Why Robert Saleh Has Confidence in Titans Rebuild After Week 8 Loss

There were plenty of positives and negatives to take from the Tennessee Titans' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. 

The Titans entered the game without Carnell Tate, Tyjae Spears and Tommy Townsend. Without two of their starters in the lineup, the Titans battled for four quarters. 

The injuries kept piling up, too. J.C. Latham, Kevin Winston Jr., Peter Skoronski, Marcus Harris and James Williams Sr. all exited the game with injuries at one time or another. 

With all of that going against them, the Titans didn't lie down. They hung with the Bengals. 

They blew a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, going into halftime down 14-13. Even after the Bengals took a 21-13 lead, the Titans found a way to put a drive together and tie things up. 

The Titans stayed in the game and eventually went into overtime against the Bengals. The Titans weren't able to get the win, but the fact that they put up 36 points was enough for some to consider Sunday a moral victory. 

Head coach Robert Saleh clarified that he wasn't a fan of moral victories, but it did give him hope for the future. He got confidence from the way his team played. 

"You know, I appreciate the heck out of them," Saleh said. "Not to be confused with moral victories, cause that ain't it. But this is the NFL. You're going to win some; you're going to lose some. But I do believe that if we play with the fight, the energy, and the intent that I think our guys played with, we're going to be on the right side more often than not. That Bengals team is going to be right there in one of the last four, eight teams alive. This year, they're pretty freaking good. And I do believe in our group. We just got to figure out how to win these fourth quarters. It's getting old, but it is what it is, you know? I mean, it's 1-5 in one-score games, or the narrative would be completely different around these young men, and we'd be seeing it differently. And I love our group, and we'll figure it out. Like I keep telling you guys, we're going to get it flipped, and if our guys play and fight the way they did today, I've got confidence in that." 

The Titans losing one-score games has been the story of this team this season. The Titans are now 1-5 in one-score games. 

If the ball had bounced differently in these games, there's a good chance that this team would have a winning record right now. 

For now, there's hope in the fact that the Titans are playing much more competitive football. 

Aside from the losses to the New York Jets and Houston Texans, the Titans have been competing with the rest of the teams they've faced so far. Last year, the Titans had seven games decided by one score. 

Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi said it himself in the offseason. He was asked about the culture of this team, and he didn't really have an answer at the time, as the pieces of the puzzle were still coming together. 

However, he did predict that the Titans were going to be competitive this season. Besides the Texans and Jets losses, that's been true for the most part. 

The Titans still only have one win, that's true. The one thing fans can cling onto is that the Titans are still going toe-to-toe with the top teams in the NFL every week. 

Sunday was further proof of that concept. It's why Saleh believes things will eventually turn around for the franchise.