Tony Pollard has more to play for against Texans than any other Titans player, putting Brian Callahan in tricky position

The Tennessee Titans need to find a way to lose in Week 18. Everybody knows this. Nothing about it is a secret.

The Houston Texans are rolling into Nashville with nothing to play for, besides wanting a tune-up opportunity to cleanse themselves of a Week 17 beatdown before heading into the playoffs.

The Titans sure would like for Houston to come into this game determined to win and play their starters, which they are at least messaging they intend to do. Because as previously stated: Tennessee really needs to lose.

But there are individuals on this Titans roster who have serious financial incentives to play for: contract bonuses that kick in at statistical milestones many of them are nearly at. And while losing is what’s best for the future of the franchise, these individual players have every right to want to reach those goals.

Tony Pollard

Nobody on this list is a higher-leverage piece than Tony Pollard. When we look back on the dreadful 2024 Tennessee Titans, Pollard will stick out in our memories as the only consistent bright spot offensively. He was consistently effective, and in many games, looked like the Titans only star on his side of the ball.

Pollard is 83 yards away from his 1100yd rushing incentive of $250,000. That's the most "easily" attainable mark to reach in Week 18, as he's eclipsed this total six times this season already. The other incentive he's near is 7 rushing touchdowns, sitting at 5 so far. Two trips to the endzone against the Texans, and Pollard makes an additional $200,000.

But this is where things get tricky for Head Coach Brian Callahan and the decision makers in the Titans building, who certainly wouldn’t mind having their starting RB on the bench resting for this finale. Pollard is a good enough player to single-handedly determine the outcome of a close game, especially with added motivation.

He may have been able to reach his goals in Week 17 had he played, but he was shut down after weeks of practice load management to be able to get to Sundays. He’s been nursing a pretty bad ankle injury that finally kept him off the field entirely at Jacksonville.

It’s the perfect built-in excuse for a coaching staff to keep their starters on the bench for a finale like this. Not only would they not mind losing the game, but Pollard is also their guy next season. He’s under contract, and getting him into his offseason without any further wear and tear would be ideal.

Ultimately, they’ll have to try to balance helping Pollard get to his incentives and keeping him on the bench for multiple reasons.

Other Titans Near Incentives

A couple of other Titans contributors are near their incentives heading into Week 18.

EDGE Arden Key has 6.5 sacks on the season so far. If he gets to 8, that's $500,000. 9 would bring him $750,000. And if he somehow tallied 3.5 sacks in the finale to get to 10, he'd make an extra $1,000,000. The most sacks in one game for Key in his career is 2, which he managed earlier this year against Detroit.

DL Sebastian Joseph-Day can also make a bonus if he gets to 4 sacks on the year, which would cash out at $250,000. He has 2.5 so far, and would need a career-best 1.5 sacks against the Texans to reach his goal.