What a game.
This game had pretty much everything, when it comes to major story lines that developed during the game.
Ryan Tannehill was named the new Titans starting QB earlier this week, which signaled the end of Marcus Mariota’s tenure as a Tennessee Titan.
But while the attention was on Mariota and his end as a Tennessee Titan, we lost track of Tannehill and how much potential he had to turn around a stagnant Titans offense. Sure, Tannehill and Mariota are similar in many ways regarding their performance on the field.
However, today, Tannehill looked like a complete opposite of Mariota.
Tannehill was 23/29, for 312 yards, and added 2 touchdowns.
Tannehill threw with anticipation, leading to WRs being able to get their hands on the football before a DB had a chance of getting a hand on it. Tannehill was decisive and aggressive, targeting his big framed wideouts on the outside and giving them chances on contested throws.
Something Mariota didn’t do too much during his time as the starter.
Speaking of big framed WRs, Corey Davis and AJ Brown were excellent today. Both Davis and Brown caught 6 passes, with Davis adding a touchdown.
It was good to see Davis be more involved in the passing game, as his talent is way too great to be wasted. Brown caught a couple big 3rd down grabs late in the game
Even the pass protection was great today, with Tannehill only being sacked twice.
The offensive line did a great job of remaining sturdy and giving Tannehill the time needed to get this offense to function.
It’s like the Titans offense related to an actual real life situation.
You know, the crazy partner in a relationship that’s just so toxic. So demanding and annoying, that any normal person wouldn’t think twice about dumping that said person.
But this person is a special person to you, and you want to give it some more time, to see if time and a little more time together will help mend the problems that you have in the relationship.
Meanwhile, you have a new person you meet, someone who gets you and wants to get the best out of yourself and their self. You brush said person off as a helpful friend, nothing more.
Time passes, and nothing is getting any better, so you get frustrated and dump the toxic weirdo.
You go to the helpful friend, talk about the issues, and you feel good about yourself. 2 months later, you’re in a happy relationship that you wouldn’t give up for the world.
Well, that might not relate to the Titans QB situation exactly, but it covers the point.
Tannehill gave exactly what the Titans needed in their offense, and had a masterful debut as a Titan. This offense has plenty of talent, it just needs the consistency to start being respectable.
Tannehill on how well the offense played today. #Titans pic.twitter.com/hFTWcmhM64
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) October 21, 2019
If they can do the little things right, and keep their passing offense the level it was today, watch out.
It’s only one game, but the encouraging signs for this offense were there today.
If you want to talk more about debuts as a Titan though, look no further than Jeffery Simmons. I mean the big man was huge today.
He looked every bit of the top 10 talent today, while looking relatively healthy 8 months after a torn ACL. He was disruptive in the run game, shedding blockers with ease.
He even got his 1st career sack today, with the victim being none other than future Hall of Famer, Philip Rivers.
It’s literally what dreams are made of.
He didn’t even play 25 snaps, and still made that big of an impact in this huge game for the Titans.
I don’t know about you, but Simmons’ rising play will only create even more problems for opposing offenses. Combined with a good secondary, and a nice group of EDGE rushers, Simmons’ pplay along with the consistency of Jurrell Casey will only make this defense even scarier.
Jeffery Simmons on having his moment after the long and difficult rehab he’s had from his torn ACL. #Titans pic.twitter.com/pOuqITrxa2
— TreJean Watkins (@TreWatkins099) October 20, 2019
Speaking of defense, how about that stop at the end of the game? I was sitting up in the press box and thought the Titans have absolutely no shot to come out of this situation without giving up points.
I was very wrong.
The officiating on that last sequence of events was a complete mess, but the events ended with a Melvin Gordon fumble and gave the Titans their first win since week 4.
This is the sort of game that could spring the Titans towards some wins.
But for now, the Tennessee Titans are 1-0 in the Ryan Tannehill era.
We’ll see how they move forward after a thrilling win today.
Featured Photo via Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
