My Two Cents: For Tannehill And Titans' Receivers, Redemption Is a Wonderful Thing

After a brutal opening week with no touchdowns and lots of turnovers, Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans wide receivers bounced back in a big way Sunday in an overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The 27-24 win snapped an eight-game losing streak that dated back to last November.

Tom Brew | Sep 18, 2023

My Two Cents: For Tannehill And Titans' Receivers, Redemption Is a Wonderful Thing /

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NASHVILLE — What a difference a week makes. A big difference.

In the Tennessee Titans' season opener in New Orleans, veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill was awful. He threw three interceptions and the Titans lost. His 28.8 quarterback rating was the worst of his career.

But on a mostly sunny Sunday at Nissan Stadium — more on the weird last-second rain shower later — he kept making one big play after another. He completed 20 of 24 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another one. His completion percentage (83.3) was a career high with a minimum of 20 attempts.

It was a day of redemption for sure after Tannehill led the Titans downfield in overtime and won it on a 41-yard Nick Folk field goal, taking down the Los Angeles Chargers 27-24.

It was a day of redemption for the Titans' receivers, too, This much-maligned group — called the worst in football by many, somewhat foolishly — all stepped up, too. Tannehill hit two long balls on play-action passes, one for 70 yards to Treylon Burks that turned the tide early and another for 49 yards to Chris Moore that helped get the win late.

On play action, Tannehill was 7-for-9 passes for 168 yards. It helps faking a handoff to the great Derrick Henry, of course, but it's an area where Tannehill thrives. He averages 11.8 yards per attempt using play action since 2022, which is 1.6 yards more than any other NFL quarterback.

He also had all that success despite getting pressured constanty by the Chargers pass rush. He was sacked five times and took a bunch of big hits.

He also never blinked.

“He stood in there and got the s--- knocked out of him a couple times late,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “I respect the hell out of him and he kept battling. He hit some shots down the field, and that was great to see. That's what Ryan's done. He's one of the toughest guys on this team, and we've got a bunch of tough guys.''

Tannehill took full responsibility for stinking up the joint last Sunday, but he also was dead set on moving on quickly from it as well. Several players said he was upbeat and engaged all week in meetings and on the practice field, and was confident that big plays were there to be had against the Chargers.

And he was right.

"Obviously I wanted to come back and play well today after last week, so I'm excited to be able to do that and get back on the field,'' Tannehill said. "It felt great to be back out there and pull out the win at the end. We had a lot of momentum there and we were able to string some plays together and get down in field goal range. It started raining there for a second and I'm like,' oh, man.' But right as we were about to snap it, it calmed down a little bit and Nick hammered it through.

"I'm proud of our guys and the way we battled. We stuck together throughout the game, through the ups and the downs. That's the way football games are. It's not going to be perfect. You're going to have ups and downs, and if you stick together and face adversity and make big plays when it comes down to it, and that's what we did today.''

The bomb to Burks early in the second quarter was huge, because the Titans had only 20 yards of offense in the first 19 minutes, and they were down 11-0 early. Things were looking ugly early.

But Burks, who rolled his eyes when asked if he was 100 percent after a preseason knee injury, blew right past Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. and then outran him to the ball. The bomb, which traveled 62.2 yards in the air, according to NextGenStats, was the longest pass during the first two weeks of the NFL season.

"It definitely got us going, and it was a big momentum shift because we were stalemated up to that point,'' said running back Derrick Henry about Burks' catch. "He made a big play for us when we really needed it and it goes us going. It was nice to get a big play there and then get in the end zone.''

It was nice to get in the win column. They guys played hard and fought hard, and we earned that W today.''

Burks

"I just got my name called to go make a play and I did,'' Burks said a jubilant Titans locker room after the win. "It sparks a fire in us, and we went down and scored. 100 percent, you could tell the momentum changed. That's what I'm here for. That was real important, to get something going.

"It was big for Ryan. That's real important for us as a team, to have him comfortable and let him play his game. When he has time, we can see what he can do. We worked on that all week, and we thought we could make some plays. You never know when your opportunity will come. It was the same with Chris Moore later, too. Everyone wants to win, and when your name is called, you've got to make plays. We feel good about us.

DeAndre Hopkins, the big free agent acquisition late in the offseason, had four catches for 40 yards, including two late in the game that led to first downs. That's why he's here.

And Moore, he had just one catch, but the 49-yarder was a massive. It helped turn the game around late.

And then there's Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. It's his fourth year with the Titans now as an undrafted free agent out of Indiana, and he keeps hanging around. He makes plays too, hauling in a 4-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give the Titans a 24-21 lead in the closing minutes.

He had a lot of big blocks in the run game and he had three catches on three targets, for 25 yards — and one touchdown dance.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine will join us on the show tomorrow morning at 9. #Titans pic.twitter.com/NEPCpuZ5df
— Ramon Kayla & Will (@RamonKaylaWill) September 17, 2023

"We trust (Ryan) in our room, and we always want to make sure he trusts us,'' Westbrook-Ikhine said. "We can make plays, and it's a testament to him that he can bounce back, show that grit and that toughness. That's all I know about Ryan since I've been here, and now we've got to keep it going.

"We had a good week of preparation, and we saw opportunities on film to throw it deep. The big thing was we took advantage of it. It's always good to win. I'd say it's a relief after all that went on last year. Now it's about getting some momentum from it, and win some more. And it's always fun to score a touchdown. It was a good scheme play. They bit down on the run and Ryan made a perfect throw.''

I said last week to not make too much of a Week 1 loss, and the same applies in a Week 2 win. The Titans easily could be 2-0 right, but they could be 0-2 just as easy.

This win is worth enjoying, for sure, especially since it's been so long for the three dozen or so guys who've been around a while. Every game is close, and you're going to win some and lose some. That's simply how the NFL works. There is very little carryover. They'll have to play well again next week — probably even better —if they want to win in Cleveland.

"It's important to get off to a good start. Tight game at home, we needed it,'' Vrabel said. "Every week is different, and you hear me say that all the time. We were able to get stops on defense this week, we were able to double them up at halftime. You could just see the difference in our efficiency.''

Since Vrabel came to Nashville in 2018, the Titans are 6-2 in overtime games. Their .750 winning percentage in OT is the best in the NFL among teams with at least six overtime games in that time span.

For a team that desperately needed a win, working a little longer didn't seem to be a problem. They're 1-1 now, and all is right with the world again. There's a sweet taste to redemption, especially in the AFC South where everyone has lost at least once through two weeks.

So enjoy it, and we'll do it again on Sunday.

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