 Chris said something to me when we were walking in. He said it ain't pretty, but it's beautiful. There's so many guys that went out there that probably had no idea when they woke up this morning they're gonna have an impact to the game. More. You just never know. And that's how we're built. We don't panic, we don't freak out, put the next guy in there. Guys, we don't care where you came from. This is a great lesson of when you wake up every game day, you better know what to do. And when you get cold on going there play fast and aggressive. Head coach of the Tennessee Titans, I'm Mike Keith and welcome to the Mike Vrable show. The Titans are two and one as September is about ready to come to a close. On Sunday, Tennessee knocks off Indianapolis 25 to 16. Hard fought, but well earned by your ball club. It was, it was hard fought and we knew it was going to be that way. We knew that this was going to be a huge challenge. They were trying to not go to 0 and 3. A lot of credit to their team, their effort, but give our guys some credit too. I thought they maxed it and they finished. Let's jump right in to the six pack from Mike Vrable and start in quarter number two game tied at seven. Ryan Tannehill to Nick Westbrook Aquino. Yep, Nick gets his first touchdown and he's continued to help us last year in the kicking game this year a little bit more in a receiving role blocking and going in there and replacing guys and filling in for guys. Little Billy White Shoes Johnson right there. He taught us that on Friday. Great read by Ryan. You know, you see that Racy, they took off a lot of a lot of guys going there with Racy on the on the outside seam and then there's Nick coming in there, runs through the catch. That's what I love run through the catch and to be able to score right there. One of your second year players who has continued to improve. Yeah, there's a few of those guys and then that's really important and that's critical that we can. We can continue to count on those guys and their development from year one to year two. Ryan Tannehill on the move would be a story of this day and here we have one in the second quarter where he finds Jeff Swame for a big game. Well, this has got to be part of our offense. We have to be able to get this thing down the line and then come out of it. Swame slips there, but watch there. Pruitt gets a block. There's camp bats and getting a block. You're not going to be able to get that thing for 23 yards or 27 yards, whatever it was, without the extra effort. And it was Pruitt, you know, just giving enough there with the high screen and then Cam working his tail off down the field to help Jeff, you know, get to that next level. And there's Cam right there with a huge block. Jeff Swame finishes the day with three catches for the Titans. Move to the third quarter, going to take a look at some defense. After Mike Vrable wins a challenge and Jeffrey Simmons bats down a pass, it's third and 10 in time for a sack. Well, there was a great execution. I thought that that was a good call. I thought that was well-schemed up, but then obviously, you know, those guys have to execute. You know, Ola came in there, picked, drove, you know, Harold looped around. He backed off the line of scrimmage and this was a huge play. There's Danico going in there, trying to pick, help guys out. And there comes Harold around there. It was cool to see Danico and Chet have good days against their former team as well. Ola, Dani with a sack and a half, obviously Landry with that half of a sack right there. Now let's look at some offense. Titans going to go up 20 to 13 on a third and 10 play. Here's Tana Hill again. Well, Ryan saw, you know, they walked the linebacker out and again, trying to play zone out there with the linebacker at number one and he got a little nosy and carried Pru a little too deep. To Ryan's credit, great ball to Jeremy. He looks, you know, when he's supposed to look, the ball's right there, hits him in stride and he wins the foot race to the pylon. So, you know, I just, that's Ryan invested in completions right there and normally you're not counting on that to score, but, you know, when he catch it in stride and you run with some speed, you know, he was able to get to the corner. All right, then you decide to go for two instead of kicking the point. Yeah, just trying to, you know, in the fourth quarter there trying to get it to nine and really put some heat on them, you know, maybe make them make a few bad decisions and let us rush and you can see, man, you know, the big fella got his pads downhill. You know, the line did a great job, quiz blocking movement, trying to spike on them and Derek coming across there. And I mean, I guess he would have got in from about the seven or eight it looked like. Good stuff there. The Colts go right back down the field, however, and Christian Fulton gets dinged up. So the Titans call on Breon borders and here's a big third down play. Yeah, you know, we get pressure in the middle pocket and, you know, again, Breon's not playing a football, but there's not enough contact here for there to be, you know, DPI. You know, obviously we'd like to be able to, you