Cam Ward’s BEST GAME Comes in Loss to Seahawks | Seahawks-Titans Instant Reaction

Cam Ward’s BEST GAME Comes in Loss to Seahawks | Seahawks-Titans Instant Reaction

I like to win. [Music] Looking end zone throws. Touchdown. Taking a deep shot. DK is down there. Chad, tighten up. Let’s get it, Chad. Tighten up, Chad. Stop playing, Chad. Tighten up, man. Tighten up, chat. Oops. Tighten up, Chad. Welcome everyone to another episode of the Music City Audible Podcast Live. We are live here presented by Sinkers Beverages, the premier wine, spirits, and beer store in East Nashville in partnership with 440 Sports. I’m Justin Graver. With me as always, Justin Melo. Justin, I feel as hyped as I felt to recap this game um for a Titans loss in maybe my entire life, but definitely as long as I can remember. How’s it going? Are you feeling Have you gotten over the little flu cold you had um on our Thursday show? Not fully, but we’re on the road to recovery for sure. Um, I I think you hit the nail on the head with your first comment there. I would say that felt as good as a loss could feel. Certainly as good as a loss has felt I would in the last two years I would argue and it certainly wasn’t perfect, but uh to cut to the chase, I’m sure people are still rolling in here, but Cam Ward was really good by my estimation. Really, really good. and and it he started that way and he ended that way and there was really never a law. you know, any any down uh periods sort of felt like they occurred uh mostly due to the malpractice around him. and there was still malpractice around him, but the way that he was able to perform against against that defense and and I think one of the one of the the selling features that might not get mentioned enough and I’m just going to go with it immediately against that defense as you’re down 30-10 multiple scores, a top 10 defense that’s loaded at the pass rushing positions. You know how hard it is to just drop back and pass every single time? And that’s what they had to do because they’re down 20 points relatively early and he drops back like 50 times in this game. And he loses his left tackle due to an injury. Not that he was playing great, but the backup is even worse. And then he loses his center uh a little bit later to an injury. The backup is even worse. He rolled out of that pocket so many times due to pressure. And it wasn’t one of those cases where it’s like, “Oh, he’s seeing ghosts.” like he rolled out when he had to roll out because Seattle was constantly winning up front as they’re going to do. Um, you know, again, when they know that you’re passing it every single play. So, so impressive by Cam Ward. I I want to start I will throw it back to you. Yeah, I want to start by going through the Titans first three offensive possessions. That might be a random place to go, but I had so many thoughts on how those first three possessions went. Um but but but I’ll throw it to you first. Yeah. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the game, I wanted to talk some more highlevel overview stuff. And starting with this question from Tombbo Brewster, does this count for your Cam Ward, two touchdown game? Now, I’m torn because obviously this is a multi-touchdown game. One passing, one rushing for Cam Ward. Now, I like I wanted the multi-passing touchdown game purely, not even for us, for the box score watchers out there who are going to see it and see that he threw for two touchdowns. And now when those guys go look at and girls go look at the score, they’re not going to see the they’re not going to are their eyes going to go down to the rushing stats and then be like, “Oh, Camour did have two touchdown.” Now, I don’t know. But at the same time, I’ll take what I can get and this absolutely counts as a two touchdown Camour game. The Titans scored 24 points, Justin. I mean, when was the last time I think the the loss to Arizona or the win, sorry, over Arizona, was that the last time they got to 24 points? Um, so that’s great to see. And I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that Cam Ward still isn’t getting help from the team around him. This is the second game in a row that Cam Ward has led the Titans in rushing, and he only had 37 rushing yards. Tony Pard, 11 carries, 20 yards, 1.8 8 yards per carry. Taj Spears, three carries, four yards, 1.3 yards per carry. Julius Chestnut, two carries, three yards, 1.5 yards per carry. One of those was a short yardage conversion. The other was a fourth down where he gets stuffed. So on that getting stuffed note, I believe that was the fourth Titans drive of the game. Um, and yeah, sorry, just to button up the convo. Cam Ward, 256 passing yards on 28 of 42 passing. That’s 67% completion. And the majority of his incompletions, I will give you two that Cam Ward missed. He overshot Pard on a screen that he should have hit and he overshot DK on the last drive there in that whole shot, cover two, hole shot on the sideline. Those are the only two incompletions that are really Cam Ward’s fault. He had a couple of drops, a couple that were contested, broken up, two does restrepo that I can think of right off the top of my head and a number of throwaways or just blown up screens that he dirted. So this completion percentage when they when we get the adjusted completion percentage later in the week that removes throwaways, I think this number is going to go up above 75% probably if I had to guess. So overall, excellent game from Cam Ward. about as good as it gets for a team that scores 24 points when you only have one passing touchdown. I mean, that’s about as good a game as you can play. And if I’m not being harsh enough on him, I’d love to hear it in the live chat. But I really think this is the best game we’ve seen from Cam Ward in a Titans uniform against a top five defense in the NFL. So, yes, let’s do what you want to do now and get to those opening drives. And I’ll set you up here. The Titans open the game with a 15play 62 yard field goal drive that gets as far or as close I should say to the as the Seahawks threeyard line before um they ultimately end up settling for the field goal there. What did you see on this drive? Cuz I saw Cam Ward making a lot of plays when there maybe wasn’t that many plays to be made. Well, it was a 16play scoring drive, right, as you noted. So they start off I I don’t I’m trying not to go play by play but three-yard pard run to start the game. Second and seven from 36. Cam Ward scrambles for 14 yards up the middle. That was a phenomenal play by Cam Ward. I think that was the one where he held the linebacker right. He he faked the he faked the throw just as he was kind of passing the line of scrimmage. Got the linebacker to leave his feet and it led to so many more yards by um by by getting the linebacker to second guessess what he’s doing. I mean that was a phenomenal play. Second and seven. He hits DK for five yards. Gets him into a third and favorable. Third and two. This was the contested catch to DK. Um that he’s not able to come down with it. I thought he should have like he got both hands on it, I think, separately, but I I thought he could have caught it. Well, they end up with a fourth and two. It was a great throw. That that that slot fade to DK was a