Titans should be thinking 2-0 or bust

The Titans have been peppered with questions about their 0-6 start last season and how they would ensure no such stumbling out of the gate occurs this season.

“We can’t continuously start off slow and think we’re gonna pick it up toward the end of the season and have a good season,” FB Ahmard Hall said.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=JEff+Fisher&iid=9593468″ src=”http://view.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9593468/tennessee-titans-seattle/tennessee-titans-seattle.jpg?size=500&imageId=9593468″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /]The fact is the NFL did the Titans a favor with the schedule, and if Jeff Fisher and Crew aren’t feeling significant pressure to start at least 2-0, well, they damn well ought to be.

 Only three teams in the NFL open the regular season with two home games – the Titans, Redskins and Jets. Of those, only the Titans and Jets are likely to be favored in both games. Washington already is an underdog to Dallas in the opener; New York could be an underdog in Week 2 when New England comes to town depending on Week 1 outcomes.

So it’s possible the only team in pro football that doesn’t have to win a road game or beat a favorite to start 2-0 is Tennessee. Even if the Jets are favored in both games, which sked would you rather have – the Titans’, which has the Raiders and the Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers, or the Jets’, which has the Ravens and Patriots? That’s a no-brainer.

Anything other than a 2-0 start for the Titans should be considered a monstrous disappointment. Yes, the Raiders are a lot more dangerous with Jason Campbell than last year’s bloated excuse for a QB, but you’re not a team anyone will take seriously if you can’t be Oakland at home in Week 1. Then there’s the matter of catching Pittsburgh without the guy who has helped it win two Super Bowls. Roethlisberger passed for 363 yards in a 13-10 win over the visiting Titans in last season’s opener.

Fisher, of course, is saying the focus is only on the Raiders. There’s no looking ahead to the two-game home start. But there should be.

You don’t get a lot of gifts in the NFL. But the start to the schedule should be considered a head-start for the Titans. A stumble in the first two steps of this race will make it difficult to recover.