Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans. (Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports)
The Tennessee Titans may have revealed their true colors vs. the Cincinnati Bengals.
Though the Tennessee Titans may be a playoff team, they may not be much more than that.
After winning their first five games of the 2020 NFL season, the Titans have lost two in a row to AFC North teams. While the Week 7 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was thanks to a missed Stephen Gostkowski field, Tennessee’s Week 8 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals was nothing short of an awful look. They have time to redeem themselves, but they did look like an AFC pretender.
Titans only have one redeemable win on its resume thus far this season
While the 5-0 start was commendable, upon further inspection, the Titans have only one quality win. That was at home vs. the Buffalo Bills on a Tuesday night after weeks of inactivity due to a coronavirus outbreak internally. Though they are 2-0 in AFC South play, the Titans do not look to anything be better than the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoff picture at regular season’s end.
Whether it is the Steelers or the Baltimore Ravens coming out of the AFC North, that team will join the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs as the two best teams in the AFC. Frankly, the No. 5 seed will be belong to either the Ravens or the Steelers, and they might be better than the Titans. Tennessee finds itself in a group with Buffalo and the Las Vegas Raiders as second tier.
Again, this is where the Titans have been for the last few years. Though they are the presumptive favorite to come out of the AFC South, they are going to have to play on the road in the AFC Divisional round at either Baltimore, Kansas City or Pittsburgh. Tennessee may be slightly better than 9-7 this year, but it would be shocking to see the Titans back in the conference title bout.
Mike Vrabel may be one of the best young coaches in the league today, but his team got worked by Zac Taylor and the Bengals on the road. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was outperformed by Joe Burrow still in his rookie season. If Tennessee continues to be at a quarterbacking disadvantage, it will not matter how well Derrick Henry runs the football in December or January for Tennessee.
This is a game the Titans must learn from if they want to get back to the AFC Championship game.