A day late and a dollar short, I know, Titans fans. But, if you’re a regular around here at SoBros Network, you know my December and January were rather hectic, and ended up being a lot busier than I intended them to be. I honestly completely forgot that I even do this piece annually until I checked my 2023 to-do list to cross something else off, saw this, and thought, “hell, I still gotta do that!” So, here I am! Heart in my hand, ready to write the story of the 2022 Tennessee Titans the way that I saw it.
Entering the season, it felt like the national conversation shifted away from the Titans in the AFC South. The media love affair with the Indianapolis Colts was at a fever pitch, and few people were giving the Titans much of a chance in the division heading into the 2022 season. The Titans didn’t make any massive splash signings in free agency, and the sour taste of the AJ Brown trade on draft night left many thinking the Titans had taken a step back. Locally, the Brown trade, the drafting of Malik Willis and what it meant for Ryan Tannehill, and the conditioning of Treylon Burks dominated the conversation throughout the spring and summer. Even among Titans fans, it felt as though there was a strong sect of the fan base that expected the Titans to fall off a cliff in 2022. I still thought this would be a contender. Why wouldn’t it be? It was the top seed in the AFC playing almost a hundred different players! The same coaches were there. The same players were there. What was there to be so down about?
Well, we saw it in the season opener against the New York Giants and just didn’t realize what a foreboding sign it really was. The team just ran out of gas at a certain point. The second half of that Giants game was a complete collapse. “It’s okay – it’s just Week 1,” we thought. We ignored the beating the Buffalo Bills handed the Titans, as they proceeded to go on a run to get to 7-3. They’re feisty! They’re tough! They’re competitive! It was amazing that they were able to do what they did during that stretch with the issues facing them. We attributed it to the masterful Mike Vrabel, but none of us seemed to notice the hourglass running out.
They were out-physicaled by the Cincinnati Bengals, but reality didn’t sink in until the Philadelphia Eagles absolutely bludgeoned the Titans. That game caused some soul-searching among the fan base, and following that game, Amy Adams Strunk relieved general manager Jon Robinson of his duties. From there, the wheels fell off and the season was a complete free fall as the Titans lost their final five games, seven in a row, to finish 7-10 and 2nd in the AFC South.
Ultimately, this felt like a team that could only take so much. After injuries plagued the roster and the offense took a massive step back, causing the defense to appear to tire out down the stretch, it was more than the Titans could withstand, regardless of how tough they were. Quite simply, the Titans have to coach better play better moving forward. I picked the five games from the 2022 season that I felt best defined who and what this team was.
The Games that Defined the 2022 Tennessee Titans
Monday Night Football @ Buffalo Bills, 9/19/22: It’s just so memorable. I mean, this is a game that sticks in your crawl if you’re a Titans fan. This was supposed to be a bounce back against a Super Bowl contender to show that that Week 1 loss to the Giants was an aberration. Nonetheless, it was a 41-7 ass beating that dropped the Titans to 0-2, and highlighted several of the Titans’ weaknesses. This one served as one of the more memorable losses of the season.
Sunday Night Football @ Kansas City Chiefs, 11/6/22: I don’t think any loss quite showed how tough and competitive the Titans were, even when severely out-manned, like the Chiefs game on Sunday Night Football did. Malik Willis started the game at quarterback, and it appeared that the coaching staff was calling the game in such a careful manner to avoid putting the rookie in a bad spot. It felt like a very limited version of the offense, but it was the defense that stepped up and put on one of its best performances of the year. Though the end result was a 20-17 loss, the Titans defense showed a ton of heart. If there is such a thing as a moral victory, it was this contest.
Thursday Night Football @ Green Bay Packers, 11/17/22: It was the 2022 Titans at their best, and the moment we all thought the offense was beginning to turn a corner. In a 27-17 win that didn’t even really feel that close, the Titans could do no wrong on offense. It’s the only win on this list, but it makes the cut because it highlighted what this team could do when it was a bit healthier and firing on all cylinders.
Saturday Night Football @ Jacksonville Jaguars, 1/7/23: It’s essentially a playoff game, so of course it’s going to be one of the defining games of the season. Somewhere, somebody is still debating the controversial fumble/touchdown call, as that is something that is going to stick in the back of this fan base’s mind for a long time. Still, to put up the fight they did given the roster they had, there was an impressive quality about the game that I still can’t quite place. Though it felt like a tired team, it was a team that was still going to go down swinging. At the end of the evening, it felt like the football gods finally just took Old Yeller out back and put his ass to rest. That was cathartic in a way – it was ripping the band-aid off and getting us to the offseason.
Philadelphia Eagles, 12/4/22: This was a 35-10 loss that felt eerily similar to the 59-0 Patriots game to me. Just body blow after body blow, and there was nothing the Titans could do to withstand it – the type of game that was over in the first quarter. It is the single most impactful game of the season, in my opinion. It was a downright gut punch to the fan base that exacerbated all of the weaknesses with the Titans roster, and a game that preceded the firing of the general manager. It stung like hell to see Brown post the numbers he did in that game, but most of all, it was just an ugly exposing of just how far the Titans actually were from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender. It was the kind of loss that you don’t recover from too easily, and the Titans didn’t…losing every game throughout the remainder of the season. When I think of ‘2022 Titans,’ I think of this game.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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