The Tennessee Titans have clinched their third straight losing season after a blowout loss at the hands of the Washington Commanders last Sunday, falling to 3-9 on the campaign. The most recent showing was abysmal in all phases, with Brian Callahan's club looking unprepared and undisciplined. It's been a constant theme this season.
There hasn't been much to cheer for throughout 2024. But when you look big picture over the past month, even though there have been some rough patches, there have also been some real positives to talk about.
Most notably, sophomore quarterback Will Levis has looked like a different player since returning from injury, and that includes even the recent debacle in Washington, where Levis wasn't at fault. Better play under center goes a long way, and if that continues, it would encourage the team to finish the season strongly.
Tennessee Titans could take advantage of easier schedule to end 2024 season
The Titans have posted a record of 1-3 since Levis returned from injury. That obviously isn't great on the surface, but analyzing each game individually, one constant is that Levis has shown serious progress in all of them.
One of the losses was a game against the Minnesota Vikings, which was greatly affected by poor officiating. Tennessee's lone win post Levis-injury was an emotional one against a huge rival in the Houston Texans on the road, which mattered for a lot of reasons.
Even though the response the following week was extremely poor, that does not take away from the positives we had seen in prior weeks. Most importantly, because Levis looked good in a terrible loss, that is enough reason to look at the recent stretch of games with a glass half full mentality.
As the Titans turn the page to the next few weeks and look to put last week behind them, there is reason to have hope for a strong finish. They play the Jacksonville Jaguars twice, the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and the Houston Texans over the next five weeks. The only team that has a winning record right now is the Texans, and the Titans have already beaten them in Houston.
The Titans are unlikely to go undefeated, but every game on the remaining schedule qualifies as winnable. They should have plenty of motivation, given that four of the five are against AFC South opponents.
If the Titans can win a few of those games, or even look solid in them, then there will be legitimate reason to have hope going into the 2025 season. The AFC South has been rough this year and does not have a great future outlook, so it's anyone's division moving forward into next season.
Even though it might hurt their draft position a bit, the most important thing is showing progress and building momentum as an organization. The Titans can especially breathe easier on the draft front since it is looking increasingly likely that they will not need to draft a quarterback in 2025.
It's been a disappointing season in Tennessee, but Levis' recent improvement alone is a reason why things are better than they were in September and October. If that continues, other things will likely improve too, and that will give the team and their fans something fun to talk about going into a critical offseason.