 Watson puts him on the ground. Presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans, I am Lance Smith. But this is Eddie George. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thanks for playing on you. Yeah, man. A fan gave me this as a gift. Thank you very much. Yeah. I had to give it to you after the show. Really? OK. You got to give it back. OK, so the crowd is hyped. We are feeling this. It still feels good to be a tight mix. We are still in this thing. Tough loss, but we'll talk about it. Yeah, we'll be positive today. Well, let's be positive. Hey, congratulations to Brett Kern and Derek Henry. Yeah, we're making it. We got alternates in the game, too. We will talk about that Pro Bowl action later on in the show. But right now, let's kick off this show and do what we do. Thank you all so much for being here. Right now, we'll do a little four downs to the Eddie. Eddie, oh, man. It was a game. Yes, it was. I mean, it was back and forth on both sides. It was a playoff game. It really was. It really was. Playoff atmosphere, a lot on the line. It was for the division lead from the South. And you had the atmosphere, and that's what you wanted. But you know, the good thing is, is that they played well, but it came down to one or two plays as you looked, like, ah, that was the momentum shift right there, and that was it. You played from behind. Yeah. Well, I mean, you say slow start, but we moved the ball. But you almost expect that, though. You expect a game like that is not going to be fireworks coming out. It's a divisional game. But we've been lighting up the scoreboard four games in a row. That's kind of what we expected. But the one play, to me, that really put us in the hole early, and it was just really hard to overcome, was that interception on the goal line, what fumble interception, what do you call it? Whitney Merciless takes the opportunity to take this thing back 80-some odd yards, and that was hard to come back from. Yeah, it was a definitely a momentum shift, and they never bounced back from that play. And again, it was a playoff game, and that one play just changed everything, and they had the momentum. The Titans came back a little bit, but never quite could get over that hump, because we're just sitting there anticipating at least three points out of that drive, and a turnaround in your- To go the other way. No, the way, and the two plays later is a touchdown. They won the score, they gave them a short field. Well, there was a guy you saw there at the end of that clip, though, there was a standout on that interception return, and he is our second down. Jonu Smith had this going on. Watch, top of the screen, there he is. Top of the end zone. He's in the end zone. Merciless has a 20-yard lead on him, and he just doesn't give up. I mean, Tannehill didn't give up last week, and he's like, read this. Every five yards is two strides, 25. That's how you know he's moving. I mean, the dude is rolling, man. I mean, this was a great hustle play on Jonu Smith, and if Derek Henry were to something that happened to him, I'm saying, look, put Jonu back there. Well, Jonu had a big day. I mean, he had, what, five receptions, 60 yards, but this run right here, this run right here for 57 yards. I mean, that's a tight end. Right. Oh, man, I've been listening, man. No man's getting down. That's how you run down the right sideline. He takes a tall sweep into the boundary, makes two great moves, and he had to reverse a couple of weeks ago to look pretty good. I think you can implement him at running back, full back. I mean, he's just really immersed as a premier playmaker for this offense. It's exciting to watch. Oh, it is. It's exciting to watch. It's nice to know that we have weapons like that. And, you know, he sparked plays like that a lot. We didn't think the game was over from the interception return. Right, right, right. We were in a hole, but we were fighting. We were fighting. We did, we tied it up. We fought, and we fought, and we fought with big plays like that. Other bright spots, moving on to third down, to start the game off. You know, they drove the field, but you still feel like, because our defense, our defense is resilient. We have that tenacious D. And Kenny Vicarro's interception there on the goal line was exciting. Oh, it really was. I mean, look at this. It was just awesome to see this play right here. Kenny Vicarro come across. It looked like he had a wide open receiver, not to know where he makes a big play. And that's what you need. He baited him into it. Baited him into it? I was right there. I was, yeah. Hold on. Terribly, yeah. Terribly excited. Is that you in the back? There he is. There you are, Lance. I've taken out three cameraman this season so far. I apologize. You were feeling it, huh? Yeah, I can't sit in seats, man. I'll lose it. You shouldn't, man. I mean, you are too fat. Get laid around in applause, everybody. I