A.J. Brown
The Train Daddy is back with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! I am finishing this article immediately after the Titans’ insane victory and “sweep-sweep” over those dirty Indianapolis Colts! They beat the Colts twice in one year!
What a four-game stretch! The Titans got four big wins in a row over the Jags, Bills, Chiefs and Colts. The Tennessee Titans sit at 6–2 going into November, essentially pushing the Colts out of the race for the division title. The Texans and Jaguars suck, so there’s no threat from either of those AFC South teams. But the Colts were right on the Titans’ tail going into the Halloween rematch. With this recent Titans’ victory, the Colts sit at 3–5, three games behind the Titans. And in all reality, it’s more like a four-game lead for the Titans with the tie-breaker going to Tennessee. Barring some catastrophic breakdown, the Titans have a firm grip on this division, and it’s not even the halfway point of the season yet.
The Titans’ next four-game stretch looks like this: a prime-time game against a solid Rams team in L.A., home games versus the Saints and Texans, and then a road game in New England.
The Rams (7–1) are a dangerous team. The Texans suck! Let’s be honest, the Saints (5–2) and Patriots (4–4) have both had some impressive victories, so (aside from the Texans game, LOL), no easy victories.
The Titans are fortunate to have a rather simplistic end to the season entering December. Four of the last five opponents—Jags, 49ers, Dolphins, Texans—all sit under .500, with the one team above .500 being a less-than-impressive Steelers team with a washed-up quarterback.
Want to hear something crazy? Ryan Tannehill is 4–1 against the Colts as the Titans’ starting quarterback. No other Titans quarterback has beaten Indy more than twice since the team moved to Nashville. Want to hear another crazy stat? Only two NFL players have more than five TDs of 50-plus yards since 2019, and they’re on the same team—King Henry with 8 and A.J. Brown with 7!
Respect is owed to this Titans defense. Things may not be perfect, but this unit has made a huge turnaround since 2020’s historically bad performance. So many people wanted to write this group off. The fact is they have been getting to the quarterback and been significantly better on third-down defense, and stopping the run has become a strong point for this team. The health of the Titans’ defensive backs is still an issue, but they have been fighting it out and have been the definition of a bend-don’t-break defense. I absolutely love seeing Kevin Byard get back to his ball-hawking ways, and mad respect to the explosive Harold Landry, who now has more sacks in eight games than any player in Titans’ history.
And, as always, respect to King Henry. He was set to lead the NFL in rushing for the third straight year before he went down with a foot injury.
Let’s talk about some other local sports. Why not start with Smashville hockey? The Nashville Predators currently sit at 4–4, and for someone who has cheered for this team since the early 2000s and spent a lot of hard-earned money on tickets (regular-season games, playoff games, cell block 303, baby!), I hate saying this: but screw the Predators!
At least, for right now. Sorry. Bridgestone Arena, to my absolute surprise, recently announced its COVID policy, requiring people to be fully vaccinated or show a negative test taken within the previous 72 hours. They went so far as to partner with CLEAR Health Pass to make it an “easy” process: just download the app and enter all your appropriate medical information.
The Predators President said the decision was made to make sure fans stay as safe as possible. One walk around Nashville’s ridiculously busy streets, packed bars, pedal taverns, the almost 100,000 people crowded around on Titans game day, and you realize how stupid this decision is. Especially since this is Tennessee and I have yet to gone anywhere here that has asked for such information. Not once. The Predators and Bridgestone, for whatever reason, decided to be one of the few places here that wants this medical information.
And for that reason, I sadly won’t be spending my money to attend any Predators’ games this season. I also, out of spite, hope this hurts the franchise financially and that they miss out on the playoffs for the first time in many seasons. I hope someone with a backbone over there decides this was a bad idea. I mean, by the time 2022 rolls around, how many shots will it take to be up to date? Isn’t it now four shots, with two boosters? (Because I am still sitting at 0.)
Before I say what’s up to the Atlanta Braves, let me shout out to one more Nashville team. The Nashville Soccer Club doesn’t require proof of vaccination status, and this young club is on a roll right now with the MLS Cup Playoffs just around the corner.
Nashville SC becomes just the fourth team since the expansion era to clinch a spot in the MLS playoffs in its first two seasons. Nashville also currently owns the longest active unbeaten home streak in MLS, with 17 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
I have only been to one home game since Nashville’s inaugural 2020 season, and we had a great time. What stuck out the most for me was how young this club is, and it felt like a years-long tradition was already in place.
NSC is getting ready for its playoff run, slated to begin in the middle of November and run into December. As of Nov. 1, NSC is sitting in third place in the east with 12 wins, 17 draws and only 4 losses. Good luck to you, Nashville! It appears you will have some home playoff games at Nissan Stadium soon and, unlike with the Predators, I will currently spend my hard-earned money on a ticket and will attend my first playoff game. See you soon!
Shout-out to the Atlanta Braves! I rarely talk about baseball here, but I have been cheering for the Braves since the early ’90s, as have most of us Tennesseans. The Braves are in pursuit of the franchise’s first World Series championship since 1995. I used to make believe I was Chipper Jones back in those days. Memories!
The series is headed back to Houston for Games 6 and 7, as of press time, but the series may be wrapped up by the time you read this article. I certainly am rooting for the Braves. It’s been a miraculous season, hovering around .500 from beginning to end! When Ronald Acuna Jr. went down with a season-ending injury prior to the All-Star break, everyone thought the Braves’ season was over. Instead, the Braves went out last July, grabbed some new outfielders, and had possibly one of the greatest trade deadlines ever, propelling this team into its first World Series in 20 years.
Alright, that’s it! The 6–2 Titans have beat some good teams and persevered. Keep up the good work! But I also have to bash a team that I have loved for over 20 years. It really is a shame the Predators’ policy-makers chose to make that decision while, just outside of their arena, one of the biggest drinking parties in the country has been going on nonstop for over a year. Makes a lot of sense!
The Train is rolling into the station. Keep chug-a-lugging along!
