Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Say the look at things from the other side. Although
it's the same side. As we continue here on the
eight team Adam Wesler and Adam Clinton with you, I
say it's the same side because it's OWN three against
own three. It's AFC South against AFC South. But Nick Suss,
who joined us before the season talking about the outlook
for the Tennessee Titans, joins us again as they get
set for the first of their two meetings this year.
(00:24):
Nothing but positivity here for us on the Texans all
weeks long this season. So we'll do the same to
open for your Titans here, Nick, tell me the thing
that you think the team likes most about their own
three start. I'm being serious, what's what's something they've liked
about their own three answer?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I can give you a sincere answer. You remember how
bad the Titans special teams have been for the last
three years. They're okay now, they haven't had any kicks
punks blocked that broke their kickers' legs. Like, not trying
to be overly glib, but like they've had a good
in the game. Rookie Jim Ray DK has been very
(01:03):
good as a kick returner, punt returner, have turned down
called back by a block that was away from the
ball that didn't really affect the play, and he had
a touch a couple long returns that he's busted out.
Joey Sli's been hitting fifty five at another field goals
all the season.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
The punting that's been good.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That generally speaking is plus are pretty good on special
teams right now and after being a thirty second in
the league for about three fourteen, that is genuinely a revelation.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Can only fix so much is one time, Nick, We're
gonna try to reconnect with you, So we'll give you
a minute here and try to see if we can
clean it up just a little bit tightens. Like I mentioned,
oh in three texansh and three, I thought the Texans
got off to a pretty impressive first game of the
season and making a game of it with the Denver Broncos,
and things have kind of slid in the wrong direction
(01:50):
since then. They've obviously made the change with coach Callahan
giving up offensive play calling duties. He's an offensive coach,
that's why he's brought there two seasons ago, and seeding
that to their quarterback call.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Though he's made it clear there's not a fire sale
going on.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Great to reconnect with you, Nick, as I was kind
of running through a couple of things. We'll start right
up there making the change offensively, Was it obvious to
you that there clearly was some disconnect between what they
could be doing offensively, the plays that were coming in
the execution of that to the decision Callahan made this
week to give up play calling duties.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
So look, I think what I've started asking about this
and from talking to people, it feels to me the
issue has less to do with the play calling hasn't
been working, and has a little bit more to do
with the other parts of head coaching have not been
Callahan's forte. If I'm looking at the things that people
(02:46):
have been critical of Callahan for this season, there have
been some situations where maybe fans were displeased with the
way they handled the last couple of plays before halftime
in Week one, some run pass options of running out
the clock and those sort of things. But it's really
been the mismanagement of challenges, the mismanagement of timeouts, the
(03:08):
mismanagement of stuff that you have to juggle when you're
calling play and handling those things. So for as much
as this offense has not been good, I don't necessarily
know if that is play calling versus players, versus the defenses,
versus the combination of all three, Whereas I think anyone
(03:29):
who's been watching this team can confidantly say the operation
the game management hasn't been up to par of what
it was last year, let alone what it's been for
some of the stronger, more successful teams in the league.
So maybe that sounds a little bit diplomatic, but I
do think that this has more to do with shoring
(03:50):
up the sides of the ball that aren't play calling
than it is necessarily trying to get a spark out
of a new play caller.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Well, and you're going to have umps in the road
with a rookie quarterback there, and obviously here in Houston,
you feel like it's just regressed when it comes to CJ.
Stroud as a guy who's on the outside but also
sort of on the inside covering the division. What's the
EMO on CJ. Stroud here in year three? And is
(04:19):
it as easy as saying, well, he just doesn't have
a line to protect him, or are you starting to
assess a little bit more of the blame for what's
going wrong for the Texans offense on him?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
It's so hard to say, and you guys know that
better than anybody, But like I think, from an outsider's perspective,
it's really easy. It's really convenient to blame the O line.
I look at the advanced Stow line metrics and they
are not necessarily as bad as I thought they would be.
They're not great. I'm not obviously sitting here saying they've
got a world beating offensive line, but look, I mean,
(04:51):
the Titans still need the NFL and quarterback pressures by
a long, long mile. So maybe I am just attuned
to think, well, it's better than what I'm seeing on
a week to week basis, where the Titans are still
allow one I think thirty six percent of their pressures
from right tackle alone, and the Titans are giving up
a quarterback pressure on something close to forty percent of
(05:12):
their dropbacks. And I've seen that offensive line play and
the Texans have not been great. But I think the
issues go a little deeper. And I don't know. I
can't speak to confidence, I can't speak to mindset, I
can't speak to play calling. I'm not in that locker
room every day. But I think anybody who's been watching
this division can plainly see he's not the same guy
(05:32):
he was two years ago. He's not putting up the
same sort of calm, assuredness that I thought was kind
of a hallmark of what made him so special as
a rookie is that he was not phased by anything.