great throw. Excellent throw noted by Glascow uh stud in the chat here. Fourth and two. Lo and behold, Mike McCoy goes for it. So happy to see it. and he completes the pass to Gunnar Helm. A little beautiful. He kind of just dumps it off. I don’t want to call it off script, but I believe if I’m recalling correctly, he looks like he was gonna about to take off and run. He kind of turns back to his other read and just flips it over to Helm. Just great play improvising there. Gets gets it on fourth down. Second and nine. Two plays later after converting that fourth down was one of his best plays of the day. And it’s funny enough, I thought it was going to be one of his worst plays of the day when he’s in the grasp of that sack and he’s about to go down. Uh that was an incredibly clean pocket for for quite a few seconds. When it was about to end in a sack, I was so disappointed that that was the end result of that play. And I was certainly going to ding him with a negative play. He gets the ball out to Chig before his knee goes down. It goes for 10 yards. It’s a firstdown conversion. I mean, that was just exceptional, exceptional play offscript improvision by Camour. Again, I wanted to see it come out a little earlier. So disappointed when I saw him in the grasp, but what an unbelievable way to conclude that play. Gets into a second and five thanks to a penalty. Runs for four yards, right? Like just constantly making positive plays. They get a first and goal. I hate the play call. It’s a It’s like a toss on the edge to Taj Spears. Horrible call. Slow to develop that. They had that call fast. They’re floating around. They clearly had that call in the game plan because they called it like six times to each different side. It wasn’t always the same side of the field, but the that little pitch sweep toss thing and I don’t think they had a positive gain. I think they might have had a negative gain or a loss on almost every single one of them. It was ridiculous. It loses five yards. brings you to second and goal on the 14th 14 yd line and then what does Cam do? Great pass to Shimmer DK for 11 yardds. Gets you back into third and goal. Gives you a chance. I actually like the third and goal play call. They were trying to get that to the back middle of the end zone there. Just didn’t work out. I didn’t blame Cam for not throwing it. I thought that would have been very risque, if you will. It was really well defended. It was It was well defended. And then honestly, you could compl I don’t think you’ll complain. I I didn’t mind that they took the field goal there. I mean, it was the game had just started. He got sacked on Cam tried running. He lost one yard on third and goal. I didn’t mind taking the points on the first series there. You want to come away with something when you’ve put together such a good positive drive. I agree with that. 100% agree with that. And I also think there will be people who say this and I saw it too. Tony Pard was o after he it was like a play action to Pard and then he had that receiver coming around on the dig or the slant behind it. Um and Pard was open in the flat after the fake but he was also open at like the sixyd line and we saw later I mean we hadn’t seen it yet but we saw throughout the game Tony Pard I don’t think he broke a tackle in this game. I mean his inability to not get past a defender in space like you can say Cam should have thrown that to Pard in the flat there and tried to let him make a move to get to the end zone. I I don’t think the end result changes. So, I’m okay with how that drive turned out. Now, getting to the second drive here. Uh this is when the Titans kind of started looking more like the Titans. And it started bad with a rare mistake from Shimray DK, who uh fumbles the kickoff out of bounds. If he just lets that bounce, it’s it’s almost guaranteed to be a positive play. It’s either bouncing out of bounds and you’re taking it at the 40 or I think it’s bouncing out the the end zone and you’re taking it what the 35 I think when that happened. So rare mistake for Shimmer DK. Spoiler alert, he’d make up for it later. But that was a rare one for him. You get they start the ball at the at the three, right? And then on the second play from scrimmage, second and five, you get a chop block on James Proche. Okay. I’m actually surprised the Seahawks uh declined this one, but I guess you’re in the sake where it’s all the down in distance. It wouldn’t have been the full benefit of the penalty, right? Because it would have been half the distance to the goal. So, they decline it. It’s third and three. Cam Ward, another incredible play on the move. Hits Shimmer DK for a 25 yardd gain. A little bit of improvision there. Flips it out to him. Incredible. Well, right after that play, too many men in the huddle. You almost never see that five. Look, maybe it’s I don’t know who it was on. I wish I knew who was at fault for that. You got two receivers up from the practice squad. Like, you’re dealing with a bit of a a makeshift group there. I would almost bet it was on one of the receivers, but too many men. It’s fifth. It’s It’s first and 15. Then you get a holding call on Peter Scransonsky, which I did think was very wishwashy. I didn’t like the call at all when I saw it on replay, but it’s first and 25. And here’s another 10. Like worst play call of the day is this run with Tony Pard. First and 25. The way Cam Ward is playing, you know, the defense is playing soft on first and 25. They might give you 10 yards. They’re probably at least giving you seven. Get me back into second and 18. You know, terrible play called to 20 baller. It’s second and 29. Terrible. It was four yards on this run. This was the same play that they lost yards on at the goal line and they come back to it on first and 25. Like what are you even and he loses the team four or five yards both times and this is an aggressive downhill physical thudding defense. They’re going to have that covered. But like you said, you spread them out. You call a pass play there or you go 12 personnel and call a pass play where you have a tight end in the flat and he may catch the ball one yard downfield and exactly what you said, he’s going to have space to pick up yards. Maybe he gets even more. Maybe he makes a guy miss. Like it was it was so mindboggling. But yeah, now you’re in second and 29. Now what? Well, they get themselves into a third and 19 and they they run a surrender play to Taj Spears who almost made something incredible happen. Um he gets like 12 yards gets him I think into fourth and seven but you’re backed up so they end the but I like I wanted to bring up this drive because you talk about you know starting the ball at the three- yard line thanks to the special teams mistake. You get the chop block penalty. Okay, it gets declined but never great. You get the too many men in the huddle. You get the penalty then to Skansky. Yeah, it’s wishwashy, but it’s first and 25. Then the horrible play call. Like just so many mistakes around Cam Ward on this drive, right? The Seahawks get the ball back. Immediately score a touchdown. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the defense. 