With the release of the Tennessee Titans’ 2020 schedule, there were a few things that caught our eye, some good and some bad.
Before we get to the biggest takeaways, here’s a remind of what the Titans’ upcoming slate look like.
- Week 1: Titans at Broncos
- Week 2: Titans vs. Jaguars
- Week 3: Titans at Vikings
- Week 4: Titans vs. Steelers
- Week 5: Titans vs. Bills
- Week 6: Titans vs. Texans
- Week 7: BYE
- Week 8: Titans at Bengals
- Week 9: Titans vs. Bears
- Week 10: Titans vs. Colts
- Week 11: Titans at Ravens
- Week 12: Titans at Colts
- Week 13: Titans vs. Browns
- Week 14: Titans at Jaguars
- Week 15: Titans vs. Lions
- Week 16: Titans at Packers
- Week 17: Titans at Texans
Now, on to the takeaways.
Not a lot of travel
One of the more underrated aspects of a team’s schedule is travel, and the Titans don’t have to do a lot of it in 2020.
After having a West Coast game against the Raiders last season, the Titans won’t have to travel farther west than Denver this season, a trip that will come in Week 1.
After that, most of the traveling that needs to be done is relatively close. Granted, the Titans have a slew of road games to close out the season, but that’s offset by the fact that the Titans have five home games from Weeks 4 through 10.
Tough start, tough finish
The Titans will open up their 2020 season with four home games in their first six, but those games will include contests against two teams on the rise (at Broncos, vs. Steelers) and three 2019 playoff teams (at Vikings, vs. Bills, vs. Texans). The only real reprieve in that stretch is against the Jaguars.
As nice as it’s going to be for the Titans to have five home games in the second quarter of the season, the flip side of that is the final stretch in which the Titans are going to have five road games in their last seven weeks.
That stretch starts with the AFC’s No. 1 seed from 2019 in the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11. Then, the Titans have three divisional road games (Week 12 at Colts, Week 14 at Jaguars and Week 17 at Texans) and a matchup with the Green Bay Packers at frigid Lambeau Field in Week 16.
A lot of old friends
Some of the Titans’ recently-departed players will have their first cracks at their old team in 2020. It starts in Week 1 when the Titans meet Jurrell Casey and the Broncos in what will be an emotional first meeting between the two sides on Monday Night Football.
After that, the Titans have Tajae Sharpe and the Vikings in Week 3, LeShaun Sims and the Bengals in Week 8, Jack Conklin and the Browns in Week 13, and Matt LaFleur and the Packers in Week 16.
You can even throw the game with the Detroit Lions in the mix, as former Titans inside linebackers coach Tyrone McKenzie took the same role with Tennessee’s Week 15 opponent after he left the organization this offseason.
Nothing easy about it
We keep seeing that the Titans have one of the easiest strength of schedules in the NFL based on 2020 over/under win totals of their opponents, but that seems a bit misleading.
As we pointed out in our article about the Titans’ so-called easiest opponents in 2020, even those squads will be tricky to navigate.
Games against the Jaguars and Bengals should be on the easier side of things, but the other three we listed — the Lions, Bears and Browns — are all dangerous teams that could give the Titans fits. It wouldn’t be crazy to think the Browns could even make the playoffs in 2020.
There are also five playoff teams from 2019 on the schedule (Vikings, Bills, Ravens, Packers, Texans) and three others (Broncos, Steelers, Colts) who are on the rise and could push to make the playoffs this season.
Prime-time respect
The Titans are tied for the third-most prime-time games in 2020 with three, which is a far cry from the one prime-time game Tennessee saw last season.
The last time the Titans had this many prime-time games was in 2018, which was the season after the franchise made the playoffs and won a postseason game in 2017.
When the Titans do well, they’re typically rewarded with extra prime-time games, and that seems to have happened here.