So blame it on the O line, blame it on
the play calling, blame it on the player, whatever you
want to be. You guys are right, it is dipped.
(05:54):
But I can't speak super confidently as to why.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Well yet passes to analysis to do analysis on what
are your early thoughts on the first three games, the
first ninety nine passes in cam Ward's NFL career.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I do not think the problem with this Titans team
is cam Ward throwing the football. I think that there
are a lot of things that when he has not
throwing the football, that need to improve. His pocket presence,
his ability to know where his checks are, his ability
to get out of the pocket, handle tempo, to do
(06:31):
all of those things that are the really difficult ancillary
parts of playing quarterback. He's got a lot of room
for growth, and you'd expect that he's played three NFL games.
Arm talent truly not a concern like the decision making.
He's made two or three throws that are your classic
no no no, no, no yes throws where you're just
(06:51):
in awe of the fact that the ball can get there.
But other than that, I don't know. I think that
he is kind of where I thought would be, which
is firmly between the twentieth and thirtieth best quarterback in
the NFL right now, with room to grow.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Texans and Titans over at NRG Stadium, a pair of
owned three teams this Sunday inside the AFC South, both
of them off of losses. Inside the AFC South, the
Trenches talked a little bit about the Titans on the
offensive side. Has their pressure rates their pass rush been
a little bit better than we only have two sacks
(07:30):
all season would suggest.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Oh no, I'm being honest. One of those sacks was
from a afety on a blimpse, and one of those
was from Jeffrey Simmons up the interior. So you are
still looking at a team that has yet to record
a sack from as rusher and edge rusher. I have
(07:58):
not very much confidence in this team's ability to rush
with speed They built their defense around the idea that
they wanted power rushers who are table setters and edge
setters who can you know, set an edge in the
run game. And they've done an okay job of that.
They're not doing great against the run, but the team
seems to think that's because of mistackles at the second
(08:19):
level more than it is because of who's setting the
edge up front. Draymond Jones, Ard and key Olofemio La
Deeja are going to be your three primary edge patch rushers,
and with demandre sweat on IR, it's pretty much Jeffrey
Simmons up the middle with some other guys who are
definitely more known for running the football. So if the
(08:40):
Titans are going to put pressure on Stroud this week,
they're gonna have to get creative. They're going to have
to get their linebackers and their safety is involved like
they have this season to get a couple of pressures,
and really they're going to have to completely outperform the
expectation because on a team where there are so many
things that are evidently wrong, you're rowing three for a reason.
(09:01):
I would say the pass rush has been the biggest
week point all season.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Nick This might sound like an odd question considering we're
talking about Texans Titans, but the Titans are one of
the few teams that can say they played this other team.
What in the world is going on in Indianapolis? And
what do you think you saw that makes their start
so surprising here in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It's something that I've been amazed at. They are so
good when they are on schedule that the stuff that's
happening on the periphery that usually decides football games hasn't
been deciding football games for them. So what I mean
by that is, if you look at things like third
down conversion rate, things like red zone touchdown rate, the
(09:48):
things that we always hold deer as, oh, these are
going to win you and lose you games, the Colts
aren't beating down any doors with that. They're just really
good offensively at turning first inten into second and four
and then turning second and four into first and ten,
and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And so I
see a team that is really on the schedule. I
(10:09):
see a team that, especially on offense, is doing what
it wants to do. And let's not to say they
haven't played close games. I know that game in Denver
was a clear against Denver was a very close game.
But we'll see how this holds up if they, you know,
start reaching adversity. But this is a team that has
(10:30):
done a really good job of protecting itself from adverse situations.
And if you do that, you're going to win a
lot more games than you lose.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
A fellow connoisseur of press box oatmeal raisin cookies, Nick Suss,
joining us here on the A team Sports Talk seven ninety.
Thanks Nick for the time, appreciate it. We'll have to
catch up later on this season.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah, appreciate that. That's a deep cut on the fine off,
So thank you guys for remembering that.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Absolutely, we had some help from one Chris Gordy. You're
probably familiar with his work. All right, that's Nick. We
will discuss what he had to say and get to
our signature segment here on a Wednesday. That's going up
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Next the ad on Sports Talk seven ninet
Say the look at things from the other side. Although
it's the same side. As we continue here on the
eight team Adam Wesler and Adam Clinton with you, I
say it's the same side because it's OWN three against
own three. It's AFC South against AFC South. But Nick Suss,
who joined us before the season talking about the outlook
for the Tennessee Titans, joins us again as they get
set for the first of their two meetings this year.