63 yards to Jackson Smith and Jigba. Best receiver in the NFL this year. I don’t know what you’re doing getting Ammani Hooker lined up one-on-one with him on this play. Just terrible. You just you got to see that pre- snap. I I would have been down to call timeout. I’m dead ser like there’s no way I’m letting Ammani Hooker pick up Jackson Smith and Jigma on this play anyway. Quick time out real quick. Time out real quick. Let me address this comment. I thought Graver wouldn’t be getting wouldn’t I’m correcting this. Wouldn’t be getting upset about these calls anymore. No, no, no, no. We put a and we put to bed the idea of getting upset when the team doesn’t go forward on fourth down. That’s what we put to bed. the idea that they’re gonna literally make it harder on Cam Ward by calling stupid plays. We’re gonna still lambast that. So, continue Justin. So, Titans get the ball back. Third drive. Another special teams mistake. One that goes under the radar. A half decent return by DK, but there’s a holding call. So, they get flagged. Starting at your own 15. You’re once again backed up. Okay. Cam Ward gets a positive play. First and 10. Well, he runs for three yards up the middle. He scrambles three yards under instant pressure. that that easily could have been a sack and he made a great play to get positive yards out of it. I wish I tweeted this, okay? Because now the game ends up changing a lot, but before the next play, I swear to you, I thought to myself, if the Titans are going to win this game, they really got to start putting this ball in Cam Ward’s hands a bit more often. What’s the play call on second and seven? A run from Tony Pard up the middle that gets zero yards, right? Like, it was just so bad. It brings you to third and seven. Cam Ward gets sacked. The Seahawks send more uh more. I believe they sent more than you had guys blocking. Taj Spears doesn’t do a very good job picking it up. But I don’t think it was just on him. They got pretty overwhelmed play in protection in general. Laam Laam got beat on the right side. And this is one of those sacks where like who’s whose fault is it? Did the quarterback hold it too long? No. Cam Ward literally hadn’t hit the top of his drop when he already had to move because it was going to be pressured. tried to step up away from the guy that Spears wasn’t blocking into the guy that Laam wasn’t blocking. Bad. It was such a bad possession. I hated uh the penalty on special teams and then I hated the second and long unimaginative, uninspiring run to Tony Pard up the gut. A play action pass there because I I went and rewatched that series actually. A play action pass there. The Seahawks have a run blitz and you run right into it. You could have had a huge play there. But yes, so the next possession they finally get the ball back after they force a uh or no, they wait, what happened there? They they force the Seahawks field goal. So it’s tough. Yeah, they hold the Seahawks to a field goal. Yeah, the fourth possession. I I don’t think I wanted to go this one playbyplay, but um well, we there’s a couple of them that were notable. Once again, they get themselves into they get themselves into third and nine. Granted, the first two plays were were were drop back passing plays, but they get himself in the third. No, the first two plays were screens. And the first one he had to dirt because it was completely blown up. And the second one goes to Gunner and he is completely blown up. He gets one yard. And now you’re in third and nine because you haven’t called a play where your quarterback actually gets to make a decision and do something. And you know you’re bad at screens and you continue to call screens and it sets you up in third and nine. And you’re lucky you have Cam Ward who’s able to deliver a bullet to James Proche over the middle for a 23- yard pickup. I’m glad you remembered that they were screens because I didn’t. But I did I wanted to talk about the pass to Proche. If he didn’t do so many incredible things in the fourth quarter, this might have been his best play of the game because this was an absolute seam shot. It was just gorgeous. Like just perfect ball. And then they get themselves into a third and one. And um you know this one, I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t have as much issue with the play calling here. This is almost what you want. They they they pass the ball on third and one. They go to Gunner Helm up the left sideline and he gets both feet in bounds, but he can’t bring it in. I thought he had a chance to bring it in. Would have been a nice tough catch, but it’s one of those nice tough catches that I feel like we talk about every week that they never actually make for him, right? Like I I don’t think it was an easy catch. which would have been a nice catch if he made it, but it was very makeable. He doesn’t come down with it. It was a great back shoulder throw. Gunner Helm has been that reliable guy who will go up over the top and make that catch this year. So, it was disappointing that he didn’t come up with it. I think he mistimed his jump. He jumped early and he was on his way down when the ball got to his hands and he just didn’t bring it in. And like ultimately, it is on Gunner Helm. I’m not going to hold it against him too much because he’s been the only guy making that catch this year. But it was a great play and Cam Ward made a great play. And then fourth and one. Should we let the quarterback who’s been cooking put the ball in his hands make a decision? Maybe it’s a even a read. You want to keep it on the ground? Maybe it’s a read option. Something where he has the ball and he gets to decide. Or should we rely on the run game that has lost more yards than it’s gained through this point in the in the contest? What do you think they did, Justin? You know what? You can ding me for this cuz I’ll slightly disagree. Maybe I’m a little old school, but like they had I think they had seven linemen in the game. I think they had Cory Leven at fullback. Yeah. Like I I I want you. So what Seattle So what is Seattle going to expect when you do that? Maybe you go against the expectation once once a game one yard when you run the ball. Like I just I want And look, I can accept it more because they tried the the the shot on third and short. Like I liked that they actually went for the pass on third. I They actually thought ahead here. We don’t get it on third. We’ll try to run it on fourth. I don’t Call me out. I I didn’t hate this. I want you to be able to get one yard when you have a freaking center as your fullback and you’ve got your third string running back who’s a big powerful guy. I was incredibly frustrated that they couldn’t get that yard. Everyone always wants the bells and whistles. I get it. I always want you to be able to line up, tell them you’re running the ball, and get one yard. That’s an execution failure uh in my opinion all the time. Exactly. You want this team to be physical enough to get one yard. That’s all you’re asking for. And again, if they had done this on back-to-back plays, they’ve done it on third and short, I’d be here complaining. But I like that they tried the design shot to Gunner Helm on third and short and then went to the security, the safer, higher percentage play, if you will, on fourth. They couldn’t execute either one. I