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Countdown to Kickoff | Similar Record, Different Story: Titans' 2024 Season · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Countdown to kickoff continues the Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Week fourteen in the National Football League. The Jaguars officially eliminated.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: The Titans are having some issues as well. Mike Keith,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the voice of the Titans, with us and here we go.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: I hate this trip. The Jaguars hate this trip. I mean,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars have struggled in Nashville forever. But here we
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: are in December, and it's nice to see you at least, Mike.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: How's it going.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Well, it's nice to see you as well. I think
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: we're all excited about everything going on in terms of
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the NFL and down the stretch and here we go
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: and all of the matchups, and I think both of
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: these teams would very much like to be a part
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: of that revelry which is December football in the NFL.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately we're not. I'm sure for you guys, it's a
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: lot of confusion about why this season has gone as
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: it has, because I know there were expectations. Our feeling
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: in a new era was that it would probably be bumpy,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: and it has been. And so now trying to figure
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: out how you end this season with the arrow pointing
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: up and JP I think that was always the goal
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: for the Titans is to end twenty twenty four with
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the arrow pointing up. The Titans still have that opportunity,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: and that's what they're going to need to.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Do, all right, to have that arrow pointing out. My
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: quarterback play helps is will Levis the guy for the Titans.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I think we're starting to believe he really is. And
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: he had a rough September. Got hurt in a Monday
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: night game against the Dolphins. Tried to play post by
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: the shoulder was still hurting him, and so they shut
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: him down. They said, we're going to get you well,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: and he got well. He had a chance to watch
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Mason Rudolph play quarterback, he had a chance to spend
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: time with Simeon in the system and in the meeting rooms.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: And he's come back and he has played the position
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: of quarterback well. How Brian Callahan describes it, JP is
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Will Levis is not calling plays and throwing passes anymore.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: He's playing quarterback. And that's the part of it that
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: they're very happy with. The stats don't say he played
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: great at Washington, but he played a good game. He
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: had six passes drop. He didn't make big mistakes. He
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: kept the team competing even after it fell behind. He
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: actually had managed the game well enough that with three
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: point forty to go in the third quarter, the Titans
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: had climbed back to twenty eight to thirteen. They were
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: in the game. Now, it didn't work out. The defense
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: didn't get a stop there. But that's what quarterback does
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: in the NFL. As you know, I don't have to
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: explain it to you, but from the Titans perspective, that's
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: what they wanted to see out of Will Levis. They
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: wanted to see him play quarterback, and that's what he's
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: doing right now. Now it's not over, he's got five
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: more games, but as this year long evaluation goes on,
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: his arrow is pointing up.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Like Keith Voice of the Tennessee Titans, got some weapons
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: around him, Ridley, you know, we know all about him here.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Westbrook and Keine is catching touchdowns every week now. And
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: they got a running back and Pollards who's playing well.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: So when you have those pieces around a conquo obviously
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the tight end we know all about him, so that
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: helps when those guys are playing well. Let's focus on Westbrook,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: a Kine, this guy can't stop catching touchdown passes.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Why is that now, Well, because they throw it to
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: him near the end zone and he makes the plays.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Nick is really a great story. You know, he's from
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Lake Mary, he goes to Indiana, he comes to the
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Titans as an undrafted and this guy does whatever he
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: has to do to stay on the roster. And this
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: year they start off with DeAndre Hopkins and with Traylon
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Burks as the two guys who are gonna go with
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Calvin Ridley. They can't really figure out a rotation and
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Will Levis is not playing well, so all those things
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: combined are probablematic they trade Hopkins. Unfortunately Burkes gets hurt
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: and then they gotta play Nick. And now Nick has
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: shown for Brian Callahan what he showed everybody for five years,
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: and that is when he plays, he's just a good
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: football player. He's not the fastest guy. He's got decent size,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: but he's not really big. But he is a winning
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: football player and he has been throughout his time here.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Mike Rabel believed in him, John Robinson believed in him.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Now Ran Carthon and Brian Callahan believe in him. If
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: the Titans are going to go back up. I think
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: guys like Nick Westbrook a Keene have to be part
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: of the mission. You've got to find those mesh guys
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: who hold it together. He's never going to be a
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: twenty million dollar a year guy, but he's a good player,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: and you need some good players who just know how
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: to play football. Plus he's really smart. He got his
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: degree at Indiana at the Kellogg School of Business, which
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: is not an easy thing to do. Nixt one of
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: those people JP. I don't think he would be making
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: as much money outside of football as he is playing
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: in football, but he'd be making a really good living
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: at age twenty seven because he's really smart and really talented,
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: and all those things factor into his success.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Mike Keith of his voice of the Tennessee Titans. You know,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: you just look at the record at three and nine,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: and then I'm looking at the defensive rankings of the NFL,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: and the Titans are second and total defense first against
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: the pass, I mean, really good, and all these metrics
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: top ten and third down that I mean, the defense
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: has really stepped up and played well.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Why is that? It's a good defense? They have good people.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Now they have some problems due to injury. They've lost
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: three of their regular starters.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: In the secondary for the year. Some young guys have
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: played pretty well. They've had some issues at linebacker traded
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Ernest Jones. Jack Gibbins got hurt. That was tough. The
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: defensive line is very good. Jeffrey Simmons is a really
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: good player. To Andre Sweat, the rookie from Texas has
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: been dominant. The outside line linebackers Arden Key and Harold
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: Landry have been excellent. So they're really good players on defense.
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: I do think it's a bit misleading because with some
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: of the offensive woes that the Titans have had, teams
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: have not gotten real froggy on offense, particularly in second halfs.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: They've chosen to just run the ball. So you can't say,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: you know, this is the two thousand Titans defense or
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the two thousand Ravens or the eighty five Bears. But
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: has did a Wilson done a good job with this unit? Yes,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: And in situations like at Houston two weeks ago, when
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: they needed to shut them down at the end, they did.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: They shut down a good Houston offense at the end
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: of the ball game, held Houston to forty yards rushing
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Joe Mixon was a non factor in the game. So
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: it's a good defense. If it's a competitive game, the
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: defense can show what it's all about. And I think
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: that was always going to be a strength of this team.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: As the defense has improved, I think the defense has
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: been able to be in situations where they could show
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: out a little bit. But in many games teams have
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: been far enough ahead where they've just been able to
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: play nineteen seventy four football in the second half, trying
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to kill the clock because they knew Tennessee couldn't score
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: enough to beat him.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: Well, hopefully you're not screaming sack at the top of
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: your lungs too many times this week. It's always a
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: pleasure to I heard of that. If it's not that
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: it's ninety nine yards, we don't need that either, So
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: have a great week. We'll talk to you on Sunday. JP.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me on