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          NFL Nation

          At 2-2, Tennessee Titans aren't so bad off after looking at rest of AFC South

          • Turron Davenport, ESPNOct 6, 2021, 10:00 AM
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              Turron Davenport covers the Tennessee Titans for ESPN. Turron is a former collegiate football player at Cheyney University and is a native of Philadelphia, and he has authored/co-authored four books. You can catch Turron on ESPN Radio on his show "Talking with TD" and you can follow him on Twitter: @TDavenport_NFL.
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          NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A stunned Tennessee Titans team headed to the visiting locker room as the New York Jets began to celebrate their 27-24 win Sunday.

          It was the first for the Jets (1-3) under new coach Robert Saleh.

          These are the types of games a playoff contender such as the Titans (2-2) are supposed to win, and there were plenty of negatives to pull from the game.

          The Jets scored more points in their win over the Titans than they had scored in total over their first three games (20). The 10-9 lead in the third quarter was the first time the Jets had more points than their opponent at any point this season.

          The Titans' offense made three early trips into the red zone only to score nine points. Tennessee's red zone touchdown scoring percentage is now down from 75% over the past two seasons to 50%. The Titans gave up seven sacks against the Jets, pushing the season total to an NFL-worst 17.

          Tennessee's defense continued to give up explosive plays and now has allowed five plays of 40 yards or more this season, which is tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for most in the NFL. As bad as things look after the Jets loss (and it looks bad), Tennessee still sits on top of the AFC South and already has one division win over the Indianapolis Colts in the books.

          The Titans are somewhat in the driver's seat. But the road they're traveling has been a bumpy one.

          "We don't really look around," Titans coach Mike Vrabel said, "but I don't think we can afford ourselves that luxury to say that we have one more win than the three other teams."

          Considering the things going on with the other teams in the division, things aren't that bad for the Titans. A quick look at the other teams in the AFC South should put things into perspective.

          "At the end of the game in New York, I was frustrated," Titans safety Kevin Byard said. "A lot of guys were frustrated. Then you let a couple of days go by and you realize it's really not that bad. We're 2-2, there are other good 2-2 teams, and looking at our division, we're still leading our division. But if we go out here and lose this game, we won't be in a good position."

          Byard is right. A loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-4) in Week 5 would be consecutive losses to winless teams and make what should be a very winnable division become a wide-open race, considering where the other AFC South teams are at this point.

          The Jaguars have an historic issue on their hands. The Jaguars are just the fifth team in NFL history to lose 19 consecutive games, tying the 2007-2009 Detroit Lions for the second-longest losing streak in the Super Bowl era.

          The losing streak isn't even the worst of the Jaguars' issues. Coach Urban Meyer didn't fly back to Jacksonville with the team after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday.

          A nine-second video showing Meyer sitting with his back to the bar in an Ohio State pullover while a young woman danced close to his lap was posted to social media Saturday night. Roughly an hour after his Monday news conference, however, another video emerged on social media that appeared to show Meyer touching a woman's bottom while he was sitting at the bar. The woman appeared to be wearing the same clothes -- jeans and a white top -- as the woman in the first viral video.

          Meyer has since apologized to the team, but that's not exactly the kind of distraction a team would want as they try to break an embarrassing losing streak.

          Then there's the Houston Texans (1-3), who are coming off a 40-0 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. The loss was the worst in Texans franchise history. Texans quarterback Davis Mills' 0.8 QBR was one of the worse performances over the past three seasons, according to ESPN's Seth Walder.

          It's likely that Mills will continue to start until quarterback Tyrod Taylor returns from a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve on Sept. 21.

          The quarterback issues don't end with Mills and Taylor. The Texans still have Deshaun Watson, who requested a trade in January and has been inactive the first four games. Watson has been accused of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior in 22 active civil lawsuits. The trade deadline is 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 2.

          Like the Titans, the Colts (1-3) don't have any off-the-field concerns, but injuries have taken a toll. Quarterback Carson Wentz is hobbled by sprains to both his ankles, starting right tackle Braden Smith has an injured foot, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton is on injured reserve because of a neck injury, and a high ankle sprain landed All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson on injured reserve last week.

          The Titans have to leave the frustrating loss to the Jets behind them and turn their attention towards another divisional opponent this week when they travel to Jacksonville.

          "Get back to work," Titans wide receiver Chester Rogers said. "That's the best thing you can do. You can't just sit there and say, 'Oh we loss to an 0-3 team.' You have to lick your wounds and get back to work. That's the only way you can change something."