The Tennessee Titans have a chance in Week 7 to do something this franchise has not done since November of 2022: win back-to-back games.
That’s the number hanging over Robert Saleh’s first year, and it says plenty about where this team has been. The Titans are 1-5, but one win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6 at least stopped the bleeding in one area that had lingered through the Brian Callahan era and beyond. Now, a win over the Cleveland Browns would push that into something more meaningful: consecutive victories for the first time in nearly four years.
Saleh inherited a mess, and the results have reflected that. Still, snapping a streak that has run through three head coaches would be a clean way to start changing the conversation.
Last week’s AFC South win already helped him in that regard, especially after Callahan failed to deliver a division victory before being let go six games into the season. Saleh didn’t create the problem, but he’s in position to be the coach who ends it.
The Browns are not the same old Browns, either. Todd Monken, in his first year as head coach, has guided Cleveland to a 4-2 record and first place in the AFC North.
Tennessee also won’t be facing a stagnant offense. Cleveland has scored just 13 points in each of its last two games, but before that stretch it put up 27 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a close win.
Even in last Sunday’s low-scoring outing, the Browns still beat the Baltimore Ravens at home.
It’s a balanced unit with real upside, but one that leans on rookies Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion to make plays. Tennessee’s defense already showed last week that it can handle a stronger offense, as the Colts’ attack ranks seven spots ahead of Cleveland’s in ESPN metrics. If Saleh’s front can produce another six sacks, the Titans give themselves a real shot to make this a repeat of Week 6.
A 2-5 record still doesn’t look pretty. But two straight wins, and the team’s first home win of the season, would give the Titans something they have been missing for a long time.
In Other News...
Titans Suddenly Face A Real Question About Alontae Taylor
A quiet but notable subplot emerged before Tennessees game against Indianapolis when Robert Saleh made the call to bench starting cornerback Alontae Taylor as part of a reset. Saleh framed the move as a way to help Taylor adjust to life as an outside corner in the teams defensive system, and Taylor took the news in stride, acknowledging the decision while stressing his motivation to adapt and improve.
For the Titans, the situation raises a real roster and development question at a position that has been under the microscope all season. It also landed on a day when there was some good news elsewhere, with Julius Chestnut earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his punt block, while the team continued sorting through injury updates and practice participation ahead of the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Fans Noticed A Familiar Voice Suddenly Missing In Nashville
For more than a decade, Blaine Bishop has been one of the more familiar football voices around Nashville, mixing his former Titans perspective with weekday radio on 104.5 The Zone. The ex-safety had been with the station since January 2010 and had co-hosted the Cover Two show with Zach Lyons, giving listeners a steady, recognizable presence well after his playing days ended.
Bishop is no longer part of that lineup. His last appearance on Cover Two came on Oct. 15, and producer Ross Johnston has been filling in since then, leaving a noticeable change for Titans fans who had grown used to hearing Bishop's take alongside Lyons every week. [Read more 🡒]
Titans Could Make A Painful Deadline Choice Fans Knew Was Coming
At 1-5, the Titans are once again staring at the kind of deadline that usually forces a hard reset, and this time the conversation is not about buying help but about deciding which veterans still fit the long view. The reported stance is clear enough: outside of the rookie class, Cam Ward and Jeffery Simmons, just about everyone else can be discussed if the return helps Tennessee build draft capital before the Nov. 10 deadline.
That makes the next two weeks worth watching around players like Calvin Ridley, Tony Pollard and Cody Barton, all of whom could draw different levels of interest depending on what a contender needs. Ridley has been linked to the Rams, Pollard has been tied to the Bengals and Barton has been floated to the Bills, but those are only speculative fits for now, the sort of deadline chatter that says as much about where the Titans are headed as it does about where these veterans might land. [Read more 🡒]