A New, Narrow Definition of Success
NASHVILLE – Life is a journey, not a destination.
Not so for the NFL. At least not for the Tennessee Titans.
They are the first team in NFL history to finish 9-7 in four consecutive seasons. Now, the last thing they want is to feel good about the fact that they win more than they lose. Or that they win from time to time when few expect them to do so.
The only thing they want is to make it all the way to the end of the like – the Super Bowl.
“I remember going to back to 2018 and we won a few games, and we were out there talking about ‘respect’ and those types of things,” safety Kevin Byard said recently on Good Morning Football. “After this run that we had in the playoffs, I have a different mentality now. We didn’t really do anything. Obviously, we beat Lamar Jackson, we beat all those guys but at the same time we (were) in it to win a Super Bowl. We had our eyes on trying to beat Patrick Mahomes and getting to the Super Bowl and winning the whole thing.
“Until we get to that point, we don’t need to be walking around with our chest up high talking about, ‘we’re this’ or ‘we’re that,’ ‘we need respect.’ We don’t need to even talk about respect until we win a Super Bowl.”
In 2017, the Titans ended an eight-year playoff drought and then overcame an 18-point third-quarter deficit to defeat Kansas City in a wild card playoff game. That led to much optimism for the 2018 season and the good feelings increased with a 3-1 start, which included three victories by three points apiece. That was the point that Byard referenced when players demanded respect from the rest of the league and the national media.
In 2019, Tennessee was all but left for dead when it lost four of its first six games. Then it won seven of the final 10, which was enough to make the postseason. Road wins against the defending Super Bowl champions (New England) and the team with 2019’s best regular season record (Baltimore) led to the AFC Championship game, a loss at Kansas City which has changed the collective perspective on what is success.
“We have so much more potential that we need to unlock, and I think we can get there through hard work,” safety Kenny Vaccaro said. “… It was a good run. It wasn’t a great run. We didn’t make the Super Bowl. We didn’t win and that’s the ultimate goal. That’s our goal as a team.”
Of course, the journey begins anew from the start each season. There is no credit given for what happened the previous one and no advantage gained from having gotten close.
“Obviously every year is a new year, and what you did last year doesn’t really matter this year,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “But, being able to bring back the number of guys that we have coming back, so many guys returning back on offense, guys that know the offense that have been in it for multiple years, you can just kind of build on what we did last year.”
In a couple weeks the Titans will go back to square one with the start of training camp.
Much will be unknown about what is to come. The preseason already has been cut to two games and might be eliminated completely. The number of fans in the stands for game – if there are any – is likely to be limited.
What is certain is that the only way the Titans will define success is with an appearance in the Super Bowl.
“Until then, we keep our heads down,” Byard said. “We put in the work. Take everything a day at a time. Just hit the reset button. We’ve all got to go back to work, go back to the grind … and take all the necessary steps that it took us to get to the point last year, but just try to take it a step further.”
Because that is the destination.
