Don't Dump on the Titans just yet. Titans vs. Colts Thursday Night Football. by Ben Williams

Following the Jacksonville loss, a lot of Titans fans have given up on this team, and who could blame them?

Ryan Fitzpatrick celebrates after rushing for a touchdown against Kansas City

It looks woeful from an outside perspective. Jake Locker is on IR for the year with a Lisfranc foot injury, they have fallen to below .500 once again, and an underachieving Titans squad are fresh off a game that they had no business losing.  Bundle all that up and add it to the fact that The Titans now have to face division leading Indianapolis on a short week's rest on Thursday night. You may as well just stay home and watch ABC's Nashville. 

Hang on now, calm down. It's not time to shut the lights out on this season just let. Even with a Titans loss against Jacksonville (albeit inexplicable and embarrassing) they are still very much in the wildcard hunt. And since The Colts were broken-in (horse joke) at home (38-8) by St. Louis, there is still an ever so slight glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel to win the division. 

Miami lost. San Diego lost. They both are sitting 4-5. So sure, the Titans squandered an opportunity to claim sole possession of first place in this hunt, but there is still hope for the hopeful. 

Ryan "Fitz!"patrick will be the starter for the Titans at quarterback. Despite losing a fumble returned for a touchdown that iced the loss in the closing minutes of the Jaguars game, he played well replacing Locker, completing 22 of 33 passes for 264 yards and 2 TDs. 

Fitzpatrick has shown that he can be a solid starter in the league in years past if he can keep his turnovers down. That's been an issue for him in the previous games as a Titan when Jake Locker was dealing with a right hip injury. 

“I’m no longer the guy that’s holding the seat warm for Jake, with him being out the remainder of the year now, it’s my gig and the communication has to step up that much more,” Fitpatrick said. “I felt more comfortable going into the last game for whatever reason, being thrown into the fire like that than I have the two previous starts. I think the two starts and getting the experience with the guys on the field and having a feel for them and them having a feel for me (helped).”

Offensive Coordinator Dowell Loggains was pleased with Fitzpatrick's performance against Jacksonville. It was his best performance as a Titan by far, but Jacksonville is is not Indianapolis. That being said the Colts Defense has shown holes; especially in last weeks game against the Rams where they gave up 138 yards receiving to Tavon Austin alone. 

If the game comes down to the end, the money's on Luck. Andrew Luck has proved to be a gamer in the closing seconds as he has led the Colts to seven 4th quarter come-from-behind wins and ten game winning drives in just a season and a half (Profootballreference.com)

The key to the game for the Titans is to establish the run sure, but to establish some kind of offense early. They've only led at half-time in three out of nine games so far this season. The Titans have to avoid a sluggish start that they've been known for this year against Andrew Luck. You don't want to give him any opportunity at the end of a game.