Ten Observations on the Titans' 2020 Schedule
Here are 10 observations about the Tennessee Titans’ 2020 schedule, which was released Thursday:
1. Five of the final seven games will be on the road. That is a first for the franchise since it moved to Tennessee in 1997. That closing stretch includes games against three teams – all on the road – that made the playoffs last season (Baltimore, Green Bay and Houston).
2. The first three division games will be at Nissan Stadium. The Titans will “welcome” Jacksonille in Week 2 (Sept. 20), Houston in Week 6 (Oct. 18) and Indianapolis in Week 10 (Nov. 12). The division road trips all take place in the final six weeks.
3. For the third straight year the Titans will face Buffalo in Week 5. Maybe the third time will be a charm. The Bills won 13-12 in 2018 and 14-7 last season.
4. The two matchups will Indianapolis will take place in a three-week span. The same thing happened with Houston last season and with Jacksonville in 2015. In those two cases Tennessee lost the first but won the return match.
5. Detroit looks like the right opponent for the final home game (Dec. 19 or 20). In five meetings since the franchise relocated to Tennessee, the Titans are 5-0. That includes victories at Nissan Stadium in 2005 (24-19) and 2012 (44-41 in OT).
6. This is just the second time the Titans and Ravens play in the regular season after having met in the playoffs. The only other time was 2001, when the clubs were in the same division. Baltimore defeated Tennessee in the 2000 divisional round and then swept the 2001 season series.
7. The Titans will not travel at all during October. They start the month with three straight home games – Pittsburgh (Oct. 4), Buffalo (Oct. 11) and Houston (Oct. 18) – and conclude it with their bye week (Oct. 25).
8. Things can’t go much worse for Tennessee in its first visit to U.S. Bank Stadium, Minnesota’s home since 2016, than they did at the Vikings’ former home. The Titans/Oilers were 1-6 all-time at the Metrodome. As they Titans, they were 0-3 and were outscored 92-34.
9. This is the first time since 2009 that the bye is in Week 7. That season, the Titans went 8-2 after the break. Of course, they were 0-6 before it.
10. This is the third time in four years that multiple NFC teams appear on the schedule in December (Detroit in Week 15, Green Bay in Week 16). In 2018, the Titans beat the New York Giants in Week 15 and Washington in Week 16. In 2017, they lost to Arizona in Week 14, to San Francisco in Week 15 and to the L.A. Rams in Week 16.