(00:24):
Nothing but positivity here for us on the Texans all
weeks long this season. So we'll do the same to
open for your Titans here, Nick, tell me the thing
that you think the team likes most about their own
three start. I'm being serious, what's what's something they've liked
about their own three answer?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
I can give you a sincere answer. You remember how
bad the Titans special teams have been for the last
three years. They're okay now, they haven't had any kicks
punks blocked that broke their kickers' legs. Like, not trying
to be overly glib, but like they've had a good
in the game. Rookie Jim Ray DK has been very
(01:03):
good as a kick returner, punt returner, have turned down
called back by a block that was away from the
ball that didn't really affect the play, and he had
a touch a couple long returns that he's busted out.
Joey Sli's been hitting fifty five at another field goals
all the season.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
The punting that's been good.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
That generally speaking is plus are pretty good on special
teams right now and after being a thirty second in
the league for about three fourteen, that is genuinely a revelation.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Can only fix so much is one time, Nick, We're
gonna try to reconnect with you, So we'll give you
a minute here and try to see if we can
clean it up just a little bit tightens. Like I mentioned,
oh in three texansh and three, I thought the Texans
got off to a pretty impressive first game of the
season and making a game of it with the Denver Broncos,
and things have kind of slid in the wrong direction
(01:50):
since then. They've obviously made the change with coach Callahan
giving up offensive play calling duties. He's an offensive coach,
that's why he's brought there two seasons ago, and seeding
that to their quarterback call.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Though he's made it clear there's not a fire sale
going on.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Great to reconnect with you, Nick, as I was kind
of running through a couple of things. We'll start right
up there making the change offensively, Was it obvious to
you that there clearly was some disconnect between what they
could be doing offensively, the plays that were coming in
the execution of that to the decision Callahan made this
week to give up play calling duties.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
So look, I think what I've started asking about this
and from talking to people, it feels to me the
issue has less to do with the play calling hasn't
been working, and has a little bit more to do
with the other parts of head coaching have not been
Callahan's forte. If I'm looking at the things that people
(02:46):
have been critical of Callahan for this season, there have
been some situations where maybe fans were displeased with the
way they handled the last couple of plays before halftime
in Week one, some run pass options of running out
the clock and those sort of things. But it's really
been the mismanagement of challenges, the mismanagement of timeouts, the
(03:08):
mismanagement of stuff that you have to juggle when you're
calling play and handling those things. So for as much
as this offense has not been good, I don't necessarily
know if that is play calling versus players, versus the defenses,
versus the combination of all three, Whereas I think anyone
(03:29):
who's been watching this team can confidantly say the operation
the game management hasn't been up to par of what
it was last year, let alone what it's been for
some of the stronger, more successful teams in the league.
So maybe that sounds a little bit diplomatic, but I
do think that this has more to do with shoring
(03:50):
up the sides of the ball that aren't play calling
than it is necessarily trying to get a spark out
of a new play caller.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Well, and you're going to have umps in the road
with a rookie quarterback there, and obviously here in Houston,
you feel like it's just regressed when it comes to CJ.
Stroud as a guy who's on the outside but also
sort of on the inside covering the division. What's the
EMO on CJ. Stroud here in year three? And is
(04:19):
it as easy as saying, well, he just doesn't have
a line to protect him, or are you starting to
assess a little bit more of the blame for what's
going wrong for the Texans offense on him?
Speaker 3 (04:30):
It's so hard to say, and you guys know that
better than anybody, But like I think, from an outsider's perspective,
it's really easy. It's really convenient to blame the O line.
I look at the advanced Stow line metrics and they
are not necessarily as bad as I thought they would be.
They're not great. I'm not obviously sitting here saying they've
got a world beating offensive line, but look, I mean,
(04:51):
the Titans still need the NFL and quarterback pressures by
a long, long mile. So maybe I am just attuned
to think, well, it's better than what I'm seeing on
a week to week basis, where the Titans are still
allow one I think thirty six percent of their pressures
from right tackle alone, and the Titans are giving up
a quarterback pressure on something close to forty percent of
(05:12):
their dropbacks. And I've seen that offensive line play and
the Texans have not been great. But I think the
issues go a little deeper. And I don't know. I
can't speak to confidence, I can't speak to mindset, I
can't speak to play calling. I'm not in that locker
room every day. But I think anybody who's been watching
this division can plainly see he's not the same guy
(05:32):
he was two years ago. He's not putting up the
same sort of calm, assuredness that I thought was kind
of a hallmark of what made him so special as
a rookie is that he was not phased by anything.
