Tennessee Titans: 5 takeaways from Week 9 loss to Panthers

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 03: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans talks to his players in the first quarter during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 03: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans talks to his players in the first quarter during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 03: Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans is sacked by Eric Reid #25 of the Carolina Panthers during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 03: Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans is sacked by Eric Reid #25 of the Carolina Panthers during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

4. Blaming Tannehill is wrong

Anyone who says this loss or offensive showing was on Ryan Tannehill is lying to you. I’m not sure any quarterback in the NFL could overcome what is going on with this offense right now. To expect Tannehill to score 30 points or more under these conditions is ludicrous.

If he wasn’t dealing with poor protection, Tannehill’s offensive line was committing penalties. If he actually had time in the pocket to throw, his receivers were dropping key passes. One of those dropped passes hit A.J. Brown right in the hands, and resulted in one of his two interceptions.

The second interception thrown by Tannehill was on him, as he telegraphed a pass to Kalif Raymond on an attempt that saw the wide receiver run a poor route. There were certainly a few other miscues by Tannehill, but the failures around him were the biggest reason for this loss.

And, oh yeah, the guy calling plays is awful at his job.

Of course, Marcus Mariota had to deal with these same issues and his downfall was certainly aided by them. However, there is a clear and distinct difference between these two quarterbacks when it comes to delivering passes and pocket presence, and Tannehill remains the better of the two at both of those things.

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