I hesitated when posting the current poll about the Titans winning out because, in my opinion, a good poll is one that ends up with results close to 50/50. I thought the results of this paticular poll would be about 85-90% in favor of no. I was wrong. The optimism of the fans after the win against the Colts is at a high not seen since the early years of this century. It is exciting to see this team heading in that direction.
Will the Titans win out? I don't think so. I hope they do and I will be right there cheering for them but I think the cards are stacked against them. Let's look at the remaining schedule. The Titans travel to Houston this week to take on the Texans. This is obviously a very winnable game. The Titans already have a win against the Texans this season in week 8. This is the biggest game of the year for VY as it is his professional debut in front of his hometown fans. He will rise to the occasion and lead the Titans to a victory.
The next week the Jaguars come to LP Field. The Titans have already faced the Jaguars this year but the result was drastically different then the earlier meeting against the Texans. This is a game the Titans could win because they are playing better than they were in that matchup and it will be home. The Jaguars are probably a better team than the Titans at this point so it is by no means a cupcake.
The next week the Titans travel to Buffalo to face the resurgent Bills who are winners of 3 out of their last 5. The Titans match up well with the Bills but it is never easy to play in Buffalo because it will probably be -2 degrees. That won't stop their fans from being there and making it a tough atmosphere.
In the final game of the season the Titans face off against the Patriots at home. Odds are the Patriots won't have anything to play for when the come in here on New Year's Eve because they will have the division wrapped up and be out of contention for home field. All things being equal the Patriots are a better team than the Titans but they might rest some guys for most of, if not all, the game that day which would obviously give the Titans an advantage.
The bottom line is the Titans have gotten a lot better over the last 2 months and will no doubt have a lot of momentum going into the 2007 season but they probably won't win out. If the Titans go through this stretch 3-1 it should be considered a huge success because 8-8 is a heck of a lot better than people were predicting when they were 0-5.
Again, I hope they win out but I just don't think it is going to happen. It sure is nice to have some optimism around these parts though.