Kansas City Chiefs - Titans Ever On

Dreams Do Come True: The Tennessee Titans are in the AFC Championship Game

This run is very real and it is very, very awesome.

It is January 17, 2020 and your Tennessee Titans are playing the Kansas City Chiefs for a chance to advance to the Super Bowl. That is a real thing. It’s not some drug-induced dream. It’s not a pleasant fiction, crafted to inspire and cheer. This is very real and it is very, very awesome.

If you are new to the Tennessee Titans’ bandwagon, welcome. We are happy to have you. It has been a long road for those of us who have been around since the beginning. We have suffered so many bitter losses while supporting this team. We’ve had some good times as well, but those have been rare until the past few seasons.

This team has done the impossible. At least what most experts and prognosticators thought to be impossible. They have knocked off the defending Super Bowl Champs, the New England Patriots, on their home turf. After that, they visited the number one offense and best record in the league, the Baltimore Ravens, and punched them in the mouth and walked away with a trip to the AFC Championship game in Kansas City. The Titans have done the impossible and that makes them mighty.

It’s okay to be excited. It’s even okay to be a little overwhelmed. This team wasn’t supposed to do this. You don’t go 2-4, bench your long-time starting QB, sneak into the playoffs, and then beat the best the NFL has to offer. That is not a thing that happens. Yet, it has happened. The Tennessee Titans, with their mythological beast of destruction, Derrick Henry, and their dangerous and violent defense, are crushing souls and breaking wills. They are leaving complete devastation in their wake. For Titans fans, it is unfathomably beautiful stuff.

All along the way, there have been doubters. Even now, most people are not giving this team a chance to advance. Personally, I think that is fantastic. Bring on the doubters! This team relishes the dissenting voices. They bathe in the doubts, slights, and lack of respect. It nourishes them. It feeds their drive and bolsters their will to win.

This unexpected run feels right. Enjoy it, Titans’ fans. Savor it. The Tennessee Titans are the best story in the NFL this season. If you cannot appreciate what the team is doing, you are missing something incredibly special. On Sunday afternoon, the Titans walk onto the field at Arrowhead Stadium and I see no reason why this run should end.

Why not us?

Why not now?

Give them nothing.

Take everything!

Wild Card Round Preview (The NFL on REO)

It’s playoff time! Here is your preview for the Wild Card Round – picks included.

Tennessee at Kansas City

by Michael Lytle

The Tennessee Titans are big underdogs in the Wild Card match up with the Kansas City Chiefs.

This is not surprising. The Titans are without their starting running back, they have played poorly on offense for most of the season, and they are short on playoff experience. The Chiefs, on the other hand, have an explosive offense, a very successful head coach, and are playing at home. Even as a Titans fan I admit that it makes sense that the Chiefs are a 9 point favorite.

Quarter Season Power Rankings (The NFL on REO)

We have new Power Rankings! (669 words)

Phill’s Quarter-Season Power Rankings!

We should probably call this edition: “Not Available.” That will make more sense in a bit. This season has been unpredictable, which is one of the reasons the NFL is so much fun. Contrary to some opinions, there have been some really good games this year and we are once again shaping up to have a good number of new playoff teams in the mix. As you will see below, the Top Ten has been invaded by many new faces this time around. And that’s a good thing. I don’t know if these teams will be able to keep it up for the next 12 games, but so far, they have earned their spots on my list. Feel free to tell me I’m an idiot in the comment section below. I can take it. (You can view the first Power Rankings right here.)

The NFL on REO: Old Faces, New Places

Week One wrap up and more! (1,299 words)

Week 1

Week one is in the books.

Contrary to popular opinion, we don’t really learn much after one week of play in the NFL. It is going to take a lot more to convince me that the New England Patriots are as bad as they looked on Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. Similarly, it will take a lot to convince me that the Los Angeles Rams are as good as they looked against the hapless Indianapolis Colts.

Game one is never the strongest indicator of future performance. You just have to look at the two years Ken Whisenhunt coached the Tennessee Titans. If you only saw game one in those two years, you would have thought the Titans were a juggernaut of a team. Unfortunately for fans of the team, those two games were far and away the highlights of each season.

The NFL on REO: Game Time!

The Regular Season is here! We rank all 16 games and we give our staff predictions for the Tennessee Titans’ record. (947 words)

It’s game time baby!

The NFL season kicks off tomorrow with the defending Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots, facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs. I am so excited, even if this first game includes my most hated team in the history of all sports – the Patriots. It’s real NFL football for the first time in over half a year! What is better than that?

To commemorate this momentous occasion, here is my interest level for each game this week. We’ll start at the bottom.

The NFL on REO: Dominance

This week’s column contains more Gowdy Cannon zaniness and our first Power Rankings of the season. Number 3 will blow your mind! (1,741 words)

The Insane Ramblings of Gowdy Cannon

On to 2017…

Yes, I’m the guy who wrote a 2500-hundred word counseling session on how Tom Brady is the most overrated quarterback of all-time. But don’t let that keep you from reading what I’m about to write. You should appreciate it primarily because I wrote the Brady article.

While players can be overrated or underrated to team success I do not think there is any way to get around claiming team superiority in an objective way. For example, we could argue all day whether Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Matt Ryan was the best QB in the NFL last year, but we cannot argue that New England was the best team. That was objectively settled on the field.

Titans Tuesday: Pride

How I am feeling right now about the Tennessee Titans.

One thing my 33 faithful readers will know¹ is that I fully expected the 2016 Tennessee Titans to exceed most expectations. I would wager that the majority of the national sports media would have had them finishing with no more than four or five wins this season. I think their 9-7 record goes beyond exceeding expectations. It shatters them. And I am unbelievably proud of the Titans for that accomplishment.

I did not address the horrible loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Christmas Eve for a few reasons.

One, I was on vacation with my family for Christmas and I did not want interrupt it.

Two, where we were staying, there was no WiFi access so I was effectively shut out from the internet world. That ended up being a good thing. I didn’t want to write about that loss. The grief was still too near.

It was 32 for a long time, but I finally convinced one of my good college friends, Matt, to start reading. ↩

Titans Tuesday: The Joy of Sports

The Tennessee Titans give my family an experience of a lifetime.

I watch every Tennessee Titans’ game with my boys. I have three boys, ages seven to thirteen, and they all love sports. They really love the Titans. My youngest will wear the same Titans’ outfit every Sunday while watching the game. My middle son will wear a Titans’ jersey and his Titans’ gloves. The oldest doesn’t wear anything special but pays more attention to the game than any of them.

We watched the Titans take on the Kansas City Chiefs a few days ago, as most of you probably did. My oldest was only able to watch the first half with us because he had the opportunity to attend a college basketball game. I hate it that he missed the second half, because the football he got to see was not that enjoyable. The Titans were a mess in the first half. They made multiple mistakes on offense and defense. They allowed the Chiefs to dictate the terms of the engagement. But even with too many missed opportunities, mental errors, and bad plays on the field, the Titans were still only down 17-7 going into halftime.

Titans Tuesday: The Top Ten Things I Am Thinking

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

In keeping with the Top Ten theme of the week here at Rambling Ever On, I decided to list the Top Ten things that have been bouncing around in my head the past few days. Obviously, these are the Titans’ related thoughts I’ve had. I do think about other things from time to time. So, without further ado:

10. The J-E-T-S are the worst, worst, worst.

A win by the Jets last night would have knocked the Indianapolis Colts to 5-7. That would have been huge for the Titans and their playoff hopes.