Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans
Written by: Daniel Collins
Last Updated: Thu Mar 25, 2021, 18:20 PM
Read Time: 3 minutes
The Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans have played each other since 1970, back when they were the Baltimore Colts and Houston Oilers. As members of the AFC South they get their double dose of meetings per season.
History of Colts vs. Titans Rivalry
The rivalry between these two has come to light since the creation of the AFC South in 2002, but they did meet pretty often before joining the same division. This was a much more competitive rivalry before the new division, as the Colts have mostly dominated since 2002 under quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck.
Head to Head Analysis of Colts vs. Titans
The pre-AFC South years were good to the Titans in this rivalry, as they led the series with an 8-7 record. Since the division was formed, it has been utter dominance by the Colts with a 26-8 record beginning in 2002, making the overall series favor the Colts 33-16. Indianapolis had multiples win streaks of 5, 7, and 11 games before Tennessee swept them in their 2017 series.
This was more of a loose division rivalry until recent years, when the Titans have began to improve and compete. The last game these teams played against each other before joining the AFC South was their only playoff matchup, which the Titans won by a score of 19-16 in 2000.
A Glance at Postseason Success in Colts vs. Titans Rivalry
The Tennessee Titans may have the only postseason matchup win in the rivalry, but the Colts have garnered more success in the playoffs as a franchise. Indy has made the postseason 28 times, with a lot of those coming because of their division dominance. The Titans have seen the playoffs 22 times.
The Colts also have more division championships with 16 total, as opposed to 9 for the Titans. Tennessee only has one conference championship, too, which is substantially less than the 7 that Indianapolis has. As far as the big game, they each have multiple pre-1970 AFL-NFL merger championships, but the Colts are the only one with a Super Bowl championship as they won two in 1970 and 2006.
Both of these teams had nice seasons this past year, and they have the young talent to continue their success. The Colts have a plethora of young players on offense with the likes of RB Marlon Mack, RB Nyheim Hines, and TE Eric Ebron. On the other side of the ball, they have some defensive stars in LB Darius Leonard, LB Anthony Walker, CB Kenny Moore, and FS Malik Hooker.
The Titans are not slackers when it comes to youth either. They have a young QB in Marcus Mariota, as well as RB Derrick Henry and WR Corey Davis. Tennessee has some defensive playmakers to keep an eye out for in LB Javon Brown, CB Adoree’ Jackson, and FS Kevin Byard. The AFC South is shaping up to be a competitive division from top to bottom, and it’s not hard to see both of these teams to have a hand in that action. This rivalry is only going to get better and better in the future.
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