This is the OTP four D presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans turned to the folks who've been in the game since nineteen forty seven. Farm Bureau Health Plans offers the great healthcare coverage you need with a price tag you can afford. To find out more, visit FBHP dot com. With Amy Wells, I am Mike Keith. Rhett Bryan is also in the house as usual as we talk about a seventeenth Titans football game. Titans went in Houston twenty
eight to twenty five to finish twelve and five. Rhett eighteen teams say goodbye today, packing it up and closing them out never easy, always good when you're not one of that bunch. I've seen it in a world where I was still in the locker room on locker room clean out day. It's sad, I've seen it. I saw it. You know AJ Brown's rookie year after you know they
got knocked out of the playoffs. But yeah, you never want to be carrying that contractor's bag full of all your gear in the locker you've collected all season long and saying see you win. The fact that you're in It's a whole another season reset. Here we go. The fact that you're in is one thing. The fact that the road to the super Bowl comes through your house is pretty sweet. What the Titans have been able to
accomplish is incredible. And being in that spot today on a day that for so many teams is a really hard day, it's a great day to be a Titan. I think you made the point too last night at dinner as we were waiting on the plane, you said, I sure am glad we're not having to hire a coach or a general manager. What a blessing that is. Yeah, And that's something that you know, Titans fans got used
to for a couple of years. It felt like there's a lot of turnover really quickly being with an organization and that has had so much stability over these past couple years and success that's come with that stability. So you're not just sitting in a rut where people are like, well will they stay will they go? That some teams are sitting in right now. This is a group a general manager and a head coach that have a plan. The plan is working, there's noticeable, proven success attached to it.
It's such a relief I know for fans, for coaches, for players, and for the staff who work with those people all the time. It's really hard watching guys get fired and knowing the ramifications of that beyond just their job and what it means for a team, for their families. It's not a fun day across the National Football League. So to be in a place where you know that your core is going to remain intact, that's pretty great. And for us selfishly, if we have to pack a
bag again, it's to go to Los Angeles. Otherwise our bags are in the closet. I think that's the biggest thing that I take away personally, and I think that's what Titans fans feel, is that, hey, we get to have home playoff games, and the road to super Bowl fifty six in the American Football Conference is decided by what happens at Nissan Stadium. It's huge. The opportunity is there. Yeah, I put my suitcase in the very back of the closet last night, so I have no intention of going
in there to dig it out. I feel confident in my team. There you go, yep, there you go. All right. First down on this edition of the OTP for d your play that turned the game, Rhett Brian, you get to go first. I bet I know what you're gonna pick. Well, yeah, it's the Ryan Tannehill escape and hitting Nick Westbrook Aquina for thirty seven yards on a play that should have been a sack for a loss. It was amazing, we
said postgame on Titans Radio. It was a lot like what Steve McNair used to do on a pretty regular basis. That was a play that the Titans desperately needed at that point in the ballgame, and it certainly was the place where it helped close the deal. So I cheated on mine a little bit because I was standing on the sidelines during the game, behind the offense bench, and Todd Downing came down the line and he said, to every single guy sitting there, this drive is going to
be the most important drive of this game. So I thought, play the turn the games probably in there, I'm going to write this, So I did, and I just decided that whatever happened in that moment, that was going to be my play of the game. And it turned out that this was at seven oh four ish in the fourth quarter, and that was the Julio Jones touchdown, So got a good play out of it. It was so
great to see Julio have that success. We saw him play a great game in Houston, and so to be able to see him contribute, to finally see all of his hard work come to fruition and to score points that really mattered in this Titans game, I had no problems at all, just copying what Downing said. I'm gonna go back to the first quarter, and I think the Tannehill play where he threw Martin off his back and then completed the past to Westbrook Aquina was absolutely huge.
But I'm gonna go back to the second quarter. The Titans score on first and goal at the one in a scoreless game, and Jeffrey Simmons did not report eligible, so they lose the touchdown, and then they don't score on first and second down, but on third down and goal at the five, Ryan Tannehill passed short left to Anthony Firkser for a five yard touchdown. If the Titans had only gotten three there, this game I think gets vastly more interesting faster than what it did. By getting
a touchdown, you established him dominance. You ended up dominating the second quarter. You got the twenty one nothing lead, and you needed every bit of that. But I just think there was this feeling after the missed field goal. There was just this feeling that if you leave a touchdown out there and don't get it and you only get three there, that you're playing with fire. As it turned out, you were playing with fire in the second half.
