The 2008 Tennessee Titans season was the team's 49th season and 39th in the National Football League (NFL), their 12th in Tennessee, and their tenth as the Titans.
Despite making the playoffs in the 2007 season with a record of 10–6, the Titans were expected by most sportswriters to finish third or even fourth in the AFC South. They nonetheless compiled a 13–3 regular season record—the best in the NFL—and won home-field advantage for the duration of the playoffs after clinching AFC South on December 7 after a win over the Cleveland Browns and a 10–0 start. The Titans defense was ranked number two in the NFL behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, giving up only 234 points. The Titans lost two of their last three regular season games, and were eliminated by the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.
This was the last season the Tennessee Titans qualified for the playoffs until 2017, and also the last season when the Titans won the AFC South until 2020, when they also lost to the Ravens in their first playoff game. It would be the final season the Titans gained the AFC's top seed for 13 years.
2008 NFL draft
Round Selection Player Position College 1 24 Chris Johnson Running back East Carolina 2 54 Jason Jones Defensive tackle Eastern Michigan 3 85 Craig Stevens Tight end California 4 103 William Hayes Defensive end Winston-Salem State 126 Lavelle Hawkins Wide receiver California 134 Stanford Keglar Linebacker Purdue 7 229 Cary Williams Cornerback Washburn
Roster
Schedule Pre-season Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Match Report 1 August 9 St. Louis Rams W 34–13 LP Field 1–0 Recap 2 August 16 Oakland Raiders W 17–16 LP Field 2–0 Recap 3 August 22 at Atlanta Falcons L 3–17 Georgia Dome 2–1 Recap 4 August 28 at Green Bay Packers W 23–21 Lambeau Field 3–1 Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Game site Record Match Report 1 September 7 Jacksonville Jaguars W 17–10 LP Field 1–0 Recap 2 September 14 at Cincinnati Bengals W 24–7 Paul Brown Stadium 2–0 Recap 3 September 21 Houston Texans W 31–12 LP Field 3–0 Recap 4 September 28 Minnesota Vikings W 30–17 LP Field 4–0 Recap 5 October 5 at Baltimore Ravens W 13–10 M&T Bank Stadium 5–0 Recap 6 Bye 7 October 19 at Kansas City Chiefs W 34–10 Arrowhead Stadium 6–0 Recap 8 Indianapolis Colts W 31–21 LP Field 7–0 Recap 9 November 2 Green Bay Packers W 19–16 LP Field 8–0 Recap 10 November 9 at Chicago Bears W 21–14 Soldier Field 9–0 Recap 11 November 16 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 24–14 Jacksonville Municipal Stadium 10–0 Recap 12 November 23 New York Jets L 13–34 LP Field 10–1 Recap 13 November 27 at Detroit Lions W 47–10 Ford Field 11–1 Recap 14 December 7 Cleveland Browns W 28–9 LP Field 12–1 Recap 15 December 14 at Houston Texans L 12–13 Reliant Stadium 12–2 Recap 16 December 21 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–14 LP Field 13–2 Recap 17 December 28 at Indianapolis Colts L 0–23 Lucas Oil Stadium 13–3 Recap Note: Division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
Regular season results
Week 1: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Titans pulled off an important divisional win behind the strong running of rookie RB Chris Johnson, who rushed for 93 yards in his NFL debut, and the arm of backup quarterback Kerry Collins, who replaced starter Vince Young when he went down late in the 4th quarter. Young had been inconsistent, throwing 1 TD pass to Johnson and 2 INTs. However, Collins moved the ball down field effectively and that drive led to the eventual game-winning touchdown run by LenDale White. Jacksonville trailed for much of the game and couldn't run the ball against a locked in Titans defense, who sacked Jaguars quarterback David Garrard seven times. Both teams' defenses played well but the Titans held on. This game was also significant because the Jaguars, Texans, and Colts (in their debut at Lucas Oil Stadium) lost, so the Titans grabbed first place in the AFC South for the first week of the season, ending a 56-week streak of holding 1st place in the division by the Colts as the team started the season 1–0.
Week 2: at Cincinnati Bengals
The Titans stayed in 1st place thanks to the extremely strong wind from the remnants of Hurricane Ike (which interfered with an important field goal attempt by Shayne Graham) and a sloppy Cincinnati offense in a 24–7 rout. Chris Johnson ran for over 100 yards for the first time in his career and Kerry Collins had a good day filling in for the injured Vince Young. The Titans first scored on a 1-yd TD run by LenDale White after a scoreless 1st quarter and then Cincinnati scored its only touchdown with a Chris Perry 13-yd TD run on 4th down. The Titans, with a little over a minute left, drove the ball downfield and took a 14–7 lead at the half thanks to an 11-yd touchdown reception by Justin Gage. The knockout punch was delivered early in the 4th quarter with the Titans leading 17–7. Keith Bulluck recovered a blocked punt in the endzone to finish off the Bengals and keep the Titans perfect.
The win also gave the Titans a 2–0 start for the first time since 1999.
Week 3: vs. Houston Texans
Coming off their road win over the Bengals, the Titans went home for a Week 3 duel with the Houston Texans. In the first quarter, Tennessee trailed early as Houston Texans kicker Kris Brown got a 44-yard field goal. The Titans responded with RB LenDale White getting a 2-yard TD run. Houston drew close as Brown kicked a 24-yard field goal, yet Tennessee answered with QB Kerry Collins completing a 9-yard TD pass to TE Bo Scaife. The Texans replied with RB Steve Slaton getting a 6-yard TD run (with a failed PAT), while the Titans closed out the half with White's 1-yard TD run. In the third quarter, Tennessee increased its lead with kicker Rob Bironas nailing a 44-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Titans closed out the game with CB Cortland Finnegan returning an interception 99 yards for a touchdown.
