Tennessee Titans: No More Excuses

There's no denying that the Tennessee Titans are one of the worst teams in the NFL.  So are 4 out of their next 5 opponents.

After having gone through a difficult stretch of games against the Ravens, Steelers and Eagles, the Titans have relative cupcake row in front of them.  The Texans pose the most difficult contest sitting at 5-6 and having Ryan Fitzpatrick return to his starting duties after losing Ryan Mallet for the year.  After that, the Titans take on the Giants, Jets, and Jaguars that are currently sitting at a combined 6-26.

Let's ignore for the moment the hilarity of these teams battling each other in hopeless weeks of the season and potentially robbing each other of draft equity for 2015.  Instead let's look at the Titans new regime and how bad this team really is and where they rank among the dredges.

Any given Sunday a bad team can beat a good team, but a bad team can't keep it up for long.  We saw the Titans look outclassed against 3 of their last 4 opponents, with a great showing at home on Monday night against the Steelers being the one where they stood toe-to-toe with a superior opponent.  Now it's time to find out where this team stacks up against the worst in the league.

That means sustained drives and 3rd down conversions with the Titans defense on the sidelines.  Not to mention points.  Those would be nice too.  The Giants have given up over 30 points average over their last 6 games and the Jaguars rank 28th in both passing and rushing yards allowed.  Speaking of rushing yards, the Giants are 31st in yards allowed on the ground.  Sounds like a good couple of games to figure the whole run game thingy out.

On the other side of the ball Ray Horton needs to finally find a way to stop the run.  The upcoming quarterbacks should strike fear into the heart of no man, meaning it's time to sell out against the run and get the defensive front believing in themselves.

From the outside looking in, the Jaguars, Jets, and Giants are bad football teams with just as many holes and issues as the Titans.  It's time for this coaching staff to prove they are worth their salt and exploit those weaknesses.  A convincing win against a bad team could go a long way with this team, both in the locker room, and with the fans.