The Tennessee Titans were a playoff team a few years ago under Marcus Mariota, but now Ryan Tannehill has taken the reigns and has this team in a position to return to the postseason.
On Oct. 13, the Tennessee Titans benched former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota in the midst of a 16-0 shutout loss to the unimpressive Denver Broncos.
They started another former first-round pick in Ryan Tannehill, and haven’t looked back since.
Tannehill was branded a bust after the Miami Dolphins cast him aside, and he was signed this offseason with the intent of being insurance for the injury-prone Mariota. Instead, he’s become the Titans possible quarterback of the future, as he’s won four of his five starts since taking the reigns in Tennessee.
In Week 13, the Titans had their most impressive offensive performance of the season against the division rival Jacksonville Jaguars, who had sneaky playoff ambitions of their own. Tennessee trounced the Jags 42-20 behind 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns from star running back Derrick Henry, who needed only 19 attempts to decimate the Jaguars talented defense.
Henry had another excellent performance, but as much praise needs to be given to Tannehill. He was surgical, completing 14 of 18 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns for a whopping 14.4 yards per pass attempt. He added two more touchdowns on the ground to remind NFL fans of his athletic ability at the quarterback position.
It was a stellar display from the Titans, who made a statement in the AFC South days after the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts played out a 20-17 snoozefest on Thursday night. At 6-5, the Titans now have as good of a record as the Colts, and with four wins in their last five games, they have more momentum than their division rivals.
The Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers are also in the playoff hunt at 6-5, but the Titans have a much better quarterback situation with Tannehill at the helm. Whereas the Raiders and Steelers benched their quarterbacks in Week 13, the Titans’ signal-caller had a tremendous performance.
Tannehill has helped bring out the best in talented rookie receiver A.J. Brown, who turned four receptions into 135 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville. The former Texas A&M standout has a 104.4 QB Rating with a completion percentage over 70 percent, as he’s been the best game manager the Titans could have asked for.
Whereas Mariota struggled to move the ball for the offense, Tannehill is averaging nearly 8.5 yards per pass attempt this season. This improved quarterback play has helped receivers like Corey Davis and Brown, and it’s also benefited Henry, who now has to face less onerous defensive fronts. Henry has been able to showcase his world-class ability, which has helped the Titans use their favored formula of running the football and strong defense to win games.
But against Kansas City and Jacksonville, Tannehill has shown he can win games for the Titans, too. He even had a game-winning drive to sink the hearts of Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs before dropping 42 points on Jacksonville.
If Tannehill keeps this up, the Titans will make the playoffs in the wide open AFC Wild Card race, and the former Dolphins starter could reestablish himself as a franchise quarterback in Nashville.