NFL Playoffs 2016: 5 reasons Tennessee Titans still make it
By John Buhler
The status quo changes every week in the NFL. With two games left, here are five reasons it will be the Tennessee Titans that win the AFC South.
Since its creation in 2002 because of the expansion team Houston Texans, the AFC South has long been considered to weakest of the eight divisions in the NFL. Outside of three seasons, the Indianapolis Colts have won the division by virtue of having the best quarterback in the division: Peyton Manning and now Andrew Luck.
Houston has won it three times thanks to great defenses and the Colts collectively shooting themselves in the foot.
Then there is the Tennessee Titans, a franchise that has claimed the division twice before in 2002 and 2008. Here in 2016, with two weeks left to go, there is still a chance that they can add a third AFC South banner to their collection.
5. Indianapolis Colts play Oakland Raiders on the road in Week 16
Not only do the Titans have a one-game lead over the team that owns them, Indianapolis at 7-7, but the Colts have the hardest game left of any contending team in the AFC South: Week 16 on the road against the 11-3 Oakland Raiders.
Indianapolis has defeated Tennessee 11 straight times. Luck has never lost a game to Tennessee in five seasons since being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. Obviously, the head-to-head tiebreaker heavily favors the Colts, but are we sure that the Colts will be better than 8-8 this season?
Yes, the Colts have toothless Jacksonville remaining in Week 17, but winning on the road against an Oakland team fighting for home-field advantage in the 2016 AFC Playoffs is a brutal matchup for any team in the final weeks.
The Titans need to win out to assure themselves of a 2016 AFC South division title, but knowing that the Colts still have to play the Raiders in Oakland can only help Tennessee’s confidence grow in the final two weeks and into the AFC Playoffs.