got a never-ending battery in here when it comes to Titans games. Jayon Brown's interception in the end zone. The tip pass that Jeff Simmons got his big mitts on right here. Look at this. Opportunities created. There we go. We made enough plays to win the ball game, but a miss field goal here, a momentum shift there. Didn't execute here, cost them a hard-fought game. I mean, the effort was there. The fans were there. All the elements were there for a Titans victory. It just wasn't meant to be. Yeah, it was just one of those games, divisional game. But to me, the biggest, bright spot of all, the bright spots in this game, we've been talking about them for a few weeks now, talking about them all season. AJ Brown is a stud receiver. Listen, this kid reminds me of a version of Terrell Lowens. Not as tall, but in terms of that. Being able to catch, run after catch, he is incredible, super strong, and he's hungry. He's not one of these kids, typically receivers are prima donnas and they like to look good in their uniforms. They got issues and all of that off the field and all. But this guy, he wants to be the best. He's hungry. He wants to be great. He wants to make his mark on the NFL. And he's the best working receiver that this organization's ever had in Titans history. Eight for 114. Statistically, he actually had comparable day even better than Sean Hopkins. And how he just came out and plucked, held the ball out in front on the touchdown. That's what veterans do. I mean, it was just amazing to see him do his thing. 13 targets as well. So he's definitely the number one there. And then moving on fourth down real quick, injuries, a factor in this one. You know, our secondary is a little banged up, got picked on a little bit in the red zone. Kenny still has had those touchdowns. And Derek's, Derek still had a good game. 21 carries. We'll take 21, 86 yards. I think the hamstring is kind of affecting his breakaway ability. Exposiveness. Exposiveness is taking away the home run threat, but my man is still able to get a single here, double here, triple there. He's manufacturing his runs, if you will. It's not pretty. It's not where we're accustomed to seeing those explosive runs, but he's making it happen on a bum injury. Cause you know, with this hamstring, you can't burst quite the same. You don't trust it on the open field. I was gonna ask that because if you're not feeling it, you're running back, you know exactly what he's going through. If you don't feel it and you think, is it just a mental thing at some point too? No, it's a physical thing. But if you feel like that thing, you feel good one minute and if it pops, that's it. He can be done for the rest of the year. But that's my point. Is it in the back of his head? Like I can't push this. It's in the back of your head, but also you can feel it in your hamstring because it's the start, the stop, it's heating up, cooling down, all of that. And once it gets fatigued, that's it. It's tired. There's nothing you can do about it. This man knows. All right. Well, we've got plenty more to talk about. You know, 15 minutes can save you 15% or more on your car insurance with that. We're gonna break with our guy, go fast, 15, stick around, Titan, let's be right back. Hey Titan Francis, this is Derek Henry. I just wanna wish you happy holidays and a merry Christmas. Hey Titans families, Kevin Bayer here. I just wanna wish you guys a happy holidays and a merry Christmas and a happy new year. Ho, ho, ho! Happy holidays. Back with you. It is now half time here on the show. Take a break from the X's and the ho, ho, ho's. Ho, ho, ho's. See what I did there? So I got a question for you. Ho, ho, I like it. You got your X's and ho, ho, ho's nice. It's the way to weave in football Christmas. If you had to give up one, had to give up one. You could never have one and only had to eat the other for the rest of your life. Meat, vegetables. You're either a carnivore or an herbivore for the rest. Meat. Gotta have the meat. Steak. Steak, right? Pepperoni. Steak with steak on the side. Sausage, meatloaf, pork chop. Vegetarians in here? See ya. That's right. It's Tennessee, baby. It's our kind of crowd. It's Tennessee. Well, we put that question up to our Titans players in this week's Rock in a Hard Place. So check this out, Rock in a Hard Place, presented by Snickers. This is tough. I mean, I'm cutting my diet down, so never eat meat. That's not too hard for me anymore. Whoa, cut the vegetables out. Take the meat. Never be able to eat vegetables. Yeah, I mean, never be able to eat vegetables again. Never be able to eat meat again. Is broccoli a vegetable? I'm gonna go with steamed broccoli. Never. Never eat meat. Probably never eat meat, you know? It's kind of a vegan thing going on. I'm thinking about transitioning, but it's taking me some time, though, so I'll figure that out later. Never be able to eat meat. Never eat