I kept thinking about the Bullock missfield goal in the second half and how nice it would have been to have it. Not having that touchdown, oh goodness, I mean, that would have been so much worse. So I think cashing that in, overcoming that mistake was my play that turned the game. Fair enough. Fair enough second down. Your stat that tells the story, Amy Wells. Fact that the Tennessee Titans were four for four in the red zone when they were in a position to score, they did,
and they were scoring touchdowns. Those were points that, as we saw the game unfold, mattered. The Titans have put an emphasis on this. This has not been the case all season long. The Titans have not been as successful as they typically are in the red zone this season as an entirety, and so seeing them have that success, get those touchdowns when they needed them, and be able to continue to put points on the board. When this was a game that came down to points on the board,
I thought that was great for me. It was the tale of two halves. In terms of the yardage, Houston Texans had sixty seven total yards of offense in the first half. They explode for two hundred and eighty six more yards in the second half to finish three hundred and fifty three yards from scrimmage. That tells you where that think went from twenty one to nothing until oh,
my goodness, hold on for me. It's Dontrelle Hilliard nine rushes fifty seven yards, including the game winner on the flip play, which enabled the Titans to take a knee and put it away. Dontrelle Hilliard average six point three yards per carry in Houston for the season, Dontrelle Hilliard averaged six point three yards per carry and did a
very nice job. The other thing about Dontrelle Hilliard is with Jeremy McNichols waved, the Titans used him as the third down back, and unless there's some sort of change which might occur, Dontrelle Hilliard can have a bigger role. He picked up a couple of first downs on third down runs Foreman is the power back of the two. I think we got a powerback coming back though I've heard,
but Dontrelle Hilliard. I think it's going to continue to have a role as the third down back, as the changeup, maybe as the kickoff returner, and his speed and ability to do something with the ball when he gets that opportunities. Big didn't hurt he was released by the Houston Texans in the preseason two. There were a bunch of those guys. There were nine guys that had formerly played for the Texans and the unbelievable stat that they did not play
a player. The Texans did not play a player in the game against the Titans who they had drafted before two nineteen, and the Titans played five players in the game that the Texans had drafted before two thousand nineteen. It feels a little a little nefarious when you say it like that, like we're all just sharing each other's Well, they stole five players from the Texas, But I mean, the bottom line is it shows you where the Texans are and where the Titans are at this moment. Yep.
Zach Cunningham, former Texan nine total tackles. That was good. To have him. When he came out with the kick returners and warm ups, I tapped coach Mac and I said, look, who's out there with the kick returners. He's out there with that his helmet on, running around and it's like, yeah, he's ready to play. My man couldn't sit down any longer. He had to go do something. Yes, your area that the Titans have to get fixed is third down, rhet Brian, you go first. It's the explosive place. And that was
what the story was in the third quarter. I believe there was five explosive plays that the Titans defense gave you up in the second half of that game. Now, the great thing about that is the Titans offense was matching those explosive plays almost play for playing this thing, because you mentioned the receiving game and how many first downs were you know, acquired by whether it's Anthony Ferkster or aj Around or Julio Jones. And then some shot plays in there as well. But that's one place they've
got to shore that up. And that's where a lot of that two hundred and eighty six yards in the second half that the Houston Texans racked up came from
mine most explosive plays as well. So, just for the sake of being different and saying something different, I'm going to say penalties, and specifically penalties on special teams, because as the Titans continue through the playoffs, field position is going to become more and more and more and more important, and those penalties on special teams can take a great play and all of a sudden put the team in
a really bad situation. So whatever they can do to clean that up, tighten all of that up, not have so many penalties I think would be beneficial for this Titans team as a whole. Titans didn't have a great special team's day period. They had the penalty on special teams on Wilkins, which added fifteen yards to a thirteen yard return. It gave the Texans the ball at the Titans forty four to begin their second possession. They didn't do anything with it, but you can't do that with
a good team. Missed a field goal. The other part two is you missed the field goal and you gave up a long kick return to Tremon Smith and got very fortunate that they called a penalty. The penalty didn't seem to be the reason that a kick return opened up. Now, it may have allowed it to continue, it may have made it into a bigger play, but it wasn't like they were going to knock him down at the fifteen yard line. So I just didn't think they had a
great day overall. They've got to play cleaner in that area, all right, fourth down. One thing you noticed and wanted to share, Amy Wells the NFL this time of years really really fun. That's I know that's a very broad thing, but the last day of the regular season for the National Football League was pure insanity from start to finish. I mean, think about all of the games that happened on Sunday that were just nuts. Obviously, you have the Texans and the Titans, which was a very close game
and a game that mattered. Baltimore and the Steelers went into overtime. That was a game that mattered. The forty nine Ers and the Rams went into overtime, The Chargers and the Raiders was absolutely nuts. I mean, you had all of this amazing football that happened. There were upsets all over the place. The Jags beat the Colts that was crazy, The Dolphins beat the Patriots. There were all of these nutty things that happened in the final day
of football, and that is so cool to me. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a league where you can have a day like that, where so many things matter all at once, and as a fan, I mean, you can just wall to wall football all day and you are locked in two teams that it would have behooved them to lose to end up with the number one pick. Jacksonville and Detroit played their rear ends off and one yep, absolutely so for people sang tank and tank and all of this, that does not