think that again, that’s going to come down uh to an execution issue. They did not get the ball again later this half. I don’t think we got to go series by the rest of the way, but those three felt very the first opening three and that fourth round. We just went through four. I know I said the first opening three felt very notable to me. Then that fourth having the the the prochay shot on third down on third down and then what happened on third and fourth and short, but getting to uh summarizing the rest, getting to just Cam Ward in general, you know, the third quarter I thought was not great. Hang on. Before we get to the third quarter, I wanted to just make one overarching comment on those first half series we talked about because as you go through it, Justin, you go through it play by play like that and it’s like, oh, Cam Ward made a great play to get them out of a tough situation and then somebody else messed up. Somebody didn’t catch the ball they should have caught. Somebody committed a penalty. The play calling or they can’t execute, I guess, a fourth and one if you want to go that direction, which I agree they should be able to execute that. I just feel like you should know by this point in the season that you aren’t going to execute. But regardless, the point is the team goes into the half at with three points. Cam Ward is 11 for 15, averaging 7.3 yards per attempt. His four incompletions, one of them is the helm drop. Two of them are dirted screens. And it’s like, what? And the other one is the is the chim drop. Those are his four incompletions at halftime. Not a single missed throw. And they have three points. And he’s the leading rusher. What else can he possibly do? You look at every play in the first half. He literally could not have been better and they end up with three points. That’s what we’ve been talking about all year when we say the team is failing him and the people that want to come at us for not criticizing Ward enough or not being harsh enough on him or anyone who thinks that he’s not going to be the quarterback next year, should be in the QB competition like hasn’t seen enough positive signs to say he’s your guy going forward. Like that’s why that first half is the perfect encapsulation of it. They only had two possessions in the third quarter. The first one uh was Cam Ward’s worst possession. It was the one where he missed the screen to Tony Pard on second and long. And then on third and long, you I got to see the all 22, but he takes a sack. And I did think this pocket was clean enough for long enough that ideally you want that ball to come out. Now again, I don’t know what it looked like from the end zone angle, but certainly I felt like there was long enough there to I mean, if you throw it away, it’s fourth down and you’re punting anyway, but maybe he would have had a lane if he commits to running earlier. I don’t know. But that was a negative possession. The next possession, again, I’m not going through possession by possession. This is where they really started to show life again because they’re down 310. This is a 13play drive, uh, that has a bunch of positive plays by by Cam Ward. And it ends with what I thought was a really nice, uh, six-yd touchdown run on a first and goal for I mean, he got them in the situation. They had a third and five on the 21 and he hits a 15yd pass to Gunner Helm to get them into first and goal um, on the six. So, this was really uh an outstanding possession by the Titans. It really gave them life and to me felt like this game’s not quite over yet. Yeah. And you skipped the DK punt return touchdown, which I think was the was the igniter that like made them realize the game’s not over. And yet, just cuz the offense hasn’t scored more than three points, we can still make plays. And DK, like I I kind of want to get through the rest of the game talking about Ward. And then we obviously need to talk about DK and Restrepo briefly at the end of this show. Um, but yeah, I I also thought yes, that drive energized them for sure and gave them like the fuel they needed to get through the end of the game with with a chance to go make it a game, but the DK punt return was like that first spark that really ignited them. I think the reason I forgot that to be blunt with you is right after that, the Seahawks scored one of the easiest touchdowns you’ll see and they made it 30-10. Like it still felt over to me when it was 30 to 10, right? So to me, the real igniter was this was this 13 play they had a 16play scoring drive, a 13 play scoring drive u and then what a 15 play scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Like you we’ve talked about wanting to see them sustain drives and make no mistake we cannot give enough credit to Cam Ward. Like he is the reason that they had these sustained drives. It wasn’t anybody else. like couple of those guys made some catches of course, but for the most part, this was Cam Ward just making magic happen time and time again. His play throughout the fourth quarter was unbelievable. The Titans first possession was a 12 play a 12play drive, you know, and and eventually it falls apart. Why? Because they just can’t they they they can’t help him enough, right? Like it’s second and seven. Uh he makes a a nice play to Xavier Restrepo uh who we were, you know, that wasn’t his first play, but that’s supposed to get him into third. I think he was one yard short restpo like third and one, but they have a holding call on Ali Udo, who’s in the game for Dan Moore, and now it’s second and 17. And guess what happens on second and 17? Derek Hall beats I believe it was Olly Udo again up the up that left side for a sack. And now it’s third and 21. Another instant sack. like those kind that Cam Lord can’t even do anything to try and avoid and those are the ones that are really killer. But for this play, like for this drive, like they had a fourth and one right away essentially. And he escapes pressure and I thought he he was dead in the water and he picks up what he needs. You know, he gets Oh, sorry. No, that was the QB sneak. That the fourth that was the QB sneak and uh but he just gets enough. Of course, he has the the Seahawks end up challenging it, but it sticks. I don’t know if he got it. According to the rules, he got it. It’s the And James Proche definitely And James Proche definitely didn’t catch that one where it was he had to dive back towards the middle of the field and they got the snap off quickly. That I think it was before that one, I think. Or was it? Yeah, before that one. You had the play that we absolutely cannot gloss over. It came after shortly after the fourth down conversion was the third and four to Xavier Restrepo. I mean, we had been wanting to see Restrele all game, obviously. I don’t know this for sure. I think he played one snap in the first half. Like, I was looking for him. I think I saw him just one time. Okay. He played a couple of of snaps in the first half, but every time he was on the field in the first half, they handed the ball off. Yeah. So, he didn’t actually run around once, but if it was more than once, it might have been three or four. Like, I think he actually was part of the illegal substitution, too many men in the huddle penalty. Didn’t