TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Titans CAN’T FUMBLE Cam Ward’s growth, defense COLLAPSES, special teams SHINES

TITANS SQUAD SHOW: Titans CAN’T FUMBLE Cam Ward’s growth, defense COLLAPSES, special teams SHINES

I’m Julian Minnson and man, those Titans draft picks look pretty good. We’ll talk about it here on the squad show. I’m Tyler Roland and it looks bad, folks. But if the Titans win this weekend, they’re one game back in the South. I’m Brad Hopkins. In 1977, Richard Prior came out with a movie called movie called Which Way is Up? Although that was a comedy. We hope the Titans aren’t. We’ll see which way is Up. Tighten up. It’s the Titan Squad. Everything Tennessee Titans every week, covering all the big hits and gamechanging plays from the heart of Music City, the way only the Locked on Podcast Network can squad up. The Titan Squad Show starts now. And welcome to the Titan Squad Show. As you heard off the top, I’m Julian Minnstoneone along with Tyler Roland and the legend Brad Hopkins. Uh, another week in the books in the NFL. Titans coming off a 33-19 loss to the LA Rams on Sunday. We’re going to talk about all that stuff. What were high on the Titans, what were maybe not so high on the Titans about Cam Ward and of course the other side of the ball, the defense as well and viewer comments, too. So, keep those comments coming. Make sure to like, subscribe, wherever you get your podcast here, the Titans squad show. You could also check out Tyler’s Locked on Titans every single day. Um, we’ll answer the questions at some point in the show today, so keep them coming. Also, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. 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. So, fellas, Titans 0 and2, but how are you feeling? Are you feeling the two-tone blues like a lot of the fans are right now? I mean, I I got to tell you, I know that they’re 0 and2. I know that it hasn’t looked good, but if we just take a small step back, which is hard to do when you’re in the middle of the battle, I admit. You know, I get fired up after the losses as well, but you know, they played better against the Rams than the Texans did, and they had some opportunities to win that ball game. The offense looked better than it did in Denver in a much more tough environment. So, I do have some optimism that they can continue to improve and start, as Brad said, you know, which way is up. I think they can start taking it up a little bit. And uh again, I know that the Colts look like world beaters right now, but one win this weekend and things feel a lot different in the division. You know, I think that Cam excited us with the potential during the preseason and that’s what kind of raised our level of expectation, but I don’t think anybody picked them to be 2 and 0 at this point when we started looking at the schedule, especially when you open the season with two playoff teams. You know, one that was supposed to win the the East or excuse me, the West and challenge the Chiefs and Denver Broncos. Now, they didn’t look that crisp. and then a Rams team that came to town here having another team expected to win the NFC West and through 30 minutes of that ball game it looked like the Titans not only had a chance but were going to come away with a W. So there, you know, when you look at it, uh, realistically, um, maybe our expectation because we were excited about the youth at quarterback and how it seemed to be really taking charge, taking control, uh, which was something we haven’t seen in a couple of years. And, uh, that made us think, hey, man, this team is, they finally arrived. But they’re still a work in progress, you know? So, I’m not going to sit here and say, “Oh, man. 0 and2, I’m so disappointed in this team.” Because what did you think was going to happen when they open the season with two playoff teams? You know, I think most people across the country had them losing these two games. But like Tyler said, it just takes one win. It takes one win to spark that fire, to spark that confidence that allows them to compete. One thing that Shawn McVey said during his postgame interview that really resonated with me, he said, “The Titans are a tough team.” Now, we don’t always just want to be known to being a tough team, you know, but that was an acknowledgement that this team can compete, that they aren’t just some walk in the park, and once we start cleaning up those little things that that plague us, you know, penalties, and we’ll talk more about all the other stuff, uh, this team might have a chance. And I wanted to start off with a segment that Tyler normally does on his show after after game days on on Sunday called Titan Up versus Titan Down. So, we’re going to start with tighten up, things that maybe we’re encouraged about, and then we’ll go to tighten down with things that maybe we are discouraged about or a little bit weary on. So, we’re going to start tighten up. Um, Tyler, since you’re the one who brought it this segment uh about, go ahead and start with what you’re high on when it comes to the Titans right now. Yeah, Julian, it’s my segment. Give me my credit right now. Uh, all jokes aside, uh, I was impressed with the run def or the run game. Uh, against the Broncos, the Titans weren’t able to run the ball. And if the Titans aren’t able to run the football, they’re going to put their rookie quarterback in a really, really tough spot. It’s just not going to be manageable. But Tony Pard went for 92 yards. The Titans went for 109 yards on the ground total. Average 4.2 yards per carry in that game. Uh the explosive runs haven’t really come quite yet. Tony Pard only has, you know, a 10 yard run as long. We we want to see some more explosive runs. But again, when you add in the context that the the Rams are a pretty good defense, and against the Texans, they allowed 114 rushing yards, but like 40 of those were scrambles from CJ Stout. It wasn’t like the Texans were lining up and running it down the throat for 100 yards for the Rams. So, I thought the Titans being able to get some success in the ground game, they really started to get some chunks there in the second half and move down the field. things didn’t end up great and they didn’t put enough points on the board, but I was encouraged by the Titans being able to run the football and there’s so much focus right now on the passing game because of Cam Ward, because of the rookie weapons, because of the offensive line and the skepticism there. All anybody wants to talk about are things relevant to the passing game, but the run game is going to be super important. I think early in the process when we were in the preseason, when we were in training camp and stuff like that, the Titans were having most of the success that they had against their defense by running the football and there was some encouraging signs there. So, I think while it was ugly in week one and maybe uh it didn’t look so great in week two because there’s so many other things that are kind of smothering it down, I think the Tennessee Titans run game is going to start to come along. And when you consider that Lloyd Kushenberry didn’t really have a great game and then you consider that Blake Hance played about onethird of the snaps after Zitler injured his elbow and JC Laam who was a devastating bulldozing run blocker in college he wasn’t out there for this game and for the Titans to have pretty good success against the Rams on the ground I think that’s a very encouraging sign I give that one a Titan up 20 for 92 for Tony Pard there go ahead be hop yeah know it’s it’s there the the things that we’re up about with the Tennessee Titans are kind of obvious. You know, Tony Pard had 38 carries for 152 yards over the last couple of games, seven first downs. Um, that should only improve when Taj Spears returns to the lineup. You know, I think they’re kind of thin at that position. Uh, but I’m high on quarterback, you know, making plays when he has time. You know, that’s the premium word, right? When he has time. Uh we saw an unbelievable connection with him and EL Manor uh in the end zone and and even better catch down the sideline when he had some time in the pocket, you know, to have those explosive plays in the past game. So, you know, Cam has showed himself to have a lot of potential. Um, and I think that when you look at maybe a balanced approach, taking advantage of the run game that you mentioned, Tyler, and him not being in so many passing down in distances where the defense is allowed to pin their ears back and just start screaming up field, then you start to see probably more productivity, more expanse of the playbook, engaging play action. Whether what I want to see them do is um protect Cam by moving the pocket, but also having the potential threat of running it. I mean, Lamar Jackson is one of the most lethal quarterbacks with the ball in his hands as a runner, right? And