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What else is needed for Tennessee Titans to be respected among NFL's best? | Estes

Gentry Estes
Nashville Tennessean

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – During a timeout at SoFi Stadium on Sunday night, they showed Dr. Dre followed by Paris Hilton in a Los Angeles Rams jersey.

The rich and glamorous of Tinseltown have been spending more time in their sparkling new stadium. The Rams are trendy. They've become a hotter ticket, because they’re a good, star-studded team. A lot of pundits would have called them the NFL’s best team before their most recent game.

So an honest question after that game: When might they start saying that about the Tennessee Titans?

After a surprising 28-16 victory over the Rams, I’m not sure what else needs to happen for the Titans to be respected as a legitimate contender to return to this stadium in early 2022 for the Super Bowl.

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This game was a huge step in that direction. It was a statement, not just for everyone else but for the Titans themselves. They did it with defense, not offense, and it was perhaps their biggest regular-season win in years.

It’ll transform the narrative surrounding this pretty good team that just lost its best player in running back Derrick Henry and then was able to pull off something of this magnitude.

“We feel like we can play with the best of them,” said safety Kevin Byard. “I think we proved it tonight.”

For the Titans (7-2), it isn’t a matter of credentials at this point. They’ve got quality victories that could stack up with pretty much any other team, AFC or NFC.

Stars are made in Tinseltown, and the Titans had a few leading men on defense make an impression Sunday night: Byard, Jeffery Simmons, Denico Autry, even coordinator Shane Bowl.

But this conversation is – and always seems to be – more about respect.

As a franchise, the Titans usually don’t get the respect they feel they deserve, but by now, they’re not going to campaign for it.

Shoot, they love being disrespected and counted out. It works for them. For Mike Vrabel’s entire tenure as coach, the Titans have used it. And they’re probably going to keep using it, because the pool of motivation never seems to run dry.

“We have a lot of heart,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill said, “a lot of belief in one another and a lot of will to win. … It’s been that way since I’ve been here.”

Prior to Sunday’s game, Simmons told teammates that “Everybody (is) counting us out.” That was the rallying cry all week in Nashville. Byard told teammates to not let anyone else write their story: “We write our story.”

Tennessee Titans running back Adrian Peterson (8) celebrates a touchdown with teammates during the fourth quarter at SoFI Stadium Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 in Inglewood, Calif.

The Titans often say these things – and they simply repeated them Sunday – about resiliency and overcoming adversity like Henry’s foot injury.

It was interesting to hear an NFL veteran like Adrian Peterson offer his take on the Titans team he just joined in the past week.

“A gritty team,” Peterson said, “a lot of heart and just passionate about what they do. ... Really detailed when it comes to the small things. Well-coached. I see why they have had the success they've had.”

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That’s a typical Titans description: Gritty. Hard-working. Blue-collar.

Probably true, all of it.

But the casting of the Titans as the try-hards of the NFL has implied a projected ceiling – as in, eventually, they’ll run into a team with the talent to eclipse tenacity.

I’m not sure you can say that ceiling still exists for this franchise. Sunday was the second time in the past four games – the first being at home against the Buffalo Bills -- that the Titans have beaten a team that many were calling the best in the NFL with a national prime-time audience watching.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel congratulates Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) after they beat the Rams at SoFI Stadium Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021 in Inglewood, Calif.

And it looks easier from here. The Titans have made it through the most challenging stretch on the schedule unscathed.

Soon as that schedule was released, everyone’s eyes were drawn to a brutal four-week stretch beginning in mid-October: Bills, Chiefs, Colts and Rams.

To go 4-0? Simply out of this world, especially for a team that still continues to lack the respect that top teams in the AFC and the NFL are receiving.

Honestly, 2-2 would have sounded pretty good on the front end, when the Titans were losing to the Jets not that long ago. Who among the Titans wouldn’t have taken 3-1, even with a loss in Los Angeles?

Everyone, it seemed, expected the Titans to sink without Henry.

I’m guilty. I picked the Rams to win. I’m unable to wag my finger at any national pundits. I cover these guys every day, and I foresaw them hitting the wall. I’m still admittedly hesitant to buy in completely on a team with a such a disturbing track record of inconsistency.

If you look for Titans problems, you’ll still see some. The offense did struggle Sunday without Henry. That’s a concern. The injuries have been a problem all season, and they aren’t going away. That’s still concerning, for sure.

But the good vastly outweighs the bad. For all that might be ailing the Titans, it hasn’t kept them from winning games against a string of good opponents.

That’s five in a row.

And if this win didn’t get your attention, I’m not sure what else would.

Reach Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.