count as a snap, though, I don’t think. Right. Like, it didn’t run a play. So, um, but as they’re chasing the game, you finally start to see him a lot more. The for his first target was the one in the end zone that, uh, I guess was slightly underthrown, but, you know, he could have made a play on it, but, uh, he just, that’s one of those ones I don’t really ding the quarterback or the receiver. Like, it would have been a nice catch. He didn’t make it. I I kind of could live with that one. You got an allpro defensive back, a quarterback there in Devon Witherspoon making a really nice getting his hand right in between Restrepo’s hands. I mean, that would have been an incredible catch if he came down with that. Um, you took a shot and it was a good shot to take and it didn’t work out. I’m not blaming anybody. The the third and four to restrepo, I mean, yeah, that was as exciting as his first career touchdown pass to Elliot Manor. Yeah. the one that he had a week later, week three in Houston to IO Manor in the first quarter that he also like rolled and it was a huge off strip completion like this. I thought again he was dead in the water. Had nowhere to go. He keeps buying time. Keeps buying time. Extends himself right side of the sideline. He’s almost out of bounds and he finds Restreo. I think all of Titans Twitter collectively lost their minds on that one. It’s like a 14 15 yard pickup. I mean just phenomenal. And then from there it felt like Restreo didn’t leave the field, right? Yeah, I agree. He’s getting knocked out of bounds as he makes that throw. You know who that throw reminded me of? That play, the whole sequence to get away. It was like the Super Bowl McNair scramble where he sets it up for the on the last drive where McNair gets out of the pocket, stays on his feet, and makes the throw downfield. It also was very Josh Allenesque who does that thing where he gets right up next to the sideline before flinging it back to the middlefield. If Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes or Jackson mother effing dart had made that play, NFL Twitter would have tweeted it. It would have 15 million views right now. It would be the the highlight of the week. But because it’s Cam Ward in Tennessee in a game that you’re already losing by two scores and that even though you did make it a one-sore game, like it was never real like you had to recover an onside kick if anyone was ever going to actually think you had a chance to win that. But that was the play of the week. The play of week 12 was that Cam Ward play and it was one of five incredible plays he made in this game. It’s a shame Ali Udo that’s when he ruined it immediately with the holding penalty and then the sack. So then the next Titans possession is again like and I listen if you want to like if you some negative Nancy is going to get on Twitter and tweet at me and say that oh that was like that was garbage time. I got the impression the Seahawks were a little worried about this game in the fourth quarter like giving up the DK touchdown punt return and then later giving up the cam ward like they were a little bit worried about this game in my opinion. Yeah. No, if you score on this drive this is the drive that ended on downs, right? Um but now you score on this right but I was we were I was moving on to the final the final. My point is I still didn’t consider that garbage time. Like five minutes left in good in their own 40. The Seahawks had a terrible offensive possession that got the Titans the ball back. I I I think Mike McDonald was a little worried about this game. They were not playing soft by any stretch. They get into a I’ll go through it a little bit. They get into fourth and four and he hits Fan Jefferson. Looked like a quick slant to me for 11 yards. Okay. They get into a third, then they get into a fourth and six and he runs for nine yards up the middle. Backto back, fourth uh down conversion. Fourth and long each time essentially. Well, fourth and four and fourth and six. They get into fourth and five and he hits Taj Spears cuz every play it feels like on this possession he was running from pressure. Every single play. Yeah. He hits Taj Spears on fourth and five. It goes for nine yards. Okay. And then he’s got a second and five on the 13 and he hits how damn it Xavier Restrepo one yard away. Listen, I’m not a big gambler at all, but for fun I took two bets on this one. I had a Cam Ward anytime rushing touchdown pass and I had an Xavier Restrepo anytime touchdown. I was so mad. Like I almost got both. When that one fell short on the one, I was like, “Oh, what an afternoon that would have been.” We all wanted that so bad. Uh but anyway, on the next play, he hits DK for a touchdown pass. Cam Ward was unbelievable in this game. I’m so glad it happened because most of these podcast listeners are really, really smart and our viewers are really smart, but we still get a couple people who come in here and talk Cam W. This is the vision that you and I have seen all season long. He was phenomenal in this game. He had two bad throws. The miss to Tony Pard on the screen. And to be honest, the one that he missed to DK, like that’s got to be a perfect ball. Like that’s a honey hole shot. That’s got to be perfect. And he’s made it this year. He made remember the one he made to Gunner Helm over the shoulder. I don’t remember what game it was, but you know exactly which one I’m talking about. It was very close to that one, right? Like he can make that throw. It’s got to be perfect. Those are the Yes. Cam haters awfully quiet. I can’t wait to see what Jared Stillman how Jared Stillman spins this nonsense. Like Cam Ward was phenomenal today. Was his best. The Titans have lost three games in a row by one score to three playoff potential playoff teams. The Chargers, the Texans, and now the Seahawks. Cam Ward was good in my opinion in all of them. But he was really good today. He was his best game in a Titans uniform. I like I I listen I had so much fun. I know you did too because the whole time I was watching it the like they could be one and 10 and I had so much fun because he was unbelievable. The vision is there. He looked like every bit of the franchise quarterback. I had a Seahawks analyst text me a Seahawks analysis text me and say there are going to be so many coaching candidates lining up that want to coach Cam Ward next season based on what I’m seeing today. Um he was excellent. He it was again it was his best game. I can’t wait to grade him. I can’t wait to rewatch this game. It’s gonna be so fun to rewatch the all. I can’t wait to rewatch this game. I can’t wait to do a cutup of the the extra like the bonus plays, like what I would call playmaker plays. Like it’s not really there, but you take it on yourself to create something. And he did that more times in this game than he has at any game this season. Even the Cardinals win. And yeah, I mean, I can’t wait to post a cutup of everything he did this week. It was it was it was truly NFL quarterback level play again against a great defense. And throughout all of that, he did not put the ball in harm’s way a single time. He didn’t even have an almost interception. He didn’t have anything. I mean, he had the screen that the announcers said was