that affects how people pass rush him. And I’m not saying that Cam Ward is Lamar Jackson, but Cam Ward has that ability to get outside the pocket to to find those creases that running backs take advantage of and make the defense respect you and your ability to be a dual threat quarterback versus just sitting in the pocket and letting defenses tee off on you when obviously protection’s been a problem to this point. Yeah, there was that play earlier in the game where where Ward was rolling out and found Calvin Ridley for one of the explosive plays that they had on the day and he is a very underrated runner. One of the things that I’m I’m tightened up about, I guess, right now is the special teams. I mean, you think back to a year ago how much of a mess this unit was. Then you bring in John Fossil, who’s clearly one of the best, and it seems like he’s kind of unlocking the potential of the group. Um, Chim DK, man, I mean, talk about a draft pick that seems to be hitting right now. you know, he he was picked because of his speed was one of the reasons. You know, the 4-34 at the combine, and he’s showing that he had the 70 yard return in the first game against Denver, and then he had the one that was called back that would have been a touchdown, not for an illegal blind side block here um against the Rams. So, that’s big. Um I know the Titans would love to finish a lot of more drives and touchdowns rather than settle for field goals, but it’s nice to know that when you have to kick, Joey Sly has been perfect, eight for eight and three for three and 50 plus. So, and that’s across the league. I mean, 50 is the new 40 it looks like across the league right now for a lot of these kickers. It’s pretty unbelievable what they’re doing. So, I know they want to finish with touchdowns, but at least it’s nice to have a guy that when you cross midfield, you know, you’re going to at least get three on the board. So, that’s what I’m at least high about right now, fellas. I would say that about the whole special teams. You know, Johnny Hecker has pinned people inside the 20. You mentioned Joey Sly being a weapon from almost anywhere on the field. Jim DK, the Titans, when was the last time the Titans had a great returner who you felt like, oh, he could house it at any time? and Mark Mariani, Pac-Man Jones, like what you know, how far back do we have to go here? Uh, so I think special teams as a whole you could give a Titan up to for sure. Absolutely. Somebody already said in the chat, uh, give Bones a lifetime contract. That’s from Bill Brown in there. Okay, guys. Wanted to go um, Titan down now. Um, what are some of the things that maybe you’re discouraged about through these first two games and and maybe a little bit worried about? Tro, we’ll start with you. Uh, well, I guess I am discouraged about mine kind of ties together with the run game. The Titans finally got the run game going and we saw Cam Ward with success on those playaction bootlegs early in the game and it just it just didn’t happen enough. The Titans play action percentage actually went down this week from 23% to 19%. And I know that Brian Callahan comes from a West Coast system. He wants to be in gun. He wants the quick passing game. Even in Cincinnati, that’s something that a lot of Bengals fans always complained about is they didn’t use play action enough to create explosive plays. You can use max protect when you’re in play action situations, keeping tight ends and backs in. You can create more holes over the middle of the field drawing those linebackers up. I just don’t think with the success the Titans had on the ground in this game, I’m just shocked that they didn’t go to play action enough. Cam Ward was five for seven with 52 yards on play action. Seemed to have a lot of success in those areas. And not only does it create more holes over the middle of the field and opportunities for explosive plays as Calvin Ridley runs across the field with this speed, but like Brad’s been talking about, you get Cam Ward out of the pocket away from the pass rush, give him more opportunities to read the field and scan the field and use that special spatial awareness that he does so well. And you give him the option to use his legs. So, I know it’s not really at the core of Brian Callahan’s DNA as an offensive mind, like just philosophically speaking. It’s just not what they want to do and what they did in Cincinnati or what they’re doing enough here. But Cam Ward would be a major benefactor from more play action for multiple reasons. And I just don’t understand why when you’re having success on the ground like the Titans were against the Rams, why in that second half they didn’t work in more play action. So, that’s a Titan down for me. And it goes back to, you know, I just don’t know if Brian Callahan is going to the the test of a coach, in my opinion, is to mold your system to your players. Build your system around the skill set of your players. And I thought even back to Will Levvice, they didn’t lean on play action enough, and they tried to put a square in a circle hole. And I I just don’t know if Callahan will go away from his principles enough to do what’s best for the offense, and that’s incorporating more play action to go with the success that I think they’ll start having on the ground. We we sat down with uh Cam Ward. We meaning Charles Davis and I did for Sirius during training camp and the first thing that he mentioned was sins. We all know what that means. You know, the negatives penalties guys has been a problem. You know, it puts us behind the sticks. It creates passing downs that allow defenses to tee off on cam. Like I just mentioned, it gives opposing offenses extended time on the field by converting first downs or shorter yards to convert. You you it’s like almost playing against two teams. You know, the negative team that continues to shoot itself in the foot and be a problem. I mean, we even heard Dinard Wilson addressing some of the issues now. And that might have been particularly for one player, but if that stands for everybody on both sides of the football, jumping off sides, pre- snap penalties, I mean, it just, you know, those things that just can’t happen because it’s hard enough to win in the National Football League as it is, guys. And when you do things that show to be undisiplined, that’s a problem. And they keep mentioning it, you know, and I understand, hey, look, until they fix it, it’s going to be a problem. They probably need to keep mentioning just to keep it on the forefront of their minds. But at the end of the day, the teams that are championship teams, the teams that win divisions, the teams that go to Super Bowls, they do less creating mistakes and doing things before the ball is snapped or even during the play that create negative plays than the ones that do. So, they have to clean that up. And you got to be smarter. You got to be um I don’t know, more focused. um whatever it is it’s going to take them to be able to understand that these negative plays are one of the things that’s really hurting their progress, they got to get it fixed. And Brad, just to add some some statistical context to what you’re saying going into last night’s games, I haven’t checked since the Monday Night Football games, but the Titans were last in the NFL or worst in the NFL with 28 flags thrown. 23 of those had been accepted, five declined. Nine pre- snap penalties out of those 23 that have been called. And the Titans have a net loss of 119 yards due to penalties. That’s 20 more yards than the second worst team in the NFL. They are bleeding out there with the penalties. And Brad, as you know, in the NFL, there’s so much going on. 11 guys have to do their job. It’s so easy for one guy to mess up and ruin the whole play. The teams that don’t beat themselves often are the teams that find a way to win. The team that makes less mistakes, not the team that goes crazy and makes the craziest plays. It’s the team that beats themselves the least that often can win these games with how it’s all one score games. So those numbers really stand out through two weeks. You’re right. And you can’t overcome that. Yeah. you know, real quick. I remember Jeff saying to us at one point in time, Jeff Fischer, if you don’t know who I’m talking about, um, he was like, “Hey, um, if you make a mistake in a game, is it the worst thing?” And they’re talking about one mistake. And everybody kind of looked around and like, “No.” Okay, so what if you made one mistake and you made one mistake and you made one mistake and you made one mistake and you made and you just went around the entire room and it culminated and you’re thinking, “Dang, that really makes sense, right?” you just think about one mistake, but when collectively a bunch of people are doing it, there’s the 28 and that’s the problem, you know. So, just trying to figure out ways to limit