Overreacting to Titans' Loss vs. Broncos

It's easy to look at a week 1 loss and think, one way or another, that your team is getting off on the wrong foot in a brand new season. For Tennessee Titans fans specifically, after a 3-14 season, it may feel like more of the unfortunate same. But upon a closer look, there's a lot more to this notch in the negative column than meets the eye. It's time to overreact, make some predictions and, perhaps most importantly, set expectations.

For starters, it's important to remember that Tennessee wasn't favored headed into the matchup. Denver held most every line by more than a touchdown and, even given their meeting that metric, the nature of the game is a great sign for the Titans' team plan moving forward.

Not to mention that Cam Ward had his team driving towards a potential tying score until a brutal drop by Calvin Ridley on a zipper over the middle dashed the visitors' dreams of knotting things up. To that point, Ward's performance and promising trends are maybe the hottest headline among many throughout the bout.

Despite his numbers, 12/28 for 112 yards, appearing thin on paper, Ward inspired ample confidence in his NFL debut. His reads looked sharp, as well as his chemistry with receivers, and the added benefit of avoiding an interception can only be taken as a positive sign. He couldn't quite take the Titans over the top, but compared to the performance under center from last season's debut, Ward's output was more than a breath of fresh air.

Tennessee's defense also showed flashes of promise, especially in the secondary. Two different Titans came down with an interception - Xavier Woods and Roger McCreary - making up, to some extent, for a lack of pressure on the passer as Nix opted to air things out more often than not. He was held to just one touchdown through the air.

No loss is a good loss, but there are certainly ones patently worse than others, and the Titans' opening week defeat is a good example of a "we'll take that" sort of scenario. Going into week 2 against the Rams, Tennessee will jump at the opportunity to play in front of a potentially rejuvenated home crowd. If Ward can manage to open the offense and come up with a few more completions, given the defense does their part again, the Titans could be looking at a much-needed change in energy and expectation after next Sunday.

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