well read. Yeah, the announcers said almost picked it off. Dude has his arm left arm fully outstretched and got his fingertip on it. That is not almost picking it off. That’s breaking it up. And it was a great play by the defender. there there’s nothing that’s not on cam board, that’s on the scheme and them being able to understand what’s about to happen because the Titans have done this too many times. But when it comes to like national people taking notice, first of all, I tweeted a clip from the athletic football show yesterday morning of Derek Clawson at QBclass on Twitter and Dave Helman, who I used to work with at Fox Sports, um talking about why they believe in Cam Ward. And they even said like I think this like Robert Mays the host of that show says something like this is a weird week to put this take on the record and Derek Clawson goes no I’m so confident in it. Cam Ward is a good quarterback today and he showed it in this game and that was the beginning of the national wave because during this game Greg Rosenthal tweets Cam Ward has played an outstanding game despite the score. Not much more he could do. The same conclusion I came to. Mina Kimmes, Seahawks fan, tweets, Cam Wards put up a better performance versus the Seahawks defense than a lot of veteran QBs this year. And Hayden Winkx, my former co-orker at underdog, the All 22 posters, parenthesis, me, will be able to post a lot of Cam Ward tomorrow. Look, Cam Ward had an a great game. Anyone who says otherwise is using bias to inform their opinion. And you see the the people who have no bias, objective tweeters out there saying the same thing as us. I think that this was his coming out party. This was the break. He played a full game of good football. He had two plays on one drive that we could say he kind of screwed up. The miss to Pard shortly followed by taking a bad sack. Every other play on this game, he did about as much as you could expect with maybe that one exception of the DK hole shot. And I just I’m so happy that it that we got to see it. That’s how I feel. I’m just like, we got our guy. Let’s talk quickly. I think about I have no doubt that we’ve got our guy and he was unbelievable today. Let’s talk a little about Xavier Strepo and Shimmer DK. Sometimes the fans are right. Okay. I felt like I was taking crazy pills. I hate being that guy who, you know, because I always believe you coaching staffs, they know more than us. I still believe they know more than us. But you’re telling me Xavier Restreo should not be on that field ahead of Mason Kids? Are you kidding me? like he he wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but coming up with that third and that third and sorry that yeah, third and four that third and four off stripped play. What did we say last week when Mason Kinsey did not turn the right way or Cat Moore, whatever you want to blame it on. What did we say about that play? Xavier Strepo knows his quarterback, right? Xavier Restrepo is going to do the right thing in that situation because of the chemistry they have. Well, the first off drift opportunity that they have in this game, you see how you see how many how many yards did Restreo run on that round, he took it everywhere he could until he came back and settled in that zone wide open. Camar hits him. The chemistry mattered on that play. It matters when the two of them. He to He almost had two touchdowns in this game. He targeted him in the end zone. He almost came down with it. One-on-one coverage against an allp pro corner and Devon Weatherspoon. And then again, he’s tackled at the one. I was when he caught that ball at the one, I was so hoping there was going to be a lineman coming in from my because he stayed up on his feet a little bit, push him into the end zone. There was no one there. You cannot tell me that Xavier Restrele does not belong in some capacity. And even if you’re still, if the juryy’s still out on that, give me one receiving game in the last five years that Mason Kinsey has done that. He is, no doubt about it, better than Mason Kinsey. No doubt about it. He belonged out there today. Everyone who called for it was right. Yeah. And here’s what I’ll say about that is first of all, obviously, I mean, Moose Johnston was like astonished that Xavier Estrepo knew the right direction to run that where he his quarterback wanted him to go. We’ve heard Cam and Ellivers talk about that. Cam likes it when he’s rolling to the right. if there’s space to the opposite side of the field that would make a cross body throw that he likes the receivers to run to that space because he has the arm to make that throw. And Moose Johnson’s like, “Oh, Mike McCoy’s going to have something to say to Cam Ward about that throw. You never want to throw it back across your body.” It’s like Rupo was standing in a cornfield of nothingness. Like he had no defender anywhere near him. That was not a dangerous play at all. Mike McCoy is going over to Cam Ward saying, “You made me look smart. Thank you, Cam W.” He’s not he’s not giving him any coaching points on that one. That was incredible. And it’s just so obvious that of course the chemistry that Restrepo has with Cam Word is going to translate. Of freaking course you have a quarterback who thrives off script. He needs receivers who know what to do when it’s when the script breaks down. And um the fact that the fact that Mason Kinsey played even ahead of James Proche is shocking. James Proche was great in this game. He didn’t have a ton of opport Sorry. I don’t I know what you’re talking about. Yeah, but training camp we kept every beat reporter James Rochet keeps making plays out here. James, we thought he was going to make the 53. Doesn’t end up making the 53. How do they think Mason Kinsey and he’s got a lot like they if they want to use the special teams experience for Xavier Restrepo? Oh, he’s getting used to playing on kickoffs, punts, blah blah blah blah blah. Okay, listen. Uh James Proché has played a lot of special teams throughout his career. There’s no special teams excuse for James Procha. There’s no doubt about it that he’s better than Mason Kinsey. If Mason Kinsey is not cut from the active roster for Restrepo tomorrow, I’m going to be I’m going to have some tweets to tweet off. Okay, let me just say that. Listen, listen. Hey, Ross and Mason Kinsey also Mason Kinsey on the Rasheed Shahed punt return where the really punt up for that where he caught it across the Titans 50 and then gets it all the way to the 26yd line. There is one player on that coverage unit who is there to make the tackle and instead of making the tackle, he dives fully outstretched and doesn’t even come close to Shahid. Guess who that was? That was Mason Kinsey. He’s not even good on special teams. No. And he’s had a ton of bad special teams reps this season. Remember the one he got blocked into the returner? Yeah. The only I’m going to call I’ll call you out. don’t have some tweaks cuz the way roster construction works in this league, they’re going to maximize those standard game day elevations probably like they’re probably I I don’t they’re not I don’t I mean they might but if they don’t promote him to the 53 immediately resto it’s not a big deal because they might want to maximize take