Robert Saleh Issues Challenge to Titans After 0-5 Start

The Tennessee Titans are about to see what they are made of following this 0-5 start. 

Sunday's 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans was a brutal reality check for the team. Both teams entered the game at 0-4, and it was clear the Texans were not defined by their record. 

The Texans had the ball for over 34 minutes, while the Titans had possession for 25 minutes and 21 seconds. 

The Titans are now 0-5. It's the first time they've started a season that way since 2009. The Texans used to be much less of a problem for the Titans. 

Now, under head coach DeMeco Ryans, the Texans have lost just one game to the Titans since he took over in 2023. 

The trajectory of both franchises has changed drastically over the last few years. There have been calls for the Titans to bench Cam Ward, but Saleh is sticking with him as the starting quarterback. 

Saleh still believes in his team and issued a challenge to the players over these final 12 games. He said that the next 12 games were going to determine who was going to stick around when they figured things out. 

"You know, that's a good one, Paul, because at the end of the day, it's when you're faced with adversity, which we are right now; we're 0-5," Saleh said. "I've said this to you guys before. There's three reactions humans make. You're either going to wallow in self-pity, you're going to point the finger, or you're going to look inward and try to find answers. And you know, l told the locker room after the game just now, it's these next 12 games or whatever we have is going define the people that we're going to ride with moving on to next year. And not that we're cashing out, just to be clear, but these next 12 games are going to identify who's going to be here when we get this thing turned around." 

This could be a defining moment for this Titans team under Saleh. It's very hard to come back from a 0-5 start. 

The Texans are actually one of the few teams in NFL history to come back from a 0-3 start and make the playoffs. So, the Titans have an even steeper climb at 0-5. 

If the Titans are able to turn things around with Saleh at the helm, this could be a moment that the organization remembers. The Titans have been in this situation before as a franchise. 

Tennessee started the 2009 season 0-5 and ended up finishing that year at 8-8. 

The unfortunate thing about Sunday was that there was nothing really to gain from it. The Titans struggled to run and throw the ball. The defense let up multiple chunk plays. 

The Texans dominated them, and the score showed it. At least in the losses to the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens, there were things you could highlight to give you hope. 

Week 5 didn't have anything like for the Titans to hang their hats on. We'll see how the team responds after getting embarrassed at home once again. 

The Titans responded well in Week 2 after the Jets beat them 23-10. Hopefully, we'll see that same kind of energy against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6. 

The Titans face them on the road at Lucas Oil Stadium at noon CT on Fox.