Tennessee Titans are in Must-Win Mode with Dolphins
By Les Bailey
After three strait losses the Tennessee Titans 2015 season is eerily starting to look a whole lot like what happened last year when they shared an NFL worse 2-14 record with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Like 2014, this team won the first game of the year in Kansas City, beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in week six and went winless for the rest of the season.
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And here we are again. It’s week six and the Titans will be playing another home game with the Miami Dolphins and another chance to turn this season around before this team implodes and leaves everyone waiting for the 2016 draft and new hope….again!
The difference in 2015 is the scores in the losses. Last year they were beaten soundly in the four weeks before the second win(no bye until week 9 last year) and this year, they lost the last two games by three points total and were trying to get back into the Cleveland game when they gave up a Johnny Manziel Bomb to Travis Benjamin.
They have been very close in the last two losses and are games the Titans should have won but didn’t.
And like head coach Ken Whisenhunt said in his Monday presser: “being close and $4.00 will get you a cup of coffee in this league”.
All indications from reports out of Titans headquarters are that this young team is disappointed over the last three losses, but they are hanging in there with hope that a win will come soon, but I think the dam is starting to leak….just a little.
After the heart-breaking loss to the Indianapolis Colts, linebacker Zach Brown was criticized for not scoring on an Andrew Luck interception that would have put the game out of reach for the Colts.
The Titans failed to score in the Red-Zone and had to settle for a field goal that left them two points short at the end.
Brown tweeted out to former Titans teammate Akeem Ayers that he was ready to move on.
Ready to move on... @Akeem_Ayers bro hit me
— Zach Brown (@ZachBrown_55) September 29, 2015
This week it was wide receiver Kendall Wright who started to show frustration because he is not being targeted enough in this offense.
He told Tennessean reporter John Glennon that he was beyond frustrated:
“I’m beyond frustrated,” Wright said. “I don’t feel like I’m being able to do what I can do until late in games. I feel like I’m a good receiver and I feel like I’ve been open and I can beat the DBs or whoever is (covering) me, but I haven’t really been given the opportunity I’ve been looking for.
“Besides that, I feel like we’re real close. As a group, we just have to clean that up a little and make some plays.”
In four games, Wright has been successfully targeted 16 times for 242 yards for a 15.1 YPC average which is the best so far of any season since he has been a Titan, but the former Baylor Bear feels like he has been open and he should be targeted more.
The Titans have another chance this Sunday to right the ship and stop all of the negative karma that is starting to creep up on this team when they face the 1-3 Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins are in a similar situation, but since losing to the New York Jets in London have new life and a new coach. Head coach Joe Philbin was fired because after spending a lot of money during free agency, they have just not performed.
This game could be a double-edged sword and could be a crap-shoot for the Titans. They may get a team in the Dolphins who are already lost and waiting for 2016 or they may get a team that comes to town and firmly rallies behind new interim head coach Dan Campbell and looking to roll some heads.
If the Titans can’t win this one, they will get the 5-0 Atlanta Falcons in their final home game, and we saw in the preseason what quarterback Matt Ryan was able to do to the Titans in the first series.
I’m not sure the Tennessee Titans can come back from 1-5 this year, so week six against the Miami Dolphins is a must-win situation in Music City.