working angle tackles because all it is is you just run through. You know, I’m thinking, I’m in my head, I got to break down position. Nah, you use the sideline as your friend and make him make the move because I’m running straight through you. But when you start putting all this thinking into it, been making angle tackles forever, but I was stuck on angle tackles. So now we’re speaking about Calvin Ridley, he’s a wide receiver. The easiest thing to say as a non-wide receiver is your job is to catch the ball. And I used to say that all the time, but like I just explained to you, there’s this it could be something that he’s stick he’s stuck on. But I also always had this um saying taped in my locker. And a lot of times um my some of my teammates will walk by my locker, look at my locker, just walk not say nothing to me, look in my locker. It said confidence is like money. Easy easy to gain, a very hard to gain, very easy to lose. You understand what I’m saying? Confidence is like money, very hard to gain, very easy to lose. So that being said, got to have confidence in the game. And I wrote on my sign said, “Get money.” Because I always had confidence. Confidence wasn’t an issue. You know what I’m saying? Confidence wasn’t an issue. So, it’s the approach that you take to the game. Calvin really has made tons of plays in this league. He might need to go back and watch some Alabama tape. Go back and watch some whatever it is. Whatever works because it’s all mental. It’s not the physical aspect. It’s all mental. So, go back and watch this high school highlight tape. Whatever it is, you got to make it happen. It’s just something that’ll flip the switch. Hey, to each their own. No, I mean, dude, whatever you need to do, I think that’s great. But to your point, one of the things we know about Cabin Ridley is getting the ball to him early, giving him the ability to just start off making those plays is how he performs the best for the duration of a game for whatever reason. And like I’ve seen I’ve seen it before with other players, but they’re just those players that you got to get them going early. They got to be involved. And I’ve been like that before. like it’ll be like in the middle of the second quarter and I’ve been playing every single play, but I don’t feel as if I made a tackle or I haven’t done anything. I remember my last year with the Titans, we played Pittsburgh Steelers on a Monday night and we ended up losing. But I don’t feel as if I did anything in that game, but I was out there every single play. You go back, you watch the film, there was nothing I could have did any better. But still, I felt like I was a non-factor. And I was. You’re never a non-factor, guys. Keith Bulock. Never. Never. Especially not on this show. We are going to take one more quick break and when we come back, I’m going to talk a little Pro Football Hall of Fame before we wrap things up right here on Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans Tonight. The final segment of Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans Tonight is underway. And I think we need to talk about the Pro Football Hall of Fame because their first list for the class of 2026, the 128 modern era players were nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2026. So, this is kind of the first big dump of people who are nominated. And there’s a lot of names on this list um that you would recognize because we’re kind of in the modern era. I mean, we’re actually in the modern era players, but I mean, a lot of names you recognize quarterbacks. I’m looking at Drew Brees, Randall Cunningham, Eli Manning, Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNab, Steve McNair. So, speaking of Steve McNair, let’s talk about the Titans that are on this list here. There’s eight of them. This list includes Delaney Walker, Derek Mason, Chris Johnson, Steve McNair, Eddie George, Gary Anderson, Jerel Casey, and Lorenzo Neil. Now, this is of course just the first list. There will be pairings down of this list. It will go down. It’ll go down to 50 in October and then it’ll gradually get down to who the inductees are the night before the Super Bowl at the NFL honors celebration. Yep. So, yeah, it’s but you’ve got to be on the first list to be on the last list. So, having so many Titans on that list, it’s a good feeling, right? Uh that n I’ve been on that list before. Yeah. and Eddie and Steve and Gay. All those guys have been on the list for about 15 years. And I feel like, this is my personal opinion, you know, they they’re going to put a a lot of great players on that list to for intrigue on the initial list. Yes. 10,00%. For intrigue, for all the things that we’re talking about, but you know, it’s a trap. It’s not a trap. It’s not a trap. It’s their setup, right? It’s not a trap. It’s just like they’re acknowledging and honoring great players that have played within the NFL like that deserve to have an honorable mention or a mention for the Hall of Fame, you know, um and rightfully so. But when you speak about Titans, you know, it would have been done already. Stephen Eddie would have been done already. And you know, every year they’re on that list. Um, DMace really feel as I really feel as if if they really took some consideration in Derek Mason’s career, you might really put him in the Hall of Fame. He had over 13,000. You know what I’m saying? He had a nice very nice career. Um, like so it’s like I don’t even you don’t even know the criteria or any like so it’s like even for myself um I don’t have a Hall of Fame aspirations or anything like that, but if you go you look at my stats, they fall like somewhere in limbo. So, you have a lot of great players, but I always say you have to win in the NFL to really be considered for, you know, certain certain accolades and awards. It’s not always true, but for the most part, if the Titans won in 99 and then world championships are the tipping point, you know what I mean? At least in at least in football, they win in 99, come back in 2000, have another great year, you know what I mean? Now, you’re building that legacy that they look for. Um, especially when you know you don’t play or win championships. You got to be on the first list to be on the last list. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. Well, I’m saying there’s a lot of people on the first list that, you know, ain’t going to make the last list. So, being being there’s the yin and the yang. Being one of the people that have been on that was on the first list for about six years. I’m just speaking from experience. There it is. This is why we’re both on the show. You get honesty though when you listen to Titans Tonight with Keith. This is why we’re both here. Well, the Titans are getting ready to take on the Houston Texans. They are heading on the road, folks. Kickoff for that game is at noon. We have all the coverage on Titans Radio starting at 11 a.m. Central time. Titans countdown begins and then kickoff is at noon. Rhett Bryan will be there, of course. Taylor Zarszer will be on the call with Coach Mack. I’ll be there. Keith Bulock wishes he was going to be there. Are you going? You going to be there to Houston? Yeah, I’ll be on my couch like last week. No, no, look. I’m on my couch. Will be at his house. Yeah, I’m on my couch. Titans on the big screen and everything else on the iPad. There it is. There you go. What more could you need? Anyway, check us out on Titans Radio if you want to hear the call. Otherwise, should be a great game. We’re excited and hoping the Titans get the win. For Rhett Bryan, for Keith Bulock, I’m Amy Wells, thanking you for listening to tonight’s edition of Pinnacle Financial Partners Titans tonight with Keith Bulock. [Music]

“Mr. Monday Night” Keith Bulluck is joined by Titans Radio’s Rhett Bryan and Amie Wells to discuss all things two-toned blue and preview a road divisional matchup on Titans Tonight with Keith Bulluck, presented by Pinnacle.

00:00 – 16:41 Recapping the Colts
16:42 – 29:43 Breaking down the Texans
29:44 – 39:56 Keys to a Titans win
39:57 – 44:59 Breaking down the first round of HOF Nominees

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