During July, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will be analyzing the schedules of every team in the NFL. We will be ranking each game in order of difficulty (with one being the most difficult). This series will be split up into the eight most difficult games (ranked 1-8) and the eight easiest games (ranked 9-16) for each team. The Tennessee Titans away schedule seems to be pretty smooth, with six of their away games making this list. The Titans should win most of these games, but they should not expect any of these teams to lie down in defeat. Anyone can beat anyone on any given Sunday.
Tennessee Titans Easiest Games in 2016
9. Week 11 @ The Indianapolis Colts
Without Andrew Luck, the Indianapolis Colts are a pretty bad team. They would be a bottom five team without Luck for a whole season. With him? The Colts can be an elite team and even with the weak team around Luck, they will be dangerous. This is one of the eight easiest games in the year for the Titans, but it was hard to put this game on this list. Again, if the Titans are able to hold everyone on the team back and force Luck to make hard choices and do everything on his own, it could result in a win for Tennessee. However, that will be hard to do, especially if they tried that in the first game these two teams play.
10. Week 2 @ The Detroit Lions
After either winning a tough battle in Week 1 at home versus the Vikings, or losing a bad one and getting beaten up really bad, the Titans will have to travel to the Detroit Lions. Going on the road will be tough, but the Titans do have the personnel to beat the Detroit. Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota can get free from that pass rush, and tight end Delanie Walker can get free in the middle of that field. If the Titans can establish a run game as well, it could be a nice win for the Titans. This won’t be an easy game, but it will be on the eight easier games of the season for Tennessee.
11. Week 5 @ The Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins do have one unit on their team that is truly elite, and that’s their pass rushers. Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake lead that attack on the quarterback and will be joined by Dion Jordan. Other than that unit, the Dolphins do not impress anywhere else. The Titans have the better overall team and can win this game in the beautiful weather of Miami, Florida.
12. Week 7 vs. The Indianapolis Colts
The two games against the Indianapolis Colts show up in this list, and here is the first one. Since this is the home game in the Colts and Titans match-ups, and the Cleveland Browns game the week before should basically be a bye week, this game comes first. The Indianapolis Colts should be much better next year since quarterback Andrew Luck is back. Luck will return to MVP-candidate form, and will certainly improve on top of that. However, the rest of the Colts roster is pretty awful. If the Titans can use the emotions of this rivalry game to distract the Colts team and beat them mentally, as well as force Luck to do everything and attempt to cancel out any production from any teammate, then Tennessee has a good chance to win.
13. Week 12 @ The Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears will be better than the Detroit Lions. However, for the Titans, the Bears will be a better match-up, so that is why the Bears rank higher on the chart of easiest games. The Bears are in competition with the Los Angeles Rams for the worst offensive line in the NFL. The Titans have a lot of pass rushers that have the ability to exploit that. When Bears quarterback Jay Cutler gets hit a lot, he gets frustrated and will play and act worse throughout the game. The Titans will have a very good offense and if the Bears offense falls apart, the defense will follow suit. This is a good match-up for the Titans.
14. Week 4 @ The Houston Texans
This is where the two game trend breaks. The Houston Texans are not the third worst team on the Titans schedule, but the Titans do have a significant advantage in this match-up. Why is that? Four time All-Pro and three time Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watt might miss the first few games of the season, which might include this Week 4 match-up with the Titans. If that does end up happening, Tennessee has a great chance to steal this game. If Watt does play, it doesn’t spell doom for the Titans, it just will be more difficult to pull off the win. The Titans are always looking to embarrass the rival Texans in Houston, so look for the Titans to come at the Texans hard and attempt to take this game.
15. Week 9 @ The San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers went 4-12 in 2015 and drafted third overall in April. They made some moves in free agency and the draft that most would say improved the team, but the Chargers will not be a team playing above .500 this season. The Titans have to travel to play the Chargers, but this should be a win for Tennessee.
16. Week 6 vs. The Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns look like the worst team in the NFL and have a great chance to go 0-16. With new management, a new coaching staff, and a lot of new players on the team, this team will go through struggles in 2016. The Titans will be in mid-season form and should win this game at home with a comfortable margin.
Check out the Tennessee Titans Most Difficult Games in 2016