With the win, Tennessee acquired its first 3–0 start since their Super Bowl run of 1999.
Week 4: vs. Minnesota Vikings
Coming off their home win over the Texans, the Titans stayed at home for a Week 4 interconference duel with the Minnesota Vikings. In the first quarter, Tennessee drew first blood as kicker Rob Bironas got a 20-yard field goal, along with rookie RB Chris Johnson getting a 1-yard TD run. In the second quarter, the Vikings responded with RB Adrian Peterson getting a 28-yard TD run. Afterwards, the Titans answered with Bironas kicking a 32-yard field goal, along with RB LenDale White getting a 1-yard TD run. Minnesota closed out the half with kicker Ryan Longwell getting a 42-yard field goal.
In the third quarter, Tennessee increased its lead with Bironas nailing a 49-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Vikings tried to rally as Peterson got a 3-yard TD run, yet the Titans pulled away with Johnson getting a 6-yard TD run. The end of the game came with a bad call by the coach, as he elected to punt on 4th down, despite being after the two minute warning, down by two scores and out of time outs. After the Vikings caught a fair catch, they proceeded to take three kneel downs to run out the game clock.
With the win, Tennessee acquired its first 4–0 start in franchise history.
Week 5: at Baltimore Ravens
Coming off their home win over the Vikings, the Titans flew to M&T Bank Stadium for a Week 5 defensive duel with the Baltimore Ravens. In the first quarter, Tennessee trailed early as Ravens kicker Matt Stover got a 38-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Titans tied the game with kicker Rob Bironas getting a 35-yard field goal. In the third quarter, Baltimore took the lead as RB Le'Ron McClain got a 1-yard TD run. Fortunately, in the fourth quarter, Tennessee rallied with Bironas nailing a 26-yard field goal, along with QB Kerry Collins completing an 11-yard TD pass to TE Alge Crumpler.
With the win, the Titans kept their perfect season alive as they entered their bye week at 5–0. During this bye week, the Titans became the only undefeated team in the NFL with the Giants' loss to the Browns in Week 6.
Week 7: at Kansas City Chiefs
Coming off their bye week, the Titans flew to Arrowhead Stadium for a Week 7 duel with the Kansas City Chiefs. In the first quarter, Tennessee drew first blood as kicker Rob Bironas got a 49-yard field goal, along with RB LenDale White getting a 6-yard TD run. In the second quarter, the Titans increased their lead as White got a 2-yard TD run. In the third quarter, Tennessee continued its victory march as Bironas got a 46-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, the Titans ripped it up as White got an 80-yard TD run. The Chiefs would get on the board as kicker Nick Novak nailed a 26-yard field goal, yet Tennessee replied with rookie RB Chris Johnson getting a 66-yard TD run. Kansas City ended the game's scoring with QB Tyler Thigpen getting a 14-yard TD run.
With the win, the Titans stayed perfect at 6–0.
In the game, Tennessee's overall ground game reached a franchise-best 332 yards.
Week 8: vs. Indianapolis Colts
On Monday Night Football, the Titans responded to the doubters and defeated the Colts for only the fourth time since formation of the AFC South; the final score was 31–21 and came after Indianapolis had been heavily favored to win. Rob Bironas got it started with a field goal but then Peyton Manning found Dallas Clark for a touchdown on the next drive. Bironas pulled the Titans to within one with another field goal, but missed one before the half to keep the Titans behind going into halftime. Manning found Clark once again the 3rd quarter for a 14–6 lead but that would be the last time they would lead as LenDale White scored and Ahmard Hall caught a two-point conversion from Kerry Collins. Bironas hit another field goal to give the Titans the lead for good. Two key interceptions by the Titans put the Colts away as White scored again and rookie Chris Johnson added his fourth rushing touchdown late. Manning would score a rushing touchdown in the final minute but it was too little too late. With the win, the Titans picked up their first 7–0 start in the franchise's entire history, including as the “Oilers”.
During halftime, former Titans Steve McNair, Eddie George, and Frank Wycheck were honored.
Week 9: vs. Green Bay Packers
The Titans kept their record perfect by edging the Packers 19–16 in OT.
Rob Bironas and Mason Crosby each traded field goals early in the first half and the Titans had a 6–3 edge until Aaron Rodgers hooked up with Donald Driver for a touchdown. Then LenDale White helped drive the ball downfield with 50-yard run that set up Chris Johnson's TD run to make it 13–10.
In the second half, the Packers were able to tie the game with two more Crosby field goals and force it into overtime when Bironas missed a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation.
In overtime, Kerry Collins and Johnson helped move the ball down the field for a game-winning 47-yard field goal by Bironas, who made up for his mistake at the end of the 4th.
With the win, the Titans ran their regular season winning streak to 11 games, continued their hottest start in franchise history, and remained the only unbeaten team in the league as they improved to 8–0.
Week 10: at Chicago Bears
Coming off their home win over the Packers, the Titans flew to Soldier Field for a Week 10 interconference duel with the Chicago Bears.
In the first quarter, Tennessee trailed early as Bears QB Rex Grossman completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to RB Matt Forte. In the second quarter, the Titans answered with QB Kerry Collins completing a 10-yard TD pass to TE Bo Scaife.
In the third quarter, Tennessee took the lead as Collins completed a 12-yard TD pass to WR Justin Gage (a former Bear). In the fourth quarter, the Titans increased their lead as RB LenDale White got a 2-yard touchdown run. Chicago tried to rally as Grossman got a 1-yard touchdown run, yet Tennessee's defense stiffened for the win.