Best thing about this miserable Tennessee Titans season is that it's almost over | Estes

Happy New Year, Tennessee Titans fans.

Here’s hoping you found something better to do Sunday than watch that game in Houston.

Another week, another loss, and at this point, the best I can tell you is it’s almost over. Until then, there’s just so little left to say about these woebegone Titans.

They aren’t interesting. They aren’t inspiring. They aren’t improving. The same problems that were there in September are there now. And there’s still nothing they do especially well, yet there’s plenty they don’t do well enough.

By now, we’re just rinsing and repeating. The same kinds of mistakes. The same type of comments and frustrations from Mike Vrabel and the players.

All of this was evident with Sunday’s lopsided 26-3 defeat to the Houston Texans, a result that seemed preordained by the fact the home team had much to play for against visitors who are simply playing out a miserable season. Wouldn't have been against the rules for the Titans to step up and play spoiler — a role the Texans have relished taking in recent years — but that would have demanded a performance well beyond what the depleted Titans appeared capable of providing.

Unless you’re into watching quarterbacks duck for cover or fringe NFL players and undrafted free agents compete for roster spots, the Titans' loss offered you nothing.

The Texans weren’t just a few yards better. They were miles better.

It was the last time that'll happen to the Titans in 2023, but it dang sure wasn’t the first.

It's embarrassing that these beatings are being supplied by AFC South rivals. Embarrassing, too, that during Sunday’s broadcast, FOX put up a graphic to outline the AFC South’s “horse race” this season. It included only three teams.

That’s what the Titans have become: Irrelevant. Even in their own division.

Not much else to say that hasn't already been said.

As has been the case all season, this offense can be expected to do only so much while hopelessly overmatched up front. If the front office or coaching staff had any ideas on how to try to repair their atrocious offensive line, they’d have done so long ago.

It’s gotten so bad that fans no longer even get to see rookie quarterback Will Levis — this season’s lone beacon of hope, other than receiver DeAndre Hopkins. It’s not safe for Levis to be out there.

He returned from injury Sunday and didn’t make it to halftime because the Titans couldn’t block the Texans despite trotting six offensive linemen out there for much of the game. The Texans' defense nonetheless had a party in the backfield. Houston totaled six sacks and 12 QB hits. Tennessee's defense totaled two. Both were from Harold Landry.

You can’t watch the Titans' defense these days without a roster handy, given all of the injuries. Not that those have been anything new. When’s the last time the Titans haven’t had to rely on undrafted free agents in the secondary? Or on the defensive line? Or at inside linebacker?

These are no longer valid excuses. They are symptoms of an ailing franchise in need of better players, better talent evaluation and above all, a clear vision for how to reverse this trajectory as the Titans approach a massive offseason with a lengthy to-do list.

What has worked in the past under Vrabel ceased working last season.

Is that on him? Is it on players and personnel and roster mismanagement? Is it on former general manager Jon Robinson’s draft mishaps? Current GM Ran Carthon? Or is it on owner Amy Adams Strunk and a lack of clarity and direction that goes back to firing Robinson during the 2022 season?

The answer is yes — to all of it.

Not that it matters much. The blame game has been going on for months, but it becomes tiresome when fans can’t envision change. They can’t expect a coaching change, because as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini told them clearly in November, it isn’t happening with Vrabel. He’s expected to be back if he wants to be.

They can’t expect to select some hotshot quarterback with a high draft pick, because they already have their future QB in Levis. The Titans' roster will upgrade with more salary-cap space, but fans can’t expect an overhaul in philosophy. After Robinson, there was never a fresh direction in the building. Carthon was hired to supplement Vrabel, not supersede him.

What's going to change?

If I’m a Titans fan, that'd be my question as I'm forced to watch this team. I'd want to know how 2024 is going to be different.

Because 2023 has lasted long enough.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Best thing about this Tennessee Titans 2023 season is it's almost over