Breaking Down the Tennessee Titans' Blueprint for Winning the AFC South

Being crowned the AFC South division champions was once something that could only be attributed to the Indianapolis Colts and—once upon a time—the Tennessee Titans.

That was until last season, of course, when the Houston Texans finally broke through the team's nine-win barrier from previous seasons. 

One of the key and most obvious factors that decides whether a team wins its division is beating divisional opponents. 

The Titans cannot afford to drop games to the Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars like last season. A win in either one of those games puts them in a tiebreaker for the division crown and guarantees them a spot in the playoffs.

The Colts and Jaguars are still viewed as lesser teams than the Titans coming into this season. If the Titans can finish with a division record of 4-2 or better, the chances of winning the division increase significantly.

The biggest obstacle in the Titans way of taking the division is the Texans. Part of the reason the Titans finished with a division record of 3-3 is that the Texans pulled its starters in the team's Week 17 matchup.

The Titans will be hard-pressed to beat a healthy Texans team head-to-head. Earlier in the year, the Texans dismantled the Titans in a 41-7 blowout. 

However, dominating the other teams in the division is not the sole criteria for deciding the top team. There are still 10 other games to be played in the season, and a lot changes throughout it.

Assuming the Titans are able to at least tie the Texans record and match their division and head-to-head record, winning games against NFC North and AFC East opponents becomes the next key.

Those games make up eight of the remaining 10 in the team's schedule. With teams like the Packers, Lions, Bears and Patriots set to appear, nothing will come easy for the Titans.

If the Titans are to challenge for the division title, the team must maintain its passing-game ranking from 2011 and improve its run offense/defense and sack totals.

That puts pressure squarely on the shoulders of Jake Locker, Chris Johnson and the defensive line. Locker will go through a learning curve that hopefully isn't too steep.

Tennessee has a rough start to the season with the Pats being followed up by games against the Chargers, Lions and the Texans. 

A resurgent Chris Johnson would make things a lot easier on Locker, but the two need one another to both perform well. 

The team's defense will be counted on early to keep games close. In 2011, the Titans managed to stop 23.2 percent of its opponents' running plays for a loss or no gain.

The Titans defense looked downright scary at times during the preseason, finishing with 13 sacks and eight interceptions (most in the league).

Jurrell Casey and Kamerion Wimbley have both looked like juggernauts to date, and the Titans need that to carry over into the real games. 

A stifling defense will give a still very suspect Locker time to grow more accustomed to being a starter in the NFL and will provide CJ with more opportunities to prove his return to form.

If the players and unit mentioned perform up to or beyond expectation, Titans fans can go ahead and get their hopes up for a first-place finish in the AFC South.

The Titans aren't far off from being able to do it, and no one has ever been able to predict the ebbs and flows of an NFL season.