Tennessee Titans: 10 Best Individual Performances from 2012 Season

It was another disappointing season for the Tennessee Titans. 

The highlights were few and far between during a season that really tested the patience of Titans' fans everywhere.

However, there were still impressive performances from this young roster in 2012, and if it weren't  for these strong performances, the Titans could have very well ended up right at the bottom of the AFC with the Jaguars.

Let's reflect a little bit

10. Kenny Britt vs. Colts

Kenny Britt's only eye-opening game of the season came in a close loss to the Colts in Indianapolis.

The Titans really missed Britt's ability for explosive outings much of the season, but his 143 yards on eight receptions in this game almost led to a big road win.

Britt did most of his damage in the first half, helping the Titans to a 13-point halftime lead, which should've been enough to put away a team being led by a rookie quarterback.

What made this game so impressive was that Britt caught virtually everything that came his way as he got only nine targets.

The Titans need this kind of a game on a more consistent basis from Britt to avoid another 6-10 season in 2013.

9. Nate Washington vs. Lions

Nate Washington reminded everyone that he's still a viable deep threat in this thrilling Week 3 win over the Lions.

Washington's 71-yard touchdown catch from Jake Locker put the Titans up for good in their first win of the season.

Nate Washington is the glue that holds the Titans' receiving corps together with his ability to always make some sort of an impact. He always shows up in the box score with some decent numbers, but this game was definitely one to remember from Washington.

The Titans need to keep Washington for many years to come because these games will become more of the norm once Locker starts showing more improvement.

8. Rob Bironas vs. Steelers

Rob Bironas is the unsung hero of the Titans.

Even when the Titans lose, Bironas is the guy that keeps the score from getting too ugly.

Sometimes Bironas does more than just keep the score close though, playing an instrumental role in upsetting the Steelers on a Thursday night telecast in 2013.

Bironas finished the game perfect; four field goals attempted and four made.

His long of 47 yards came as time expired to put the Titans up six points at halftime.

Despite the Titans not finding the end zone after crossing into Steelers territory—almost handing them another loss, but Bironas deserves a lot of praise for kicking a 40-yard game winner as time expired.

7. Matt Hasselbeck vs. Steelers

Matt Hasselbeck's stat line may not jump out at you from this game, but the stability he brought to the Titans offense on this particular night made all the difference.

Hasselbeck managed the game effectively in a game where the Titans were heavy underdogs.

At the time, many argued that Jake Locker could've performed better for the Titans.

Now you can argue that Hasselbeck was the only reason the Titans didn't go on a six-game losing streak.

Hasselbeck also dealt with some ugly drops from Titans receivers in this game that kept him from going over 300 yards.

6. Akeem Ayers vs. Lions

The win over the Lions was certainly the most memorable game of the 2012 season, and Akeem Ayers had one of the better games of his young career.

Ayers had a huge sack in this game on Matthew Stafford that forced the Lions to punt back to the Titans in a tie game.

The Titans then drove to take the lead for good.

Ayers was all over the field in this game as he finished with 17 total tackles. We also can't forget that huge pass deflection that Ayers had on the Hail Mary attempt by the Lions to end the game.

5. Zach Brown vs. Jets

This was one of the sloppiest games of the year, but Zach Brown kept the Titans from coming up on the losing end.

Brown played a huge role in snuffing out the rare Tim Tebow sighting in the second quarter, getting one of his two sacks on Tebow.

He finished the game with seven total tackles.

The game ended when Brown fell on a Mark Sanchez fumble as the Jets threatened to steal the game.

Perhaps Brown was just in the right place at the right time, but you still have to applaud Brown's alertness to recover the fumble and ice the game.

4. Darius Reynaud vs. Lions

We found out for the first time just how electric Darius Reynaud can be with his 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Lions.

If not for this timely kickoff return from Reynaud, the Titans might have started the season with three straight losses.

Reynaud also played a pivotal role earlier in a play similar to the Music City Miracle, passing a returned punt backwards to Tommie Campbell for a trick-play touchdown.

Give Reynaud the assist on that special teams score.

That play put the Titans up 10-6 at a point in the game when the Titans were struggling on offense.

Reynaud burst onto the scene after this performance.

3. Zach Brown vs. Jaguars

What a way to go out for Zach Brown this season as he finished with two defensive touchdowns in a win over the Jaguars.

This is another performance that kept the Titans from losing another ugly game. The offense struggled yet again on this day, but Brown made sure that the Titans overcame that.

Brown also added a sack and four tackles in this game to keep the Titans from going winless in divisional games.

The win was meaningless, but it's time to recognize how good Brown should be next season for the Titans.

2. Chris Johnson vs. Bills

Maybe the Titans should find a way to schedule the Bills every season because Chris Johnson owns them, statistically at least.

Averaging nearly 11 yards per carry in the game, Johnson deserves a ton of credit.

Up until this point in the season, Chris Johnson had been a virtual no-show in 2012.

That slow start helped lead the Titans to a 2-4 start.

With that said, we saw how important Johnson is to the Titans' success in this game, finishing with 195 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Johnson gained 157 of his 195 yards without being touched by a defender. He also joined the elite company of Eddie George and Earl Campbell by being the only players in franchise history to have over 6,000 rushing yards.

There's no way the Titans would've won this shootout if Johnson performed like he did for much of the 2012 season.

1. Jake Locker vs. Lions

Strong outings are hard to find for Jake Locker this season, but this game against a gritty Lions defense was one to remember.

Locker was extremely efficient in this classic shootout.

It makes you wonder: how good Locker could've been this season if not for his shoulder injury the following week?

This is the game fans cling onto in hopes that Locker is going to figure it out next season and be the franchise quarterback the Titans need him to be.

Locker's final numbers were 378 yards passing and two deep touchdown connections with Jared Cook and Nate Washington. He also had over 400 yards of total offense.

The Titans have to hope that Locker gets over this nagging shoulder injury and taps back into what he did in this game against the Lions.