Titans vs. Browns: Need to Know
For the third straight week, the Tennessee Titans will face a team that has the same record they do.
Things could not have gone better the first two times.
At 6-3, the Titans defeated the Baltimore Ravens 30-24 in overtime and jumped from eighth in the conference standings to fifth. It was a notable climb given that the top seven in each conference make the playoffs.
At 7-3, they went to Indianapolis and defeated the Colts 45-26. That moved them to the top of the AFC South and into third overall in the conference.
Now 8-3, Tennessee will host the Cleveland Browns (8-3) Sunday at Nissan Stadium. There is no chance to move up in the division or conference ranks, but the stakes are high, nonetheless.
THE OPPONENT
• The Browns already have more wins this season than they have had in an entire season since 2007, when they finished 10-6 but failed to make the playoffs. They currently hold the top AFC wild card spot and are on track to be a part of the postseason for the first time since 2002.
• Even with its record, Cleveland has been outscored by 21 points overall through the first 11 games (286-265). That’s because of blowout losses to Baltimore (38-6) and Pittsburgh (38-7) as well as a 10-point defeat against Las Vegas (16-6). The Browns have won three straight and four of the last five, but those four victories have been by a combined 13 points, and none was by more than five points. Their last double-digit victory was in Week 4 against Dallas (49-38).
• Cleveland is the only NFL team that has two players with 700-plus rushing yards this season. Only nine players overall have hit that number to date, but Nick Chubb has 719 yards and Kareem Hunt has 706. Those two have combined for 10 rushing touchdowns. Not surprisingly, the Browns lead the NFL in rushing offense at 161.4 yards per game and are the only team with more rushing yards than the Titans. They are 8-0 when either Chubb or Hunt rushes for 100-plus yards.
• Kevin Stefanski has the best record of any of this season’s new head coaches and is the first to win eight of his first 11 games with the Browns since Blanton Collier did it in 1963. This year’s other first-year coaches – all in the NFC – have losing records. None has won more than four games.
AT STAKE
After the victory at Indianapolis, Tennessee’s focus is squarely on trying to win the division and host at least one playoff game. However, there is no way to know for sure which games will factor into tiebreakers when all is said and done. Think back to 2011, when a Week 9 loss to Cincinnati ultimately kept the Titans out of the playoffs because of the head-to-head result.
Currently, the Titans are one of nine AFC teams with a winning record. They have played four and have victories over three of them. Add a triumph over Cleveland in this contest, and Tennessee will be well-armed for a wild card tiebreaker, if it comes into play at the end of the regular season.
WORTH NOTING
• The Browns have a chance to sweep the AFC South for the first time (the division was created in 2002). Cleveland topped Indianapolis 32-23 in Week 5, Houston 10-7 in Week 10 and Jacksonville 27-25 last Sunday. The Titans have gone 1-2 against the AFC North with losses to Pittsburgh (27-24) and Cincinnati (31-20) in consecutive weeks and the victory over Baltimore.
• With one more victory, the Titans will clinch a fifth straight winning season, which would be the second longest streak in franchise history and the longest since the franchise relocated to Tennessee. Before the streak started with a 9-7 record in 2016, the Titans had just five winning seasons in the previous 14 years.
• Cleveland is one of four teams all-time and the first since 1997 to score on a pick-six and a safety in the same game more than once in the same season. The defense did it in their victory over the Colts in Week 5 and again in Week 11 (a 22-17 victory over Philadelphia). The pick-sixes, one each by linebacker Sione Takitaki and safety Ronnie Harrison, are the Browns’ only return touchdowns of the season.
