Week 15 Outlook and Titans/Bye Week Recap: No Room For Error

I am back after taking last week off thanks to the bye. I realized I could’ve written the Titan’s recap for last Friday but figured it just be easier to loop both weeks into one blog leading up to Sunday. We got back in the win column and were able to go into the bye week with a little cushion for the 7th seed. Thankfully, I am through the 5 stages of grief as all I needed was to see this team finally win a game. If we lose that game, our season is pretty much over. 

There’s not too much to recap from the Titan’s game. We came out hot and were able to play from ahead. Due to the week before, there was still a lingering sense of discomfort despite being up by two scores for most of the game. We handled our business leading to a hesitant realization that I did not enjoy wrestling with. We are last year’s Dolphins. We beat the breaks off bad teams and are incapable of taking down anyone actually good. We were handed an easy schedule and have taken advantage of it throughout the season. The hard part of the realization is that it will likely lead to a first round exit in the playoffs. However, I can’t get upset by it. Obviously, we all would like to beat good teams. But it’s not a bad thing by any means. We could be in a much worse position. We’re still playing with house money this year. 

The playoff situation has gotten interested. We are one game back from the 6 seed and 1 game ahead of being out of the playoffs. The Rams worry me. They have saved their best ball for late in the season. Beating the Bills was very unfortunate for our chances. Yesterday’s outcome only makes things that much more interesting. Of course Deebo runs his mouth just to drop a ball that easily turns into a touchdown. They have two cakewalks and the Seahawks left on their schedule. Maybe, Rodgers can pull his head out of his ass for 60 minutes. Regardless, there is no more room for error in our schedule. We control our own destiny and have to go 3-1 over the last 4 games. Our schedule favors us as long as we don’t lay another dud like we did against the Cowboy’s a couple weeks ago. We luckily have the tie breaker over the Rams thanks to our in conference record. Anything can happen but plain in simple, we need to win tomorrow. 

The bye week was extremely needed for this team. I don’t think it is not a hot take whatsoever to say Week 14 byes just shouldn’t exist. It is way too late in the season for teams to finally get a week off. We have lost both Ekeler and Noah Brown for unknown time periods. It seems like Noah is done for the year and Ekeler should be back for the playoffs. Besides those two, we were finally able to get healthy. It’s looking like we will get to watch the debut of the stud cornerback we traded for weeks ago. It is fitting his debut will come against the team we just traded for him from. It would be full circle to watch him grab a pick and take it to the house. With their quarterback situation, it wouldn’t surprise me at all. 

To get into the game on Sunday, we are favored by about a touchdown going into it. They are without their starting quarterback and potentially their running back too. No Kamara would be much bigger than no Carr. I must state I will be extra upset if we lose this game after seeing the pictures of their zesty backup quarterback. The guy just has an extremely punchable face and I don’t think I’ll be able to mentally handle losing to this dude. If we do lose this game, it could be the end of the blog for good. 

It will be a revenge game for our previous 2nd overall pick. I’ve seen some stats showing he’s been playing well lately. It’s hard to imagine he’s not coming into this one with a chip on his shoulder. With the season coming to a close on a one year deal, he already has something to play for. Probably the last thing I’d like to see is a game where he reverts back to rookie year form and takes over the game. I don’t expect this to be the case; however: I’ve prepared myself to be ready for anything when watching this team. Despite efforts to forget about it, the recency bias will remain for years to come. 

With my recent realization, I have confidence in us to bring home 3 of the last 4 games. The Eagles game is a divisional game and anything can happen during those. We saw that first hand against the Cowboys. Contrary to the Kinsburgy second half of the season woes, Dan Quinn as a head coach has gone 16-4 over the last four games during his tenures. Theres a star to give everyone some hope. I hope we take care of business and leave no doubts tomorrow. I’m excited to watch Jayden play football again. It’s been way too long. Wishing everyone a great Saturday. The winner of today’s Army Navy game is always America. Looking forward to writing back next week about tomorrow’s win. 

Photo Credit: AP Photo / Matt Slocum