News Article
Published
Oct 18, 2026 at 11:35 AM EDT
Nothing has broken right in Tennessee this fall, and its second-year quarterback is now one game from a list nobody wants to join.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward has dropped all seven of his AFC South games, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Indianapolis Colts get the next shot at him on Oct. 18.
Schefter laid out the stakes in a post on X.
“Cam Ward enters Sunday’s game vs the Colts with an 0-7 record against AFC South opponents. If the Titans lose today, Ward would become the fifth QB to lose his first eight games against divisional opponents, joining Troy Aikman (11 straight losses to division opponents), David Klingler (9), Colt McCoy (8) and Chris Weinke (8).”
ESPN Research measured the streak against the entire post-merger era.
“If Cam Ward and the Titans lose to the Colts, he’d be the fifth QB to lose his first eight games against division opponents since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970,” ESPN Research said. “The last was Colt McCoy with the Browns in 2010-11.”
Things have gotten bad enough for the 0-5 Titans that the team’s CEO apologized to fans before the Week 6 trip.
Adding Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator hasn’t fixed much. Tennessee ranks last in the NFL in scoring at 11.6 points a game and in total offense at 261.8 yards, and it’s topped one touchdown in a game just once.
Ward’s history against Indianapolis is rough, too. Across two earlier meetings, he threw for 478 yards with two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 75.4 passer rating while the Colts piled up a 79-34 scoring edge.
At 2-3, the Colts carry their own defensive problems. Lou Anarumo’s group gave up 352 yards in Week 5, and Sumer Sports ranks it 27th in EPA per play at 0.05 and last against the run.
A defense sitting 27th couldn’t ask for a much softer draw than the league’s lowest-scoring offense. Ward’s eighth crack at a division win comes in Indianapolis, with Tennessee still chasing its first victory of 2026.