The Titans were outplayed and outclassed in every aspect of the game, leaving the most hardened fan with a hopeless feeling moving forward. With the team entering firesale mode last week, this season is headed directly on a downward spiral toward the draft. 

The once hearty fans have had enough, even those with a higher profile in the Nashville area. First, it was Jelly Roll, now Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

Buddy tweeted the mayor about the football team. The mayor tweeted back. pic.twitter.com/HWL2dZXjrA

— Buck Reising (@BuckReising) October 27, 2024

Nashville is a tremendous city full of life and vibrance, and right now, the Titans are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Dismal offense, overworked defense, and a special teams unit that is arguably the worst in the entire NFL in multiple facets. 

The Titans are a bad football team, and the “we must play better, and we must coach better” excuses are not working. When it’s only Week 8, and even the Mayor of Nashville wants a refund, you know the season is over!

The Tennessee Titans got embarrassed in Detroit on Sunday. The game was close for a brief minute, but the Titans’ mistakes and poor execution proved too much to overcome.

This was by far the worst defensive performance of the season for the team, but when you take a deeper look, it’s hard to blame the unit solely. The defense was put in horrible positions all day, as the Titans’ special teams consistently gave up huge returns. The Titans also turned the ball over four times, which makes it almost impossible to beat a team like the Lions.

This will go down as one of the ugliest games in recent Titans history. It was ugly on all sides, and it’s hard to come away with any positives. The major positive to take away is that the season is now one week closer to being over.

https://twitter.com/GREEAR10/status/1850623846988259512

The Titans were down 52-14 when he left the game, despite Ridley having the most productive game of the season with 10 receptions for 143 yards. He has not recorded a touchdown, but he was instrumental in moving the ball down the field until he fumbled it away.

Ridley averaged over 14 yards per reception prior to leaving the game, but it simply wasn’t enough to help the Titans overcome the talent of the Lions. The Titans lose 52-14.

Both teams have officially announced their inactives for the game. Below is a full list:

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Tennessee Titans

• CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad)
• LB Cedric Gray (shoulder)
• RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring)
• LB Jerome Baker (NIR – rest)
• QB Will Levis (shoulder)
• OT Nicholas Petit-Frere
• TE David Martin-Robinson
• TE Thomas Odukoya

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Detroit Lions

• OG Christian Mahogany (illness)
• DL Joshua Paschal (illness)
• S Loren Strickland
• TE Parjer Hesse
• OL Giovanni Manu
• OL Colby Sorsdal

Those dropped today with multiple moves.

The Titans signed wide receiver Mason Kinsey, cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally, and offensive tackle John Ojukwu to the active roster. These players could all play roles on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

The Titans entered the day with one open roster spot and had to make room on the 53-man roster for these signings.

The first move was expected and mentioned as a possibility during one of Brian Callahan’s media availabilities. Offensive tackle Jaelyn Duncan, who suffered a hamstring injury during the Week 7 loss to the Buffalo Bills, was placed on injured reserve (IR). Duncan will now miss at least the next four games, keeping him out of the weekly right tackle sweepstakes.

Tennessee waived linebacker Caleb Murphy, who has been inactive on game days in recent weeks, to open a final roster spot.

The Titans now have a full roster as the head to Detroit to take on the Detroit Lions in Week 8 action.

The Titans elevated quarterback Trevor Siemian and running back Josh Kelley for the contest.

The elevation of Siemian likely means Will Levis will be inactive on Sunday. This move was somewhat expected as Mason Rudolph took most of the first-team reps during the week while Levis was limited with his shoulder injury.

Kelley being activated comes at the cost of Tyjae Spears, who has been battling a hamstring injury. Head coach Brian Callahan was optimistic that Spears would return after missing the past two games but struggled coming back and was limited throughout the week.

With backup Julius Chestnut also on the injury report earlier in the week, Kelley becomes some much-needed insurance at the position.

While announcing the activations, the team downgraded Spears and newly acquired linebacker Jerome Baker to out for Sunday.

After trading away DeAndre Hopkins and Ernest Jones, the already struggling Titans will be down two of their leaders. Now, what looked bleak to start the week looks like a virtual impossibility.

The Lions weren’t strife-free during the week, losing wide receiver Jameson Williams to a two-game suspension starting with the game, However, that did nothing to shake things up for those that monitor the league.

The oddsmakers agree that Detroit is a vastly superior team than the Titans and the line remains the same.

The Titans close the week as a whopping 11.5-point road underdog against the Lions, per BetMGM. The over/under is 45, and the moneyline is +475. This 11.5-point spread is the largest in the NFL for Week 8.

The Titans are a bad football team, and their roster got worse as the week went on. This season is lost and this spread is further evidence of that.

Coming off an embarrassing loss against the Bills, the Titans are banged up and could see multiple starters on the sideline against the Lions. 

Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (quad) did not practice and is out this week. He will be joined on the sidelines by tackle Jaelyn Duncan (hamstring) who was injured against the Bills. 

Newly acquired LB Jerome Baker (NIR/rest) will join QB Will Levis (shoulder), RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring), DT T’Vondre Sweat (hip) and CB Jarvis Brownlee, who was a late addition to the injury report and limited on Friday with an ankle injury as questionable for Sunday.

Full injury reports for both the Titans and Lions can be found below.

Tennessee Titans

Out: CB L’Jarius Sneed (quad), OT Jaelyn Duncan (hamstring), LB Cedric Gray (shoulder)

Doubtful: N/A

Questionable: LB Jerome Baker (NIR/rest), QB Will Levis (shoulder), RB Tyjae Spears (hamstring), DT T’Vondre Sweat (hip), CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (ankle)

Detroit Lions

Out: OG Christian Mahogany (illness), DL Joshua Paschal (illness)

Doubtful: N/A

Questionable: N/A

Baker, now in his seventh season, actually visited Tennessee during free agency, but the two sides could not reach a deal. Baker was at the facility for practice today, and although he did not suit up, he did talk to the media. He was asked about his visit earlier this year and why it took a trade to get him here.

https://twitter.com/TDavenport_NFL/status/1849540838973383087

“To be honest, I truly wanted to come here, I think the main thing was just the contract, you know, negotiation and all just didn’t work out. But as far as the people in the building, the coaches here, I truly enjoy it here. It just didn’t work out with the contract.”

Baker spent his first six seasons with the Miami Dolphins, where Titans linebacker’s coach Frank Bush worked with him during his rookie season. Baker admitted that Bush being here was a draw.

“I’m big on people pushing me to be the best person I can be. Not just on the field, but off the field. You know, especially having Butch as my linebacker coach, that was like a green flag for me.”

Through five games with Seattle, Baker recorded 37 tackles (21 solo), one sack, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two passes defensed and 2.5 stuffs.

Opening the week, the Titans were listed as 11.5-point road underdogs and that’s exactly where the spread remains as of this writing.

Let’s take a look at who some of the experts and insiders around the league are taking in the Week 8 matchup:

For the third consecutive week, the above panel unanimously picks against the Titans. That’s not at all interesting given their futility this season and recent firesale, but the score predictions did reveal an unusual pattern. Five of the seven who offered up a final score have Tennessee hitting 17 on the nose.

We’ll call that a quirk.

That trend carried over to other experts and analysts from around the league with 98 percent predicting a Lions victory, according to NFL Pickwatch.

Fans, on the other hand, give Tennessee absolutely no shot to win. Zero — literally zero — are predicting a Titans upset.