The 2017 Tennessee Titans season is upon us, so the time for season predictions is nearly over. We are t-minus two days from the start of the NFL season, though the Titans kick off in five, when they host Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders at high noon on Sunday. We’ll finally see what this iteration of the Titans is all about.
It’s been quite a while since this much hype has surrounded the Titans. Peter King called them a top four team in the NFL, talent wise, at least. They’ve seemingly become the sexy pick to be 2017’s surprise team. Preliminary power rankings are popping up all over the place, and on occasion, you’ll find the Titans in top 10s. Indeed, the hype train is very real. But, I’ll believe it when I see it.
This is still a young football culture that is developing as it improves. That’s not just an underwhelming preseason contributing to that, either. No, one would be a fool to put too much stock into exhibition games. But, going back to last season, beating Green Bay, Denver, and Kansas City before inexplicably losing to Jacksonville. The Titans will have to mature to avoid such slip-ups. Sure, the talent is there to do so.
But, can the team continue its ascent a year after they finished an overachieving 9-7? Well, there’s only one thing left to do at this point – take a look at the schedule, and sort it all out.
September 10 vs. the Oakland Raiders – This is a whale of an opening contest, as both teams appear to be on the rise in the AFC. The Achilles heel of the Titans has been allowing big plays on defense for the last several seasons. Quite frankly, the new secondary could use some time to gel before facing a duo like Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. I think it’s competitive, but I’m going with Oakland.
September 17 at the Jacksonville Jaguars – Call it revenge if you want, but the Titans will be out for blood in this game a season after the Jags ended their playoff hopes. They get one for the win column here.
September 24 vs. the Seattle Seahawks – This could be another one of those games where the Titans play up to the competition, and I think they match up well with Seattle anyway. The Seahawks don’t really have any legitimate deep threat receivers, and the Titans ought to be able to stop the run regardless of who’s carrying the ball. If the linebackers can cover Jimmy Graham, the defensive line will do a good job of containing Russell Wilson and surprise the football world with a win.
October 1 at the Houston Texans – The Texans will still field an elite defense, but I think by this point in the season, the Titans defense will have its coming-out party. Plenty of sacks on whoever is playing quarterback by then as the Titans get to 3-1.
October 8 at the Miami Dolphins – If all you can do is run the ball, you’re going to have a rough day against the Titans. In Adam Gase’s first year as head coach, the Titans gashed the Dolphins. I’m not buying Jay Cutler as an upgrade to Ryan Tannehill, so I expect Jay Ajayi to shoulder the load for this offense yet again. A one dimensional Dolphins offense means another win for the Titans.
October 16 vs. the Indianapolis Colts – It’s Monday Night Football in Nashville! I’m calling it. The streak ends. It’s been years since the Titans beat the Colts, but they get it done on the big stage.
October 22 at the Cleveland Browns – Though I think the Browns will be better than people expect, they’re still a year away from truly being competitive. This should be a W for the Titans.
October 29 – The bye week comes at an opportune time. If it shakes out how I’ve predicted, the Titans would be 6-1, but with a stretch against some good AFC North defenses coming up. Opening with the Raiders and Seahawks as two of the first three opponents is rough, but the upcoming six-game stretch is where we’ll really see what this team is worth.
November 5 vs. the Baltimore Ravens – That Ravens defense is going to be good, but I don’t think they have the offense built to beat the Titans. It’ll be a competitive one, but the Titans squeak out a win.
November 12 vs. the Cincinnati Bengals – While all the talk in the AFC North seems to be centered around Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Cincinnati has put together a dark horse. Their physical defense will knock around Marcus Mariota en route to a surprising win.
November 16 at the Pittsburgh Steelers – Are the Titans ready to win big games like this? It’s Thursday Night Football, prime time, in Pittsburgh. I don’t know – these are the types of wins I’m not ready to buy from this team just yet.
November 26 at the Indianapolis Colts – I just think the Titans are better than the Colts this year. If Indianapolis doesn’t have a healthy Andrew Luck (which they don’t, as he’s already ruled out for the first game), then they could be in for a rough year. This should be a win for the Titans.
December 3 vs. the Houston Texans – the Texans have become quite the frustrating team for the Titans. They’ll steal one of the two from the Titans this year.
December 10 at the Arizona Cardinals – the Cardinals are an interesting team this season. But, I don’t know that they have the firepower they used to have in the passing game. That said, they have the one thing that has killed the Titans as of late: a big time playmaker. David Johnson will be hard for this defense to figure out. Count this one a loss.
December 17 at the San Francisco 49ers – The 49ers roster is void of talent. This should be a game that the Titans control from the start. Run the ball, stop the run, manage the clock, get out of the Bay area with a win.
December 24 vs. the Los Angeles Rams – the Rams actually have a more talented roster than the 49ers. But, where it counts most, at quarterback, there’s still questions. Jared Goff did not look good during his rookie campaign. The Titans take advantage of that.
December 31 vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars – If the Titans learned anything last season, hopefully it was not to sleep on teams late in the season. If they win ONE GAME this season, it has to be this one. Luckily, they will.
Overall: That puts the Titans at 11-5, which should still be good enough to win the AFC South. If not, that’s prime positioning for a wild card. That’s about where they’re at as a franchise – competing for a divisional title in a weak division or getting into the wild card race. Are they one of the few best teams in the AFC yet? No. Regardless, we’ll start getting answers as soon as this Sunday.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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