The Seattle Seahawks are currently 13.5-point favorites against the Tennessee Titans, whose only win on the season was one of the flukiest comebacks ever against the Arizona Cardinals. They’ve been at least competitive in close losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans in recent weeks, but 1-9 is 1-9 and they look like the worst team in football.
On paper, the Seahawks should stomp out the Titans and live up to their status as the biggest road favorite in franchise history.
And yet, something
about this particular matchup leads to close games no matter how good or bad both teams are.
The last 8 Seahawks-Tennessee games have been decided by one possession
I have to say Seahawks vs. Tennessee because the Tennessee Titans were, of course, the Houston Oilers once upon a time. When the Oilers moved to Nashville in 1997, they became the Tennessee Oilers, then changed to the Titans nickname in their lone Super Bowl appearance in 1999.
Since the relocation to Tennessee, the Titans have played the Seahawks eight times:
- 2023: Seahawks 20, Titans 17
- 2021: Titans 33, Seahawks 30 (overtime)
- 2017: Titans 33, Seahawks 27
- 2013: Seahawks 20, Titans 13
- 2009: Titans 17, Seahawks 13
- 2005: Seahawks 28, Titans 24
- 1998: Seahawks 20, Oilers 18
- 1997: Seahawks 16, Oilers 13
If you remember your Seahawks history, the 2005 team went to the Super Bowl with a 13-3 record, while the Titans were in rebuild mode at 4-12. Seattle was a touchdown favorite and led 14-0 right away, somehow fell behind 24-14 , then rallied in the fourth quarter for a 28-24 win.
More recently, the Seahawks were 12-point favorites against the Titans in the Super Bowl winning 2013 season. They likely would’ve covered the spread had Pete Carroll not decided to kick a field goal with Jon Ryan instead of do literally anything else than what actually happened.
The game was tied 10-10 in the fourth quarter before the Seahawks pulled away for a 20-13 victory. Tennessee finished 7-9 that season while Seattle was 13-3.
In 2021, the Seahawks had a disastrous 7-10 season but had a commanding 24-9 halftime lead against the eventual AFC No. 1 seed Titans. Derrick Henry happened, the Seahawks defense cratered, the offense didn’t do anything outside of a Freddie Swain busted coverage touchdown, and the Titans prevailed 33-30 in OT. In the context of Week 2, Seattle was about a touchdown favorite given the Titans were blown out in Week 1 and the Seahawks won on opening day.
The last Seahawks-Titans showdown in 2023 saw Seattle as a slight road favorite at 7-7, facing a Titans team that finished a disappointing 6-11 and fired Mike Vrabel. A week after Drew Lock led a memorable game-winning touchdown drive for a 20-17 win against the Philadelphia Eagles, Geno Smith led his own GWD for a 20-17 win over Tennessee. The Seahawks finished 9-8, so it wasn’t like they were worlds better than Tennessee.
Now, if you really want to get fun with it, the last game the Houston Oilers played against the Seahawks was in 1996, and it ended in the rarest of ‘Kick-6’ game winning scores by Seattle.
It’s fun to beat Jeff Fisher on some special teams shenanigans, isn’t it?
If history is a guide, then Seahawks vs. Titans will be needlessly close despite a huge gap in quality and win-loss records. But trends are meant to be broken, and I think Seattle could do with another blowout victory to take some sting out of last week’s defeat against the Los Angeles Rams.
