Armchair Quarterback: ’03 schedule a tough one for Titans
If the Titans are able to duplicate last year’s season where they came up just short of the Super Bowl, they’ll be doing well given their brutal schedule.
Their 2003 campaign begins with the team which knocked them out in the AFC Championship game, as the Oakland Raiders come to town on the opening Sunday night for a nationally televised contest. I’m sure Titans fans hope the home team will exact some vengeance from last season and set the tempo for the new season by knocking off the reigning AFC champs.
The Raiders are one end of the sandwich as the season will end on Dec. 28 with the Titans hosting the world champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hopefully, by the time the Bucs game rolls around, it will still be a marquis match up between contenders with the stands packed in Nashville.
Of course, it will be a long three and a half months between the Raiders opener and the Bucs closer.
A slow start like last year could prove to be a big problem this year given their schedule. Last season the Titans recovered from their slow start with a good run against a softer schedule toward the middle of the season. They were able to gain momentum, winning 11 out of 12 down the stretch, righting what was a sinking ship with early losses to weak teams like the Skins and Cowboys.
However, the first five games this year — which include Oakland, Indy, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and New England — are all dangerous games. The first three are playoff teams while the last two are teams which just missed the playoffs last year. Their out-of-conference schedule pits them against the NFC South this year, which was one of the most powerful conferences in the league last year until the Saints mysteriously folded down the stretch.
In addition to the out-of-conference schedule, the AFC foes are pretty top notch. Top of the list along with the Raiders are the Steelers. The Pittsburgh game is up there in week four so the Steelers will likely be circling their schedules for a dose of vengeance from last year’s heartbreaker in Nashville.
Their next three games after the five opening bouts include Houston, Carolina and Jacksonville which are middle of the road teams at best, although the Titans tend to have some problems with the Jags from time to time. And, the Panthers showed signs of being decent early the past two seasons, only to crumble.
While those three games aren’t exactly automatic, the Titans get right back into tough competition after their bye week on week nine when they host the Miami Dolphins who won in Nashville last time they visited. They were also the best team in the league for a while last year until they did their annual nose dive late in the season.
The Dolphin game will be a key matchup between similar conservative coaching philosophies and two top notch running backs in Eddie George and Ricky Williams, who will be coming to Nashville for the first time in my memory.
After a return bout with the Jags on Nov. 16, the Titans have to travel to play two of the hottest teams from last year in the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Jets. Mike Vick and Chad Pennington will only be all the better from last year.
Then it’s the home stretch playing the Colts again and one of my picks to be a surprise contender in the Buffalo Bills.
If the Titans can tip-toe through this mine field of a schedule and somehow be 11-5 or better it will be quite an accomplishment. Plus, battle seasoning against all these class clubs will make them a formidable foe when it comes to playoff time.