The Tennessee Titans, like most teams, have seen stretches of games against particularly tough opponents in most of their yearly schedules.
The past two years alone have been examples of that. In 2021 they had consecutive games against the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts, and Los Angeles Rams. Their schedule didn't get much easier the following season when they had to take on the Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Green Bay Packers on the road on a Thursday night game in four of five weeks in 2022.
Despite facing these monstrous stretches at critical times in the season, the Tennessee Titans have done well during those stints under Mike Vrabel, but there is no doubt that they only add to the grind of the seventeen-game season.
The good news for them is that their 2023 schedule is an exception to that rule. Who knows if it is a result of finishing second in the division and consequently drawing easier opponents, but they do not have the same kind of difficult stretch this year.
Tennessee Titans toughest games are spread out in 2023
If you look at the Titans' schedule this year, it is easy to pinpoint their five toughest games, which is right around the number of games they have had in those previous stretches. The games themselves should not be that much easier, but the overall task looks much easier than it usually is.
Week 4 vs Cincinnati Bengals (Home)
Week 6 vs Baltimore Ravens (London)
Week 11 vs Jacksonville Jaguars (Away)
Week 14 vs Miami Dolphins (Away)
Week 18 vs Jacksonville Jaguars (Home)
Now do not get me wrong here, it is not like the rest of the Titans games are gimmes in the slightest. In fact, their first three games against the New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Chargers, Cleveland Browns are near guaranteed to result in at least one loss.
It is not ideal that those three games are right before the game against the Bengals, and that the trip to London to play the Ravens is just two weeks after that. The Titans do have a decently tough start to the year, but they are still in a much better position than they have in years past.
The games against playoff-caliber opponents are the ones that define a team, and having them spread out is such an advantage in terms of keeping everyone as fresh as possible. And let's be real, the Titans are a team that has been prone to getting beaten up.
Injuries have worn and worn on this team in the past two years, and their bad luck with bye weeks has surely added to it. Not only have the bye weeks been at terrible times, but they have also been timed very poorly when accounting for those tough stretches of games, and the combination of everything has done a number on the Titans.
Their bye week situation is not that much better this year, considering it is the week after the London trip and the team will spend it recovering from jet lag. But they have some of those tough games before the bye, and some of them after, and it will only aid their stamina over the course of the year.
Being able to recharge their batteries in between tougher games is another reason why the Titans might be able to surprise people in 2023. They traditionally have risen to the occasion against quality opponents, so being more fresh might make them even more dangerous in those games.