If you build it, will they stay home? It’s a possibility, especially if the product continues to be as bad and boring as it was Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Nissan Stadium was half empty Sunday, as a good number of holders of the 54,000 tickets distributed decided they had better things to do than sit through a blustery, 40-degree day and watch the Titans lose for their 11th consecutive time at home.
Who can blame them for not wanting to watch as the Titans failed to score an offensive touchdown for the fourth time this season and recorded their third-lowest total yards output of the season with just 188 net yards?
There are five games remaining in this season and 17 more next year before the Titans are scheduled to close out Nissan Stadium and open up a brand-new $2.2 billion indoor venue next door in time for the 2027 season.
By that point, who knows who will be the coach, who will be in the front office or who will be on the field for the Tennessee Titans?
But the current situation being proffered to the public is terrible and doesn’t show any real signs of getting better anytime soon.
Granted, even though the Titans will be the primary tenant in new Nissan Stadium, the city and state are not really building it for them. They are building it to bring in major national sporting events like the Super Bowl.
Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a surprise visit last week, answered in the affirmative when asked if Nashville will be a Super Bowl city with the completion of this new facility. It also will be in play to host the Final Four, WWE WrestleMania and College Football Playoff games.
Also, with the stadium being enclosed, it will jump to the top of the list for big-name concerts like Garth Brooks, the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift, among others.
The Titans, well, they’re just nine dates out of hundreds that can be placed on the event schedule once the building is completed.
Still, as the primary tenant, and with state and city money being poured into their home venue, the Titans owe it to fans and the taxpaying public at large to somehow figure out a way to put a watchable team on the field sometime in the next 22 games.
Zero momentum
The Titans have offered glimmers of hope this year – most recently when they battled back from 20 points down to get within striking distance of the Seattle Seahawks.
But Sunday against the Jaguars felt like the squad was right back to square one, with no real offensive prowess to speak of. The Titans longest play from scrimmage was just 16 yards. Cam Ward threw the ball 38 times, but totaled just 141 yards. Simple arithmetic says that averages out to a whopping 3.7 yards per attempt. Boring.
And even when they get a chance to make something good happen, they don’t. The Titans’ only sign of life Sunday came on the first drive of the game, an 11-play, 70-yard march that left the Titans with fourth-and-3 at the Jaguars 10. On came the field goal unit, and off went any momentum that a more aggressive approach could have sparked. “Old Mo” never visited the Titans sideline again.
Asked to explain his decision, interim coach Mike McCoy offered this response: “We said if we got down there – and the conversation was if it was fourth-and-2 – we were going for it, if it was fourth-and-3 we were going to kick it the first drive and get points. That’s what we said before the play was even snapped, and that’s what it was there.”
It set the tone for the rest of a miserable day in what has been a miserable Titans season.
Ward, on the other hand, saw no reason not to take a chance for something better than Joey Slye’s 28-yard field goal.
“Yeah, we need to go for it, I believe,” The rookie quarterback said. “What do we have to lose?”
Nothing, except more members of a dwindling fan base that is obviously tired of bad losses and a terribly-run organization.
And no matter how nice it is, a shiny new building won’t fix a dull, downtrodden team.
Terry McCormick also covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com