Who should the Titans be rooting for to win and lose in the final week of the season?
Somehow we are at the final week of the 2024 NFL season. Even in a year where the Tennessee Titans have been miserable to watch, the season has flown by. We all long for a week 18 where we are scoreboard watching for playoff seeding, but that is not the case this year. Rooting for the Titans to lose, especially against the Houston Texans, doesn’t feel great, but that is absolutely what this franchise needs to happen.
Current 2025 NFL Draft Order
The Titans currently hold the second pick in the draft, behind the New England Patriots. Both teams are 3-13, but the Titans beat the Patriots head to head and the Patriots have a weaker strength of schedule. SOS is the tiebreaker for teams with the same record. Here is the current top 10:
- New England Patriots 3-13 .467 (SOS)
- Tennessee Titans 3-13 .515
- Cleveland Browns 3-13 .540
- New York Giants 3-13 .551
- Jacksonville Jaguars 4-12 .474
- Carolina Panthers 4-12 .496
- New York Jets 4-12 .500
- Las Vegas Raiders 4-12 .544
- Chicago Bears 4-12 .555
- New Orleans Saints 5-11 .507
What if the Titans win on Sunday?
If the #Titans do pull out a win on Sunday, they will move down one spot in the draft order for each of the following results:
-Ravens beat Browns
-Eagles beat Giants
-Colts beat Jaguars
-Falcons beat Panthers
-Dolphins beat Jets— Justin Graver (@titansfilmroom) January 3, 2025
Who do the Titans need to win in week 18?
This all starts with the Patriots beating the Buffalo Bills. That is the only way the Titans can get the number one pick. The Bills have said Josh Allen will start to keep his consecutive starts streak alive, but that he is expected to play for very long. The Bills have the number two seed in the AFC playoffs locked up so they have nothing to play for.
Then, we should be rooting for all of the other teams with three and four wins to win this weekend. That means we need the Browns to beat the Cincinnati Bengals. That is a long shot because the Bengals still have a chance to make the playoffs but they absolutely have to win against the Browns.
We also need the Giants to beat the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are locked in as the number two seed in the NFC playoffs. They have no motivation to win and have already said that Saquon Barkley will not play in this game.
It would also be good for the Jaguars to beat the Indianapolis Colts. One, it would get the Jags to five wins. Two, it would send the Colts into further disarray. After twenty years of having a great quarterback, you really hate to see the Colts going through it, said no one here.
The Panthers play the Atlanta Falcons who still have a shot to win the NFC South with a win and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers loss to the Saints. That feels like a long shot, but the Falcons will be motivated to win.
The New York Jets play the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins still have a shot to make the playoffs with a win and a Denver Broncos loss. I don’t feel great about that one.
We need a Raiders win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers have locked up their spot in the playoffs, so they have little motivation to win this one.
The Chicago Bears play the Green Bay Packers. The Packers have their spot in the playoffs locked up.
The Saints have five wins, so they are irrelevant to the Titans.
Who do the Titans need to lose in week 18?
In the scenario where the Titans beat the Texans on Sunday, they need their strength of schedule to go down to have an advantage in the mess of four-win teams. In addition to the games already mentioned, we should cheer for the Steelers to beat the Bengals.
The Washington Commanders have their playoff spot locked up, so hopefully they will rest a bunch of guys and lose to the Dallas Cowboys.
So to sum it all up, go Patriots and go Texans!