Tennessee Titans: Overreacting to the 2021 schedule

We now know who the Tennessee Titans will face in the 2021 season, but can the Titans continue to dominate and have an elite season?

After a second season where the Tennessee Titans proved they have what it takes to compete with some of the best teams in the league, there can’t be very many doubters still hanging around. The Titans have elite talent and should be considered a contender based on their regular season performances with Ryan Tannehill under center.

It will be up to the Titans to continue their regular season success and run through another gauntlet in the playoffs to make it back to the AFC Championship, and they’ll likely have to defeat the Chiefs again if they want to make it to the Super Bowl.

But for now, let’s look ahead at the 2021 regular season as the Titans now know who their opponents will be in what could be a season where they attempt to defend their AFC Championship or even Super Bowl title if things can fall in their favor.

We won’t know the dates of each game on the 2021 schedule until April, but the NFL has thrown fans a bone as every NFL team now knows who they’ll be facing next season.

The teams the Titans will face at home are: Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Fransisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, and Kansas City Chiefs.

The teams the Titans will face on the road are: Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The NFL has changed these in the past, so although these teams have been released as the Titans’ 2021 opponents, it won’t be finalized until April when the full schedule is released.

Now that we’ve looked at who the Titans will be playing in 2021, it’s time to rationally overreact to who the Titans could and should beat. I think it’s safe to say the Titans will beat the Jaguars in both matchups, even if they do have Trevor Lawrence running the offense, so you can give the Titans two wins.

I also think it’s fair to say that the Titans will win one game against both the Colts and Texans with a sweep against either team being very possible. If I had to guess, the Titans would probably sweep the Texans.

For the other home games, the Titans can win every other game on that schedule with the only two games that the Titans shouldn’t be favorites to win are against the Bills and the Chiefs. I think the Titans should be able to beat the 49ers, Cardinals, and Dolphins at home.

With that being said, let’s give the Titans two wins and two losses from the division matchups and three wins for their home games and let’s say they split the Bills and Chiefs and go 1-1 there. That gives the Titans an 8-2 record already.

Looking at the home teams, the Titans should beat the Jets, Patriots and Rams with the two tough games coming from the Seahawks and Steelers. I have no doubt in my mind if the Titans played the Steelers that finished the season, the Titans would’ve won that game.

I’d be willing to say the Titans lose one game out of those assuming nothing crazy happens. I think the only road game the Titans could lose is against the Seahawks, but who knows, maybe the Titans catch the Steelers, Patriots or Ram during a hot streak. I’m going to assume that doesn’t happen and the Titans only lose to the Seahawks.

That puts the Titans at 13-3 next season heading into the playoffs with possibly the No. 1 seed, but if not, the Titans could earn themselves a BYE with the No. 2 seed. Do I expect some hiccups to happen throughout the season? Sure, but that isn’t going to stop me from hoping the Titans play a near perfect season to finish the regular season with 13 wins.

In reality, if you don’t want me to overreact, I think the Titans could very well finish the season with at least 11 wins. If the Titans want to remain a contender, they have to win consistently and I don’t think setting the bar at 11 wins next year is too high for a team with this level of talent.