It’s time to face some unpleasant truths. The Titans are not a great football team that suffers occasional lapses or bad luck. The Titans are a mediocre football team. And a return to the Super Bowl ain’t happening. Not this year. Maybe not anytime soon.

Sunday’s dismal collapse against Cleveland may have provided rosy Titan rooters with a sobering slap of reality. That giant sucking sound you heard was the air escaping from the Titans’ balloon.

For a long time, it was possible to bestow the benefit of the doubt upon the boys in Columbia blue and blue. As recently as two seasons ago, they didn’t need even that. The Titans and the Baltimore Ravens were the two best teams in the NFL. Were it not for a blocked field goal that the Ravens turned into a 10-point swing, Tennessee might have captured the Super prize that a year earlier had been just one tantalizing yard beyond their grasp.

Last season’s rash of injuries made it difficult to obtain a true read on the team. It was hard to say, for example, whether the steep drop in rushing productivity was due simply to the injury to Eddie George’s toe or to other problems more difficult to heal, such as the departure of fullback Lorenzo Neal or a weakening of the offensive line. Likewise, it was tough to gauge the effect of the departure from the secondary of Marcus Robertson and Denard Walker (and the performance of ends Jevon Kearse and Kevin Carter) when so many injuries left so many holes in the defensive backfield.

Now, with George healthy and no need for a patchwork secondary, the Titans are out of alibis. Perhaps most vexing of all to Fisher, the team that once seemed perfectly to reflect its head coach now plays more like a schizophrenic.

Consider the signs of a personality transformation. Fisher likes to establish the run. The Titans are averaging 2.5 yards per carry, even with one of the NFL’s elite runners. The Titans couldn’t even run the football on Dallas and Cleveland. (In a group pout last week, the team’s offensive linemen refused to talk to the media, which had refused to ignore that group’s poor performance.)

Fisher likes to wear down opponents as the game goes on. This year’s team produces significantly fewer rushing yards in the second half.

Fisher likes to set the tempo with strong defense. Sure, Kearse and Randall Godfrey are injured, and cornerback Andre Dyson had to leave Sunday’s game. But you’d still expect better from a defensive unit that has been shredded more than Arthur Andersen’s Enron files. Just as in 2001, they’re making even dog QBs like Dallas’ Quincy Carter look like Pro Bowlers. For many fans, the gloomiest moment Sunday occurred when the Browns won the coin toss before overtime began; they correctly feared that the game would end after the first possession

Fisher takes pride in special teams play. This year, that group has made costly mistakes in each game. A muffed punt gave Philadelphia a score, a punt return TD brought Cleveland back from the dead and opponents have successfully executed onside kicks in the past two games.

Fisher promotes discipline and control. Now his team is rapidly running out of places on its feet that are free of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. On Sunday, they committed 14 penalties—including several that sustained scoring drives for Cleveland.

Fisher may tell you the buck stops with him, but there’s plenty of blame to spread around. The Titans’ slide into mediocrity defies a single, simple explanation. Unfortunately, despite the team’s many core strengths, the climb back into Super Bowl contention may also require more than fixing one or two shortcomings. As with the nation’s economy, we may be in for a lot more turbulence.

Familiar Haunts for Vols

In Knoxville, at least, there was one obvious and correctable problem to help explain why the universally favored Vols tanked against a vulnerable Florida team. As every first-grade sandlotter recognizes, you have to hike the ball before you can run a play. In one four-play stretch, the Vols mishandled three center snaps. One gave the Gators an easy touchdown. Another fumble—there were eight in all—provided Florida with a field goal to end the first half and a 24-0 lead.

The errors were infectious. Twice, the Vols put too many men on the field. They burned timeouts because they couldn’t get organized. And UT coaches are still probably reviewing the film, unless they’ve already burned it, to identify all of the missed tackles.

Big Orange fans know just what washed away in the rain on Saturday. In contrast to the NFL, there’s no such thing as “just one game”—particularly not this one game. The ignominious 30-13 loss may cost the Vols a shot at the national championship, unless they can beat Miami and everyone else along the way, and several other unbeaten teams don’t remain that way. As always after a loss to Florida, there is serious doubt about whether Tennessee will even win the SEC East.

In one unsettling way, however, Tennessee remained true to form, and more practice will not solve the problem. The problem is mental—and fundamental.

Over the years, Steve Spurrier got inside the Vols’ heads so far that they can’t get rid of him, even though he left the Gainesville of the SEC for the financial Gains-ville of the NFL. Just judging from what you see on the field, Florida’s players still have the Vols badly psyched. (There are people who’ll tell you that for Florida athletes to enjoy a mental advantage over even a granite boulder is no small accomplishment.)

The Vols boast a better overall record than Florida over the past few seasons. Their athletes are just as good. But that hasn’t translated into a proportionate share of wins for UT. And maybe Ron Zook, the Gators’ new boss, is no Steve Spurrier. But until they can find a way to banish Spurrier’s ghost, his old taunt will haunt—and the Citrus Bowl will remain the winter home of the Tennessee Vols.

How it looks from the La-Z-Boy

Raiders 30, Titans 17

For the Titans, one thing will prevent this game from becoming as ugly as last week’s: They won’t have a 21-point lead to blow.

Tennessee 45, Rutgers 10

Even more than usual for a school from New Jersey, Rutgers will find itself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tony Soprano and all his crew couldn’t save these poor slobs.

South Carolina 27, Vanderbilt 17

For Vandy, alone among the state’s major teams, last weekend brought some good news if a familiar result. The Commodores found they could move the ball against an SEC foe (no small comfort, given their porous defense), rally from a 21-point deficit (twice), and play well enough to win on the road (though, of course, they lost). But what may be most encouraging to long-suffering Vandy fans, who had to be pleased just to see signs of life, is that new coach Bobby Johnson refused to accentuate the positive. His predecessors have paid lip service to the idea that moral victories are unacceptable, but Johnson actually sounds like he means it. That may be most hopeful development yet at Vandyland. And, though it probably won’t translate into a W against South Carolina, for the first time all year there’s reason to believe the Commodores have a chance to pull one off in the SEC.

Alabama 21, Arkansas 17

Auburn 31, Syracuse 14

Florida 34, Kentucky 21

Georgia 35, New Mexico St. 14

South Carolina 30, Temple 10

Packers 20, Panthers 17

Steelers 31, Browns 27