The Tennessee Titans dropped their seventh game in a row and 11th in 12 games this season against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13. Many fans hoped the addition of No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward would help provide a spark that could trigger a substantial improvement from last year’s 3-14 finish, but things still look bleak.
Tennessee currently ranks last in the NFL in both yards per game and points per game, as well as in the bottom five in points allowed per game. Additionally, Ward is the league’s most-sacked quarterback while throwing the fewest touchdowns among quarterbacks who have started at least seven games.
Of the five regular-season games remaining, two are against teams that have already been eliminated from playoff contention. If the Titans perform poorly in these games, 2025 could be the worst season in the team’s 66-year history.
Even though this feels like an all-time low in the moment, a handful of other seasons can contend with it.
Comparing 2025 to 2024
After a dismal three-win season in 2024, the Titans landed Ward with the No. 1 pick. Fans hoped that with a head coach like Brian Callahan, who had worked with a conference-champion quarterback in Joe Burrow, the offense would reach new heights. However, that experiment did not work out.
Tennessee’s offense in 2024 struggled, but it did not rank in the bottom five in the league in either yards per game or points per game, unlike this year. Last year’s offense produced 304.2 yards and 18.3 points per game. Lackluster numbers, but still an upgrade over the 242.4 yards and 14.2 points the Titans are averaging through 12 games this year.
Of the three wins last year, only the Week 12 road win over the Houston Texans was against a playoff team. The 31-12 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football in Week 4 was the only win decided by more than a touchdown.
The total strength of victory for the Titans in 2024 adds up to .431. The only team they have defeated in 2025, the Arizona Cardinals, currently has a winning percentage of .250 and has already been eliminated from playoff contention.
That lone win came on a last-minute field goal—and the score was only close after a bizarre touchdown on a fumbled interception recovered by then-Titans receiver Tyler Lockett in the end zone.
Last season ranks among the worst in franchise history, but this year’s numbers are somehow even worse. With five games left, it’s still possible for 2025 to end as a slight improvement over last year—but with the way things are trending, it will be a struggle.
Hard Times From a Decade Ago
The 2014 and 2015 seasons were another time that felt like rock bottom for the Titans. They finished 2-14 in 2014, the only time they have won two games or fewer in the past 30 seasons. Despite drafting quarterback Marcus Mariota second overall in the 2015 Draft, their win total only improved by one.
Their total strengths of victory in both years were weak, coming in at .250 in 2014 and .281 in 2015. However, the per-game offensive stats from those years were still stronger than they are so far in 2025.
Both offenses averaged over 300 yards per game, but the 2014 team did not produce well at all, scoring only 15.9 points per game. The 2015 team scored at least 34 points in all three of their victories and 18.7 points per game overall.
As for defense, the 2014 team ranked sixth-worst in yards allowed per game and fourth-worst in points per game. The 2015 team was not as bad; they were actually 12th-best in yards allowed per game, with 342.2, but were still sixth-last in points allowed.
The 2-14 finish 11 years ago is definitely comparable to how this year has been going, and the 10-game skid to close out the season definitely puts it among the absolute worst the Titans franchise has ever experienced. Unfortunately, though, this season is on pace to end up as more of a nightmare, even with a couple of easier games left on the schedule.
Looking Back at Oilers-Era Struggles
Before the Titans settled in Tennessee in 1997, the Houston Oilers finished five seasons with either one or two wins: 1972, 1973, 1982, 1983, and 1994.
The 1972 season, which ended in a 1-13 record, is a serious contender for the worst season the franchise has ever experienced. The 14.2 points per game that this year’s team has scored seems dire, but that team scored only 11.7 points per game. Defenses held them to 10 points or less in seven of 14 games.
In addition, they ranked last in the league in yards per game (227.9) and second-last in points allowed per game (27.1). Their lone victory was a 26-20 home matchup against the 7-7 finishing New York Jets.
They earned the No. 1 overall pick of the 1973 Draft and used it on 6-foot-8 defensive end John Matuszak, who only played for the team for one season. In that one season, they again finished 1-13, and the defense then was so bad that it allowed over 50 more total points than any other team. They allowed 31.9 per game.
Offensively, that team put up 14.2 points and 236.2 yards per game, which are similar numbers to the 2025 squad. A close road contest against the 4-10 Baltimore Colts was their only victory.
The average point differential of 17.7 per game might alone be enough to make 1973 the worst season the franchise has ever experienced.
The 1994 team, which finished 2-14, holds quite a few similarities with the 2025 squad. They had a bottom-ranking offense, a bad but not awful defense, and a coach fired midway through the year.
That offense scored only 14.1 points per game and had a strength of victory of .281.
Can the Titans Avoid a Record Low?
Overall, whether or not 2025 will be the worst season in the Titans’ franchise history heavily depends on how they handle upcoming games against similarly poor opponents, such as the Browns and the Saints.
Nonetheless, their performance this year has many similarities to some abysmal seasons throughout the years, and there is a great chance it could end up as the absolute worst.
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