The Tennessee Titans came up one game short of every NFL team’s ultimate goal — playing for a Super Bowl.
Tennessee fell, 35-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, killing their chances of going on to Super Bowl LV.
With the Chiefs punching their ticket, the Titans are left hoping that next year is their season.
The Chiefs were in the exact same situation as the Titans last season.
The Chiefs lost in the 2019 AFC Championship Game also, coincidentally enough, at Arrowhead Stadium to the eventual Super Bowl LIII champion New England Patriots. Kansas City used the experience from last season’s heartbreaking overtime loss to fuel a strong year with a 12-4 record and make an appearance in the big game.
While it’s easy to say “they’ll be back,” how often do teams that lose in the AFC Championship Game actually live up to that promise? What kind of season do the teams that fall short tend to have the subsequent year?
Going back to 1990, which is when the NFL adopted its current playoff format, the team that lost the AFC Championship Game has averaged a 10-6 record. Of those teams, 20 have made the postseason, while nine missed the playoffs.
Of the 20 teams that made the playoffs the following season, nine returned to the AFC Championship Game. Those teams include the 1995 Steelers, the 2005 Steelers, the 2007 Patriots, the 2010 Jets, the 2012 Ravens, the 2013, 2014 and 2016 Patriots, and the 2019 Kansas City Chiefs.
If the Titans can get back to the AFC Title Game in January 2021, the odds of them playing in Tampa Bay for Super Bowl LV are high. Of those nine teams that went back to the AFC Championship, seven, including the Chiefs, advanced to the Super Bowl.
The six teams previous that have advanced to the Super Bowl have been successful, winning four of six.
While there’s no guarantee that 2020 will be a successful for Tennessee, recent history tends to be in its favor.
But the Titans cannot rely on history to get back into the playoffs — they will have to improve the roster by re-signing key players like running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Ryan Tannehill, making smart selections in the NFL Draft and being savvy in free agency.
