The NFL Has Not Seen a Win Streak Like the Titans' in Some Time

Mike Vrabel's team has strung together five straight wins in a manner no team has since the 2006 Denver Broncos.

Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports

NASHVILLE – Winning is nothing new for the Tennessee Titans.

The way they have done it recently, however, is a bit old-fashioned.

Tennessee has won five straight ahead of Sunday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Only the Philadelphia Eagles, at 8-0, currently have a longer streak. The Minnesota Vikings have a five-game win streak of their own.

The Titans (5-2), however, the first team in the NFL since 2006 to win five in a row without scoring more than 24 points in any of those victories. By comparison, the Eagles have scored 24 or more in seven of their eight and have topped 30 twice. Similarly, the Vikings’ lowest point total in their streak is 24 points, and four of the five have included more than that.

“They lose the first two games and then they go five straight,” Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said of the Titans. “So, they’re geared up. It looked to me that they got back to their Tennessee formula in the last couple of weeks which is play great defense, run the football, control the clock a little bit, win on third down.”

The run started with a 24-22 triumph over Las Vegas in Week 3, and their point total has declined with each of the last three, capped by last Sunday’s 17-10 victory at Houston. Only one of the games was decided by more than a touchdown. Tennessee did not trail in the fourth quarter of any of those wins, but four of the five were in doubt until the final minutes.

The average margin of victory during the streak has been 5.8 points.

“We have to continue to make sure that we appreciate who we are,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “There certainly is the element that we have to run the football. We have to be able to create a lot of things off of that. Defensively we have to make sure that we're not giving up X-plays and all those things. There is a physical style and brand that we want to play with.”

Those 2006 Broncos, with veteran Jake Plummer at quarterback and rookie Jay Cutler seeing occasional duty, relied heavily on their defense, which allowed just 26 points in all – never more than seven in a contest – during that run, which began in Week 2. They lost four in a row later in the year, finished 9-7 and failed to make the playoffs.

Their average margin of victory was 8.6 points.

To make it six in a row, the Titans will have to get past an opponent with a notable streak of its own. The Cheifs have won 22 straight in November and December, a run that began after a 35-32 loss to Tennessee on Nov. 10, 2019 at Nissan Stadium.

“(The Titans) are a good football team and if you have turnovers early, they’re going to capitalize – all those things,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. “… (We’re) looking forward to playing a good team that you’ve got this little rivalry thing going with, so I think that’s what the guys are looking forward to most is that opportunity to play against them.”

Tennessee also had win streaks of at least five games in 2020 and 2021. Eventually, it finished first in the AFC South and earned the right to host the playoff opener in both campaigns.

With their current run, the Titans became the first in the NFL this season to make it three straight years with a run of five or more. Four other teams can join them, including the Chiefs who have victories in three of their last four but have not won more than two in a row yet in 2022.

“It’s just another game for us,” Titans inside linebacker David Long said. “Next (opponent) on the schedule. We’re going to prepare the same way we’ve been preparing these last few weeks. It’s been doing us right.

“So, just don’t change anything. … Just go out there ready to play on Sunday.”