The NFL enters Week 8 of the 2016 season. The playoff races are about to heat up. Here are five teams that are legitimate darkhorse playoff contenders.
It’s already Week 8 of the 2016 NFL season. A few teams like the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys have positioned themselves for what looks like probable NFL Playoff berths.
There even a few surprising division leaders like the Atlanta Falcons and the Oakland Raiders that are hoping to make their first trip to the playoffs in years. Atlanta hasn’t qualified since the 2012 NFC Championship. Oakland hasn’t been to the postseason since winning the 2002 AFC Championship, only to lose Super Bowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We think we know all the teams that have legitimate shots to make the NFL Playoffs in 2016 or do we? Here are five teams that are very much playoff dark horses entering Week 8. Don’t be shocked if one of more of these clubs end up being one of the dozen teams to qualify in January.
5. Tennessee Titans
Entering Week 8, the Tennessee Titans were 3-4 and in third place in the AFC South behind the 4-3 Houston Texans and the 3-4 Indianapolis Colts. Though Tennessee has lost to both division rivals head-to-head this season, there is reason to believe that the Titans could wind up winning the bad, albeit interesting AFC South.
Their schedule might be tougher the rest of the way now that the AFC West and NFC North look to have multiple playoff teams this year, but keep in mind that the Titans’ AFC South rivals also have to play those eight teams out of the division.
Tennessee does have its limitations in terms of personnel. The Titans probably have the third best roster in the AFC South behind Houston and the Jacksonville Jaguars, only ahead of that quagmire Ryan Grigson put together in Indianapolis.
As the weather changes, Tennessee is best equipped to win in cold-weather of any AFC South team. The Titans’ ground-and-pound tandem of DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry will be something second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota can lean on.
Mariota also has a better-than average offensive line in front of him and an elite tight end in Delanie Walker. So it really doesn’t matter how poor the Titans are out on the perimeter. Tennessee has the roster built to win late in the season.
Another interesting thing in the Titans’ favor is that their coaching staff is slightly underrated. People for some reason hate the job that Mike Mularkey is doing in Nashville. He has a good working relationship with offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie from their time together with the Atlanta Falcons. They’re doing okay, something the Titans haven’t been since the Jeff Fisher days.
Let’s not forget that the ageless Dick LeBeau is coaching this defense. The pass rush is improving under his watch. Tennessee isn’t going to be better than a 9-7, 8-8 team this season. However, that win total is good enough to win the AFC South. The Titans have already matched their win total from last season of three and it’s not even November.