So now what? The Titans are 0-4 and going nowhere with two more road games at Arizona and Las Vegas before old friend Mike Vrabel comes to town Oct. 19.
By that time, who knows what type of fragile state the franchise could be in?
The shutout in Houston left many players grasping to find a reason why things have been so bad.
The truth is there is simply isn’t enough talent on this team to win games in the NFL.
The last time the Titans tasted victory was the previous trip to Houston when Will Levis hit Chig Okonkwo for a 70-yard touchdown. If you’re keeping track, that was 10 games ago.
Losing and struggles like that wear on players, coaches and the entire organization.
In a league built for parity, the Titans are far from holding up their end of the bargain with no realistic end in sight.
Brian Callahan is the easy scapegoat, and he might not escape the wrath of Amy Adams Strunk for much longer. But truthfully, firing Callahan isn’t going to change anything.
The failures of this franchise go far beyond what he and his staff can do, just as it went much deeper than just blaming 2024 on Levis’ penchant to turn the ball over at inopportune times.
This is top to bottom failure, beginning with the Adams family themselves and moving on down. In such dire situations, good people get swept out the door. Ask Vrabel or Jon Robinson, who each had a measure of success before running afoul of ownership.
Heck, Ran Carthon got really just one season before being booted because in 2023 the draft board had already been largely set by the time he was named general manager.
But it comes back to one thing and that one thing has been the utter failure of the organization to do what is now claimed to be the new mantra under Chad Brinker and Mike Borgonzi – draft, develop and retain.
Sure, Titans have been so poor at this that Sunday in Houston only 15 players among the 48 that took the field were ones the organization had drafted. That’s 31.3% of the roster on the field selected by Tennessee.
A few draft picks are hurt, a few others are inactive, but the vast majority no longer wear two-tone blue.
The failures of the end of Robinson’s tenure are well-documented, but now the Carthon picks are being eaten alive, too. From 2023, only Peter Skoronski was on the field Sunday. From 2024, there was only Cedric Gray, James Williams and Jaylen Harrell.
Kudos to Gray, who had 17 tackles versus the Texans. He was the only contributor from that draft Sunday. JC Latham and T’Vondre Sweat were hurt. Jha’Quan Jackson and Jarvis Brownlee are gone, and Williams and Harrell are marginal special teamers.
Miss after miss after miss in the draft has come home to roost and the results are predictably ugly. No more so than they were Sunday in Houston.