Music City Miracles
There is a clear bottom tier when it comes to NFL teams. The Tennessee Titans, New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, and New Orleans Saints make up that group. Before the last two weeks, it was clear to me that the Titans were pretty easily the worst team in the league. With what Cam Ward has shown over the last couple of weeks, maybe they deserve to move up a couple of spots…maybe.
I always write this lead in before I go look and see where the Titans actually rank. I still expect them to be 32nd in every ranking, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them move ahead of the Raiders in a spot or two. The problem there, of course, is that those two teams played with the Raiders winning 20-10.
Here is where the Titans rank in the various week 13 NFL power rankings around the internet:
ESPN: 32
PFT: 31
They aren’t giving up.
USA Today: 32
If you thought a four-game homestand was going to help a team that hasn’t won in Nashville for 13 months … welp.
The Athletic: 32
No team would rather fast-forward through these final few weeks more than the Titans, who don’t have much to look forward to until they hire their next head coach. Well, that and following their projected odds of landing the No. 1 pick for a second straight draft. (We have them at 47 percent.)
The Ringer: 30(!)
CBS Sports: 32
Cam Ward played better in the loss to the Seahawks, which is the progress that matters. The first pick looks like it’s going to be theirs.
NFL.com: 31
It was another painful loss for the Titans, who are now 0-6 in Nashville, but Cam Ward keeps providing hope for the future. In fact, this was probably his best performance yet, especially considering it came against Seattle’s stellar defense. The No. 1 overall pick continued to battle, even while trailing by 20 points late in the third quarter, finishing with 256 yards and a touchdown through the air, along with 37 more yards and an additional score on the ground. He did all that without any help from the run game, and with Tennessee’s defense struggling to get stops during the first three quarters. With Ward, fellow rookie Chimere Dike (who might be the league’s best punt returner, no joke) and a few other pieces, there is some real encouragement on offense for the next coach. Defensively, the Titans have plenty of work to do. All in all, though, this situation might not look so bad a year from now, if things go right.
