The Tennessee Titans are coming off of a 2018 campaign in which they won nine games and narrowly missed the playoffs after losing a winner-take-all game to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17.
Now, heading into 2019, the Titans have playoff hopes, but there are a whole lot of question marks surrounding the team and quite a few things will need to break right in order for them to make the postseason.
Tennessee is playing in a tough AFC South division in which the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans both seem to be better than the Titans by a fairly clear margin, so qualifying for the playoffs will be difficult.
Here are three things that need to happen for Tennessee to earn a playoff spot:
3. Derrick Henry Needs to be More Consistent
When you look at Derrick Henry's numbers from 2018, you'll be impressed at first glance. After all, 1,059 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 4.9 yards per carry is nothing to sneeze at.
However, a closer look reveals that Henry was actually a massive disappointment up until the final few weeks of the regular season, particularly in Weeks 14 and 15 when he racked up 408 yards and six touchdowns combined.
There is no question that Henry was a monster in those two performances, but it would be nice if Henry spread out his production over the course of an entire 16-game campaign rather than centralizing it so much.
As a matter of fact, up until Week 14, Henry never totaled 60 rushing yards in a single game and only rushed for 50 yards three times.
He needs to be much better in 2019.
2. A Clear No. 1 Receiver Has to Emerge
Corey Davis was the Titans' No. 1 guy in 2018, hauling in 65 receptions for 891 yards and four touchdowns.
While that's solid, it's not what you would expect from the No. 1 receiver on a playoff team, and if the Titans want to return to the postseason in 2019, their receiving corps will need to establish a pecking order.
Now, to be fair, it's not like Tennessee's quarterback situation was all that great this past season, so that has to be taken into consideration when examining the numbers of Davis and everyone else.
Still, great wide outs find a way to dominate, and that is what Davis may have to do in 2019. The Titans also have free-agent signing Adam Humphries and third-year receiver Taywan Taylor, but Davis needs to establish himself as the clear No. 1.
1. Marcus Mariota Needs to be More Like His 2016 Self
It's funny: early on in Mariota's career, it looked like he was going to live up to his lofty expectations. He had a solid rookie year, and then, he posted Russell Wilson-like numbers in his second season, finishing with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Since then, however, Mariota has been an unmitigated disaster, combining to throw for 24 touchdowns and 23 picks over the last two seasons. Of course, injuries have played a role, but even when Mariota has been healthy, he has not looked good.
At this point, no one is expecting Mariota to be a superstar. He just needs to go back to playing the way he did in 2016 when limited his turnovers and managed the game well.
Heck, if he was capable of throwing 26 touchdown passes three years ago, he should be capable of doing at least that now.
Make no mistake: the Titans' only chance of making the playoffs in the loaded AFC is if Mariota is leagues better than he has been the past two seasons.
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