The Tennessee Titans have started the 2018 season at 3-1, despite several tough breaks, but they still can’t seem to buy any league-wide respect.
After making the playoffs last year and using the offseason to address areas of weakness, there was some hype about the Tennessee Titans entering 2018. That hype has all but gone away, however, after four weeks of the season. What’s curious is that the buzz about this team has dissipated, yet they sit at 3-1 and atop the AFC South entering Week 5.
To some degree, it’s not hard to decipher why some have pushed the Titans to the side after four weeks. Put simply, they’ve had a tumultuous start to the season. They began the year with a Week 1 loss to the Dolphins in a game that was marred by both an injury to Marcus Mariota and several weather delays that disrupted any kind of game-flow. And they still only lost by seven points on the road.
After that, however, the Titans played the Texans at home, but went into that game without Mariota. Even with that, they were able to grind it out and win ugly. With Mariota at less than 100 percent the next week, they again were content to win ugly and get past the Jaguars with a 9-6 win. A healthier Mariota then took the field last week against the Eagles and provided heroics in overtime to get the win over the defending Super Bowl champions.
So, to recap, the Titans have won three games this season. Two of those wins came against the defending champs and a team that played in the AFC Championship Game last year. They’ve also done this while their starting quarterback has either not been on the field or not been at 100 percent, with a nerve injury in his elbow, no less.
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Despite all of this, the general public continues to seem down on the Titans as a whole. And, in truth, it feels like they aren’t getting the respect that they deserve. They are almost written off as “yeah, that was a nice win, but are they that good?” each week at this point.
At some point, that statement should no longer qualify and they should just be good. If a team keeps winning, even if it’s not always aesthetically pleasing, does anything else matter? It’s a league of wins and losses, not of style points and making things happen.
What’s more, perhaps the style points are about to come around as the year progresses. Not only will Mariota hopefully get healthier, but the Titans offense as a whole will continue to get their sea-legs beneath them in new offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur’s system. As that happens, things could become much more pleasing to the eye as the year comes on.
Maybe at that point, the Titans will start to get league-wide respect as a legitimate threat in the AFC. However, if you look at what they’ve done despite facing adversity already this season, they should’ve already earned much of that respect. They shouldn’t have to keep winning to earn it, but if the first four weeks are any indication, that’s not going to stop the victories from keeping coming.