–The Titans are at the bottom of a five-team race for the final AFC wild-card spot and one of four teams with a 6-6 record. The Baltimore Ravens, currently hold that final spot with a 7-5 mark.
To have a chance at the final playoff berth, the Titans may have to win out and get some help from other teams who are ahead of them. But cornerback Logan Ryan says the Titans can’t worry about what other teams do just yet with four games left to play.
“Before you can get help from other people, you’ve got to help yourself, and we’ve got to help ourselves with this one,” Ryan said.
–The Titans schedule in the final month is very favorable in a couple of ways. They have four home games in the final month, including Sunday’s win over the Jets. But counting preparing for the Jets after a Monday night road game, the Titans are on a short week in three of their final five games. They play Thursday at home with Jacksonville and later host the Redskins on Dec 22, a Saturday game.
Such changes mean adjusting the body, which is used to a routine of playing mostly Sunday afternoon contests.
“It’s a complex problem that these short weeks present in multiple games, because you have a routine and a body clock,” veteran linebacker Derrick Morgan said. “Your body is used to waking up at a certain time, getting a certain amount of hours of sleep, getting a certain amount of lifts in a week.
“So when you’re on a short week, you’ve got to turn your attention to the mental side of it, the mental preparation, and know how hard you can push. You don’t want to burn yourself out, but you still want to stay in shape and stay tuned up. It’s a very gentle balance you have to find during these weeks.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 – The number of consecutive wins the Titans have over the Jaguars. Tennessee swept Jacksonville last year and has won five of the past six games vs the Jags.
