NFL: 25 Most Disappointing 1 Seeds In NFL Playoff History
By Nick Villano
25 Most Disappointing 1 Seeds In NFL Playoff History: 17. 2008 Tennessee Titans
The 2008 Tennessee Titans were disappointing and they were not at the same time. Nobody expected this Titans team to make the playoffs let alone be the number-one seed. It is similar to the Titans this season, who surprisingly won the number one seed in 2021. Jeff Fischer made the move to start Kerry Collins over Vince Young. That was the key decision to the Titans’ seasons.
They started off the season 10-0. The surprise didn’t last long because they were winning every game. There was no more coming out of nowhere for the Titans. Things didn’t exactly unravel down the stretch, but this was clearly an example of peaking too early. The TItans were the best team in the NFL in October and the early part of November. By the time December hit, they started losing games.
They lost two out of three games going into the playoffs. The momentum was clearly gone. However, it takes one big game in the playoffs to get it back. They were facing a Ravens team that had a rookie quarterback. Joe Flacco was playing well, but this was a veteran-laden Titans team. The experience of Collins and Fischer should have been enough.
Rookie running back Chris Johnson ended up playing incredibly well in the game, scoring the team’s only touchdown. However, the offense sputtered outside of that. They ended up going into the final quarter tied at 7. The defenses were holding down the fort. They traded field goals in the final quarter, leaving it to one last drive for the Ravens. They got the ball with four minutes left in the game. They took more than three minutes off the clock taking the ball down to the 25 yard line, and they kicked the game-winning field goal to send it to the AFC Championship Game.