2016 Tennessee Titans season

The 2016 season was the Tennessee Titans' 47th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 57th overall. It also marked the franchise's 20th season in the state of Tennessee as well as the first full season under head coach Mike Mularkey, who served as the team's interim head coach for the last nine games of the 2015 season.

The Titans tripled their win total from 2015 and achieved their first winning season since 2011. However, the team missed the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season tying a record set between 1970–1977. The team finished tied with the Houston Texans for the AFC South division title but lost the tiebreaker because the Texans had a better division record (5–1) than the Titans (2–4).

Notes

• The Titans acquired an additional sixth-round selection in a trade that sent guard Andy Levitre and a future conditional selection to the Atlanta Falcons.
• The Titans traded a conditional seventh-round selection to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for running back Terrance West.

Owner – KSA Industries President, chairman and CEO – Steve Underwood Executive vice president and general manager – Jon Robinson Assistant director of football administration – Dennis Polian Vice president of football administration – Vin Marino Director of player personnel – Ryan Cowden Director of college scouting – Blake Beddingfield Director of pro scouting – Brian Gardner Head coaches

Head coach – Mike Mularkey Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator – Dick LeBeau Offensive coaches

Offensive coordinator – Terry Robiskie Quarterbacks – Jason Michael Running backs – Sylvester Croom Wide receivers – Bob Bratkowski Assistant wide receivers – Jason Tucker Tight ends – Arthur Smith Offensive line – Russ Grimm Assistant offensive line – Mike Sullivan Offensive assistant – Luke Steckel | | | Defensive coaches Defensive line – Nick Eason Assistant defensive line – Keith Willis Linebackers – Lou Spanos Defensive backs − Deshea Townsend Assistant defensive backs – Steve Jackson Defensive assistant – Brandon Blaney Special teams coaches

Special teams coordinator – Bobby April Assistant Special teams coach – Steve Hoffman Strength and conditioning

Head strength and conditioning – Steve Watterson Assistant strength and conditioning – Tom Kanavy |

26 Antonio Andrews 45 Jalston Fowler 22 Derrick Henry 29 DeMarco Murray Wide receivers (WR)

83 Harry Douglas 87 Marc Mariani 18 Rishard Matthews 10 Tre McBride 19 Tajae Sharpe 13 Kendall Wright Tight ends (TE)

88 Jace Amaro 80 Anthony Fasano 89 Phillip Supernaw 82 Delanie Walker | | Offensive linemen (OL) 78 Jack Conklin T 60 Ben Jones C 71 Dennis Kelly T 64 Josh Kline G 77 Taylor Lewan T 62 Brian Schwenke G/C 67 Quinton Spain G 79 Sebastian Tretola G Defensive linemen (DL)

95 Angelo Blackson 99 Jurrell Casey DE 94 Austin Johnson DE 90 DaQuan Jones 96 Al Woods NT 75 Antwaun Woods NT | | Linebackers (LB) 51 David Bass OLB 91 Derrick Morgan OLB 98 Brian Orakpo OLB 50 Nate Palmer OLB 55 Sean Spence ILB 57 Justin Staples OLB 52 Aaron Wallace OLB 54 Avery Williamson ILB 59 Wesley Woodyard ILB Defensive backs (DB)

47 Valentino Blake CB 31 Kevin Byard FS 25 Rashad Johnson FS 23 Brice McCain CB 30 Jason McCourty CB 37 Kalan Reed CB 35 Curtis Riley CB 21 Da'Norris Searcy SS 36 LeShaun Sims CB 38 D'Joun Smith CB 24 Daimion Stafford SS Special teams (ST)

48 Beau Brinkley LS  6 Brett Kern P  4 Ryan Succop K | | Practice squad 61 Karim Barton G 56 Kourtnei Brown OLB 84 Jerome Cunningham TE 32 David Fluellen RB 17 Jonathan Krause WR 68 Tyler Marz T 14 K. J. Maye WR 33 Jeremiah McKinnon CB 41 J. R. Tavai OLB Reserve

92 Mehdi Abdesmad DE (IR) 76 Byron Bell T (IR) 93 Kevin Dodd OLB (IR) 97 Karl Klug DE (IR) 66 Josue Matías G (IR)  8 Marcus Mariota QB (IR) 23 Bennett Okotcha CB (IR) 70 Chance Warmack G (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 8 reserve, 9 practice squad |

• Marcus Mariota (QB)
• Delanie Walker (TE)
• Jurrell Casey (DE)
• Brian Orakpo (LB)
• Wesley Woodyard (LB)
• Daimion Stafford (ST)

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

The Titans posted their first victory over their former AFC Central rival since 2011 and only their third win over the Browns since 2002 league realignment established the AFC South. Marcus Mariota threw three touchdowns but Cody Kessler kept the Browns in the hunt with two touchdown drives in the final three minutes.

Taylor Lewan caught his first career touchdown.

With the win, the Titans improved on their 3–13 season from the previous year.

The Titans defeated the Packers for the fourth time in six meetings since becoming a Tennessee NFL franchise. The Titans raced to a 21–0 lead in the first quarter and led 35–16 at halftime. Rookie Tajae Sharpe caught his first career touchdown.

The Titans posted their sixth win of the season as Marcus Mariota faced off against Matt Barkley, in his first NFL action since 2014; he opened scoring late in the first quarter on a seven-yard toss. Mariota answered with three straight touchdown drives, but Barkley answered a Titans lead of 27–7 with two straight touchdown drives and whipped to the Titans red zone in the final minute, but two incompletions ended the game.

The Titans posted only their second win (in six tries) over the Broncos since becoming a Tennessee NFL franchise. They led 13–0 but had to sweat out a Broncos rally; A.J. Derby's fumble was recovered by Daimion Stafford with 1:04 to go. The game became chippy when Harry Douglas cut block Chris Harris, Jr. in the second quarter; Aqib Talib attacked Douglas and a melee erupted on the Titans sideline.

The victory was the 425th in the franchise's history.

The Titans edged the Chiefs on a 53-yard field goal on the final play by former Chiefs placekicker Ryan Succop; he missed a first attempt but the attempt was nullified when Chiefs coach Andy Reid called timeout.

Marcus Mariota's season ended when he suffered a broken right fibula in Tennessee's 38–17 loss to the Jaguars; the loss marked the eighth straight season in which neither team managed to sweep the other in the regular season. The loss—combined with Houston's subsequent win over Cincinnati—ended Tennessee's hopes for the playoffs.

The win was the Titans' first against the Texans since 2013.

NOTE: With the win, the Titans posted 9 wins and a winning season for the first time since 2011.

• Official website