that. Now, there have been occasions when the same guy’s getting called, you know, on either side of the football. You’re like, man, they’ve got really got to do something about that. You know, having a talk with him or making sure that he understands exactly what he needs to be doing schematically and, you know, just competitively to not be a liability. So, at the end of the day, man, we got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot. That’s exactly what my Titanown was going to be is is this team continuously even since last year finds ways to beat themselves. You mentioned the 28 total flags but 23 accepted penalties for 193 yards. Um I know there are going to be holding calls in the NFL, right? There are going to be defensive pass interference calls. That’s inevitable. But it’s the pre and post snap stuff that’s the most maddening because that’s the controlling the controllables as head coach Brian Callahan talked about yesterday in his press conference. Um, you just can’t do that when you’re the Titans. And especially, it’s it’s more maddening when you think about this entire off season was meant to eliminate that kind of stuff. I’d like to see what the number would have been had they not had an off seasonason which was so u emphasized and that was so emphasized in the offseason program. Mhm. Well, Julian, I hate to do this, but if you spend the entire off season preaching a message, and you come out and historically fail in the first two weeks, the only question that I can ask is, are the players receiving the message? Are they tuning out the message? Wh why did the message fall on deaf ears? Uh, I hate to keep, you know, going back to Callahan, but we’re 18 minutes in and we haven’t really mentioned Brian Callahan, but if you spend all season preaching something to your team and they come out and do what they’ve done so far in that area, it’s fair to wonder if the message is being received. Okay, but but you know what the message is? What? Doing the right thing. The message is not making mistakes. Why do I have to tell you not to do that? That’s dumb. I shouldn’t have to tell you how to be a professional. I shouldn’t have to tell you that the mistakes you make are killing this team. It is my job to remind you that these things are hurting us. And if you go out there and do it, is that a death message? Are you kidding me? I shouldn’t have to tell you to not do things that are causing problems for this team. You know what they are. You know, you can’t grab a guy when you’re in coverage. You know, when a running back is running by you and you’re on offensive line, you need to let go if you got a handful of cloth. Now, there are one play I don’t don’t agree with at all, and that was the punt return for a touchdown where where um Butch McCall got called for the ball. Yeah, the blind side. I believe that’s just the dumbest thing. That’s a terrible. That’s an anomaly because we’ve seen there are more situations where the Titans were at fault than there were, you know, not being at fault. But at the end of the day, if I’m preaching to you all off season about the things that you need to do to be better and you don’t do them, that’s the right thing to do. I’m not making up science here. I’m not asking you to do algorithms. I’m just asking you to do what football players know in their mind is the right thing to do. Go out there and do your damn job. Peter Scoransky in the locker room. Peter Scaransky is fed up with the pre- snap penalties, man. His interview in the locker room this week. He’s just like, “We just can’t do it. Like, we just like it’s a pre- snap. Like, you can’t jump all sides. Like, you you can’t fall start. You got to get lined up.” He was very frustrated. And I think uh I I I resonate with that a lot, Pete. So, I appreciate Scarransky for that frustration. One one guy that the Titans fans maybe aren’t frustrated about is Mr. Cam Ward on the other side of the break. We’re going to talk about him, what we want to see from him next, and and how he can develop uh in the Titan system under Brian Callahan. That’s next in the Titan Squad Show. Keep it. All right. Mazda crafts cars for those who do more than simply move. You can feel the Japanese craftsmanship in every detail. From the metallic accents to available Napa leather upholstery, you can make everyday drives feel like anything but. From smooth handling to intuitive controls, like our players, we sweat every detail. Because when you make every move count, impossible becomes irrelevant. Mazda, move and be moved. All right, guys. Wanted to talk a little bit about Cam Ward. um here obviously throws his first career touchdown pass which was the highlight of the day, the highlight reel pass to Elio Manor that Be Hop talked about in the first segment. Um certainly the Cam Ward experience. What do you like from what you’ve seen from Cam Ward so far and what do you hope to see I guess as he goes into week three against Indianapolis? I’ll go first, Tyler. Um Cam Ward’s development I’m excited about. I mean he is by no means a finished product. not even close. But what he has, you know, done is made some extraordinary plays with his arm, his legs. Uh he’s learning how to navigate the pocket while under duress. Um he doesn’t have a problem understanding defenses. He needs to make decisions a hair quicker obviously and guys need to get separation so he can let go the ball, but you know, and better blocking wouldn’t be a bad deal either. But for the most part, he hasn’t been an issue as far as like making mistakes that you’re saying, “Golly, that guy’s a rookie.” because I think he’s playing beyond that now. He’s dealing with sometimes a difficult pocket. He’s dealing with um sometimes guys that can’t get separation. Um he does make to need to make those decisions faster, a little bit faster so that way uh he can be confident to let that ball go and know that the receivers are going to be where they’re supposed to be and and where in accordance to where he’s throwing the football. But all in all, I like his command of the offense. I like his leadership intangibles. um those are things that you just, you know, you have to work on sometimes as a as an NFL player, but he seems to have, you know, really taken control of those things from the very beginning. So, I like his development. Um, but like I said, he is by no means a finished product, guys. Yeah, 100%. Not finished yet, but you know, like you’re saying, we’re not expecting that. I want to compare it to a guy in Minnesota and JJ McCarthy, who he’s injured now. He probably going to be out a couple of weeks. don’t want to see that. But all the conversation in Minnesota and I’ve talked with Luke Braun who covers the Vikings for locked on and locked on Vikings. McCarthy has struggled with the playbook. He struggled spitting out the plays and some of the lengthy stuff that you know Kevin Oonnell wants to do in Minnesota, getting guys in a huddle, operating, you know, being a professional. And Cam Ward hasn’t had any problems with that stuff. And I’ve been kind of talking about that since the preseason and through week one. Yeah, he might be a little tick slow on certain reads and it may take him a little time. Some of the stuff he’s seeing for the first time ever, some of these coverages, some of these alignments, how teams play certain routes, the rules that the defenders have where they do different things based on what they see. A lot of this stuff is the first time he’s ever seen it. And he just doesn’t seem to be overwhelmed by it. He doesn’t seem to be panicked. He his, you know, his blood pressure is staying the same all the time. His heart rate’s staying the same all the time. And I can accept a rookie. Oh, I didn’t quite see that guy. Next time we run that play, next time I rep it, I’ll see it. I’ll rip it. Hey, you know, I got to be stronger in the pocket. These guys are stronger. They’re they’re more aware when they’re pass rushing me to rake the ball out of my hands and stuff like that. I can accept some of those mistakes, but I would be more worried if Cam looked rattled. If he looked up, if he was running around with happy feet and, you know, he wasn’t able to get the team lined up. He wasn’t able to split out the spit out the play call. Brian Callahan has said, “We need to get the plays in faster to him.” It’s not that Cam can’t translate that to his guys and get everybody lined up and be the leader of the offense. He’s shown that. So, the leadership qualities, the poise, just being a professional quarterback and running a professional operation. Cam has done a great job from those standpoints. So getting through your progressions a little quicker, un calibrating when to hold the ball and hunt for the deep play and when to just take your profit and move on. I can be okay with all of those growing pains, but he’s really checked the boxes from just looking like a