vegetables. I'm gonna go with never eat vegetables again. That's outrageous, because a lot of people on the team are vegan, but that ain't for me. Mm-mm. Yeah, a Dory Jackson is my spirit animal. Mm-mm. So I'm curious though, I mean, we do that out of just, it's funny, but a lot of players are kind of adopting this diet, this day and age. I mean, Jerome Casey slimmed down a lot, because he just cut off meat entirely. Yeah, it may work for some guys, and I guess in this day and age, being in the field smaller is better, and all of that. But in your day, you didn't see anybody do that. If I ate just vegetables, I got blown out of the universe. I mean, I'm playing against lineback, because it was 290, 250, you know, week in and week out, and the black and blue, there was no way I could get away from being a vegan. And you said, did you know anybody that was vegan back when you did? No, it just didn't happen. Listen, I come from the era where guys are smoking cigarettes at halftime. All right, it was none of this, you know, pickle juice or IVs. Right. They were smoking cigarettes in a Heineken, you know, or Bud Light at halftime. Halftime. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe that's next week's rockin' a hard place. We'll see. All right, well, yeah, still carnivore here. We've got lots to talk about, including this game at home right here. Against the Saints, coming up. So stick around, we got more Titans Blitz on the other side, we will be. This is Jim Brown from the Tennessee Titans. I wanna wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. AJ Brown, Titans receiver. I was gonna wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Hey Titans fans, this is Ponder Breckern. Just wanna wish y'all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Hope you guys have a great Christmas season and tighten up. Hey, it's Joe Cason with the Tennessee Titans, wishing all the fans and the love of people out there a Happy New Year's and a Merry Christmas. What's up Titans fans, Logan Ryan here, wishing all you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. What's up Titans family? Just wanna wish everyone a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Welcome back to the Titans Blitz presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Welcome back to the show. It is now the two minute warning. Of course our players are giving us a little Happy Holiday greetings. I like that. All right, let's talk about this game coming up here at home against the Saints. Ooh, I don't know if you saw the Saints play on Monday night. They've got this guy, Drew Brees. He looks like he can play the game. Yikes. I mean, he might be the greatest of all time. I mean, Peyton Manning, Brady, Rogers. I mean, he's awesome. He put up 29 of 30. 29 of 30, he set the record for a high percentage in a game. Yeah, he was lighting it up against the Colts so that was fun to see. That was nice. That was really fun to see. And guess what? What's up? He emptied his clip. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And that's why I'm excited. Right. Because he's gonna come in a little thargic playing on Monday night. High energetic game. He's emotionally drained. Right. They're gonna come in a little flat because they locked up the NFC. We got a little bit more to play for coming in. So that's gonna be key. We have to make him uncomfortable. Yeah. He's not gonna be at home. Right. Where it's a dome. Not in the dome. He's gonna be outside. Early game. So I think the Titans have a lot to play for. I think we got a great chance to make him uncomfortable in the pocket because when you make him do that, you rush him, he gets a little antsy in the pocket. He's not quite as accurate. Right. And he doesn't want to take hits. He's a tough guy. I know he's a tremendous athlete. He's 37 years old. He doesn't want to get hit. No, he doesn't want to get hit. He doesn't want to get hit. 37. That's a young boy. But really, it's, you know, control that clock though, wouldn't you say? I mean, keeping him on the bench. I mean, I know we want to flush him out of the pocket, keep him out of the pocket entirely and keep him on the bench. We have to have sustained drives. We put a beautiful drive together. Yes. In this, in this Houston game that unfortunately with just terrible luck went the other way. But we can move the ball. Yes. We have to own the clock. And that's, well, if Derek Henry plays, they're gonna have to get him involved. I think moving the ball and sustaining drives and winning on third down and winning time of possession to keep that offense on the sidelines is gonna be key. So the run game is gonna be imperative as well as completing third downs and eating up a lot of time to keep that offense off the field. Well, you talk about the run game, in addition to the run game, I mean, we've seen throughout this season, especially the second half of the season with Tana Hill