The Tennessee Titans took care of business today, defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 42-20.
There were a lot of deciding factors that led to the Titans ultimately beating the breaks off the Jags at home once again, but none were more larger than the play of both Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill continues to play arguably the best football of his career. The 31 year old has brought everything to the offense that Marcus Mariota couldn’t.
He’s been the stability this offense has severely lacked for weeks, and it’s showing up on the scoreboard and in the win column.
Even if the #Titans don’t score a single point for the rest of this game, they’ll be averaging 29.4 points per game over the last five weeks.
Here is the list of teams currently averaging more than 29.4 points per game for the season:
Ravens (34.1)
49ers (29.5)End of List.
— Mike Herndon (@MikeHerndonNFL) November 24, 2019
With today’s win, Tannehill’s record as the starting QB for the Tennessee Titans improves to 4-1. Who in their right mind expected that when Mike Vrabel made the switch?
I personally had my doubts on if Tannehill would be able to keep this play up for as long as he has. Tannehill and Mariota, coming into the year, looked very similar on paper in terms of skill sets.
So when Tannehill got on this offensive tear, I began to have doubts on if Tannehill would be able to keep it up and save this dormant Titans offense from staying….well, boring.
The Titans still haven’t clinched any sort of playoff spot, so Tannehill will have to stay on the top of his game during the next 5 games, maybe even throwing another moment of Tannehill magic.
Ryan Tannehill goes 21 YARDS for the @Titans TD! #TitanUp #JAXvsTEN
📺: CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app
Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/YLI9jW8U5W pic.twitter.com/rJz7vwmrbu— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2019
Tannehill’s job however has been made pretty easy over the last 5 weeks due to the outstanding play of Derrick Henry.
TWO YEARS IN A ROW. 😤 @KingHenry_2 pic.twitter.com/03ATJMwV7H
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 24, 2019
First off, it’s starting to just get sad to see the Jags get absolutely torched by Henry time and time again. Giving up 2 touchdowns to Henry in 16 seconds sort of feels like the most deflating moment of the annual Henry demolishes Jacksonville saga.
I mean where’s your pride?
Henry continues to ram through that defense like it’s an open trench. It’s pretty pathetic to watch, especially considering the heavy trash talkers the Jags have on that defense. He even got his name chanted throughout the stadium for the 2nd straight time you’ve played him on his home turf.
If you want to talk trash and run your mouth, do it with your play, not when you’re getting physically beaten in the trenches and watching your defense give up large amounts of rushing yards to one guy every time you see him.
That message specifically goes to Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue. Who both ran into some on the field mess with Titans LT Taylor Lewan.
Who for the first time, wasn’t the initial instigator of the on field beef.
Crazy right?
Speaking of the on field mess, the cheap shot by Yannick Ngakoue was rather dirty. How does one not get penalized for something like that?
You could break a guy’s ribs, hell, maybe even cause an even worse situation for the man you decided to cause havoc on.
That goes for Campbell’s cheap shot on Lewan later in the game as well.
This Jags defense can talk all that crap they want, but it means absolutely nothing when you’re getting shredded every damn time you see one guy.
Transitioning back to the Titans, the boys in two tone blue will hit the road for their next game.
Their opponent? None other than the Indianapolis Colts. This game is massive for both team’s playoff chances, even having large effects on who could steal the AFC South crown.
The early storylines include the Titans trying to erase their Lucas Oil Stadium demons, having only won there twice since Lucas Oil Stadium became the home to the Colts in 2008.
Football is an unpredictable sport, so who knows how that game will turn out.
But if Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill can continue their stellar play, then the Titans just might be able to come out of Indy with a gigantic W.
Featured photo via Wesley Hitt/Getty Images