NASHVILLE, Tenn. If familiarity does indeed breed contempt, then it is easy to surmise the Titans and Colts don't care much for each other.
And since the Colts have pretty much owned their AFC South rivals the past decade, including the come-from-behind win here two weeks ago, the Titans surely have plenty of disdain for the franchise that replaced them last decade as the division's flag bearer.
On Sunday, the division-leading Colts (7-4) will host the Titans (5-6). Losers of two of their last three games in lopsided fashion, the Colts are trying to limp into the playoffs as the division winner.
The Titans, meanwhile, are attempting to keep heads above water in a jumbled race for the final wild-card playoff berth.
Then again, a Titans victory would pull them within one in the AFC South, with four games left. But that’s also the same scenario from two weeks ago, when they blew an 11-point halftime lead and lost to Indy on Nov. 14.
"Well, you certainly know each other,” said Colts coach Chuck Pagano, whose 3-0 record against the Titans has only added to the team’s overall 17-4 stance against the division foe since the start of the 2003 season.
"From a preparation standpoint, having played only a couple weeks ago, you’re going to continue to prepare the way you always prepare,” he added. “Certainly, they know us, and we know them. We’re both fighting for the same thing.”
And that would be the playoffs, a place where the Colts have been 10 of the last 11 seasons and the Titans haven’t been since 2008.
“We just played them two weeks ago, so they’ll do the same thing,” said Titans coach Mike Munchak, whose team is coming off a 23-19 win at Oakland that kept their playoff hopes very much alive.
" ... We know what play they’re going to run," he added. "It’s just a matter of their window dressing to get to them or have some counters off those plays, things like that that hides it."
With the Ravens improving to 6-6 on Thursday night, beating the 5-7 Steelers, the Titans need a victory Sunday to keep pace for the final wild card playoff spot.
Also on Sunday, the Jets (5-6) play at the Dolphins (5-6), with one team getting to six wins (barring a tie), while the Chargers (5-6) host the AFC North-leading Bengals hoping to do the same.
Meanwhile, the Titans are hoping to build on last week's victory against the Raiders in which quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 30 of 42 passes for 320 yards and led a game-winning touchdown drive.
Rookie receiver Justin Hunter and second-year receiver Kendall Wright had 109 and 103 receiving yards, respectively, and each scored a touchdown, including Wright's game-winner from 10 yards.
