Who really were the 2020 Tennessee Titans?
And so, that’s how the Tennessee Titans’ historic, oftentimes euphoric, and equal parts frustrating 2020 season comes to an end. Not with a bang, but with a 20-13 loss so uncharacteristic that it looked like the men in two-toned blue were purposely paying homage to the Tennessee Titans teams before them. The ones that, you know, couldn’t score.
Not once, not a single time through 16 games in 2020, did the Tennessee Titans score fewer than 14 points — not even the Green Bay Packers and their top-ranked scoring offense can say that.
On just three occasions did Tennessee fail to break 20 points. One 14 point effort came against the NFC’s top seed, in the middle of a literal blizzard. One 16 point game came in the first week of the season, with the offense clearly shaking off the rust that no preseason and a condensed offseason was bound to bring, in addition to three missed field goals. One 17 point game came against a top ten defense, once again, with special teams woes plaguing the team as a whole.
Those were the only three times the Titans had failed to reach at least 20 points — until Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. For whatever reason, be it questionable play-calling, a historic effort from the Ravens’ defense, the curse of the ‘Home Playoff Game against Baltimore’ or whatever else it may be, the Tennessee Titans did not look like themselves.
There’s a chance, and possibly a strong one, that football historians will let this game paint the picture of who this year’s Titans were. A strong team that could hang with a talented roster, but couldn’t finish the job with the chips down. But that’s not who the Tennessee Titans were, and it all begs one massive question.