Media power rankings: Week 7

A common theme around the media during the early part of the week is power rankings. Whether they are ranking college football teams, baseball teams, basketball teams, or NFL teams it is something that most major outlets do.

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ESPN and NFL.com are no different, and they are the two that I pay the most attention to during the week. They generally use either a composite ranking to get their list, or they have someone assigned to watch every game before they make their list.

With other sites, there is a lot of guess work and assumptions that become pretty clear by around Week 8 and I have no intention of using them in these articles.

So, let’s take a look at how those two sites ranked the Tennessee Titans in their power rankings.

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NFL.com: 25 (LW 22)

“On paper, the matchup versus the Colts was a game the Titans should have won. Check that: had to win. Tennessee hasn’t bested Indy in Nashville since 2011. Heck, the Titans haven’t beaten the Colts since 2011, period — and it took Curtis Painter starting for Indy for that comet to fly by. Marcus Mariota didn’t play poorly, but — like in the opener against the Vikings — his run-based unit can’t be spotting the defense six points on giveaways. Next up: the Jaguars, at home. “

-Elliot Harrison

I don’t know about “had to” win, but it was a big game. It was a hard game to stomach losing because it would have put the Titans at 4-3 with just a .5 game down from the division lead.

I agree with this assessment on Marcus Mariota. If you think he is playing poorly you are just flat out wrong. He makes some mistakes (the fumbles are terrible) but he has no help in the passing game except for the rare bursts from Delanie Walker and Rishard Matthews.

On top of that, the whole team just looks off. WRs aren’t getting out of breaks, it looks like the coaching staff is trying to force the ball to Andre Johnson too often. Kendall Wright is the ultimate hot or cold play, and I don’t know how to treat that.

The Titans should focus on these rankings too much, but the fans should. If the Titans can finish strong and public perception is that they are a team on the rise, it is much easier to get talented free agents here in the future.

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ESPN: 23 (LW 22)

“The Titans could be a lot better if they didn’t have to play at home (1-3 this season). Tennessee is 2-10 at home with a minus-15 turnover differential the past two seasons (4-7, minus-3 on the road). Another home game awaits for the Titans on Thursday against Jacksonville.”

Yep, that is a gross stat from the Titans. They are just kinda losers at home and I don’t have an answer for it. Luckily if they can get some momentum against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they only have to play at home 3 more times this year.

The turnovers are rough on offense, but maybe more concerning is the lack of turnovers created by the defense. I mean, the Titans are the only team in the NFL that hasn’t caused a force fumble and that is usually because they are tackling from behind instead of making impact hits head on.

If this team could force turnovers on defense like they did against Miami and Houston, these close games could turn into wins.

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