professional quarterback. And when you hear about other quarterbacks who had an entire red shirt year to learn an offense and have the continuity that everyone wants for Cam and that guy is struggling and some people are throwing on the tin hat and saying, you know, they might have just be doing a pseudo benching for JJ McCarthy because he’s not running the offense well enough mentally. You got to be impressed with Cam not having those problems in his true rookie season without any kind of red shirt ear. You know, I had a friend text me who who didn’t watch the Titans games and he’s not a Titans fan by any means, but he’s a follower of Cam Ward. Um, and he was looking at the box score and you know, box score watching you see, oh man, he he hasn’t had 200 yards yet and his completion percentages are at about 50 51% or so, but you can’t put really stock into those numbers considering he has been sacked 11 times. Uh, penalties have been an issue which puts them in tough spots. And then you think about the completion percentage. He’s had some receivers who want some plays back and have some drops. And so you take all that in consideration, Cam’s not really done anything to to to hurt this team. You also considering these are probably two of the best pass rushes he’ll face all year long. Denver was the best going back to last year and the Rams are no slouch either. And so he’s kind of really jumping in the deep end of the pool and learning how to swim here, which I think is only going to help Cam moving forward. My question to you is with all the the the concerns maybe that we’ve talked about around Cam, is there a concern that it may stunt his growth and development because we can’t really see the full Cam Ward experience because of some of the issues around him? That’s the problem for every quarterback in the National Football League. Well, first off, we give quarterbacks way too much credit and way too much blame. It’s just the way it works because they’re the most identifiable figure on the football field. But at the end of the day, quarterbacks don’t kick field goals. They don’t tackle anybody. They don’t return punts. They don’t do all the things that the team is required to do. They don’t pass block. They don’t run block. They don’t do all these things, right? But what Cam has done is he spreads the football around. Um I think he has three receivers that in this last game were targeted six times. Calvin Ridley had three receptions for 57 yards. Ella Manor had four receptions for 56 yards. Chick had four catches for 35 yards and it went down from there. But at the end of the day, a quarterback is no better than the people around him. Period. Because if a quarterback’s running for his life, like we saw in this last Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes, as great as we think he is, he was nothing. And those problems still exist, which is the reason why they’re having a terrible start and starting to even have an internal collapse maybe. You know, look at Travis Kelce, his body language, and how things are not going their way. So, I bring all that up to say Cam is only as good as the guys that he’s throwing the football to and the guys that are protecting him because those are the ones that allow him to take advantage of a skill set that God gave him, right? So, at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about. It’s about the team collectively. Now, I say team, not just the offense, because if a defense goes out there and just gets ran through like a civ and puts points up on the board, uh then that means that the offense and Cam Ward have to go out there and respond. And if they don’t, what happens? the distance widens itself and that’s a serious problem. So, at the end of the day, it’s about Cam continuing his development, but then the people around him also getting better because they need to to allow him to be successful. Yeah, Brad, you’re right. Because if if the other team gets up, well, then you can’t run the ball because the game script is against you. Now, the pass rushers pin their ears back. Now, you’re not able to get into play action and use the run game like we were talking about in the first segment. Like, it all goes together. Football is the ultimate team sport. That’s why people say that because it truly is altogether. But I want to say this, Julian, if you don’t mind, go back to 11:24 a.m. or 10:24 a.m. for you. Jeremy G said crossbody. Don’t do it again. Do you guys Did nobody watch Cam Ward? Does nobody know what kind of player he is? He is a gunslinger. If you think that Cam Ward isn’t going to make those kind of throws and Cam Ward isn’t going to make those kind of plays and take those kind of risks, I’m sorry, but you’re in for a rude awakening because Cam Ward is a gunslinger. He’s going to keep making Yes, he’s going to keep making cross body throws. He’s going to keep extending plays and telling his wide receiver to go here and forcing it into small windows. That is the way that he plays. And what you need is you need that to not bite you more than it helps you. But that stuff is not going away. And I’ve saw a lot of people said, “That’s a bad throw. He can’t keep doing he’s going to keep doing that that he’s going to keep doing that and that he’s always done that. That is how he plays. But I want to say this, everybody’s right that you know Cam Ward is going to be as good as everything around him because it’s a team sport. But I personally don’t believe this is a Marcus Mariota situation and I I I Marcus deserves his credit in Titans history. But I have to be honest, I was never a believer in Marcus Mariota Mariota. I don’t think mentally he was tough enough to be the leader of a franchise and be a franchise quarterback. I don’t think he could hold up and I think Cam Ward can. So, we could talk about ruining Cam Ward this and that and he’s not going to be the player that we need him to be if his supporting cast isn’t good enough. But, I’m sorry, I don’t buy that Cam Ward’s confidence is going to be ruined or he’s going to get run into the dirt. If it doesn’t work here and for some reason the Titans don’t keep him around, I think he’s going to go be successful somewhere else. So, I don’t buy this. He’s going to be ruined. He just may not hit his potential if the rest of the team isn’t good. Well, you know what? And and to say this, his journey has made him who he is. Yes. It’s not like this guy was a fivestar. Has had success his entire career. Went to Ohio State, won championships, has never experienced, you know, any sort of uphill battle. This dude started out at Incarnate Way word. Correct. Yeah. This guy transferred to Miami. This guy was at Washington. this guy, his journey to where he’s at right now have built up those calluses for him to say, you know what, first off, I believe in myself. Yes. Yes. I believe in myself. Yes. So, at the end of the day, he’s not going to be rattled by, you know, things that don’t go his way. Because guess what? His entire life hasn’t gone his way. Would he have liked to have just jumped right into a f power five program and and won a national championship and been a Heisman Trophy winner and all this stuff? Of course. But that wasn’t his path, you know. So, at the end of the day, Cam is right where he needs to be as far as understanding uh the his the role that he plays and just how to get this team where it needs to be. I believe in his mental fortitude. Like, I I just don’t think he’s going to crack under the pressure no matter what happens. Doesn’t mean he’s going to be great, but I I believe in his will that he’s built up like you’re saying the callous there. And I just don’t think that Cam can be ruined, per se. No. And and to your point, Brad, guess what? At all those places, he met he he dealt with different skill levels, different coaches, different locker rooms, and he put up numbers in every single one of those places, too. He he reached his potential at each of those places. And as someone who covered Cam at Washington State, he did those throws maybe two or three times a game. It was it’s just part of And also, I’m glad you mentioned that, Julian, because that play itself was coordinated to a degree. The the play broke down. Cam rolled to his right. He knew Ell was running across the back of the end zone. Wasn’t trying to draw attention to him finally getting open. Then he found him and threw it across his body. So he intentionally did that to at least keep the defense in the same spot for just enough time for Ell to, you know, get himself open and make a tremendous catch in the end zone for his first touchdown in the NFL. I keep saying he’s Neo in the matrix, man. Like he’s seeing the code come down in the screen. Yeah. He’s like he is inside of the program and gets it and you know those are risky plays but not as risky as they are for like a Will Levis because Cam it’s going slower