Tennessee Titans: Another senseless QB controversy hot take emerges

Radio host Benjamin Allbright somehow believes quarterback Ryan Tannehill gives the Tennessee Titans a better chance to win than Marcus Mariota.

‘Tis the season for bad hot takes on the Tennessee Titans’ starting quarterback spot, and now NFL talk show host and analyst Benjamin Allbright is throwing his bow tie into the ring.

On Thursday, Allbright tweeted his opinion that backup quarterback Ryan Tannehill gives the Titans a better chance to win than the incumbent starter, Marcus Mariota.

Let’s start off by saying that there is zero evidence this is the case, unless, of course, you’re using the first preseason game as some kind of metric to have this opinion. As Allbright claims, that is not the basis for his take.

Yeah, sure.

Yes, Tannehill put up better numbers than Mariota, however the Oregon product played in just one series, as opposed to Tannehill playing in several. Let us also not forget that Tannehill did his work against a backup Philadelphia Eagles defense.

If we’re dealing in reality here, Tannehill does not give the Titans a better chance to win, and that’s by default. In his career, Tannehill sports a 42-46 (.477 win PCT) quarterback record, while Mariota’s total record comes in at 27-28 (.490 win PCT).

Quick math: .490 > .477

If you want to talk about bad supporting casts being a reason for those numbers, fine.

Tannehill did not have good supporting casts on offense in Miami, but neither has Mariota in Tennessee. The 2019 season will be the first in which Mariota has a legit supporting cast around him overall on offense.

Mariota has also enjoyed three seasons with a winning QB record, as opposed to Tannehill’s one. And, perhaps the most important stat to distinguish the two is that Mariota actually has a playoff win under his belt in two career contests, where Tannehill has never taken a playoff snap.

Now, this is not to disparage Tannehill in any way, we’re just trying to understand where this comes from. He looked great on Thursday night and it was encouraging to see him take full advantage of the lackluster defense he was facing, but it doesn’t mean much beyond that.

Unless you think like Benjamin Allbright.

There’s no question Tannehill is the best insurance policy to Mariota the Titans have ever brought in. Titans fans can be comfortable knowing that if something happens to Mariota, Tannehill can take over almost seamlessly, as the two have very similar skill sets.

But that’s where the Tannehill train stops.

The aforementioned numbers simply show that there is absolutely no evidence to support Allbright’s take. It makes no sense to say that Tannehill gives the Titans a better chance to win than Mariota does.

After almost an entire offseason of the Titans being ignored and disrespected in every way, the media is now jumping on this QB controversy bandwagon for one reason and one reason only: attention.