The 2016 season was the Tennessee Titans franchise's 47th in the National Football League 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 Michael Rene Mularkey (born November 19, 1961) is a former American football coach and tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida, and was drafted in the ninth round of the 1983 ...

, who served as the team's interim head coach for the last nine games of the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

season. The Titans tripled their win total from 2015 and achieved their first winning season since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. However, the team missed the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season tying a record set between 1970–1977 — the Titans finished tied with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

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) did.

Draft

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 Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. * The Titans traded a conditional seventh-round selection to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for running back Terrance West.

Staff

Final roster

Team captains

* Marcus Mariota (QB) * Delanie Walker (TE) * Jurrell Casey (DE) * Brian Orakpo (LB) *

Wesley Woodyard Wesley Woodyard Jr. (born July 21, 1986) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for the University of Kentucky and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Denver Broncos in 2008. Woodyard has also played for th ...

(LB) * Daimion Stafford (ST)

Schedule

Preseason

Regular season

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week 2: at Detroit Lions

Week 3: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 4: at Houston Texans

Week 5: at Miami Dolphins

Week 6: vs. Cleveland Browns

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 Cody David Kessler (born May 11, 1993) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Early years Kessler attended Centennial Hi ...

kept the Browns in the hunt with two touchdown drives in the final three minutes.

Week 7: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Taylor Lewan caught his first career touchdown.

Week 8: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

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

Week 9: at San Diego Chargers

Week 10: vs. Green Bay Packers

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.

Week 11: at Indianapolis Colts

Week 12: at Chicago Bears

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.

Week 14: vs. Denver Broncos

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 Alexander John "A. J." Derby (born September 20, 1991) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Iowa (2010–11), Coffeyville Community College (2012) and Arkansas (2013–14). College career Derby started h ...

's fumble was recovered by Daimion Stafford with 1:04 to go. The game became chippy when Harry Douglas cut block

Chris Harris, Jr. Christopher Harris Jr. (born June 18, 1989) is an American football cornerback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kansas. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free age ...

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.

Week 15: at Kansas City Chiefs

The Titans edged the Chiefs on a 53-yard field goal on the final play by former Chiefs placekicker

Ryan Succop Ryan Barrow Succop ( "suck-up"; born September 19, 1986) is an American football placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). Succop played college football at South Carolina and was the 2009 Mr. Irrelevant by ...

; he missed a first attempt but the attempt was nullified when Chiefs coach Andy Reid called timeout.

Week 16: at Jacksonville Jaguars

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.Titans vs. Jaguars all-time matchups
from Pro Football Reference The loss—combined with Houston's subsequent win over Cincinnati—ended Tennessee's hopes for the playoffs.

Week 17: vs. Houston Texans

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.