The Tennessee Titans are finally getting some respect from someone in the national media.
FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd is giving the Tennessee Titans what few in the media are willing to give them in 2019: respect.
On his radio show, Cowherd proclaimed that the Titans are his “dark horse team” in the NFL for this season.
Cowherd cites the team’s offensive line, a good head coach in Mike Vrabel, and the team’s ability to beat the best in the league, which is something the Titans showed in 2018.
🎙️@ColinCowherd: "The Titans are my DARK HORSE team in the NFL this year...
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) July 19, 2019
––Best offensive line arguably in the AFC and Mike Vrabel appears to be able to coach––
...Tennessee has proven they can go up against the best in the league and hammer them.” https://t.co/rlYpe0KG6E
Not only does Cowherd cite this team’s offensive line, he argues that it could be the best in the AFC. Recently, Pro Football Focus ranked the Titans’ offensive line as the No. 4 unit entering 2019, and more specifically, the No. 8 offensive line in pass-blocking.
One of the reasons that is the case is because the Titans added left guard Rodger Saffold during the offseason, who is one of the premier players at his position in the league. Tennessee also added right guard Nate Davis as a third-round pick, and he’ll compete for a starting job with Kevin Pamphile in camp.
Of course, this Titans O-line is bookended by right tackle Jack Conklin, and one of the best left tackles in the sport, Taylor Lewan.
As far as beating top-notch teams is concerned, the Titans did plenty of that last season. Tennessee beat playoff teams like the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and crushed the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, 34-10.
In his first season, Vrabel took the Titans to the franchise’s third-consecutive 9-7 season, but there were some caveats to that, including the team dealing with a slew of injuries, especially one to quarterback Marcus Mariota that hampered him for much of the season.
If the Titans weren’t forced to use Blaine Gabbert in a do-or-die Week 17 game against the Indianapolis Colts, this team could have still made the playoffs.
All the Titans have done this offseason is improve their roster, and Mariota now has more playmakers on offense than he has ever had in his four-year career. When you add to that a great running game and a stellar defense filled with talent and depth, there’s no question that the Titans can make some serious noise this upcoming season.