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The disrespect continues: Titans ranked 20th in SI Power Rankings

By Drexel Perry | May 5th, 2008

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The beginning of the 2008 season is months away and already, the Titans have been given some bulletin-board material.

Following a draft that’s been universally panned by the majority of NFL pundits, the Titans continue to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the opinions of the national sports media.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, the Titans are ranked #20 in the first installment of his NFL power rankings for the 2008 season.

In addition to being less than optimistic about the Titans chances in 2008, King appears to be unimpressed by the Titans’ three-game winning streak that enabled them to qualify for the postseason in 2007.

In his mind, the Titans benefitted from a favorable schedule at the end of the year that allowed them to beat up on the weak sisters of the league; Kansas City and the N.Y. Jets; while winning at Indy against a squad that had already sealed its postseason fate.

Surprisingly, King places last year’s AFC South cellar dwellers, the Houston Texans (19th), just ahead of the Titans. Interestingly, King justifies this choice by pointing out Houston’s “strong” year-end run, which consisted of victories over the underachieving Broncos and a Jacksonville team that had nothing to play for in the last game of the season.

I guess in Peter King’s mind, the Texans were more impressive than the Titans while beating a playoff team’s scrubs in the final game of the season: Double standard, anyone?

It looks like 2008 will be a season where the Titans will have to prove everyone wrong. Here’s hoping they are more than up to the task.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 8:57 am and is filed under 2008 Offseason, Offseason, Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

14 Responses to “The disrespect continues: Titans ranked 20th in SI Power Rankings”

adam says:

May 5th, 2008 at 9:40 am

Yet amazingly the Jets are ranked #14 after overpaying for predominantly run of the mill talent this offseason. Carolina #10 - last I checked Jonathan Stewart can’t play QB and RB at the same time. Pittsburgh fell off at the end of last year - #12. Buffalo - a perennial 7-9 team is #13. But reading his expert opinions pales in comparisson to listening to his nasal, nails-on-chalkboard pontifications about the Titans not taking a WR in the first. (on SIRIUS NFL)
Dave says:

May 5th, 2008 at 9:40 am

Since my opinion is worth just about as much as Peter King’s, I have the Titans ranked # 1 in my power ranking. My opinion is based on the fact that I am a life long Oilers/Titans fan and because I say so………bias anyone?
Tom Gower says:

May 5th, 2008 at 10:31 am

Not commenting on his irrational love for Carolina (John Fox must be a REALLY good source) or some other teams, and freely admitting that I sometimes tend toward pessimism, the category description “Could win 10, could win 6″ sounds accurate to me.
Andrew Strickert says:

May 5th, 2008 at 11:38 am

Dave, I believe your opinion is worth more than Peter King’s. What does he know?

“Could win 10, could win 6″ is probably applicable to half the teams in the league. So why #20 and why not more respect for the Titans? King must perceive them as the Rodney Dangerfields of the NFL.
kevin b says:

May 5th, 2008 at 1:23 pm

hey guys! i agree with the “no resect” vibe,also how bout that every NFL talking head had as many as/and up to 4 wide outs going in the first round !we did not bite,…take a RB So the titians were reaching for our pick AND didnt give vince a weapon , what about the reast of the teams who passed on sweed,thomas,etc,tec, in the first round. I have found people like p. king and m.hoge have it out for bud adams but seem to love other ownership types.jusy my thoughts, . …I think we can agree the being below the radar is better for the team play off run.
jerry t says:

May 5th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

peter king is not god.he can judge these nuuuu**s.
titans should be ranked higher but that’s ok, we’ll show all of america this team will be better than all of any years team.titans #1………….weapons on special teams now.atleast one or two TD EVERY OTHER GAME.
Drexel Perry says:

May 5th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

As my article indicates, the biggest problem I have with the rankings is King’s belief that the Texans should be ahead of the Titans, thus making the Titans the cellar dweller in the AFC South.

The Texans still don’t have anything close to a solid running game, and Schaub still has a ways to go to justify the high price the Texans paid to attain his services.

Speaking of draft reaches, what about the Virginia Tech o-lineman that the Texans picked in the first round?

The AFC South is a tough division, but putting the Texans ahead of the Titans is a mistake, IMO.
Mark says:

May 5th, 2008 at 7:00 pm

Titans haven’t had a decent draft in years…they either have clowns for scouts or simply like losing. Either way, this was absolutely hilarious - http://nationalsquib.com/index.php/titans-draft/
beedee says:

May 5th, 2008 at 8:06 pm

well not that that i really care what these guys say, i mean they get paid to write so they have to say something, but i’ll agree with Tom that the “maybe 10 maybe 6″ is fairly true and will be until the titans prove they can score more points (read touch downs). They have to get more consistently (good) play at QB and receiver positions and remain stout on defense. i still think that depth is a major concern across the board for this team as well as a conflict of offensive ideology with the coaches. this may change with a stronger willed ‘Dinger but somehow i still see the grind it out and kick the field goal mentality from Fish.

Looking at this season’s schedule i don’t see a lot of sure bets for the titans, with maybe the exception of another possible lame duck game with the colts in week 17.

So let’s get al signed up long term and find him some back up at DT, and trade for Ocho Cinco!
Dave says:

May 5th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

If we can win games kicking FG’s, than that’s something I can live with. As I recall a game winning field goal is as much a “game winner” as a game winning TD. Is it fun to watch?…no, of course not, but I love seeing that “W” any way we can get it. Don’t get me wrong, I want them to score more TD’s and would love to see them blowing teams out, but I want wins more than TD’s. I believe in Coach Fisher and if grind it out and win by 1,2,or 3 is the approach, than so be it.
Eli Wahlstrom says:

May 6th, 2008 at 3:47 am

Drexel, us over at the Cardinals Report know how you feel. The Cardinals were ranked one below the Titans by Peter King. I think both teams are top 15 myself. Peter is awful when it comes to predictions so I try not to worry about it too much. The Titans could easily win 10+ games. If they were playing over in the NFC I’d have them a lock to make the playoffs.
Drexel Perry says:

May 6th, 2008 at 8:49 am

Eli,

The Cardinals have a bunch of good young players and it should be only a matter of time before you guys become contenders in a wide open NFC West.

Thanks for dropping by.
jerry t says:

May 6th, 2008 at 3:36 pm

By the time the seasons start we will be ranked in the top 15.And contenders in the AFC south.colts lost some of their swagger, so look out jag’s.Texans still
have 2 or 3 years to gell.
Jason says:

July 11th, 2008 at 7:14 pm

The Titans will be flying under the radar once again this season. The defense will be improved and the offense is poised to make a big step forward. People calling for us to add a big time WR, overlook the fact that Wideouts generally take 2 to 3 years to make a big impact. Seeing that all 32 teams passed on WR’s in the first round, it seems evident there wasn’t one worthy of a 1st round pick!

I love the Chris Johnson pick and I’m excited about the fact that now we’ll be able to threaten teams on the edge as well as between the tackles. Between Johnson and White we’ll field a formidable two headed attack. As teams prepare they will have to prepare to spy Vince as well as Johnson on 3rd down. I also believe that Heimerdinger was the right answer for Vince! He’ll be a coach that Vince both respects and admires because of his previous work with McNair.

The Titans are in far better position then most skeptics give them credit for. I’m genuinely looking forward to opening up against Jacksonville. Hopefully we’ll have a tandem at running back that will challenge Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. A more mature Signal Caller and two safety valves at tight end will help this offense immensely!