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Tennessee Titans: The key to fixing offensive woes

By Emory Wilhite

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 10: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans throws a pass during their AFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at Nissan Stadium on January 10, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Ravens defeated the Titans 20-13. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 10: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans throws a pass during their AFC Wild Card Playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at Nissan Stadium on January 10, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Ravens defeated the Titans 20-13. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Titans are 8-2 and have found a way to win for the last 6 weeks, but that’s without great offensive production. What should the Titans to do to keep their spot atop the AFC?

For some people, the fact that the Tennessee Titans are in first place in the AFC is surprising given the fact that quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson play in the same conference. However, the Titans are slowly but surely becoming a perennial playoff team behind Mike Vrabel’s leadership and the legs of Derrick Henry.

In 2019, the team made it to the AFC Championship losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, the eventual Super Bowl champions. In 2020, the team won the AFC South and lost their home playoff game to Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens.

The team used a run-heavy attack that complemented Henry’s bulldozing with over-the-middle play-action throws by Ryan Tannehill. Even though the Titans lost their offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith to the head coaching job for the Atlanta Falcons, the team has relied on the play-action passing game while maintaining the efficiency of last year. Including all of last year and this year, Tannehill has averaged 10 yards per attempt on play-action throws.

The Tennessee Titans can fix their offensive troubles

This year there is this one glaring problem: the Titans lack a downfield passing attack. It might be a surprise to some that the absence of Henry is not the Titans’ biggest problem. The NFL, however, is a passing league. Passing the football is more efficient than running, and the Titans are having a hard time doing it. But they are also not eager to pass the ball.

In fact, the Titans rank 30th in early-down pass rate per RBSDM.com yet on these early downs their EPA is positive (0.105) when they throw and negative (-0.150) when they run. So, the Titans are down Henry and they are also down future Hall of Famer wide receiver Julio Jones for at least the next two weeks. But they are not down Tannehill.

Per RBSDM.com, Tannehill is 9th in EPA per play despite the fact that the average depth of target is only 7.3 yards. Tannehill is producing despite the fact that the team is unwilling to throw more and when they do, they do not throw the ball down the field. Tannehill’s average depth of target of 7.3 yards is the 27th worst in the league. Now this lack of depth might be due to the poor depth at left tackle since Taylor Lewan got hurt. The offensive line is currently struggling.

The Titans gave Tannehill a 4-year, $118 million contract before the 2020 season. It’s time for the Titans to trust their quarterback as the team fights this battle with injuries.

Tannehill has proven that he can produce for the team despite poor offensive line play. Tannehill has proven he can push the ball downfield on play-action shots. Tannehill has proven he can also hit short throws when the protection is not there.

And last but not least, Tannehill is an athlete who can run the ball. If the Titans want to keep their number one seed in the playoffs, they are going to have to let Tannehill take Henry’s position as the workhorse of the offense. The Titans’ path to the number one seed needs to run through Tannehill.

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