Season Recap - 2010 Tennessee Titans

Final Record: 6-10

Finished: 4^th Place in the AFC South

2011 Draft Position: 8^th

Preseason Ranking:   22
Preseason Letter of Misfortune:

The Titans managed to end the 2009 season on a high note despite being destroyed by New England 59-0 and suffering the embarrassment of their long-time coach Jeff Fisher wearing a Peyton Manning jersey at a charity event and joking that he "just wanted to feel like a winner".

Though some chastised Jeff Fisher for his “disrespect” of the Titans, I think his decision triggered a renewed sense of purpose for his beleaguered franchise. At the time of the jersey incident, Tennessee had yet to win a game. They entered their bye week a marvelous 0-6 and had been outscored by the likes of Jacksonville, Indianapolis and New England 127-26 in their previous three games. Collins, one of the surprising heroes of the 2008 season, lost his game completely and needed to be benched. The defense was in total disarray, having not allowed less than 24 points since the opening week against Pittsburgh. Chris Johnson remained the only bright spot on a struggling team.

Motivated after their bye week and inspired by the rejuvenated play of Vince Young, Tennessee finished the season on an 8-2 run, with their only losses coming against San Diego and Indianapolis. As much as Jeff Fisher was ridiculed last year for wearing Manning’s jersey, the ploy ended up being a brilliant move on his part.

The upcoming 2010 season will provide a new set of challenges for the Titans. Division victories will be hard to come by this season. Indianapolis is always strong, Houston is on the rise and Jacksonville is desperate to right their sinking ship. If the Titans struggle early again this year, I doubt any magic, motivational bullets will help them pull out of their tailspin, so Coach Fisher better have the team ready to play as soon as the season starts.

Week 1: Defeated the Oakland Raiders, 38-13

Ranked – 8

Raiders at home to start the season? Nothing like having an extra pre-season game to fine tune the offense.

Week 2: Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers, 19-11

Ranked – 17

Here we go again. First Young can't do it and Collins can. Then Collins can't do it and Young can. Now Young can't do it and Collins is out to prove he still can. Ultimately it doesn't matter who thinks they can if Chris Johnson goes nowhere and fumbles in the process.

Week 3: Defeated the New York Giants, 29-10

Ranked – 12

You made the Giants look as bad on Sunday as the Steelers made you look the Sunday before.

Week 4: Lost to Denver Broncos, 26-20

Ranked – 17

Who needs a running game?

Week 5: Defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 34-27

Ranked – 9

Lose at home to the Broncos, and then win big on the road against the Cowboys. Such inconsistency won't allow the Titans to stay tied for first place in a tight division race for long.

Week 6: Defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-3

Ranked – 8

Fantasy teams everywhere rejoiced (or were annoyed) by the decision to keep running Chris Johnson until he broke the 100-yard mark.

Week 7: Defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-19

Ranked – 5

#1 in the NFC East and #1 in the AFC South. Impressive for a team shuffling quarterbacks back and forth.

Week 8: Lost at San Diego Chargers, 33-25

Ranked – 6

The quarterback carousel continues. If Tennessee can't stop it, their season will be in trouble.

Week 9: BYE WEEK

Ranked – 7

If the Titans can get Randy Moss to play with even marginal effort and stretch the defenses, just think how much space Chris Johnson will have to operate in.

Week 10: Lost at Miami Dolphins, 29-17

Ranked – 17

Randy Moss. Impact player. One catch. 26 yards. What exactly did you guys accomplish over the bye week?

Week 11: Lost to Washington Redskins, 19-16

Ranked – 17

The Vince Young era looks to have ended in Tennessee. I remember all those great moments, like when Vince Young upset the Reggie Bush-led New Orleans Saints in the Rose Bowl to lead Texas- I mean - the Titans to a national championship. Ah, good times.

Week 12: Lost at Houston Texans, 20-0

Ranked – 20

Chris Johnson. 7 carries, 5 yards. 2 catches, 2 yards. That performance alone doomed the playoff hopes of innumerable fantasy teams over the weekend. It didn't do much for the real Titans, either. The 2010 Tennessee Titans. Yep, we could have been something!

Week 13: Lost to Jacksonville Jaguars, 17-6

Ranked - 20 (ROCKY WEEK!)

           

Coach Fisher: Now, when we started this season, we had that eye of the tiger; the edge! And now we gotta get it back. And the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning. You know what I mean?

Week 14: Lost to Indianapolis Colts, 30-28

Ranked – 20

If the owner's not too happy being 5-8, just think how disappointed fantasy teams are at Chris Johnson's underwhelming productivity this season.

Week 15: Defeated the Houston Texans, 31-17

Ranked – 16

Two tough road games against Kansas City and Indianapolis remain. The Titans have to win both to even have a chance at the post-season.

Week 16: Lost at Kansas City Chiefs, 34-14

Ranked – 20

Look. Give up or don't give up. I don't care, just pick one and go with it for your week 17 game against the Colts.

Week 17: Lost at Indianapolis Colts, 23-20

Final Rank - 25

Next week, the season recaps continue with Creative Misfortune’s favorite team, the 2010 Dallas Cowboys…