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          NFL Nation

          Titans' schedule includes Monday night game at home against Colts

          Marcus Mariota and the Titans will look to defend their spot as the top team in the AFC South. AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
          • Paul Kuharsky, ESPN Staff WriterApr 21, 2017, 12:50 AM
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            • Covered AFC South for five years for ESPN.com
            • Covered Oilers/Titans for The Tennessean
            • New Jersey native and Columbia graduate lives in Nashville with his wife and son
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          The NFL has released its 2017 regular-season schedule. Here’s a look at what’s in store for the Tennessee Titans.

          Breakdown: The Titans have three sets of back-to-back road games and two sets of consecutive home games on a schedule that looks pretty balanced. Divisional rematches are all at least six weeks apart, which will help keep things fresh. They open with the Raiders in Nashville, which may well be the toughest game on their schedule, but they also finish with four games that don't look especially difficult at this point outside of the travel west: At Arizona, at San Francisco, against the Rams and against the Jaguars.

          Prime time: Limited to Thursday night games against the Jaguars the last two years, the Titans will re-emerge in a better national television setting, hosting the Indianapolis Colts on Monday, Oct. 16, in addition to playing at Heinz Field against the Steelers on Thursday, Nov. 16. They should be good chances to show off what they are building. The Titans' last home Monday night game was on Nov. 17, 2014 -- a 27-24 loss to Pittsburgh. There is also the potential for a game anywhere from Week 5 to Week 15 to be flexed to Sunday night.

          Well-placed bye: The Titans had a Week 13 bye last year, which made for a long wait. Without knowing a team's injury situation, the best spot for a week off is in the middle of the year, and Tennessee got that -- a Week 8 bye, following a trip to Cleveland and in advance of home games against Baltimore and Cincinnati. That means the Titans go for five weeks in the middle of the season with just one road game, at the Browns.

          Strength of schedule: 18th, .480

          Titans’ regular-season schedule (All times Eastern)

          • Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 10, Oakland, 1 p.m.

          • Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 17, at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.

          • Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 24, Seattle, 4:05 p.m.

          • Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 1, at Houston, 1 p.m.

          • Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 8, at Miami, 1 p.m.

          • Week 6: Monday, Oct. 16, Indianapolis, 8:30 p.m.

          • Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 22, at Cleveland, 1 p.m.

          • Week 8: BYE

          • Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 5, Baltimore, 1 p.m.

          • Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 12, Cincinnati, 1 p.m.

          • Week 11: Thursday, Nov. 16, at Pittsburgh, 8:25 p.m.

          • Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 26, at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

          • Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 3, Houston, 1 p.m.

          • Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 10, at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.

          • Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 17, at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m.

          • Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 24, Los Angeles Rams, 1 p.m.

          • Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 31, Jacksonville, 1 p.m.