The Tennessee Titans’ playoff hopes had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel entering the Week 15 game against the Houston Texans, but the Texans managed to finally but the Titans out of their misery.
The Titans have officially been eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, marking the second straight year in which Tennessee won’t be playing past the final week of the regular season.
This is the first time in the Mike Vrabel era that the Titans haven’t made the playoffs in back-to-back years. It’s also the first time the franchise has missed the playoffs two years in a row since 2015-16.
“I don’t think we’re ready to discuss (not making the playoffs),” head coach Mike Vrabel after the 19-16 loss, per Jim Wyatt. “I think we’re just trying to get back, get healthy. We had a lot of guys play far less than 100 percent, which we know that’s going to happen where we’re at in the season. A lot of fight, a lot of competitiveness, rely on our leaders, and make sure that we do everything we can to give them an opportunity to feel confident coming into the game and play with great effort.”
Now, the best the Titans can do is play spoiler over the final three games of the campaign, with each of those contests coming against teams in playoff contention: the Seattle Seahawks, Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ideally, the Titans show some fight but lose those contests so they put themselves in position for the highest 2024 NFL draft pick possible.