So blame it on the O line, blame it on
the play calling, blame it on the player, whatever you
want to be. You guys are right, it is dipped.
(05:54):
But I can't speak super confidently as to why.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Well yet passes to analysis to do analysis on what
are your early thoughts on the first three games, the
first ninety nine passes in cam Ward's NFL career.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I do not think the problem with this Titans team
is cam Ward throwing the football. I think that there
are a lot of things that when he has not
throwing the football, that need to improve. His pocket presence,
his ability to know where his checks are, his ability
to get out of the pocket, handle tempo, to do
(06:31):
all of those things that are the really difficult ancillary
parts of playing quarterback. He's got a lot of room
for growth, and you'd expect that he's played three NFL games.
Arm talent truly not a concern like the decision making.
He's made two or three throws that are your classic
no no no, no, no yes throws where you're just
(06:51):
in awe of the fact that the ball can get there.
But other than that, I don't know. I think that
he is kind of where I thought would be, which
is firmly between the twentieth and thirtieth best quarterback in
the NFL right now, with room to grow.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Texans and Titans over at NRG Stadium, a pair of
owned three teams this Sunday inside the AFC South, both
of them off of losses. Inside the AFC South, the
Trenches talked a little bit about the Titans on the
offensive side. Has their pressure rates their pass rush been
a little bit better than we only have two sacks
(07:30):
all season would suggest.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Oh no, I'm being honest. One of those sacks was
from a afety on a blimpse, and one of those
was from Jeffrey Simmons up the interior. So you are
still looking at a team that has yet to record
a sack from as rusher and edge rusher. I have
(07:58):
not very much confidence in this team's ability to rush
with speed They built their defense around the idea that
they wanted power rushers who are table setters and edge
setters who can you know, set an edge in the
run game. And they've done an okay job of that.
They're not doing great against the run, but the team
seems to think that's because of mistackles at the second
(08:19):
level more than it is because of who's setting the
edge up front. Draymond Jones, Ard and key Olofemio La
Deeja are going to be your three primary edge patch rushers,
and with demandre sweat on IR, it's pretty much Jeffrey
Simmons up the middle with some other guys who are
definitely more known for running the football. So if the
(08:40):
Titans are going to put pressure on Stroud this week,
they're gonna have to get creative. They're going to have
to get their linebackers and their safety is involved like
they have this season to get a couple of pressures,
and really they're going to have to completely outperform the
expectation because on a team where there are so many
things that are evidently wrong, you're rowing three for a reason.
(09:01):
I would say the pass rush has been the biggest
week point all season.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Nick This might sound like an odd question considering we're
talking about Texans Titans, but the Titans are one of
the few teams that can say they played this other team.
What in the world is going on in Indianapolis? And
what do you think you saw that makes their start
so surprising here in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
It's something that I've been amazed at. They are so
good when they are on schedule that the stuff that's
happening on the periphery that usually decides football games hasn't
been deciding football games for them. So what I mean
by that is, if you look at things like third
down conversion rate, things like red zone touchdown rate, the
(09:48):
things that we always hold deer as, oh, these are
going to win you and lose you games, the Colts
aren't beating down any doors with that. They're just really
good offensively at turning first inten into second and four
and then turning second and four into first and ten,
and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And so I
see a team that is really on the schedule. I
(10:09):
see a team that, especially on offense, is doing what
it wants to do. And let's not to say they
haven't played close games. I know that game in Denver
was a clear against Denver was a very close game.
But we'll see how this holds up if they, you know,
start reaching adversity. But this is a team that has
(10:30):
done a really good job of protecting itself from adverse situations.
And if you do that, you're going to win a
lot more games than you lose.
Speaker 4 (10:38):
A fellow connoisseur of press box oatmeal raisin cookies, Nick Suss,
joining us here on the A team Sports Talk seven ninety.
Thanks Nick for the time, appreciate it. We'll have to
catch up later on this season.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
Yeah, appreciate that. That's a deep cut on the fine off,
So thank you guys for remembering that.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Absolutely, we had some help from one Chris Gordy. You're
probably familiar with his work. All right, that's Nick. We
will discuss what he had to say and get to
our signature segment here on a Wednesday. That's going up
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Next the ad on Sports Talk seven ninet
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