for him his spatial awareness and understanding and ability to read the field. Brian Callahan just talked about this on Monday at the press conference that Cam sees the field so well. So you’re right that wasn’t just oh crap Alex’s over there I’m going to try it. He literally watch him during the play. He is running to his right, drawing the defense that way, and then points Ell to go to the left because he knows there’s space over there, which decreases the risk of an risky play. So, I just think while, yeah, Jeremy, you’re right. I don’t want to see it bite him. Eventually, it is going to bite him because the defense gets paid, too. But these risky plays for Cam are not as risky as they are for other quarterbacks because he his special talent is the spatial awareness. The Neo of the Titans taking the two-tone blue pill. So, here we go. All right. On the other side, we’re gonna we’re gonna talk about the uh the other side of the ball, the defense, what we’ve liked so far about the defense, and maybe what needs some tightening up on Dinard Wilson’s crew over there and big Jeff Simmons and all those guys. That’s when the Titan Squad show returns. Keep it here. All right, the NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure 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. Maybe you want to bet some uh player props with Cam Ward or um set your fantasy lineup every single day. It makes every game more exciting, whether you’re watching your team or just keeping an eye on on your fantasy team. So, um 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. All right, guys. Wanted to talk about the defense um a little bit. I you know, you give up 33 points to the Rams, but really you kept your team in it in that first half. You Cody Barton comes up with the interception just before halftime. Um it leads to you having the lead, but then it kind of falls over in the second half. What have you liked about the defense through these first two games and maybe some things that you’re looking for them to shore up and work out the kinks a little bit? Kyle, you go first. Well, I honestly think that the secondary has done a pretty good job. I I mean, I know Legious Sneeed had a bad second half, and I was critical of Sneeed online pointing out that he did not have as good of a game as maybe a lot of people thought that he had because he had a couple pass breakups on Devonte Adams. Now, Dvonte Adams is a tough matchup, but Legarius Sneed got paid and got traded for to be able to win those matchups. He was dominant for the Chiefs uh before the Titans traded for him in those kind of matchups. But overall, you look at Xavier Woods. Xavier Woods is not a popular name that people like to discuss, but he’s been excellent for the Titans. And Jarvis Brownley Jr. had all those penalties uh in the first week, but he was pretty clean out there last week and you didn’t hear his name called. And for a quarterback, that’s a pretty good job. The reality is this Tennessee Titans pass rush is terrible. And you know what? We knew that coming in. They’re not going to get any pressure on the quarterback. And Brad has pointed it out every squad show that the defense is so symbiotic. You cannot be a great secondary if you’re not getting help from the pass rush. And you can’t be a great pass rush if guys are wide open. Like it just has to work together. And the reality is I think that the secondary has done far better than what the pass rush has helped them with. And while it’s not going to be perfect because the pass rush isn’t helping enough, I think the secondary overall has been pretty solid. And I know that Puka and Devonte Adams had good games and all of that, I know that that’s the case. But again, there’s no pressure at all on the quarterback. And the Titans actually blitzed less this week against the 37year-old Matthew Stafford, which is a bit confusing to me. But regardless, there’s no pressure on the quarterback. It makes it tough on the secondary. And I think any success that the defense has had has been because the secondary is actually playing pretty decently. Yeah, I I like this this team’s ability to get turnovers. You know, we saw in the in the first game they got Bo Knicks a couple of times. Cody Barton, super smart cat, just drops off into coverage and Matthew Stafford throws the ball like he’s wearing a Rams jersey. So, it’s like, you know, you see their ability to get turnovers, even separate ball carriers from the football in in creating fumbles. So, they do have the ability, I think, to give their offense more opportunities by giving the ball back to them, you know, but like you said, Tyler, if you can’t get in the face of the quarterback, if you can’t disrupt his timing, if you can’t, you know, do those things that um obviously disrupt an offense, then it’s going to be a long day. And the the worst part about it, fellas, is the longer that a defense is on the field, the worse it gets because that offense just loves to have those long play drives where they’re eating up clock and converting first downs and the defense starts to get fatigued and they’re, you know, cuz it’s hard rushing the pass or it’s hard trying to defend the run when they continue to just come at you over and over and over again. And that’s been the problem. Now, admittedly, they’re not healthy because we know that Jeff came in comes into every game knowing he’s gonna get double teamed and it’s been effective. I mean, I think he had two tackles. One of them was a solo tackle. Um, didn’t have any sacks in this last game. Ammani Hooker was the only one that had a sack. I think they’ve got what, two sacks on the season. Big Jeff had one last year. In the NFL. Yeah. So, uh, the fact that they didn’t have Tavandre sweat, that does have an effect, too, because, you know, Tavandre at least, not only does he take up space, but he takes up blockers that could potentially open up things. In other words, Big Jeff is better when Tavandre is on the field with him, and you can tell an obvious difference when he’s not. So, health can also be considered in this whole situation, but for the most part, I think winning the line of scrimmage has been a problem. And there have been instances where uh either Kyron Williams or that Cororum kid or whatever else was running right between the guards, you know what I mean? So, you know, they have to be better at getting off the field on third down, creating those uh downing distances that defenses do to us that make them have to pass the football. In other words, third and eight, third and 10, you’re going to drop back. You know, that’s that’s what you would want as a defense. So, it allows them to then get off the field if you create those down distances. But if you’re dealing with third and two, third and three, third and one, that’s hard to defend. You know, I mean, because there’s so many things that an offense can do, and that’s been an issue, I think, for the Titans, getting off the field on third down. You know, after the game on Sunday, Jeff Simmons, something he talked about was they went into the locker room thinking that they were in a position to win their that game, which they they were they were winning at halftime, but then the defense kind of rolls over a little bit in the second half. Um, and it goes back to the pass rush thing, guys. you know, uh, you couldn’t put any pressure on Stafford and when you can’t do that, that guy’s going to pick you apart and Shawn McVey is going to pick you apart. I I you mentioned Sneeed, Tyler. Um, Devonte Adams was targeted 13 times and and Sneeed knows that it was a second game back, fully healthy, and they’re going to pick on the dude. You know what I mean? They they knew exactly where to go with the football in that second half on Sunday, and it showed. Now, the Colts bring in a different challenge with Jonathan Taylor. And I know prior to last year’s game when Taylor busted him for almost 300 rushing yards or it was 200 plus or whatever it was, um the Titans have done a pretty good job with Taylor up until that point in the games that they played against him. But that makes Devandre Sweat’s health this week imperative um to be a run stopper up front for those guys 100%. And look at the run defense totals. I want to give credit to uh Zack Lions who does a local radio show, but he put out a a good tweet on uh Monday morning and right now the Titans have given up 150 rushing yards per game. That’s the fourth worst in the NFL. 5.5 rush yards per play, fourth worst in the NFL. Nine runs of 10 plus yards, sixth highest. 