Tennessee Titans 2020 NFL schedule: 5 must-win games

If the Tennessee Titans really want to turn in an elite season, these will be the five must-win games on their regular-season schedule.

One of the AFC’s biggest question marks can be found in the Music City, where the Tennessee Titans and their fans are hoping that the unexpectedly deep postseason run from last winter was a harbinger of things to come for a young team who might have struck gold with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

One year after the Titans traded a 2020 fourth round pick to the Miami Dolphins for Tannehill (along with a late-round swap of picks), the team signed the quarterback to a four-year contract extension worth $62 million in guaranteed money. Given that Tannehill played better than nearly every other quarterback in football during his 10-game audition, it’s a risk worth taking. Nevertheless, it’s still a risk.

If Tannehill plays in 2020 like he did in 2019, the Titans are ready to roll in the AFC South. If Tannehill’s inconsistency returns, the Titans have gone all-in on the wrong guy while also waving goodbye to core defensive pieces like Jurrell Casey and Logan Ryan.

Away: Indianapolis Colts

While the Jacksonville Jaguars are finished before they even start, the South should come down to a three-team race between the Colts, Titans and Houston Texans (see next). For the Colts, their ability to contend will rest upon the shoulders of Philip Rivers, who will be hoping to silence his doubters behind one of the best offensive lines in football.

The Colts lack an array of playmakers that Rivers enjoyed in L.A., but even with those targets, he was forcing the ball all too often for any team to overcome. The Titans defense need to maintain pressure in order to force Rivers to beat himself. Can they do that without Casey? Can Jeffery Simmons make the leap from rotational defender to full-time starter? If Simmons can be effective playing 70 percent of snaps or so, the Titans should answer those questions well.

That said, the Colts are also much stronger along the defensive front with their trade for DeForest Buckner. The Chiefs got the best of the Titans in the postseason partially due to their ability to control the line of scrimmage. Tannehill took three sacks and often didn’t have time to look downfield as much as he’d like. The running lanes were also closed to Derrick Henry in the second half. Look for the Colts to emphasize the same with Buckner’s addition.