Emerging giving us a spark between AJ Brown, Corey Davis too, John Smith. We have playmakers that can do a lot with the ball in space. Yes. And I think that's a huge key to this game. Yes. And that's what impressed me the most about AJ Brown. The guys that you just mentioned, mentioned if we get them the ball in space, they can do exactly what we're seeing here, run after the catch. And that's gonna be imperative. I think for the Titans, the energy is gonna have to be there for them to do their play with a little bit more a sense of urgency than the Saints. And that's gonna be the key factor in this because at this point in the season, Lance, everybody knows what you're gonna do. It's pretty predictable in terms of the tendencies and so forth. It's a matter of will and want at this particular time. And I think the Titans will be ready to do that after almost coming away with a victory against Houston, Texas. And hopefully they'll have some to play for next week. Exactly. We gotta, let me ask you this. We got a whole lot of want, right? We got a whole lot of want, don't we? Yes, we do. This crowd's gonna bring it again. I know it. I can't wait for this game, but we got a little bit more Titans Blitz on the other side. So do stick around and be right back. But right now, here's a message for you. Hey everyone, my name is Jefferson Simmers. I just wanna wish you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Merry Christmas, guys, and happy holidays. What's up Titans fans? Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. I hope you enjoy your holidays. Actually, Titans Blitz was in about throwing real health plans. It's now overtime here on the show in time for our Wendy's Hot Take of the Week. Not so much a hot take. We talked about it off the top of the show. Congratulations once again to Brett Kern and Derek Henry for making the Pro Bowl. This is Derek Henry's first Pro Bowl. Man. It is hard to believe. Yeah. But well deserved. Well deserved. I thought he would have made it last year, but he was just hot from week 10 on. He got hot late. Hot late, but it can definitely carried over to this season. So congratulations to Derek. Brett Kern had another amazing year. He was incredible. You know, he had six alternates. Yeah, the alternates. Ryan Tannehill made it as an alternate, which is impressive. That's remarkable. Yeah, that's remarkable. Kevin Byrd, Logan Ryan, Daryl Casey. Logan Ryan, by the way, I thought deserved. Yeah. That was a snow. Roger Saffold as well. New to the team this year. And Bo Brinkley, a long snapper, their alternate. So congratulations to all those guys. Bo Brink. How do you long snapper? How do you decide? I don't know. You say, man, that was a nice little. Anyway, hey, he's good at what he does. Congratulations. Congratulations. Let's talk about this real quick though, in case you're wondering, because it's on everybody's lips, of the path to the playoffs. So look, did you know we could still win this division? We can still win the division. The Texans will lose to the Bucks on Saturday night, which is interesting. We have a Saturday game coming up this weekend. So we'll know coming into the game, what we're looking at. Titans defeat the Saints and the Texans. So we gotta win these next two. Now that's to win the division, or just a wild card. We need a little help, okay? We gotta defeat the Texans for sure in week 17, but that's the week after this. And the Steelers, we need them to lose to either the Jets or the Ravens, which can happen. Which can happen, especially the Ravens, with their hot team. They may sit in the Orange action on that game, but that's such a nasty rival anyway. It is. They don't ever want to lose to the Steelers, even if they have a lead and so forth. You never want to give them the edge. So we're hoping for Santa to give us a victory from the Ravens. Certainly this week. James Whiston, if you're out there watching this show, which I seriously doubt, put it on him. Another 500 yards this week. Look, it's possible. He is, I mean, he's lighting up on both sides. Touchdowns and interceptions. He's just like everybody gets the ball. He's just throwing up gifts and presents. Yeah. Just make sure it's long though, if you throw an interception. Exactly. I think it's doable. It's down in Tampa. Yes. Houston, look, we know we played them tough, but I don't, I don't think they're that scary. Yeah, yeah. I mean, listen, we had them on their heels. Who knows what might have happened had we scored that touchdown early in the game. It could have been rolling. So this game's all about momentum. So we just have to catch that momentum and keep it going. And bring it here. Bring it this Sunday, y'all. Bring it this Sunday. Bring that noise. Bring that energy like I know you can. We're off next week for Christmas. If we make the playoffs, we'll be back right here doing more Titans Blitz. As always, y'all, tighten up.