NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Titans no longer sit on top of the AFC South, and they are headed to a stadium where they have never won.
The Titans insist it’s not a problem. Not as long as they stay focused on winning inside their division.
“We’re 6-4, we’re sitting in a perfect situation if we take care of our own business each and every game,” linebacker Brian Orakpo said Monday. “Colts are on deck, nothing else matters but the Colts right now.”
A 40-17 loss in Pittsburgh last week combined with Jacksonville’s win at Cleveland put Tennessee in second in the AFC South. But the Titans host the Jaguars in the season finale in a game that could be for the division title or a wild card, either of which would end the franchise’s eight-year playoff drought.
Tennessee has five games before Jacksonville (7-3) comes to town on Dec. 31, starting Sunday with the first of two straight division dates.
The Titans visit the Colts (3-7) looking for their first win at Lucas Oil Stadium. They have lost nine straight in Indianapolis, a skid that started Dec. 28, 2008, in the Colts’ first season inside their new home.
“This is not looking back, not looking forward, not looking at what any other people have done, we’re looking at what we have to do, and we have to win a division game on the road, and that’s all we’re focused on,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. “Nothing else will be talked about other than that all week.”
Then the Titans host Houston (4-6) on Dec. 3 before back-to-back road games at Arizona (4-6) and San Francisco (1-9).
Orakpo said the Titans will be fine as long as they ignore what the Jaguars are doing until they see Jacksonville in the finale. Orakpo noted the Titans remain two games above .500, something this franchise hasn’t been this late in a season since 2008.
“We’ll be just fine,” Orakpo said.
That said, the Titans know they have some issues to address after giving up points on six straight possessions in Pittsburgh. They also turned the ball over four times against the Steelers.
“I would think a lot of guys would be angry from that game, and the team we got next is the Colts so we got to take that anger out on them,” tight end Delanie Walker said.
Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey, in his seventh NFL season, is among at least 27 Titans who have yet to play a postseason game. He said the Titans are at the point where their mindset, pride and heart have to go to a new level.
“This is going to tell you who you (are) as a player and who you (are) as a team, and November, December is the time to do that,” Casey said. “I think we got the locker room to get it done. We just got to make sure we go out and prove it.”
NOTES: WR Harry Douglas, who is on injured reserve with a knee issue, practiced Monday. The Titans now have three weeks to decide whether to activate Douglas. The 10-year veteran said he felt like a kid in a candy store being back at practice.
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