10.9% run stuff rate, which is the third lowest in the league. And 5.48 yards to go on third downs. That’s the third least for opposing offenses. Like what Brad just said, the Rams were able to have success on early downs. They were able to run the football and that set up third and short. And when you’re in third and short and you’re in third and medium, it’s harder to get pressure on the quarterback. And when you have a guy like Stafford who’s so smart, so quick, has seen so much, well, you know, he’s going to be able to get the ball out of his hands quick and then the pressure can’t get there. So if the Titans don’t get backed up, I don’t know where the term came from there. Nobody runs on the Titans. I don’t know where that came from or who was the first person to say that, but that has not been true for about, you know, 10 months straight now. And if the Titans don’t get back to stopping the run, we know that they don’t have great pass rush talent. We know that like that that’s obvious. You could look at the roster and say they even told us we’re going to have to push crush the pocket. We’re going to have to blitz. We’re going to have to get creative. The only sack they got was a safety blitz with Ammani Hooker. like we knew that coming in, but that plan has 0% chance of working if you can’t get people in the third and longs and give yourself a chance. So, if the Titans don’t show up their run defense, and I think Sweat will play. Brian Callahan last week before the game was like he just couldn’t quite get there uh for Sunday. But, I think Sweat will play in this game and he didn’t really play that great in Denver if we’re honest. He had the good fourth down stop against Bo Knicks, but he did get moved around pretty good against Denver, especially late in the game. If Sweat doesn’t play in this game, they’re going to be in major trouble. And even if he does play in this game, they’re going to have to play better. And we can’t just blame the Dline either. The linebackers for the Titans were terrible in run defense in this game. Let’s just call it what it is. Cody Barton is a former defensive back. He’s having trouble getting off blocks when linemen get into his chest. Cedric Gray was out of position and overrunning his gaps multiple times in this game. So, it’s not just the Dline that is going to help. The safeties are not filling lanes. Ammani Hooker’s run defense has fallen off a cliff in the last se season and two weeks. I just don’t know what’s happened with his run defense when he was so solid early in his career. So, it’s everybody on defense that has to contribute to the run defense. But, if they don’t do that against the Colts, yeah, they are in for a long day against a physical group up front. Yeah. And and the Colts are just coming off a lucky butt win. I don’t buy the Colts. We could talk about that at the end of the show, but I’m sorry. I don’t buy it. If you’re looking at the schedule here for the Titans, this at the beginning of the year, you told me before any of these results that happened and the Colts were two and0 or whatever, this is probably the game out of the first three that you’re like, “Okay, the Titans, this might be their best chance to win.” And it’s even more imperative given that it’s a divisional game. how much of a sensu of urgency you need for that and you’re going on the road for three straight after and there’s no gimmies in the NFL especially on the road when it comes to th this Titans team is this maybe their best chance um to get a W on the board before that road trip you would say it it is for more than one reason it is because of all what you just mentioned but also they play them twice right and we know how this this series goes back and forth between these two teams it’s going to be harder later on in the season for them to go up Indianapolis and get a must-win, you know, especially if things are shaping up to where, you know, the team might be competitive or if we’re just trying to play the role of a spoiler. So, when you get the Colts in your building, you better take advantage of that cuz it’s going to be hard as heck to go up to Indianapolis and get a W. And nobody wants to get swept in a series either in a divisional situation where you know the team better than anybody else does except for the other three teams in the league or the other two teams, whatever. But for the most part, you got to take advantage of getting that team in your building, creating a rockus environment because it is a divisional opponent and getting that first W. It’d be imperative, especially like you said, Tyler, before you go on the road and and face tough environments for three weeks. You know, you think about those two, you could play two against the Colts, two against the Jags. We talked about it on this show before. I feel like you need to go three and one in those games against those teams, those four games. Uh, I know the Texans are 0 and2 right now and they’ve had a tough go over it at the start of the year. I think they’re going to ultimately figure things out. But three and one, I mean, heck, even two and two, I’d be somewhat ecstatic because considering you went what did you go into the division last year? One and five. Is it one and five in the division last year with the Yeah, they had the one win against the Texans in in Houston. That was that game in Houston. So, um, we’ll see how it goes on Sunday for the Titans. Remember to keep your comments and questions coming. We’re going to answer them on the other side of the break here when the Titan Squad Show returns. Don’t go anywhere. All right. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there is Monarch Money. 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Here is one from that we just got in from Nicholas Bradley right here. Does the film say that our wide receivers are consistently getting open or are they consistently not getting open? I know you’re going to do a film breakdown, Tyler, of Alec Manor, but um at least from what you’ve seen from the wide receivers so far, what do you think about Nicholas’s question? Uh I have not seen adequate separation, I would say. And I would uh point at Calvin Ridley. I’ve been very disappointed with Calvin Ridley’s ability to separate. I I don’t quite know why he’s unable to kind of get some space. Now, there are certain plays where guys are open and Cam, you know, has not ripped it to them, but I could count those probably on my hand. It’s not like there are wide openen opportunities that the Titans are just missing out on out there. So, I I look around the NFL and I see uh a lot of teams that are scheming guys wide open and getting explosive plays and everything’s hard for the Titans. So, uh, I wouldn’t say that the wide receivers are consistently getting open, but I also don’t think that that’s 100% on the wide receivers as well. I haven’t seen a lot of creativity from Brian Callahan. And too often, and listen, I, you know, I played high school football. I learn I I’m just a passionate learner. I I read other people. I watch other film breakdowns. I try to learn as much as I possibly can. Brian Callahan has forgot more about football than I will ever know. And I know that. But but too often do I see the defense as calling the perfect coverage for what Callahan is trying to run. So I don’t know if that’s he’s predictable and these defensive coordinators know what route combinations are coming and can call the perfect play for it or whether it’s just bad luck and it just is not working right now. But the Titans aren’t like the Titans run a ton of zone beaters while teams are playing man. They keep running that same trips concept where they have the deep sail route, they have the deep out route, and then they have the short sitdown route and that’s going to be good. That’s a levels concept that’s going to be good against a cover three zone on the sideline. But teams are in man and it’s not open. You know what I mean? And then on a play in week one, they run a double post wheel concept against cover four where cover four is perfect to take away those four vertical routes because you have one guy for each of the vertical routes. So, I don’t know if that’s I I I’ll be honest. I’m not I I don’t know enough to know whether that’s Callahan being predictable and defensive coordinators are easily scheming around what he’s trying to do or whether it’s just bad luck. I don’t have a good answer, but far too often the defense is calling the perfect play to eliminate the advantage that the route concept is trying to create. I don’t know if that’s on Callahan or if it’s luck. I may never know, but it’s certainly not good enough. And I can’t put it all in the wide receivers either. You know how they always say that there’s a recipe for success, right? Recipe almost synonymous with making a good dish. You got to have all the right ingredients for this to be a very very good game day snacks that he makes. Exactly. I do like the trying the point I’m trying to make is that all those ingredients make the dish. And when you’re talking about a quarterback that sees the routes, can throw to the routes, receivers that can get separation, make themselves available, an offensive line that gives the