Every Tennessee Titans fan should be excited about how their team did in Week 2, but don’t sleep on the Indianapolis Colts this weekend.
When people talk about the Titans’ win against the Seattle Seahawks, everyone is quick to point out that the team showed a real backbone and that they were resilient and fought tooth and nail to get that win. All of that backbone and resiliency wouldn’t have mattered if the team didn’t remember their identity and get back to their brand of football.
On Sunday, the Titans looked like a team that could compete with anyone in the NFL and they are going to need to be when the Indianapolis Colts come to town.
Mike Vrabel is going to have to do something that he has never done before if he wants to put the Titans firmly in control of the AFC South.
Strange Tennessee Titans fact
Despite an 11-7 record in the AFC South since becoming the Tennessee Titans’ Head Coach, Mike Vrabel has never beaten the Indianapolis Colts at home.
In 2018 the Titans were riding a four-game win streak and they were hosting the Colts in Week 17 with a playoff berth on the line. Unfortunately, then-quarterback Marcus Mariota had to miss the game with an injury and Blaine Gabbert had to step in leading to the obvious result.
The next year, Tennessee pulled a massive “upset” when they shut down the Cleveland Browns who were media darlings. Then, in Week 2 the team retired the jerseys of Eddie George and Steve McNair only to lose a heartbreaker against Jacoby Brissett and the Colts in what was one of the hottest games in the stadium’s history.
Last year, the Tennessee Titans started 5-0 but fell to 5-2 after a close loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and then a shocking loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. After a bounce-back win against the Chicago Bears, the Titans were primed to ride that momentum into a win against the Colts. Unfortunately, Tennessee’s special teams were a complete mess and they lost a Thursday night game at home (which is almost tough to do).
In three years, Mike Vrabel has found ways to lose home games against the Colts whether that meant letdowns by the offense, defense, or special teams. He has lost games when he was favored and he has lost them when he was an underdog. He has lost when the team had advantages like hosting Thursday Night Football or the emotional high of a jersey retirement, and he has lost when it seemed like all the odds were against him.
Is this finally the year where Mike Vrabel beats the Colts at home and gets that black mark off of his record? If so, the Tennessee Titans would be sitting at 2 wins which is more than the rest of the AFC South combined.
If this team really is who we think they are, then they should take care of business at home and it would go a long way towards re-building fan trust after Week 1 was such a letdown.