Tennessee Titans Face Do-or-Die Time To Make Playoffs

The Tennessee Titans are right in the thick of the AFC playoff race after getting a huge win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the problem is the Houston Texans keep on winning despite their own set of injury problems.

Due to the fact the Texans have avoided slipping up even once over the last few weeks, the Titans now find themselves in a scenario where they can't afford to slip up anymore.

The Texans will have to figure out a way to keep on winning with their third-string quarterback T.J. Yates, but that's a discussion for a different day.

The Titans currently sit two games behind the Texans in the AFC South standings at 6-5, but the Titans will get the opportunity to at least shrink that to one game when they take on the Texans in the season finale at Reliant Stadium.

That means the Titans have to make up another game somewhere in the four other games they have left on the schedule.

Those four games will be against the Bills, Saints, Jaguars and Colts. The combined record of those four teams is 16-28, so you would think the Titans have a very favorable remaining schedule.

In comparison, the Texans will face teams that have a combined record of 17-30 when one excludes the Titans, so the Texans have a favorable remaining schedule as well.

This could all likely mean the Titans will need to win out to have a shot at moving ahead of the Texans, and the game against the Saints could end up being the one game that keeps the Titans from making a huge surge into the postseason.

Even if the Texans slip up against the Falcons, it would still require the Titans to upset the Saints to make up enough ground to catch the Texans by the end of the season.

There is always the very small chance the Titans earn one of the two wild-card spots, but it's very unlikely considering the strength of the AFC North and the AFC East.

The Titans would need the Ravens, Bengals, Steelers and Jets to all completely fall apart down the stretch to give the Titans any hope at getting a wild-card spot.

With all of that said, the window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller by the week due to the dropping of so many winnable games early on.

Chris Johnson seems to finally be finding his groove, which is really the only silver lining in this scenario. If he can continue to play at an elite level like he did against the Buccaneers, then the Titans have a chance to roll into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the NFL.