The Tennessee Titans did a great job this offseason trying to rid itself of a putrid era of football over the last four years. New head coach Robert Saleh’s coaching staff is filled with experience and strong resumes. The franchise launched a new brand with new, fresh colors, uniforms, and logo to go along with the biggest free agency spend in the NFL’s new year. 

Only to get their asses kicked by the New York Jets – the team that fired Saleh less than 24 months ago and who hasn’t been in the NFL Playoffs since the 2010 season. The final score read 23-10, but it might as well have been 23-3. 

The Jets spoiled the opening weekend for this new-look Titans era, making them look the exact same (or maybe worse) than they had during this stretch where they’ve only won 12 out of last 58 games, dating back to the seven game losing streak to end the 2022 season. Excuse me. Make that 59 games.

In the shadow of the New Nissan Stadium being built, this team on the current Nissan Stadium field had a chance to inject life into a fan base asking for anyone to grab their hand to pull them off the ground. Instead, the passionate fire of the fan base might be exhausted before the new ring of fire gets lit in the new building. 

Jets’ beatdown of Titans on the field has a damaging off-field impact

Apathy. That’s the word, and it has been the word for a while now.

The Titans fan base keeps hitting a new record of apathy each and every time this team puts what it put out there on the football field in Week 1. The fans who still show up, who still tune in, who still care are Titans fans through and through. But the broader base? It’s slipping away, and fast.

Everything about this feels misleading. It feels dirty, slimy, and salesy. It feels like you’re being gaslit. All the offseason hype, the training camp buzz, the joint practice dominance, and then the product on the field doesn’t match any of it.

In game one Saleh saw his team booed by the home fans, and he was asked a series of questions about that and apathetic fans.

“I mean, it comes with the territory. When you lose, you’re a loser,” Saleh said, to his credit, when hearing the boos.

“We’re going to continue to get better, we’re going to continue to work, and we’ll find a way to grow from this.” 

I do want to add that the business side of the Tennessee Titans organization is separate from the football side. The people who work for the Titans in charge of promoting the new stadium, handling tickets, and making sure the fan experience at training camp is great are doing a good job with that. But they are being made to look like fools because the football team stinks. And that’s not their fault.

Joint practices sold one story, the games told another

I watched this Titans team compete. I watched them get after the Seattle Seahawks and dictate that joint practice. I watched them dictate the Chicago Bears joint practice. Cam Ward was good. Receivers caught the ball. Tyjae Spears was making plays in the passing game. Tony Pollard was a beast. JC Latham and Fernando Carmona were opening holes in the run game. The Titans ran the ball well, threw the ball well, and looked like a team capable of building something. The defense made those opposing quarterbacks in Sam Darnold and Caleb Williams earn it. 

Then they come out and do this against Geno Smith and the Jets.

The narrative was “preseason games don’t matter” when the Titans starters go bested by the motivated Seahawks backups in that preseason game. And sure, they tried in joint practice and looked good doing it. That is true. But you have to follow it up and actually do something on the football field. Treat the game like it’s a joint practice then, damn it.

The Titans fan base is about to burn

This city is going to stop caring. That’s what’s happening in Nashville and surrounding areas. The Titans fan base, the block, the whole neighborhood, is in full riot mode. And the people who should be putting out the fires are watching it happen because they don’t care anymore. They gave up.

Did we overhype a must-win narrative? Some will say that. But I think we were pretty spot on, because this place is burning. The frustration isn’t manufactured. It’s earned. Every misleading glimpse of competence followed by the same old result on game day adds another layer of disconnect between this franchise and the city it plays in.

Apathy is worse than anger. Anger means people still care. Right now, too many Titans fans have stopped feeling altogether.

The Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) come to Nashville in Week 2. I’m sure that will be better. Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and that stacked defense opened as 7.5-point road favorites.