advantage of the rule get him two more elevations before having to promote him to the you just get more guys that way unless a team like the Buccaneers or somebody who’s been dealing with a ton of receiver injuries turns the tape on in this game is like, hey, you know what? This guy was really good in college, but he has to agree to that. He has to agree to that. And I I don’t think there’s any scenario right now where he would based on fair playing with Cam Ward. But anyway, I still think it’s crazy that even James Proche was playing behind Kinsey. And I think we’ve probably seen the last about that. No one’s going to talk about that, but it’s it’s nuts. And Mike H. Hearnen tweeted this just a few minutes ago. Um, Xavier Restrepo definitely deserves some run over the last six games. He looks like a guy who belongs in the league and I think that’s the best way to say it. Like he wasn’t outstanding. He wasn’t running wide open and he didn’t have 150 yards and three touchdowns or anything crazy. He wasn’t Jackson Smith and Jigba who had 167 yards and two touchdowns, but he was a productive member of the offense who made plays for his quarterback who got open on that that goal line play that you talked about where he almost got in the end zone. had that play on the drag route where he couldn’t quite get the first down, but Olo Udo gets called for a hold, so it doesn’t matter. I think the best way to say it is he looks like a guy who is in his first NFL game ever as an undrafted rookie. He looked like he belonged and that’s we just want to see more of that. You hit the nail on the head cuz what were we saying? Run him out there. What? He’s really slow. He sucks. He runs a 474, whatever the heck the number was at the pre-draft training process. He did not look like he sucked. did it long. He did not prove the coaching staff right for just keeping him on the practice squad for the first 12 weeks of the season. We’ll quickly close with Shimmer DK. Not a whole lot to say. I thought it was so uncharacteristic of him to have that fumble uh on, you know, they start that possession on the three- yard line. How do you make up for it? I mean, this guy’s unbelievable when he returned when he was returning that punt and as soon as I started seeing him reverse field, I think he rever he reversed field on it, right? like reversed field. I was like, “Oh, he’s got a little something.” And even then though, I still thought this is a good 20, 30 yard return. He’s got some. Like when he went all the way, I was like, “Holy crap.” Like I never saw it coming until it was obvious that he wasn’t going to get caught. Like even when he was on that sideline, I like someone might shove him out of bat. Like he might like an unbelievable special teams player and he’s a pretty darn good wide receiver too. Like this I can’t say enough good things about him especially because we were the we all dogged you know this is the f fourth round pick we liked the least we like helm we liked and he was the first one they made and you’re start not starting to see you can see why he goes ahead of an Alec I maner to be honest with you right we didn’t see it then but we certainly see it now and that’s a tip of the cap to Mike Moronzi because we didn’t see it then but this guy’s been unbelievable he’s so dynamic he’s so explosive and the best thing is he’s not just a gadget guy. He’s not just a special teams guy. No doubt about it that he contributes at wide receiver as well. I don’t know, again, I don’t know that I don’t he’s ever going to be a superstar receiver. I don’t even know if he’ll ever be a high-end number two, but I think there’s no doubt about it that he is a productive, very, very productive, useful, effective member of your wide receiver room. He is a valuable player. He adds value on offense and a ton on special teams. And if he’s not an allp pro returner this year, we riot. We riot as a fan base because he might get overlooked because the Titans are the Titans. But he is the he should be the allp pro first team allpro punt returner this season. He’s been the best in the league. He now matches who’s the other guy. There was one other player. Was it a Jags player? I can’t remember. There’s one other player in the league who had two punt maybe Panthers. I can’t remember. One other player in the NFL had two punt return touchdowns. Was the only player in the league with two punt return touchdowns this year. Shim DK now matches that number in this game with a 90 yard return. And he had like the first few big plays on offense. He was quiet in the second half except for scoring the touchdown. But um that third and three where he Camar lays it perfectly to him and he takes it for 25 yards. The only real really missed play missed opportunity he had was the the the slot fade on that third down that he didn’t come up with. But overall I think you look at the rookie class right now and you say Cam Ward, he’s that dude. And today, I think today, I don’t want to say solidified it because everyone can have a good game and then and then look bad the next week. This is the NFL. It’s about consistency and the next game is always the most important game. So, we’re not going to put anything in stone yet. But Cam Ward showing us why we believed in him today. You got Kevin Winston Jr. that one uh that goal line stand they had early in the game where he comes crashing into the back field and then on the next play or the ne couple ne two plays later I can’t remember he tips the ball at the goal line up in the air I think it was the next play like he made backto-back plays on the goal line to to have a stand there an and goal stand goal to go stand for the defense Marcus Harris breaking up passes and getting Chippy in the run game I mean he looks like the Titans don’t miss Roger McCreary because of him and then obviously Gunner Helm leads a team in receiving leaving today 6 for 51. Chim DK three for uh sorry, five for 44 and a touchdown with a 90 yard punt return touchdown. Xavier Restrepo the UDFA coming up big with that third down conversion and the catch to put him to set up DK’s touchdown. I mean, what a hell of a rookie class the Titans have. And as miserable as this now 1 and 10 season is going, the Titans still have control over the number one pick. Wow. Thank you, Fish Pit, for the super chat. $5 super chat. Fish Spit 77734. Thank you for all of your work this year, Justin. No, thank you. We appreciate that a lot. Very sweet of you. Appreciate that. And we will read any and all super chats that come in as long as they aren’t offensive or insensitive. So, thank you, uh, Fish Spit, which is a hilarious name, 7734. Um, but yeah, just like you may be you may be down about the way this season has gone, but the future it it honestly has never felt brighter for this iteration of the team because you think you finally have a true franchise quarterback for the first time since Steve McNair maybe. I mean, I think so. Some people might disagree, but that it’s too soon to say that. But you’re going to have the number one pick. Hopefully, you’re going to have the second most cap space in the NFL. and you’re going to hopefully go hire a smart new head coach that can come in here and really take this team. Like until we