NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans are coming off an early open date they never really wanted but might have been in their best interest after a bumpy start to the season.
Now they hope to be rested and ready as the Indianapolis Colts (2-3) visit Nissan Stadium on Sunday for the Titans’ first AFC South Division game this season.
“We’re 1-3, but you’ve got a chance to quickly get back in the mix if you can win a divisional game this week,” first-year Tennessee head coach Brian Callahan said. “You see most of the league outside of about three teams is either 3-2 or 2-3 or 2-2. So it’s all jumbled up.”
The Titans finally gave Callahan his first career win as a head coach on Sept. 30 with a 31-12 rout of the host Miami Dolphins. This game matters plenty because Tennessee won’t play another AFC South opponent until Nov. 24, when the Titans visit the Houston Texans, the reigning division champions who are again atop the standings after starting 4-1.
The Colts know how much division games matter. They’ve already dropped their first two AFC South matchups and are coming off a 37-34 loss to the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars, the division’s other team.
“You want to win championships, you’ve got to win division games,” Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen said. “And going on the road, having another division opponent — the urgency is there. You can feel it from the guys.”
Steichen swept Tennessee in his debut season with the Colts last year, snapping a five-game skid in this divisional rivalry. The sweep was part of Tennessee’s rough run that Titans coach Mike Vrabel his job after six seasons in Nashville.
The Titans have a chance to tie the Buffalo Bills for nine straight wins after an open date for the longest active streak in the NFL. Only the Philadelphia Eagles have a longer streak, winning 13 consecutive games coming off a bye from 1999 to 2011. Tennessee’s streak has spanned two coaches, Mike Mularkey and Vrabel, with Callahan hoping to make it three.
While their win-loss record may not reflect it, the Titans have the NFL’s stingiest defense in overall yards and passing yards allowed per game. They also have not allowed a player to run for 100 yards, throw for 300 yards or have a 100-yard receiving game this season. The Los Angeles Chargers are the only other team to do that.
Tennessee has allowed only one 300-yard passing game in the past 19 games, to Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew last Dec. 3. The Titans won at Miami two weeks ago without two-time Pro Bowl lineman Jeffery Simmons, who has been nursing a torn ligament in his left elbow.
“There’s no way I’m missing Sunday,” Simmons said.
Meanwhile, the Colts have been dissecting what went wrong defensively against Jacksonville last week, when Indianapolis gave up a season high in points and nearly 500 total yards to what had been a struggling offense — and how to fix it before Sunday.
The corrections began with releasing cornerback Dallis Flowers, who made miscues on two touchdown passes by the Jaguars. Linebacker Zaire Franklin said the video session wasn’t easy to sit through for a group missing linemen DeForest Buckner, Samson Ebukam and Tyquan Lewis as well as cornerback JuJu Brents.
“We’ve just got to be better, and we will be,” Franklin said.
One thing that could help the Colts? Not having to deal with Derrick Henry.
It’s the first time since 2015 these teams will meet without the two-time NFL rushing champ involved, and the first time they’ve played since 2018 without Henry starting.
In 16 career games against the Colts during his time with the Titans, Henry rushed for 1,432 yards (89.5 per game), averaged 5 yards per carry and scored nine touchdowns. He topped the 100-yard mark in half of those matchups.
Even without Henry, who has moved on to the Baltimore Ravens, the Colts recognize some of the new faces, with Titans receiver Calvin Ridley having played in this division for Jacksonville before joining Tennessee in the most recent offseason. Franklin said the Colts are also familiar with Tennessee’s current running backs, Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears.
The Colts could be without their starting running back, with Jonathan Taylor nursing an ankle injury that kept him out last week, and their top wide receiver. Michael Pittman Jr. has a back injury that may force the Colts to make him their 10th player on injured reserve.
And there are plenty of questions at quarterback.
Both teams drafted a player at the game’s most important position in 2023, with Indianapolis using the fourth overall pick on Anthony Richardson and Tennessee taking Will Levis early in the second round. Both teams are trying to speed the development of their young leaders.
Levis and Richardson have yet to play against each other in the NFL. Richardson’s rookie season lasted four games before coming to an end with an injury against Tennessee. Levis made his debut three weeks later with a win.
Richardson didn’t play last week because of a sore hip. Levis left the win over the Dolphins after hurting his right shoulder trying to scramble for a first down. Richardson is 4-4 as a starter, while Levis is 4-9. Both have six interceptions this season, tied for the most in the NFL.
Levis has nine turnovers, and Tennessee is tied for the worst turnover margin in the league at minus-7. He is working hard to play Sunday. He said he has to trust his eyes and “hopefully my body feels good to where I don’t even have to think about those things.”