NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Are the 2014 Titans the worst team the franchise has fielded since relocating to Tennessee in 1999?
The worst finish in that span came in 2005 -- third place and a 4-12 record.
These Titans would need to go 2-3 in the remainder of the season to match that. They're likely to finish worse, or at best the same, as the 2005 team.
But that doesn't tell us which team was better.
In looking at 15 telling statistical categories side by side, the current team is better in only three and tied in one -- a negative-9.2 point differential per game.
Keith Bulluck was a linebacker on the 2005 team. He’s an analyst now, looking at the Titans and the league for Sirius/XM Radio, my Nashville radio show, The Midday 180, and for the Titans website.
Bulluck actually delved into the 2005 roster to remind himself of what unfolded that year then offered me this assessment:
“After looking at both teams rosters and going through the game stats and remembering games from ‘05 and how we may have lost, without any bias I would say as of right now the 2014 team is worse.
“In 2005 we gave up 100 yards rushing to three running backs -- Willie Parker first game of the season, Ricky Williams and Shaun Alexander, who won the rushing title that year. They've already given up six 100-yard games to backs.
"We lost five games by more than two touchdowns and two of them were to the Colts. The other two came the first two games and the last game of the season. The 2014 team has already lost four by that much."
“I think that the 2014 secondary is better than the 2005 secondary. Linebackers are debatable, Brad Kassel was a tough, downhill, hard-nosed ballplaye. Peter Sirmon was smart, made plays and was more athletic than people gave him credit for. Peter could have played inside in the 3-4 and I could have. Brad would probably be the odd man out. I don't see myself as an outside 3-4 linebacker. We were definitely tougher than the unit they have now for sure.”
“Our front four hands-down was the strongest part of the 05 defense. Kyle Vanden Bosch, Randy Starks, Antwan Odom and Albert Haynesworth were all in their prime. All got multimillion dollar contracts. Starks, Vanden Bosch and Haynesworth were eventually Pro Bowlers.”
“Offensively we had Steve McNair, Brad Hopkins, Zach Piller and Benji Olson still on the roster. The edge on offense should go to the '05 team for the simple fact of the amount of veteran experience it had especially at the QB position. Shaky at skill positions but those players eventually proved to be decent.”
“At the end of the day we played football with an attitude. Our mentality was to take crap from no one regardless of our opponent, most especially at home. We may have not been that good of a team but anyone that stepped on that field for us was expected to fight. If they didn't they would definitely be put on alert, not by coaches but by teammates.
“We held each other accountable even if it meant getting in someone's face. Losing sucked and we hated it. Eventually you could see the product that was being built in years to come. We can’t say that we can see anything about the future in the 2014 team because it's Ken Whisenhunt’s first year.”