know, play the football, but, you know, they missed an offensive pass and interference there on the goal line anyway. So I guess it makes up for it. All right, so the Titans see the Colts cut it to 22 to 16. Still 10 minutes left in the game, but then Tennessee goes on a 14 play drive that takes nearly 70 yards. Here's a big play to keep it going to get the Titans in scoring zone. Just, I can't say enough about Ryan's toughness, but also his game management and his decisions. You know, this is a huge play. Forces him to take a time out. He stays in bounds. He gives himself up in bounds. And guess who's out in front? Who's out on a route there who sees Ryan running, camp bats, and turns, gets on his guy. We'll see him come into the screen right there. He blocks 23 long enough to allow Ryan to get the first down and stay in balance. Tana Hill had three carries in the ballgame before his two kneel downs. They went for 58 yards, 17, 28, and 13 big runs. Have to have it. All right, when we come back, we talk to the head coach about a September review. What do you like so far from his two-in-one team? That's next on the Mike Vrable Show. September football is completed for the Titans at two-in-one. What does this team look like after three games? Well, let's talk about a couple of the important areas. Got to start with the improvement in third down defense. Last two opponents, just seven of 24 on third downs. What are you doing well there? Well, guys are getting after the quarterback. We're rushing tight coverage. I think there's understanding of the concepts. And at the end of the day, guys going out there and executing, you know what I mean? It's hard to convert third downs when the quarterback's getting pressured. And we've had some guys really do a nice job of coordinating a rush up front. Let's talk about Chester Rogers running back punts. He's averaging nearly 13 yards per punt return. Mike Vrable, is he close to popping one? Well, I hope so. You know what I mean? I hope so. I think that our guys really appreciate what he's done back there. We've given him opportunities. You know, he's done a little bit of it on his own. But I think that this past week was probably the best week that we've had. You know, just some consistency, getting some big returns. You know, Chet catching it clean. You know, getting upfield, not trying to circle around guys. And you know, I think the guys are doing a nice job of blocking. You know, guys are competing. You know, this is a play that a lot of teams would have just fair caught right there. And that's the trust factor. Christian Fulton in the secondary is off to, by all rights, what is a fine start? Do you agree? A good start. You know, we got to continue. It hasn't been perfect, but you know, I think he's been, he's tackled. You know, he's had some nice tackles in a run game the other day. He's playing with a little bit, a lot more confidence. He's playing with a lot more confidence and he's challenging. And it's really cool to see guys and get another player that we talked about earlier in that second year. All right. The quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, 856 total yards, five touchdowns. What has impressed you most about Ryan Tannehill's play? I think his command, his demeanor. I mean, we really, we all played and coached poorly that first week and we came back out and, you know, his ability to go out to Seattle and help us win there in the second half. And then, you know, just his toughness and his decision-making yesterday. I know that, you know, there's one that he'd like to have back and then Chet's got to help him out on the other one and not try to catch it with his shoulder pads. And, but I just think his command and his decision-making and his toughness is something that I always admire. The leader of this football team, Ryan Tannehill, off to a good start, not only throwing the football but running the football as well. Here's one I really like. Titans are outscoring the opposition in the fourth quarter and in overtime, 28 to nine. And I think that's a testament to our players, to our identity and to our conditioning and hopefully the style of play that we want to play around here. We want to lead games late, dictate the tempo, you know, be able to grind out wins and try to get our identity to take over late in games. All right, those are some of the things that happened in the month of September. October football starts with the Jets this Sunday. We're going to talk about that coming up in just a few minutes, but now it's time for Delta Dental. Can you guess this tight? Yes, it's easy. Let's take a look. This is easy. Can you guess this Titan? Mike Vrabel, he says he can. We'll go to break and give him another minute to think about it, although he says he doesn't need it. Ryan Tannehill right around the corner sitting down with Amy Wells in the Titans files. It's all next to the Mike Vrabel show. Mike Vrabel, can you guess this Titan? Yes, I can. Well, brought to you by Delta Dental. Go ahead then. That would be Cincinnati, Ohio's finest, David Long. David Long? He's two for three, the head coach. How about that, David Long? He's