Ready or not, it's time for Tennessee Titans football.
A long offseason of coaching hires, free agent signings, high-profile draft picks, trades, uniform redesigns and rampant speculation about second-year
quarterback Cam Ward's potential is over. The Titans play football this week, embarking on a four-month marathon through an NFL gauntlet, albeit one that should be a bit of a reprieve compared to last season's slate.
Coming off back-to-back 3-14 seasons, exhibiting some sort of core competency would be progress. With a softer schedule, more experienced coaching and a deeper roster, that's attainable. But so much responsibility lands on the shoulders of Ward and the Titans' young core to make it happen.
Here are The Tennessean's game-by-game predictions for the 2026 Titans.
2026 Tennessee Titans predictions: Our game-by-game picks
Week 1: vs New York Jets
Maybe it's a revenge game for Robert Saleh. Maybe it's just a winnable game pitting two of the NFL's most talent-bereft teams against each other to start the season.
Prediction: Titans win 23-13
Week 2: vs Philadelphia Eagles
You wanna know a team that isn't bereft of talent? The Philadelphia Eagles.
Prediction: Eagles win 26-17
Week 3: at New York Giants
A fascinating matchup pitting Ward and Jaxson Dart, and Ward's former mentor Brian Callahan against Dart's former mentor Brian Daboll. Ward's the better long-term investment. The Giants are the better team right now.
Prediction: Giants win 20-14
Week 4: at Baltimore Ravens
The Titans' run defense is really good. Credit where it's due. But, uh, anyone reading this article knows how good that Ravens' running back is. Even this deep into his career, give Derrick Henry the advantage.
Prediction: Ravens win 28-24
Week 5: vs Houston Texans
It's not going to be as bad as last year when the Texans shut these Titans out. But it doesn't look like it'll be all that good either.
Prediction: Texans win 21-7
Week 6: at Indianapolis Colts
It's about time for the Titans to exorcise some demons.
Prediction: Titans win 33-17
Week 7: vs Cleveland Browns
There has to be some trust in the Titans' ability to beat the Browns, or else there's really no point to watching this season.
Prediction: Titans win 28-24
Week 8: at Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals want a shootout, and they'll win a shootout.
Prediction: Bengals win 31-27
Week 10: vs Jacksonville Jaguars
The last game between the Titans and Jags at the existing Nissan Stadium. Expect plenty of weird, but also expect Jacksonville's passing attack to be a bit too much.
Prediction: Jaguars win 35-24
Week 11: at Dallas Cowboys
This wringer of passing attacks continues from Cincinnati to Jacksonville now to Dallas. Even if the Titans' secondary finds its swing this late in the year, that's just too much perimeter talent to cover.
Prediction: Cowboys win 31-26
Week 12: at Jacksonville Jaguars
First divisional rematch of the year, and the Titans bow their backs a little bit.
Prediction: Titans win 24-16
Week 13: vs Washington Commanders
There's no betting on Jayden Daniels' health this time of year, but these feel like fairly evenly-matched teams. Slight advantage to the team with the more established young quarterback.
Prediction: Commanders win 17-16
Week 14: at Detroit Lions
Simply too much elite talent on this Lions roster to pick against them right now.
Prediction: Lions win 30-20
Week 15: vs Indianapolis Colts
The Titans' Jonathan Taylor problem didn't beat them down in Week 6, but it does here in the December cold.
Prediction: Colts win 23-13
Week 16: at Las Vegas Raiders
This late in the season, it'll almost certainly be Fernando Mendoza quarterbacking the Raiders, pitting the last two No. 1 picks against each other. Mendoza plays well, but the Titans have the better team.
Prediction: Titans win 31-28
Week 17: vs Pittsburgh Steelers
What a matchup to close out Nissan Stadium with, right? This classic AFC Central rivalry still means something to people, even if the Steelers come in and slam the door behind them.
Prediction: Steelers win 17-9
Week 18: at Houston Texans
In a world where we expect the Texans to be resting a lot of front-line starters at the end of the year, the Titans can steal a win and head into the offseason on a somewhat high note.
Prediction: Titans win 26-21
Final record
6-11, 2-4 AFC South
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Our Titans game-by-game predictions for 2026 NFL season