know that they misuse the draft pick or they hire the wrong coach or that Cam Ward flames out or any of the disaster scenarios that could come down the pike, right now it’s all open that it could be good. So to me, the future feels super bright right now. I’m going to put sunglasses on because it’s blinding me, Justin. I mean, look at too bad the Giants lost that game in overtime. The Jets almost pulled off an upset. Like Titans would have even more control uh of that number one pick, but one of the Raiders or Browns are going to win a game today because they’re playing each other. So that that’ll be a positive development. It’ll one of those teams will go two wins ahead of the Titans. So that’s good news on that. And then the Giants and Raiders play each other late in the year. So let’s root for the Browns to win today so that in case the Titans beat the Browns, they still have a game on them. And let’s root for the Raiders. Then we’ll be at two wins. Let’s root for the Raiders then to beat the Giants later. So they’ll also be at three wins and hope that the Giants can pick up another win. They almost beat the Lions today like you said that they I mean they could they could beat beat somebody, but um I think that’ll do it. We didn’t really talk a lot about the defense outside of briefly mentioning Winston and Marcus Harris, but does anyone care? Ardan Key had a cool sack. I don’t know. Does anyone care? We’ll talk a little probably later in the week because I thought Kevin Winston and Marcus Harris, I thought they both played good games uh in this one. So and Armor Davis, who cares? But I think they might did get uh beat deep on that one J. Like I hate the situation you’re putting him in there, right? Like I don’t know that I want a single safety in the NFL on Jackson Smith and Jigba this season. I probably don’t want my third round rookie who’s playing in like his third game defensively, not just special teams. So that was a bad look on that one. He actually had some positive plays. Uh uh Kevin Winston did before that play. I think that’s going to do it for this very special live edition of the Music City Audible podcast. We got our first super chat tip that has never happened before. I almost took my shirt off. I wasn’t sure what I’m supposed to do for that tip. I was like, does he want me does Fishb want me to go shirtless? I don’t know what he would have taken the tip back if I did that. So, thank you Fishb. And thank you to everyone that I did not. Who’s got another one? Tombbo Brewster, thank you so much. Appreciate the episode. first proper tighten up game for ages even with the loss. Totally agree. Totally agree. And that’s f that’s five pounds or euros is if that was in Canadian that’d be a hundred bucks. Can you switch the currency over to Canadian? That’s like the way our dollar is out here where I’m living right now. That’s like $100 right there. Thank you, Tombbo. You’re a regular on here. You’re a regular in the comment section. I love responding to you and and getting to call you Tombbo. So, please never change your YouTube name. I absolutely love it. Uh, thank you to everyone really that this has been very very generous of you guys to do that today. I didn’t even know that was an option and we’ve never asked for it. What we have asked for, although chances are if you’re still here 50 minutes into the stream, we are now less than 50 subscribers away from reaching our goal. We picked up a couple over the weekend here, less than 50 away from our goal of 5,500. I know it’s going to take us a little bit of time. subscribers tend to roll in a little slower this time of year. Another tip here from True Hype. Wow, this is so 1.5 sacks for Draymond Jones. Thank you, True Hype. Thank you for the tip very much and thank you for pointing that out. Draymond Jones is now half a sack away and the Ravens making the playoffs. They got a big win today. Both those things happen. The Titans will get a fourth round pick out of that. Can you imagine they get another Shimmer DK out of that Draymond Jones deal on any side of the ball? That would or a Gunner helm. That would be huge. With the Ravens win today and the Steelers lost to the Bears today, the Ravens are now leading the division somehow after the start that they had. Wow. They hold the four seed right now and the Steelers are in the eight seed, but um if the Jags lose today, then they might jump anyway. But it’s it’s looking very very possible for the Ravens to make the playoffs. So, all Jones needs is another half sack this year and the Titans jump up into the fourth round. That would be excellent. Thank you for the tip and for pointing that out. And remember that that’s an extra pick. That was the one trade they made that was not a pick swap. So they’re they’re guaranteed to get an extra fifth rounder out of that deal, but it’s really starting to look like it’s going to be a fourth rounder. I I absolutely love that. Um this has been a lot of fun. We went for 50 minutes because it was so much fun because that game was fun and Cam Ward played the best game of his rookie season. We will be back tomorrow. Ideal game. Last thing I’ll say, ideal game because Cam Ward played out of his mind and the Titans still lost and it was close and fun, but we don’t ruin the draft position. Ideal game. They finally did the actual We said it a couple weeks ago that it felt like an ideal game. No, or the Houston game. We said ideal. This was the actual ideal game. Yes, this was better than the Houston one because they showed more life offensively. That Houston game had that awesome 95 yard drive to tie the game that made it feel pretty great. But this one was just really, really fun. Thanks to everyone for tuning in. Thank you for the tips. I didn’t even know that was an option. Really appreciate three of you for doing that. That really is above and beyond to support the channel. Thank you so much. Tell a friend, subscribe, wait for this stream to end. Stick around for 30 seconds and leave another comment because once the video uploads and those comments get in, you’re going to help boost the algorithm. You’re going to help us get into the feeds of those who missed the live stream and couldn’t join it but could watch it uh really starting now. So, thank you so much. Leave a comment below, subscribe to the channel. We will be back tomorrow, probably talking more about Cam Ward because hopefully we’ll have a chance to review some of the tape by then. Uh, but again, we’re on the right track. You could see the vision. I love that. I love being a fan of this organization. I love where they’re heading. Keep the faith. Keep maintaining. They’ve got quarterback figured out. That’s all that mattered going into this season. Until tomorrow, y’all stay safe out there and tighten up. A Broadway Sports Media production.

Justin Melo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Justin Graver⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are LIVE to recap the Tennessee Titans’ Week 12 home game against the Seattle Seahawks, including Cam Ward playing a great game against one of the NFL’s top defenses, Chimere Dike’s 2nd punt return TD, and Xavier Restrepo’s first NFL catch!

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