Titans must hit road

NASHVILLE (AP) — The NFL isn’t helping make new Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak’s job any easier, not with a 2011 schedule that sends Tennessee on the road three of the first five games and three of the final four.
That is if the 2011 season starts on time under the schedule announced Tuesday night by the NFL despite being in the midst of a lockout with no labor deal with the players.
Tennessee is set to open at Jacksonville on Sept. 11 with a home opener Sept. 18 against Baltimore. Denver visits Sept. 25 before Tennessee hits the road again to Cleveland and the Steelers before a bye week on Oct. 16.
“I think it’s great to play a division game right away and open up with Jacksonville, like we have three out of the last five years now,” Munchak said in a statement.
The Titans have no games scheduled for prime time for the first time since 2006, but  they are coming off a 6-10 season that led to a decision to part with quarterback Vince Young and coach Jeff Fisher’s own departure weeks later in January.
Coming off the bye, Tennessee starts its AFC South schedule and a three-game home stand hosting the Houston Texans on Oct. 23 followed by a visit from Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 30.
They wrap up the 2011 season by swinging back through the AFC South with a trip to Indianapolis on Dec. 18, a visit from Jacksonville on Dec. 24 and at Houston in the regular season finale Jan. 1.
Cincinnati comes in Nov. 6, and the Titans wrap up their schedule against the AFC North on Dec. 4 with a trip to Buffalo.
The Titans’ NFC opponents come from the South so they will swing through that division starting Nov. 13 at Carolina and at Atlanta on Nov. 20 with Tampa Bay visiting Nashville on Nov. 27 and New Orleans in town Dec. 11.

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