happen in the NFL. It absolutely does not happen. Ask the Indianapolis Colts. You don't have enough games to tank, like but there's reason too at times. Yeah, there's obvious, and we see it in other sports, but it just doesn't happen in the NFL, even though some people believe it. Want to keep the myth going, want to lay it out there. I mean, if you saw how Jacksonville played and you saw how Detroit played, you get it. Jacksonville
took it to Carson Wentz. They sacked him six times for a loss of forty six yards, forced two turnovers. There was an interception in a fumble that Carson Wentz lost that they converted into ten points. They were super physical with him. One thing I was going to say about Amy's observation, it's the longest final Sunday of a regular season since the AFL NFL merger in nineteen seventy's eleven hours, thirteen minutes of professional NFL football yesterday, and
Amy now understands why a tie isn't necessarily a bad thing. Yes, that's true, because you were pulling for a tie last night, so don't act like you were the first time ever. I was not going to publicly say it, but yes, I was pulling for a tie. I kind of like the calamity that that brought. There's a lot of drama around there being a tie, so I was very much into it. Yes, last night, I could see the benefits of there being a tie. However, No, However, in normal situations,
I do not support this. Plus the Steelers not getting in might have made me laugh a lot. But the whole tie scenario I still think, and I've said regularly, if you're talking about player safety, which you should be, then don't have overtime in the regular season. Don't ties are Okay, it's not the end of the world. People would play the last two minutes of games like they were overtime if there was no overtime, So why have
the extra plays the extra ten minutes. So you say we're going to cut it back from fifteen minutes to ten minutes for player's safety, then just cut it out. In the postseason, yes, you have overtime, but in the regular season, why do it? I hate this proposal, but it's about it. But I'm saying, if you're saying player's safety is helped by fifteen minutes down to ten minutes, how would it not be helped by no overtime. There's a fine line between safety and just ruining a football. Okay, Mike,
all right, fine, Red Brian. One thing you noticed and wanted to share just how many Titans fans there were in Houston. It was really neat to see. And this has been They've been great all season, but this is building towards a fever pitch. Now. Talk to several Titans fans at the airport, riding on these airplane rides to get to and from the game, and just how excited
they are and how they came out in numbers. You could hear it in several points in that game and in RG Stadium that they were there and we're making their voices known. It was really cool to see Anthony firks are coming alive. Certainly not Peter Frampton live. Peter Frampton comes alive, but Anthony ferks are coming alive is
such a big thing for this football team. Down the stretch before the season, we thought Ferkser was going to have a really big year, and for three quarters of the year he was invisible, had a bad fumble at Pittsburgh, just didn't play particularly well overall, and in the last three games he started to come back around and Vrabel even went as far as to refer to his confidence, the way he's playing, what he's doing that is so big for this offense on third down and in the
red zone in particular. A J. Brown's back, Julio Jones just had his best game, Nick Westbrook, Akina had a good year, Derrick Henry's coming back. Lots of good things are happening, but don't under sell what Ferkser can mean in key situations. He helped you win the New England playoff game two years ago with two massive catches, and I just think he's a guy to keep an eye on as we head into the postseason. Tight ends factor in big in the postseason for some reason, they always do.
If you're gonna come alive, now is the right time to exactly right. It makes me very happy that he's doing that. Eight for ninety three and two scores in his last three games. There you go, there's the numbers right there. There you go. Both of those touchdowns in the last two weeks, well, huge the touchdowns. But also if you look at the fact that he's averaging nearly twelve yards a catch, whereas at one point during the year, I think he was averaging right at seven yards a catch.
It's not necessarily that Ferkser has to have seven to eight catches a game. It's that the catches he has have to be significant. That's when he plays well. It's great when he catches, you know, several passes. I'm not saying that, but Ferkser is a weapon third downs and also in the red zone, and he has been lately because you're not asking him to be Delaney Walker. You have a j. Brown, you have Julio Jones, you have Nick Westbrook, Coquine, you have weapons at your disposal, and yeah,
you're right. He needs to come up in those spots when his numbers called. Well, the catch that he made on the third down in six in the fourth quarter for twenty four yards was Monday. I mean it was so big that he came through at that moment. So Firkser seems to be back and hopefully we'll continue to be. We're back with this program, the OTP. This podcast every
time sponsored by Farm Bureau Health Plans. Let the experts at Farm Bureau Health Plans coach you through it when you need great healthcare coverage at a price you can afford. They've been protecting Tennessee and since nineteen forty seven, we're gonna do a podcast every day. I love it. The OTP Daily is what we're going to call it, OTPD Playoff Daily or just daily. I think it's just daily. Yeah, so OTPD OTPD. It sounds like a law enforcement group or an eighties group. Does it sounds like a bad
pstrol maneuvers in the dark? Yeah, sorry OMD OMD, Yes, that was OMD. But the OTP Daily will bring you different interviews that we have updates on practices, news from around the league. We will bounce something to you each afternoon or evening at the conclusion of events of the day, so as you get your workout or doing your drive home, or even as you're coming in the next morning, you get a chance to catch up. Please subscribe to the
OTP by visiting Tennessee Titans dot com slash podcasts. You can also subscribe to the Titans Amy and Coach Mac podcast at that very sight. Yes you sure can. We're gonna keep going as long as there's football. We're bringing you guests. Yeah, good stuff. Yep, all right. So for
ab Wells and Rhet Brian, I'm Mike Keith. Thanks for joining us for the o t P four D. Gotta knows it's our house, fighting for Tennessee, making us to read greatness is meant to be as now here we got tight and butter running through a fence.