Top seed is not what's important to Titans

History repeating?: The Titans have had reservations for Tampa before. In 2000, Tennessee was 13-3 and the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Super Bowl XXXV was in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium. The Ravens went into Nashville, upset the Titans 24-10 in the division round and went on to win the Lombardi Trophy. And that started a trend. Since that year, the 2003 Patriots are the only No. 1 seed to reach the Super Bowl and win it. "It doesn't matter what your seed is," Titans WR Justin Gage told the Tennessean. "You can be the No. 1 seed or the No. 6 seed — it's the team that's playing the best and is focused at the right time."

Seniority rules: With the firing of Mike Shanahan in Denver, Jeff Fisher, is the longest-tenured coach with one team, having completed his 14th full season with the Titans. "I'm not worried (about) the league getting young, I'm worried about staying young myself," Fisher said. "It's ever-changing. … I look forward to coming to work every day and have a great group of guys."

Number of the day

37 Titans with playoff experience. A year ago, when they lost at San Diego, there were 18.

Rick Stroud, Times staff writer