Showdown with Broncos Will Show If Titans Are Legit Challengers for AFC South

The AFC South was arguably the worst division in the NFL in 2015. That same argument can be made again this year.

But even in a bad division, there's good news. The Tennessee Titans have already surpassed their win total for the last two years combined, and at 6-6, they're locked in a three-way tie for first place. A word is circulating around Music City that isn't often heard in those parts.

Playoffs.

In Week 14, those hopes and aspirations are going to be put to the test. If the Titans want to put an exclamation point on the progress the franchise has made in 2016 and establish themselves as legitimate contenders to win the division, their mission at Nissan Stadium is clear.

All they have to do is beat the defending Super Bowl champions.

It's certainly a change for the Titans as they come out of their bye week. After going 3-13 last year and 2-14 in 2014, meaningful December football is rarer in Tennessee than sightings of the actual Santa Claus.

Still, defensive lineman Karl Klug told Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press (via Yahoo Sports) that the gift of games that count late in the season doesn't matter if the Titans don't win them:

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We're not satisfied with just being able to play meaningful games. We have to make them count. It doesn't do us any good if we play meaningful games and lose them. We need to make sure we take care of business.

"

Head coach Mike Mularkey, who has gone from curious hire to Coach of the Year candidate, told Walker that while expectations may have changed for the Titans this season, the focus hasn't: Take each game as it comes.

"They know what lies ahead," Mularkey said. "It's really a four-game season for our team. Again, I've said it, you can't let what happens anywhere else affect us. It's just about what we do and what we do against Denver. That will be the message. It always has been."

What lies ahead is the biggest challenge the Titans have faced this season, even if starting quarterback Trevor Siemian doesn't suit up for the Broncos on Sunday.

The Titans' surge in 2016 has been led by second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota, who has overcome a slow start to the season to play some of the best football in the league under center. Per ESPN's Jeff Legwold, Mariota's 117.7 passer rating since Week 5 ranks second in the NFL.

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Over that span, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft has thrown 21 touchdown passes against only three interceptions. And the next red-zone pick Mariota throws will be the first—of his career.

Mariota's numbers this year through 12 games are up across the board relative to his injury-shortened first season.

Year	G	CP	Yds.	Y/A	TD	INT	Sack	Rating	W-L
2016	12	64.3	2,998	7.93	25	8	18	101.9	6-6
2015	12	62.2	2,818	7.60	19	10	38	91.5	3-9

We'll find out just how improved Mariota is against the Broncos. No team in the NFL has allowed fewer passing yards per game this season than Denver's 192.7. The Broncos lead the NFL with 36 sacks and are tied for fifth in the league with 12 interceptions.

Given how stout the Broncos are against the pass, Mariota and the Titans will likely lean even more heavily than usual on tailback DeMarco Murray and the NFL's third-ranked run game.

Murray has been a revelation for the Titans. Two years after leading the NFL in rushing with the Dallas Cowboys, Murray has resurrected his career in Tennessee. Through 13 weeks, Murray leads the AFC with 1,043 yards on the ground, and the 28-year-old has averaged a robust 4.6 yards per carry.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

The Titans also have a more-than-capable No. 2 back in rookie bruiser Derrick Henry, but Mularkey made no bones about it while speaking to Jason Wolf of the Tennessean. Murray's the lead dog on this sled:

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I never played running back, but I know you get into a rhythm, you get into a flow of the game, and some of these guys, they get better as the game goes. The more you give it to them, the better they get. I’ve seen that with DeMarco.

Maybe that’s with Derrick as well, but he’s got to be careful of sitting here thinking, forcing, this is what people want. We’ve got a pretty good back. And he’s one of the leaders in the NFL in rushing. I’m not going to change something good to appease anybody.

"

That one-two punch in the backfield probably affords the Titans their best chance at victory Sunday. As strong as the Broncos have been against the pass, they've struggled stopping the run. Only four teams have given up more real estate on the ground than Denver's 122.8 yards per game this year.

If the Titans have some success on the ground against the Broncos, control the game's tempo and avoid costly mistakes, this is a game they should be in for all four quarters. The Broncos had problems moving the ball against the Jacksonville Jaguars with Paxton Lynch at the controls, scoring only one offensive touchdown.

And it's not as if Denver was an offensive juggernaut under Siemian, either. The Broncos rank 27th in the league in total offense entering Week 14.

Cornerback Jason McCourty told Walker it's important the defense steps up and does its part to help the team win the first of essentially a month's worth of playoff games before the playoffs.

"The only thing we can control right now is trying to get this win on Sunday and just furthering our chances," McCourty said. "So we know we have the opportunity to do the things we want to do. We got to win each game at a time."

In addition to making a statement that the Titans are a legit playoff contender in 2016, a win over the Broncos would help finally exorcise the biggest demon still plaguing the team. The Titans are 4-10 at home since drafting Mariota, but a fourth win in their last five games in Nashville would go a long way toward selling the idea of Tennessee having a chance at home in the Wild Card Round.

Even if the Titans do pull this game out, nothing is guaranteed. With the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts playing each other Sunday, a Titans win would loosen the logjam atop the AFC South but not dislodge it entirely. The Colts own the head-to-head edge on the Titans, and Tennessee dropped its first meeting with the Texans this year as well.

And the Titans have another huge test right around the corner when they travel to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15.

But still, a month after blasting the Green Bay Packers at home, another win over a 2015 playoff team would send a few messages.

It would say that the blowout of the Packers was no fluke.

It would say the Tennessee Titans are better than anyone dared think entering this season.

And it would say the Titans might just be that lower-seeded playoff team that no one in their right mind wants any part of in the Wild Card Round.

In short, beat the Broncos, and no one can deny the Titans are for real in 2016.

And they've got a real shot at doing just that.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter: @IDPSharks.