NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Derrick Henry just turned 30 and his contract expires in March. He left Nissan Stadium facing more questions than he has in a long time. But he didn’t have to worry, as he typically does, about what to eat.
After a vintage 19-carry, 153-yard game with a touchdown in the Titans’ surprising 28-20 upset of the Jaguars Sunday, his strict in-season diet relaxes and a burger from Jack Brown’s was foremost on his mind.
Derrick Henry/ Angie Flatt
First, he held a 13-minute press conference that was easily the most expansive of his eight-year professional career, during which he bounced between wistfulness about staying and reality about the potential he might move on.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jan Robinson’s been counting it down, game-by-game, as she approaches her final shot of tequila off the Mace Fask Krewe’s Spirit Sword.
Since the very start of the Titans' run at what was originally Adelphia Coliseum, she and a die-hard group of friends have tailgated in Lot N, Southeast of the stadium.
Sunday before the home team plays the Jacksonville Jaguars, they will have one big final party surrounding the game, saying goodbye to a curb area and eight or 10 spots adjacent to it where they’ve eaten, drunk and been merry for the better part of 383 games.
Ed Pulk, left, and Jan Robinson at a luau tailgate in honor of Marcus Mariota
Now lots A, B, C and D will be home to new Nissan Stadium. Other parking in the area will be part of the construction site or reassigned.
Season ticket holders are being offered spots in eight offsite garages within a 20-minute walk. Tailgating in lots surrounding the Titans’ venue has reached its end.
There are about 7,500 parking spots in the setup about to end. There will be about 2,800 when all the construction is finished, but some will be in parking decks.
A large park where the current stadium sits will come with opportunities for tailgating akin to The Grove at Ole Miss. There will be a large plaza and bars and restaurants. But things will be very different than what people are accustomed to.
So many of Sunday’s tailgates will be thanks-for-the-memories and bring-your-best.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Derrick Henry turned 30 on Thursday, three days before the Titans' season finale and what could be his last game with the team that drafted him in 2016.
He was named to the AFC's Pro Bowl roster a day early, though he said it was for play he's "not too proud of" this year. Sunday' the Titans will doubtlessly introduce the offense and let a guy who's been as much the face of the franchise as anyone in the team's 25 seasons in Nashville soak in the appreciation of the home crowd.
Derrick Henry/ Angie Flatt
The game will determine if the Jaguars win the AFC South and if the Titans finish with five wins or six, winless in their division for the first time since they were the Houston Oilers in 1982, a season shortened by a strike that included just four division games.
The 2023 calendar year was not kind to Titans football fans. Tennessee posted a 5-12 record, including the 20-16 heartbreaker in Jacksonville last January.
The team’s shortcomings are well-worn ground at this point. The offensive line is a complete mess, they lack dynamic weapons in the passing game and the defense is completely reliant on a couple of high performers along the defensive front to keep it from being a total disaster.
Harold Landry/ Angie Flatt
Rather than continue piling on those narratives or having the Mike Vrabel discussion again, I want to take some time this week to highlight a few Titans who have had strong closes to what will go down as one of the worst seasons this franchise has experienced since moving to Nashville.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mike Vrabel is typically very level at his press sessions. You can read his mood pretty quickly. He’ll occasionally get exasperated.
But the consistency he seeks from his team and has rarely gotten this year is a press-conference guarantee.
The season’s been a disaster, the major problems unfixable without an infusion of new talent that won’t come until free agency and the draft.
Still, he will try to get his team ready for its finale Sunday at Nissan Stadium looking for a first win in the AFC South and a result that can keep the Jaguars from winning the division.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – This was an embarrassing loss for the Titans. Not only a divisional game but a hated rival and a team that is playing a high number of rookies and young players with a rookie head coach.
Despite all those variables, this game proved just how far apart these two teams are.
Jake Downard is a law student who creates NFL and NBA content focused on analytics on Twitter as @JakeAndBall. He also works with fanspo.com. A glossary of the analytics terms he uses is at the bottom of the piece.
For a glossary of the metrics and terms used in this post, please see this earlier file.
If you want a perfect microcosm of the 2023 Tennessee Titans, look no further than the Week 17 matchup with the Houston Texans. This one had everything. Will Levis and Ryan Tannehill were pressured on seemingly every drop-back. The offensive line struggled with everyone from Will Anderson Jr. to Teair Tart, giving up six sacks on the day. The Titans were a miserable one for 12 on third downs. The run game was non-existent at times. The red-zone offense was as expected, and the red-zone defense was somehow ironclad. Before we get into the analytics, let’s discuss a few quick positives.
HOUSTON – The lead character in a 2014 action movie was an assassin who lost the protection of his organization as he sought revenge against the bad guys who killed his dog.
No, the story’s not fully similar to the Titans in their 26-3 loss at NRG Stadium on Sunday, but stick with me here.
When the small contingent of Tennessee media finished a short conversation with backup quarterback Ryan Tannehill and had dropped our cameras, I asked him how he was feeling after absorbing five of the six sacks the Texans recorded, some seemingly in an instant.
“I feel like John Wick at the end of the movie,” he said.