{"id":95027,"date":"2020-09-20T21:38:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T01:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=95027"},"modified":"2020-09-20T21:38:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T01:38:58","slug":"time-to-start-talking-about-ryan-tannehill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/09\/20\/time-to-start-talking-about-ryan-tannehill\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Start Talking About Ryan Tannehill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Game manager. System quarterback. Paid to hand the ball to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HenrDe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Henry<\/a><\/strong>. Those are three common descriptors of <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/titans\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tennessee Titans<\/a> quarterback <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/TannRy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Tannehill<\/a><\/strong> and his game. It can be hard to stand out when you share the backfield with the 6\u20193\u201d, 240-pound NFL rushing champion, but it\u2019s time Ryan Tannehill shared in the spotlight. The Titans improved to 2-0 on Sunday, a feat last accomplished during the 2008 season. It wasn\u2019t Derrick Henry, but Ryan Tannehill who led them here.<\/p>\n<h2>Time to Start Talking About Ryan Tannehill<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> were not going to let Derrick Henry beat them &#8211; not again. They were going to make Ryan Tannehill earn his $118 million dollar contract that he signed this off-season. He did not disappoint. Without his best receiver <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=override,BrowAJ00&amp;search=A.J.+Brown&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A.J. Brown<\/a><\/strong> on Sunday, Tannehill finished 18\/24 passing for 239 yards and tied his career-high with four touchdown passes while committing no turnovers. More importantly, with the game tied and 3:29 left on the clock late in the fourth quarter, Tannehill led a game-winning drive. His second in as many games.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">No stopping <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ryantannehill1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ryantannehill1<\/a> today. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HaveADay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#HaveADay<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Titans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Titans<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Titans?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Titans<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/AM7ex7kBw6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/AM7ex7kBw6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL (@NFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL\/status\/1307791065114718208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 20, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Tannehill&#8217;s Leadership<\/h3>\n<p>One thing is clear. Ryan Tannehill is the leader of this football team. The Titans re-signed him, and despite the many challenges of this year&#8217;s off-season, Tannehill focused on leading and improving this team. Living in South Florida, Tannehill arranged passing sessions with rising tight end <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/S\/SmitJo01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonnu Smith<\/a>, <\/strong>who he connected with twice for scores on Sunday, and rookie running back <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/04\/21\/darrynton-evans-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Darrynton Evans<\/strong><\/a>. As reported by <strong>Turron Davenport<\/strong> of ESPN, when asked about Ryan Tannehill, head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/V\/VrabMi20.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Vrabel<\/a> said, &#8220;Ryan worked his way in there and played well. And then as that comfort level began to grow, he really expanded his leadership and then took off in the off-season. I&#8217;d say it&#8217;s better now than what it was last year. They respond to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Tannehill&#8217;s Progression<\/h3>\n<p>The fear entering the 2020 season was a regression for Tannehill following his blazing play last year. It wasn\u2019t a question of if, but rather, how much. So far, so good. Two games into the season, Ryan Tannehill has completed 70 percent of his passes for 488 yards, six touchdowns, and zero turnovers. Impressive numbers no doubt, but even more so when you consider the early season struggles of Derrick Henry. Through two games, Henry has rushed 56 times for 200 yards and no touchdowns, averaging only 3.6 yards per carry. Tannehill\u2019s QBR is 83.2, good for fifth in the league behind only <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/J\/JackLa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lamar Jackson<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/RodgAa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MahoPa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patrick Mahomes<\/a>,<\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WilsRu00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Wilson<\/a><\/strong>. Those quarterbacks have four league MVP awards amongst them. Yes, Derrick Henry is elite, but so is Ryan Tannehill, and it\u2019s time the league took notice.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans will look to improve to 3-0 next Sunday as they travel to Minneapolis to face the 0-2 <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/vikings\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnesota Vikings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"X-E_wj2MShtStj9s-OK2lQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1228624281\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'X-E_wj2MShtStj9s-OK2lQ',sig:'4MdxxL3McnD-4D4rzyfWekrlMGIOEDSHaUnvpOzOWzU=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1228624281',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Game manager. System quarterback. Paid to hand the ball to Derrick Henry. Ryan Tannehill is much more than that and he&#8217;s proving it in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3668,"featured_media":95046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,11],"tags":[596,814,58],"class_list":["post-95027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-titans","tag-derrick-henry","tag-ryan-tannehill","tag-tennessee-titans"],"modified_by":"John Bava","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}