NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Happy (almost) New Year.
In 2017, we're going to talk a lot about the Tennessee Titans as the favorite to win the AFC South and make a playoff run.
But before their final game of the 2016 season, let's look back to some key moments and stories during the year that took them from No. 1 in the draft to 8-8 or 9-7.
From Jan. 18: Titans GM Jon Robinson: "Please let us earn your support"
“If you only remember one thing from this presser, please remember this, and this goes out to our fans: This is my home and you guys are my family. I’ve been a Titans fan ever since ’97 when this football team moved here. We’re going to build this team the right way. All decisions that we make will be made in the best interests of this team, your football team. Please let us earn your support.
From April 14: Blockbuster deal gives Titans chance at quality through quantity
"[T]rying to get quality through quantity is a smart move. The more at-bats with runners in scoring situations, the better, and the haul of picks -- six in the top 76 -- is a run-producer's dream."
From Aug. 10: How do you rattle Marcus Mariota? Make a mess
“We were on a golf trip and I might have slept in a little bit,” Titans tight end Phillip Supernaw said. “And he’s very punctual. He’s the type of guy, if you’re going on a trip, it’s bags-at-the-door the night before. I’m kind of like throwing all my stuff in the bag at the last minute.
“So I woke up and my bags were already packed, ready to go. Perfectly folded. Everything. He woke me up with my outfit on the bed, ready to roll. With no effort, I found the one thing that can drive him crazy.”
From Aug. 22: "Gatherer" Mike Mularkey has cabinets full of notes dating way back to his playing days
“I’m a gatherer,” he said. “I keep everything. I have every game plan I’ve ever been a part of, going back to my 49ers days as a player in my minicamp. I have that minicamp notebook.”
From Sept. 7: Titans will try to "make running sexy again" with DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry
"With DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry operating as a Thunder-and-Thunder backfield, they want to be a run-first, smash-mouth team.
"Can that duo, behind a revamped line with a new, physical mentality, make running sexy again?"
From Oct. 24: Titans overdue to show, not tell, they are on Colts' level
"We need to find ways to make it change," defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said in a familiar refrain. "It frigging sucks. It seems like no matter what we dial up, what we put together, no matter how close we keep the game, we just can't find a way to close it out.
"We're too close to them in games not to come out of one of these with a win."
From Nov. 12: "Spidey sense?" For Delanie Walker, hearing footsteps is a help, not hindrance
“I hear footsteps,” he said. “I can hear breathing. You can almost hear the ground rumbling a little bit. When we catch the ball and you see a guy duck and you’re like, ‘His awareness was great.’ It’s not that his awareness was great. He heard something and it made him duck.”
Nov. 16: Titans’ "don't doubt" attitude keeps them tied atop AFC South
“In this locker room, we don’t doubt,” tight end Delanie Walker said. “We know we’ve got a great thing and it’s going well. We knew we could come out here and beat them.
“Everybody probably counted us out after those [three] turnovers. But we believe in each other and we know we are built for these type of games, to finish at the end, and that’s what we did.”
From Dec. 21: His play speaks for itself, but his name is pronounced MAR-ee-OH-tah
Marcus Mariota's last name continues to be butchered by announcers and national pundits. They frequently call him MARY-o-tah, rather than MAR-ee-OH-tah.
“It tells me that people aren’t doing their homework, and if they want to be professionals, they should do their job correctly,” left tackle Taylor Lewan said. “When you go to the dictionary, and you look at a word, it’ll say how to pronounce it. Just do that with him and our media info.
Dec. 25: Titans blew it in Jacksonville and Texans grabbed AFC South title
“Once we got on the field and the game got going, it seemed like we weren't able to grab it like we've been able to do in games earlier this year," safety Rashad Johnson said. "Not starting fast really bit us and not being able to get it going when we needed to."
It’s hard to fathom that the same Titans team that found a way against Denver and in Kansas City amounted to a pushover for one of the NFL’s worst teams.
