Return to Glory: Could the Tennessee Titans Be Heading Back into the Spotlight?

The Titans have been quietly rebuilding ever since the salary cap departures and loss of Steve McNair in '05, but they had no plans of staying at the bottom of the NFL pack for long.

in 2006 with Vince Young, the Tennesse Titans spent some time at the bottom of the NFL pack. There is no doubt that the salary cap disaster the franchise confronted after the 2004 season—along with McNair's nagging injuries, which only allowed him to participate in eight games all year—contributed to Tennessee's decline in the following seasons. 

But the Titans apparently had no plans on staying down and out for long.came onto the scene, expectations may have been too high, too early. After losing star defensive players like Kevin Carter, Jevon Kearse, Samari Rolle, and Steve McNair for basically the entire '05 season, the Titans fell to a scarce 4-12 record. Vince Lit the match that sparked the Titans back into action in '06, carrying them to an 8-8 record, at times carrying the Titans to wins (along with kicker Rob Bironas) in games against Houston and Indiannapolis. Although they failed to reach the playoffs after ending the season with a loss to the New England Patriots, Things were looking up quickly for the Titans.

2007 was a year of milestones and records. Weather it was Brett Favre eating up QB records nearly every week or Tom Brady, Randy Moss and the New England Patrots making history in numerous ways, things were happening everywhere.  One event no one seemed to notice was the fact that down in Nashville, The Titans were firing on all cylinders. As one of the youngest teams in the league for another year, they regained their swagger as a run-the-ball-down-your-throat team and with pro bowler Kyle Vanden Bosche and defensive cannonball Albert Haynesworth, asserted themselves as a hard nosed run studding defense as well.  Finishign 10-6 and losing their first playoff game in over 3 years to the San Diego Chargers, whos to say this Titans team wont be as good-if not better-come opening day 2008?

'08 could be a huge season for Tennessee, with the constant maturing of Vince Young, and the ever growing running onslaught, the Titans could pose a threat to the teams not only located in their own division like Indiannapolis (Who in losing their last 3 meetings, none have been by more than 3 points) and Jacksonville. With the acquisition of a big name receiver, an experienced corner to replace the spot that Pacman jones will never be able to get back, and possible a tough nosed linebacker to help out Bulluck and Thornton, i see no reason for the Titans not to assert themselves as not only a powerhouse defense next year, but a team that could really put up points. In my opinion, Jeff Fisher has done an amazing job rebuilding this franchise and if this offseasons anything like the last, we could see some bigger names enter Nashville and the restructure of a team that could be a real contender. A possible return to the Glory days in Tennessee is definetly not a far off thought.