The Tennessee Titans control their own destiny in the AFC South.
After a Week 12 game that saw the Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football, the Tennessee Titans now control their own destiny in the AFC South.
In what was a back-and-forth, hard-fought game, the Texans emerged victorious over the Colts 20-17. The victory now puts the Texans back in first place and pushes the Colts into second place in the division.
Most importantly, the Titans are now in the driver’s seat of their own fate in the AFC South if they can win their next six games (easy, I know), and there is a scenario is which the Titans can finish 5-1 and still win the division.
First and foremost, Tennessee must win its own Week 12 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that beat them handily in Week 3 on the strength of nine sacks. On the bright side for the Titans, this is a vastly different team than the one that took the field against the Jags last time.
If the Titans can beat the Jags and improve to 6-5, it sets them up with a Week 13 showdown with the Colts, who own a 6-5 record themselves.
Should Tennessee get some revenge for their Week 2 loss and come out with a road win against Indy next week, the Titans would leapfrog the Colts for second place in the division.
And, if the Texans lose what will be a tough matchup with the New England Patriots that same week, the Titans will be tied atop the AFC South by record as soon as next week; although that isn’t necessary for Tennessee to continue controlling its own fate.
The key here is not losing another divisional matchup the rest of the way, which includes two games against the Texans in Week 15 and Week 17.
Of course, not losing to the Oakland Raiders or New Orleans Saints also would greatly help, but the Titans can actually afford a loss to one of those two teams if they run the table against the rest.
This stretch of games for Tennessee will by no means be easy and there is little to no margin for error with the Titans needing to finish 5-1 at worst, but Tennessee is at least in a position to control its own destiny.