continuing to improve. He's getting opportunities, making the most of them. Just a great kid, you know, it's his passion for football. You look out there and you'd be like, that guy loves football. And you can tell that. He flies around, triggers, he's playing fast for us and, you know, it's been, you know, he's played well the last two games. We've won both of those games. My broadcast partner, Dave McGinnis, Coach Lyme Becher. Coach Mack. He likes him some David Long. He likes him some David Long. He says he's become a more complete player in year three. I can't wait to talk to Coach Mack on Friday. It's just to talk about what he thinks is David as a blitzer. You know, they didn't pick him up one time. Now, they might have slowed him down, but he affected the quarterback every time that he blitzed against the running back the other day. And even, even one lineman, you know what I mean? He went in there and then wrapped around the quarterback, you know, scrambled and threw it away. Special day for the organization winning over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but also special because it was Oilers tribute week. And Mike, this turned out even better than I thought because seeing Billy White shoes Johnson, seeing Warren Moon, Elvin Bethea, Curly Culp on and on and on. It was exciting. I think it excited your guys too to see those guys. Especially at practice. I mean, having those guys that are represented in the Hall of Fame, you know, like you mentioned Warren and Curly and Robert and Billy, I mean, Billy, Billy broke them down and taught them how to dance. You know, thank God we were able to score a couple touchdowns and be able to do the dance and just, you know, those guys are special to Amy and her family. And they're always welcome here as Tennessee Titans. I was so impressed on Friday as you introduced those guys to your players, to look at the players and the respect that they showed, how interested they were, how excited they were to meet those guys. Tells you football really means something to them beyond just what they do during the week. You know, we try to talk to them about the history of the organization and the players that came before them and Warren Moon and those players that have made such an impact on this sport. Yeah, a lot of significance there as the Oilers represented, they got to see a big Titans win in the AFC South. The Titans files are up next, but later in the program, Mike Vrable has his keys to knocking off the New York Jets. We've got a lot more of the Mike Vrable show. Stay tuned. Welcome back to the Mike Vrable show. We've already talked about quarterback Ryan Tannehill multiple times on this edition of the program. And that's because he's playing super football for the Titans right now. Certainly couldn't have won Sunday's game over the Colts without his effort through the air and on the ground. Ryan Tannehill is the undisputed leader of this football team. 22 and 11 is his record in 33 starts when you include his postseason starts already. The Titans are seeing their offense go to different levels with Ryan Tannehill, but he's looking for a lot more as we move into October. He sits down with our Amy Wells in this week's edition of the Titans Files. In big games like the one against the Indianapolis Colts where you have to put the team on your back a little bit and find a way to win. Do you enjoy that almost a little bit more because you're the guy running the offense on the field? Yeah, it's fun. Anytime you get in a critical situation, those are the moments you dream about from the time you're a kid until now. You lay in bed and you picture, well, it's a two-minute drive to go tie it up in Seattle or a four-minute drive to put the game through a two-score game this week against Indy. It's something you dream about and you relish those moments. Play fake Tannehill rolling right. Looking, could run it. 45, 50, 45, 40, 35. And he is taken down at the 32-yard line. What a run, Ryan Tannehill. We've seen you run a lot. This is the thing that you do. And when you take off running, you don't seem to be into the slide part of a quarterback taking off on a run. Why is that? I just try to pick my spots, you know? I think there's definitely times of slide and I try to get down. If it's gonna be a collision, there's multiple guys that are gonna hit me. But, you know, sometimes I feel like I can get on an edge and it's not gonna be a big hit. You know, if the guy's trying to arm tackle me and I fall forward for another three yards and, you know, as long as I'm not taking a big hit, I don't think it's a big deal. I would assume that Mike Vrable has some thoughts about that. Yeah, he wants me to slide. You know, he just doesn't want me to take a big hit. You know, at the end of the day, and I don't either. I don't want to take a big hit. So I try to be smart with it. You know, not put myself in a position to be injured, you know, take it, take a big hit. But, you know, there are certain situations where, you know, slide is not necessary. What do you like about this offense the most? I think we're heading the right direction. Kind of stacking some good plays, some