With the NFL season inching closer by the day, it’s officially prediction season. For the Tennessee Titans, a team with low expectations entering the season, there aren’t many who are predicting the Titans to be playoff bound this year.
However, one NFL analyst believes the Titans will sneak into the playoffs as a wild card team.
Dakota Zientek of the Pro Football Network predicted the Titans as the seven seed with a 9-8 record:
AFC South
- Houston Texans (13-4)
- Tennessee Titans (9-8)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (8-9)
- Indianapolis Colts (4-13)
After C.J. Stroud’s historic rookie season, he and the Texans return to a similar spot, winning the AFC South with a staggering 13-4 record. In Stroud’s sophomore season in the NFL, he leads the Texans to a league-leading 444 points and a point differential of +78 points.
In their first full season with Will Levis as the starting quarterback, the Titans make the playoffs, just squeezing in as the No. 7 seed.
Surprisingly, both the Jaguars and Colts ended the season with losing records, meaning neither team qualified for the postseason. While Anthony Richardson is expected to have a strong bounce-back season, this simulation had a different idea.
With Will Levis entering his sophomore season and first full season as the starting quarterback, the Titans offense is going to look much different.
After seeing long-time work horse running back Derrick Henry sign with the Baltimore Ravens, the Titans added running back Tony Pollard in free agency. The Titans also signed wide receiver Calvin Ridley who should make for a strong wide receiving corps playing along DeAndre Hopkins.
The Titans offense will likely be much more pass heavy than it has been in recent memory.
With a brand new coaching staff, the Titans are one of the more difficult teams to predict ahead of the season.
Of course, there are high expectations for the Houston Texans, who most believe will win the division. However, with the rest of the division being a mixed bag, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the Titans to finish second in the division and sneak into the playoffs.