Colts Coach Calls Titans 'Top Team in Our Division'

NASHVILLE – Frank Reich is not about to dispute the numbers.

As the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts prepare for Thursday’s meeting at Nissan Stadium, one game separates them at the top of the AFC South. Tennessee, at 6-2, is alone in first place. Indianapolis, following a loss to Baltimore on Sunday, is 5-3.

That, in Reich’s mind, makes the Titans the team to beat in more ways than one.

“Obviously, a team that has established itself as the top team in our division,” Reich said Monday. “It’s a challenge for us to come on the road at their place and play a team that is good in all three phases. So, we’ll do our best to get ready for the game.”

Among the division’s four teams, Tennessee is the highest scoring at 29 points per game. Indianapolis is second at 26.0. The Titans also lead the AFC South with an average of 384.6 yards per game and in third-down efficiency with a 46.4 percent conversion rate.

Indianapolis, however, has the NFL’s best defense in terms of yards-per-game allowed at 290.0 and is third in the league with an average of 20.0 points per game allowed.

“They’re fast. They’re aggressive. They move well,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said of Indianapolis’ defense. “There’s a few guys who are different but the majority of the scheme has stayed the same. It’s hard to run the football against them.

“… They play extremely hard. I have a lot of respect for (Reich) and his staff and his players. These are usually pretty tightly contested games.”

Actually, that is not true.

Three of the last four meetings beginning with 2018 when Vrabel and Reich were hired to lead their respective teams, have been decided by two touchdowns or more. The Colts won 38-10 and 33-17 in 2018, the latter in Week 17 with a playoff berth at stake. The Titans won the most recent encounter 31-17.

The exception was the last time Indianapolis played at Nissan Stadium, Sept. 15, 2019. The Colts eked out a 19-17 victory that day.

This season, there won’t be nearly as much time between games. Sunday’s matchup is the first of two between the Titans and Colts in a span of 17 days. The return match will be Nov. 29 at Indianapolis.

“I try to look at it like anything that comes out in the schedule is to our advantage,” Reich said. “Oh, you want us to play the Titans in twice in three weeks? That’s to our advantage.

“… Obviously, playing them twice a year, we know each other. We know what we’re trying to do on offense, defense and special teams.”

With a win, the Titans will strengthen their claim to the AFC South’s best. If things go the other way, that notion will be debatable.