Byard: Titans 'Have to Win Out'

In their quest to win the AFC South, the Tennessee Titans don’t want to leave anything to chance.

With two games remaining, the Titans (10-4) lead the division by virtue of a tiebreaker – better division record – over the Indianapolis Colts (10-4). That means their place at the top is tenuous, at best.

“In my opinion, the playoffs [have] started for us,” safety Kevin Byard said Wednesday. “We have to win out. That’s our main goal.

“… We know how good the Indianapolis Colts are, and honestly we can’t bet on them losing.”

The fact that Tennessee and Indianapolis already have 10 wins apiece makes this the most competitive AFC South race in years. Only twice in the past nine seasons have two teams finished with more than nine wins. In 2015 and 2016, Houston finished first at 9-7.

The last time two AFC South teams won more than 10 games was 2012, when the Texans finished 12-4, one game better than the Colts.

As it stands now, the Titans clinch the division – and a home playoff game – with a win Sunday at Green Bay and an Indianapolis loss to Pittsburgh. If Tennessee loses to the Packers, it still can secure a spot in the playoffs if one of several other games turns out the right way.

“We're nowhere near where we want to be for this year,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said. “We've put ourselves in position to play meaningful games late in December and into January. It's really on us now to go make that happen and that's the goal. That’s what we want to do, is to play through January into February and win the last game.

“We put ourselves in position to be in contention for that. Now it's a matter of making it happen.”

Byard noted that a priority coming into the season was to win the AFC South, something the Titans have not done since 2008. If both the Titans and the Colts lose this week, Tennessee has a 71 percent chance to finish first. If both teams win, the likelihood that Tennessee ends up on top is even better, 75 percent.

It is a far cry from 2019, when it took five victories in the last seven games just to land the final AFC wild card spot.

“If you win, you’re in,” Byard said. “That should be the main motivating factor, regardless of the division or any of that. If you win, you’re in the playoffs.

“You saw from last year, if you give yourself an opportunity to get into the party, anything can

happen from there. Where our mind is at is on winning the Super Bowl.”