Titans - Playoff Push

The Tennessee Titans ended a 3 game skid on Sunday beating the divisional opponent Houston Texans 28-20. The Titans got some big plays, and the offense finally put a running and passing effort together. Haynesworth needs to get and stay healthy on defense, which would really allow us to be a top 5 type defense in this league.

Where does this put us with the Playoffs?

The win keeps the Titans in the playoff hunt at 7-5. Its likely going to take 10 wins, maybe even 11, to win the wildcard. With 4 games remaining (Chargers, Chiefs, Jets, @ Colts), the Titans are going to have to win 3 of these 4 games to have a chance realistically, and here's why:

• There are 3 teams right now in the hunt for the 2 wildcards - the Browns, Jaguars, and Titans.


• Check out the tiebreaker procedures for NFL teams in the playoffs here. The Titans likely will not hold the tiebreaker over either, as the Jags will likely have a better divisional record, assuming the Jags beat Houston and the Titans lose to the Colts. If the Jags lose to the Steelers and the Titans go 4-0 then the Titans would have the tiebreaker with a 4-2 divisional record. Titans beating the Colts would give the Titans that tiebreaker over the same record Jaguars. If the Titans go 3-1, losing to the Colts, and the Jags go 2-2, then one of those losses would have to be to Houston for the tiebreaker to go to the Titans. If the Jags beat Houston but lose to Carolina and Pittsburgh, then I believe they would have to go to strength of schedule in a tie with the Titans for a tiebreaker at 10-6. Crazy.


• The Browns have an easy finishing slate, with Jets, Bills, Bengals, and 49ers. If they win out, they would have the tiebreaker over the Titans with a better conference record at 8-4. The Titans would finish 8-4 in conference if they win out, but they would have to defeat the Colts to do so. Lucky here, though, this tiebreaker of 11-5 would also go to strength of schedule. Likely the Jags would be here in a huge 3-way tie. Messy.

Plainly said, the Titans are going to have to win 3 of their final 4 games to have a chance. If they go 3-1, they are also going to need some timely losses from the Browns and Jaguars, so much so that even 4-0 for the Titans could have us on the outside of the playoffs.

Winning against the Chargers this weekend is a must, as the Chiefs and Jets the following two weeks are hopefully winnable games at home. We dont want to go into the final game of the season having to beat the Colts. I will be at the game cheering them on . . .