Small sample sizes are misleading. The Tennessee Titans understand how two weeks can make a huge difference. Just compare player and fan confidence levels after Week 4 and Week 6 home contests.
Week 4 featured a game against defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Fans were treated to an upset victory when, during the closing seconds of overtime, Marcus Mariota completed a game-winning touchdown pass to Corey Davis. The Titans won 26-23. Tennessee had won its third straight game. They appeared among the elite and most balanced AFC teams. Players demanded national respect. Locals referred to it as a franchise defining moment.
Their next home game came in Week 6. Those same fans who witnessed one of the franchise’s most satisfying victories now watched one of the NFL’s all-time worst offensive performances. The Baltimore Ravens won 21-0. They had 11 sacks. Baltimore had more sacks than Mariota had completions. This came after a Week 5 loss when Tennessee was nearly a touchdown-favorite against the Buffalo Bills.
How perceptions changed. The conversation changed from respect to whether the franchise required a reset. Fans went from praising Mariota as one of the NFL’s grittiest and clutch performers to questioning whether he was the answer as a franchise quarterback.
Don’t get discouraged. Not yet at least. The Titans aren’t the only example of how performance can change early in a season. Many teams and players were pegged as saviors or implosion candidates. A few overreactions off the top of my head: the downfall of the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers, the rise of Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the rise of Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Remember Bortles’ milestone performance against the defending AFC champions? One game had everyone jumping on the bandwagon. Remember when I overreacted to his two good performances against a terrible Patriots defense? Yeah…just ignore that link ;-). Bortles followed that up with multiple duds. It’s more evident than ever that Jacksonville’s franchise quarterback isn’t on its roster. Mariota was sacked 11 times? Bortles might have thrown 11 interceptions. Yikes.
New England’s dynasty was doomed. Now they’ve returned as AFC favorites. The Steelers wouldn’t recover from a slow start. Oops. Fitzmagic had experts projecting undefeated Tampa Bay as a legitimate Super Bowl threat. Then Fitztragic returned. No surprise to Titans fans. At 2-3, Tampa Bay is fighting to stay out of the NFC South basement. Everyone overlooked their horrible run offense and a defense that allowed more than 30 points per game.
What can Titans fans learn about these overreactions? Optimistic overreactions were premature. Now let’s hold off on pessimistic overreactions. One of the NFL’s main catchphrases is “Any given Sunday.” This season is a perfect example of that. Many teams rarely, if at all, play starters during the preseason. The Titans are adjusting to new defensive rules and an inexperienced coaching staff. Slow starts and road bumps are expected.
Mike Vrabel faces his first major challenge as a head coach. How will his team respond during an upcoming stretch which features at least four of five games where the team will compete as an underdog? Which team will show up? The good version, bad version, or something similar to those inconsistent versions that were borderline playoff teams?
Quit worrying about respect. Respect doesn’t catch passes. Respect doesn’t score points. Respect doesn’t stockpile wins.
Focus on the next game. Focus on becoming better. Focus on consistency. Consistency.
Consistency.
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Joshua Huffman was born and edumacated in Middle Tennessee. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter.