quarterback time to let plays develop, those all are the recipes that go into this meal. So, it all makes the the combination of things. Um, I’m going to always put it on on my guys up front because if there weren’t big bodies up front rushing the quarterback, it’d be called seven on seven. How good could this cam look in seven on seven? Looks phenomenal, right? Excellent. Yeah, most quarterbacks would look phenomenal. But if you add that element of guys trying to knock you down or trying to get into your passing lane or be disruptive, now that makes you a completely different quarterback in accordance to what you’re dealing with. So, there’s the offensive line’s responsibility. too. I think that he has Cam is trying to make a connection with his number one receiver, which should be Calvin Ridley at this point, but defenses know that, too. So, they’re going to try and take Calvin Ridley away from him as an option. Cali even mentioned that, which then makes you do what? Go to the next progression and then the next progression. And what is all this doing? It’s taking time. Time he doesn’t have. So, when you’re talking about why is the pass game sometimes seem ineffective, it’s because the recipe isn’t being put together for the meal to taste like it should. All of those things play into the success of a play every single time. Cam looking through his progression of receivers, his options, and once he sees what the defense is giving him to take advantage of what they’re not uh covering. But that takes time. Receivers also have to understand, hey, look, they’re taking me out of the situation. If I’m Calvin Ridley, number zero, and I see that I’m in press coverage and then there’s a safety roll over the top of me, I’m being double teamed. Now, Cam has to recognize they’re double teaming Cal Calvin over there. So, where’s where’s Ell? You know, where’s Chick, you know, where’s Tyler? And that all takes time. So, the big bodies up front have to allow him the time to go through and find the right receiver. And those receivers also have to understand, hey, look, this is what the defense is doing to us. That means that I’m probably more than likely going to be open. Let me see if I can’t get some separation and then catch the ball and get some good yards at the catch. So, it’s a combination. I’m open. I’m open, Brad. That’s all I know. If he’s looking for me, I I’m open. I’m ready to go. But you know why, Tyler? Cuz nobody’s worried about covering you. Hey, you know what? I do want to say though, you make a great point that it’s all together because there’s a play on Ell’s tape from last week where he’s running a drag route and he gets right past the defender and Cam literally pump fakes because he’s wide open and Cam’s ready to throw it to him, but EL doesn’t turn his head around and recognize that he’s open in the zone and he runs another five, six yards and then finally turns around like the play is designed and Cam had to get through pressure and throw it to him. So, it’s like the wide receiver created separation, but the wide receiver didn’t notice that he had created a separation. Cam had to get away from pressure and use his ability and the play didn’t go for as much as it could have gone for. Now, Titans fans will see that, oh, it’s a 5-yard completion to Ell, but it could have been a 12- yard completion to Ell if Ell would have had the awareness to recognize he was open in the zone. Now, as a guy who came from Canada and doesn’t have the American football background, those sorts of mental things may take a little time for him to get, which is why he’s so good on the sideline where it’s real easy to just, hey, I’m one-on-one. Let let me make a play. But all of that stuff is so important and just the casual fan who sits down to watch the game on Sunday and never looks at the All 22, they would never understand that. So, I guess that’s why I try to bring that information to people, but at the end of the day, it is so connected that you can’t just blame one person. Have you noticed how the national media cannot pronounce Alex’s name? Yeah. Neither can Nick Holtz, the the offensive corner. He’s he’s butchered his name. He called him I Manor like two weeks ago and I looked at somebody and I was like, “What the heck is an IO Manor?” Yeah, just say IO, man. That’s I I have decided that I’m just Io IO. I I mean, last night on the NFL game, Chris Fowler couldn’t even say John Cena. He called him John Cena. And it’s like, how do you not know these names? It’s just unbelievable. Names are tough though. Names. I I will say I I Manor is been We could have put him in the tighten up segment too as somebody who’s out of the receivers. He’s been absolutely excellent. He was the six catch to 69 yards for a rookie. You see why he won that starting spot over Van Jefferson and why fans were so excited with the Travis Hunter game that he had in college and all of that stuff. Um I want to get to uh what Jeremy G, he’s been hot in the chat today. Um but he’s got a good question here. Um, and it’s something that a lot of fans have been pondering. I think Cali would be a better coach if he gave a play call. Just my opinion. What do you guys think? I know we touched on it a little bit last week, but that talk going back to Nick Cole, not to make fun, but that would lead him to calling plays. And is it that going to be that much better with him calling plays as opposed to Callahan? It’s insanity, man. I just I just think that’s so crazy. Everybody’s like, Callahan never called plays before. He should give up play calling. Well, Nick Holes has never called plays before. And what about Nick Holes makes you think that he’s going to call plays? If they give up play calling duties, then you might as well just fire Brian Callahan at the same time. That is what he was brought here to do. That is what he was brought here to do is design the offense, call the plays. We got to give Brian Callahan time to get that right. And I maybe Mike McCoy. Mike McCoy used to be a head coach for the Chargers. He’s had offensive play. I think if the Titans did move on from Brian Callahan during the season, it’d be Mike McCoy who gets the interim head coaching job. Obviously, you can kind of leave everybody in their spot, but I I just don’t understand. That’s a grass is always greener type mindset where, oh, let’s just try something else for the sake of trying something else. I I don’t Special Teams has been good. Defense has been good. It’s not like if Brian Callahan stops focusing on the offense and focuses more on the other stuff on the team that that’s going to make the team better. The problem is the offense that that’s what needs to get better, not the other stuff. The argument is that Callahan, the other stuff is so bad and he’s spending so much time with the offense that the other things are failing. But it’s the total opposite of that. So all of the people I don’t think people quite understand what goes into the play sheet each week. These guys are sitting in a room and talking about the plays. Mike McCoy, Nick Holtz, Brian Callahan, they are all discussing what plays are going to be good and what situations these plays are going to be good in. So if you’re mad about the play calling, be mad about the entire offensive staff, not just Callahan. People just don’t understand how this works. 100%. I mean, ding, ding, ding. Tyler, think about that. Thank you. It’s not like Cali has the playbook by himself and he’s nobody else gets to take a look at it and he’s not telling anybody what he’s thinking about and he just throws plays out there. They’re practicing them. They’re going over what works. Even Cam Ward probably has some sort of input as to what, hey, what are you most efficient at doing? What do you do the best, right? And let’s work on those things. So, what you see is the finished product of everybody on that offense trying to figure out what works. Now, it doesn’t guarantee that on Sunday it’s going to work out like it did in practice or in the meeting room, but by design they’re all collectively having some sort of contribution as to what actually could possibly work. So, you’re right 100%, man. He’s not keeping this thing a secret. And at this point, he doesn’t have Andy Reid sitting over his shoulder as an offensive coordinator. Josh McDaniel isn’t, you know, his quarterback coach. So, at the end of the day, he is the best option to call plays and to put his quarterback in the best position. So, be careful what you wish for. And you, you know, the way I look at it with Callahan is, you guys mentioned given given some time this season. This season, I’m really, even though I know the record is what, three and what is it? Three and 18, three and three and 16, something like that. Um, you know, that that’s tough to to see that on a piece of paper. However, I’m kind of looking at this as his first year because last year it was so