My Two Cents: For Titans — And Their Fans — There's No Place Like Home

The Tennessee Titans aren't a good football team this year, but you wouldn't know it by watching them at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, where they are perfect 4-0 at home despite being 4-7 overall. They take on the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, and even though they're an underdog, I can see them winning again.

NASHVILLE — It's hard to make comparisons with an NFL stadium and the family home on the street corner in Anytown, USA. But for many professional players, the feeling is the same. 

No one comes into our house and messes with us.

The street code certainly works for the Tennessee Titans this year. They aren't an elite football team in 2023, and they're just 4-7. But they've won all four games at home in Nissan Stadium, and expect to get a fifth on Sunday when they host the Indianapolis Colts at Noon CT. (TV: CBS)

"As a man, you don't allow another man to come in your house and take anything," Titans outside linebacker Arden Key said earlier this week. "It's like that with football. We've got great fans that care. It would be a disservice for us to not go out there and try to get the win for our home fans."

The Titans have been two different teams this season. At Nissan, they have won four games and average 24.8 points per outing. On the road, they've scored just 11.6 points.  

That's night and day. 

True, who've they played has mattered. On they road, they've seen some really good defenses, like Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and that hasn't been the case at home. It is easier, and certainly rookie quarterback Will Levis — who's 2-0 at home and 0-3 on the road as a starter — looks and feels more comfortable at home

There's also plenty of truth to the fact that Nissan Stadium can be a tough place to play. Props to the Titans fans for being loud, and making things tough on opponents. The players take it from there.

Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has spent a lot of time as the visitor at Nissan Stadium. He played here every year during his seven years with the Houston Texans, and also plays against the Titans in 2021 when he was with the Arizona Cardinals. He has always respected Titan Nation for the role they play at Nissan Stadium.

"These fans are special," Hopkins said. "They're standing up throughout the game. You look up in the audience seeing no one sitting down. So, they're cheering on third downs. The defense is out there, and they're there supporting us. I have a lot of admiration for these fans."

The Colts are 6-5 and on a three-game winning streak. It's hard to get too excited about what Gardner Minshew and the boys have done though, beating the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots — the two worst teams in football — before beating the 4-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home last Sunday.

Indianapolis also beat the Titans in early October, winning 23-16 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Zach Moss rushed for 165 yards that day and Ryan Tannehill and the Titans offense failed often in Colts' territory, scoring just one touchdown.

Levis has led the Titans to six touchdown drives in the two wins at Nissan Stadium, and he'll need that kind of productivity again Sunday against the Colts., who give up 24.4 points per game and ranks No. 27 out of 32 teams.

The Titans can score on the Colts. They should have scored more than 16 the first time, but during Tannehill's four out-of-town games, the Titans only scored a TOTAL of two touchdowns in losses to the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, the Colts and Baltimore Ravens.

They're in an interesting spot right now. Despite their 4-7 record, they come strutting into Nissan Stadium like they own the place. (Technically, they do.) They don't feel like they're going to lose at home this season, which means beating the Colts on Sunday, and the Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars down the road.

So even though there are many fans who have given up on the season, that's not the case at all inside that Titans locker room. They are still working hard, and still all in.

To beat the Colts, the Titans will need to continue to improve along the offensive line. They gave up only one sack against Carolina, and rookie Jaelyn Duncan had a solid debut at left tackle. 

Indianapolis has a solid defensive front, and they get after quarterbacks. Defensive linemen DeForest Buckner (5 sacks), Samson Ebukam (6), Kwity Paye (5.5) and outside linebacker Dayo Odeyingbo (6.5) all cause a lot of problems

The Colts don't blitz much —  their 19.1 blitz rate is the second-lowest in the league — but they can still get pressure with just four rushers. Levis will have to make good decisions, and the line with have to hold up.

The experts don't think the Titans can do that, which is why the Colts are favored. They also remember that the Titans couldn't stop the run in the first meeting, giving up 165 yards to Zach Moss.

But the Titans defense has been better lately, and they're very healthy for early December. I think they keep the Colts in check on the ground on Sunday, and force Minshew into a mistake or two.

My attitude toward the Titans this year was that they had to show me. Well, they have — at home. I'm expecting that they will play well, and they will win. 

They are 4-0 at home, and I can see them going to 5-0 on Sunday. Because, as we know, there's no place like home.

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