1 - It’s way past time to respect the Titans passing game
Has anyone else had their internal clock completely thrown off from a Tuesday night football game? That’s definitely happening over here. The only thing normal about the affair was that, as it was an island game, we’ll be tempted to overreact to what we saw and blanket label a team/unit/player’s season-long to-date performance based just on that viewing.
Some would instantly think to turn the glowering eye on Josh Allen. They’re ready to declare the bulk of his 2020 a fluke because he threw a couple of picks last night. Yet, last night was the outlier for Allen this season and, even then, he put multiple impressive throws and uncanny coolness under pressure on film Tuesday night.
The real story coming out of Tuesday night’s game should be the coming-out party for Tennessee’s passing offense. It’s strange that we need to have such an event, considering Ryan Tannehill led the NFL in adjusted yards per attempt (10.2) last year. However, his 160 total passing yards in the two nationally televised Titans playoff wins last year spun an unfortunate narrative that he’s just a bit player along for the ride.
While Derrick Henry is still the best player on the Titans offense, the 2020 season is showing Tannehill’s true value.
On a night when Henry's meme-able and god-like stiff arm of Josh Norman stole the show, he totaled just 57 yards on 19 carries. The run game wasn’t the dominant force for Tennessee on offense despite Henry’s two scores. Rather quietly, it’s been that way all year.
With some transition and injury spurts on the offensive line, the team hasn’t enjoyed the same rushing success it did in 2019. In fact, the Titans rank 16th in rushing offense DVOA through five weeks but a stunning fifth in passing DVOA. Tannehill and the aerial attack have been the better unit to this point.
Not much regression has hit his play as Tannehill once again ranks top-six in touchdown rate, QBR, and passer rating in 2020. According to SportRadar, he’s been on-target on 77.3 percent of his throws this year. Tannehill has been the same hyper-efficient master of the offense he was during his breakout year with Tennessee.
With Arthur Smith calling plays and a healthy A.J. Brown paired with the explosive Jonnu Smith at tight end, Tannehill has the infrastructure to keep this going. Those guys are legitimate stars. On a night that could have been the coming-out party of the reborn version of Josh Allen, it was Tannehill who wrestled the spotlight away. It’s time we accept this is what he is and pay him the respect he deserves.