good sequences, some good possessions and building our confidence. You know, I think that sometimes it takes a little bit of a time to get into a groove as an offense. We understand how we want to play the game and guys are really starting to come together and play as a unit. Now let's flip that around. In the first three weeks, where have you seen areas of improvement on this Titans offense? Obviously, we didn't come out and play well the first week at all. You know, the first game at home was tough. We didn't get it going early. You know, we were able to score, but then weren't able to keep pushing the ball down the field. So it was tough. Second week, you know, we were able to push the ball down the field, move up and down the field and weren't scoring when we got in the red zone. This week we moved the ball really well, but had turnover. So this has been something a little different every game, but I think that the guys are buying in on getting the things fixed that we need to get fixed and hopefully we can do that moving forward. Through the first three weeks, you've completed passes to 11, 11 different guys on offense. How good does that make you feel heading into October football when you're going to have to continue to make those plays no matter what? Yeah, it just shows the depth of our team and the confidence that we have that no matter who's in there, that if they're open, I'll throw them the ball. You know, I don't really care who's in there. As long as they find a way to get open, then I feel confident throwing the football. Now you've played the Jets five different times at the Meadowlands in your career. As a guy who's been there a couple of times, do you have tidbits or advice? You're kind of a local when it comes to playing at the Meadowlands. Yeah, I don't know. It's a fun place to play, not about it. It's a really cool stadium. Atmosphere is really, really cool. I'm sure we'll get the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets. I'm sure Fireman will have that going, but yeah, it's a really cool place to play. Titans trying to go to three and one this weekend as they play at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets. Time for Mike Vrabel's Nissan keys to victory. Let's get the first one. What do you think? I think turnovers, takeaways, however you want to say it. We better get some. I mean, it's time. We practiced them as much as anybody, and we just have to go get our hand on the football. We got to punch it out, strip it out, rake it out, hammer it out, whatever we have to do. We got to get the ball out. We got to intercept it. We got to tip it at the line of scrimmage and catch it and turn it over. But Mike, you're doing so many things right defensively right now, especially in the last three halves of football. This has to happen sooner or later. I hope so. I mean, I feel like we're playing with effort. I don't feel, I mean, we've had it, we've tipped some balls at the line of scrimmage, and you know, it's just about keep looking for opportunities. We got to get them away from the quarterback. We've pressured the quarterback a little bit. We got to go get the football off of them. Mike Vrabel's second Nissan key to victory is use field position in the return game. That's Chester Rodgers. That is, and also our kickoff return unit. You know, I mean, that's the unit where, and let's get one out to the 35 yard line. If we're returning a kickoff for whatever reason, continue that. I think our part returns headed down the right track. And we've got to get this return unit going to give us some shorter fields that we can go and score touchdowns when we get down there in the red zone. All right, the third key is pretty simple and that's start fast. Something that Titans offense, unfortunately has not done yet. No, you know, we've been three and out in our first three possessions of these first three ball games and you know, our defense has been okay, you know, to answer that. But again, it's not good enough. But the offense does have eight drives of 10 plays or more. So you're certainly able to move one of those eight up to the first drive of the game. Sure. Yeah. What's the key to getting off to a better start offensive? I just think the execution, you know, it felt like we had some good play calls the other day and we just about executed. We didn't block the linebacker on third down. So we'll never know if anybody was open. Okay, you've played in this general space before, although I think it was a different stadium when you played there. You played the old Meadowlands. Correct. What's it like playing in this general area? Well, I mean, the fans are passionate, you know what I mean? Obviously they share a stadium. You got the Giants, you got the Jets and, you know, it's cool to be able to drive this stadium and look over there and see the skyline of New York City. Wendy? Is it Wendy in there still? Isn't that Chicago? No, but that's the Wendy city. But supposedly the Meadowlands was always... Jimmy Hoffa. Well, that's a different story. We'll see you next time on the Mike Vrapel show. With more on things like that. Thanks for being with us. See you Sunday.