The Titans have looked really bad for 3 straight weeks now. If they don't start playing better, talk about the playoffs is kind of silly. I am going to just assume that they are going to put it together and get back on the right track.
The only way the Titans are going to make the playoffs is if they win at least 4 out of their last 5 games. If the season ended today they would miss the playoffs by 1 game. The 1 seed would obviously be the New England Patriots (11-0), followed by the Indianapolis Colts (9-2), Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3) and San Diego Chargers (6-5) in that order. Those are the 4 division leaders, so they would be the #1-4 seeds. The Jacksonville Jaguars (8-3) would be the #5 seed and the Cleveland Browns (7-4) would be the #6 seed.
The Titans lead the next tier of teams as the only 6-5 AFC team. The 5-6 teams include the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills. It appears all 3 of those teams need to win out to have a shot at the playoffs. The Titans would have to be at least a game up on the Broncos or finish in a 3 way tie with them to go to the playoffs before them. The Titans can pretty much eliminate the Texans if they beat them this Sunday at LP Field.
I predict that the 4 teams that are currently leading their divisions will end up as the division winners. The Jaguars end the season @ Indy, vs. Carolina, @ Pittsburgh, vs. Oakland, and @ Houston. They could easily go 3-2 in that stretch to put them at 11-5. That will be good enough to get the #5 seed. The Cleveland Browns finish the season @ Arizona, @ the Jets, vs. Buffalo, @ Cincinnati and vs. San Francisco. I think they will go anywhere from 5-0 to 2-3 in that stretch. As Titans fans, we need to root for them to lose every Sunday.
The bottom line is we don't want to end up scoreboard watching in week 17 like we were last season. The Titans most likely get in at 10-6, but most likely don't get in at 9-7. I vote for 11-5, which would virtually guarantee them a spot.