difficult to kind of evaluate him because the quarterback obviously was an issue. Offensive line was an issue last year. Special teams was a mess. And it was really just hard to to kind of see what you really have in Brian Callahan. But you have the quarterback now. You know, you on paper at least you invested the front office invested in the offensive line now. You drafted some pretty solid rookie wide receivers and brought in some vets. So maybe just a little bit of time. It is only week two, but uh but yeah, I I I think keeping Callahan as the play caller, at least for right now, maybe it’s too premature to uh to move him off of that. My last question for the day, it’s an offensive line one because I know um I think I’ve said this before, written in Brad’s contract, we have to talk about the offensive line a couple times every show. Um from might, do we have anyone to trade to get a better and reliable left tackle or should we just wait till next season to address? Moore. You know, I could say this to M Knight. I mean, Dan Dan Moore could just play better. He did play better in this game. He did play better than he did week one. Was it great? Was it perfect? No, it wasn’t. But Dan Moore did play better, guys. They’re not going to be able to get out of his contract until after next year anyway. So, like, you can’t just make trades. And the Titans aren’t a team that should be buying anybody right now. Anything. If anything, we’re going to get uh a month and a half from now and the Titans are going to be selling a little bit. So, like it’s just not gonna, you know, take play calling away from Brian Callahan, trade for this guy, fire this guy. So, some some people just say some things that just go look at the finances. Go to spottrack.com, go to overthecap.com and look at what would happen if you got rid of Dan Moore or if you traded some of these guys. Just financially speaking, it it doesn’t make logical sense. I I don’t mean to be rude and crass and condescending, but this isn’t Madden. You can’t just trade your left tackle in the middle of the season and add a third round draft pick and go get somebody from some there are no good lineman in the league. Like there’s not other teams are screaming for depth on the offensive line. So it’s not like someone’s going to give you a good left tackle when they need a good left tackle. It just doesn’t happen. Listen, if Dan Moore were a great left tackle, why would Pittsburgh let him go? They wouldn’t. That doesn’t happen, right? only available linemen out there are ones that are expendable. It’s the way it works. This team just realistically doesn’t have five starters up front. Just doesn’t. It hasn’t for a couple years now. They move JC over to right uh because they may have been able to find a tackle that they thought could come in in free agency and could hold down a left tackle spot. I’m not impressed. And when you look at the tape as a defense and you’re playing the Titans the next week, how do you feel? Hey guys, we can get off this week. Yeah, that’s licking their chops, man. Licking their chops. As as a defense, I’m thinking these cats right here, they’re susceptible. So, I don’t like our chances on the edge. It does seem like at this point, and I hate throwing price tags in the mix. It is what it is. But they overpaid. They overpaid for a guy that, if you think about it, was the Steelers most problematic offensive lineman, and we bought him. Why did we buy him? Because the Steelers didn’t want him. And ultimately, that’s what it comes down to. So, uh, I like JC’s progress. Unfortunately, he’s dealing with an injury right now, and he didn’t play too bad, uh, against Denver. Matter of fact, he didn’t play bad at all. He had that one gaff where he’s looking inside, the ball was snapped and all a sudden he gives up pressure and albeit in the damn end zone, but he took a little time to have a terrible play, but for the most part, consistently he’s been doing it. I liked watching him and and Peter Scaransky develop themselves as the weeks went by last year. So, I’m not saying that this guy couldn’t play left tackle, but at the end of the day, they need to find five starters up front. Not just four, not just three, but five starters because it just takes one to be a problem. and defenses will key in on that and they will keep attacking that which is a liability until they finally get pay dirt. And that’s what’s been going on week after week. And Brad, you want an example of that? I watched the tape three times yesterday. You know what the Rams did? They lined up three guys on the left side of the offensive line to force the Titans into one-on-one matchups on the left and then they knew that that would create a one-on-one for Jonjuku on the other side if the back wasn’t there. So, they’re literally flooding the left side so that the protection slides that way so that they could get a one-on-one matchup with Jonjuku on the other side. It was it was really good stuff from Chris Schulah, the defensive coordinator of the Rams, quite honestly. Um, is this the week where the Titans get their first win? I told you I seems a simple question, but a loaded question. I get it. They have to. They have to. I think they do. This way. This this this is the way this thing’s going to go. They’re going to make Danny Dimes look like the guy that was in New York. Yes. Or Danny Dimes is going to be the next iteration of Sam Darnold. Darnold. You know what I’m saying? He’s either going to look like God dang, this guy is awesome. Where’s he been his entire career making like you remember when um Georgia Tech play I don’t know, you might remember Georgia Tech played K Colorado and Deion Sams at the end of the game said, “Hey man, we made that quarterback look like a Heisman Trophy candidate.” I mean, that’s the reality. So, the Titans can do one of two things. They can make Daniel Jones look like the guy that is on his third team, you know, as as one of the highly picked quarterbacks coming out in his draft. Or they can make him look like, man, that’s all this guy needed was a new lease in life. He just needed a new environment, and this is now we’re seeing him flourish on Shine St Shane Stiken system. So, I hope it’s the LA uh the first part, you know, where they’re just like really confusing him, making him throw into coverage and and and you know what? How about we get some sacks this week? How about we dial up some pressure? You know, how about we just make him uncomfortable in the pockets and that way he’s it speeds up his clock and he gets moving. Now, I will say if you if you pass rush Daniel Jones, he can’t beat you with his legs because the guy is pretty fast. So, if all of a sudden the rush lanes, people get out of them and Green Pasture starts opening up, this dude will take off. I hope that’s not the case because they got to have people that can spy and be smart. But at the end of the day, man, they can make sh they can make uh Daniel Jones look like a a chump or they can make him look like a champ. Tyler, you know what? I I I got to believe before the season I said that they would find a way to win this game. I do not believe that Daniel Jones is the second coming of a Sam Darnold. I just don’t buy it. Uh I think that the Colts pass rush is not good. That is one of the big weaknesses of their team. They’ve tried and tried and tried and the pass rush is not good. They have a worse pass rush grade on Pro Football Focus than the Titans. All right. And they their number one pass rusher has five pressures on the year. Jeffrey Simmons had seven in one game. So, I have to believe I have to believe that the Titans offense, they put up 19 points against the Rams front. I think the Titans score over 20 points this week. I think the Titans do find a way to win. I’m going to choose to believe that they get it done and we’re going to feel way different about the Titans and the division possibilities after this weekend. Let’s go Titan up. There you go. I do think the Titans are going to get a win, too. I think uh this could get that game for the offensive line. I think that would be that would be nice to see and give Cam Ward some time. All right, remember we are here twice a week, every Tuesday and game day here on the Titan Squad Show and the Locked On Titans um and the Locked On podcast network. You can see Tyler Roland show every day. Locked on Titans being every day or to that. But for now, I’m Julian Minel and that’s Brad Hopkins and Tyler Roland. We’ll see you guys on game day.

The Tennessee Titans are 0-2 following the loss to the LA Rams. We discuss what we’ve liked and disliked about the team’s performance in a segment called Titans Up vs. Titans Down. We also discuss why the Titans can’t afford to drop the ball on Cam Ward’s development. Plus, we look ahead at week three against the Indianapolis Colts.

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