Poetic justice for Titans.
Let’s talk about how Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel set the team up for a legendary 2020 season way back in 2019
I don’t know how many of you remember October 13th, 2019. More accurately, I don’t know how many of you want to remember that day.
But as we sit here, mere hours removed from the start of the Titans 2020 season, one filled with Super Bowl dreams that all of a sudden don’t feel quite so out of reach, October 13th, 2019– or Week 6 of the 2019 NFL season, is a day worth revisiting. For three big reasons, including one franchise-altering coaching decision from Mike Vrabel.
Reason Number One: October 13th, 2019 marked the second game in as many seasons that the Tennessee Titans were shut out by a team quarterbacked by Joe Flacco. The first time, back in 2018 while Flacco was still a Raven, was also during Week 6! And happened on the 14th of October.
Meaning that not only were the Tennessee Titans shut out twice within the span of a calendar year, but they were also shut out twice by teams starting Joe Flacco at quarterback.
Is this important? No, not really. But the Football Gods work in mysterious ways, and I can’t stop thinking about how weird that is.
Reason Number Two: October 13th, 2019 was a low point for that year’s Tennessee Titans offense– but “low” might be underselling it, as all the worst parts of that inconsistent group we saw through the first five games were on full display here in their sixth.
The offensive line allowed sack after sack, wide receiver one and wide receiver two AJ Brown and Corey Davis combined for just five catches, eventual NFL Rushing Champion Derrick Henry was replaced by his Bizarro World self that has never heard of football and didn’t quite know what to do on the field (or 15 carries for 28 yards if you prefer numbers over analogies), and Marcus Mariota, who if nothing else could be counted on in 2019 to keep the ball safe, turned in his worst performance in five years as a pro– with two picks, 63 passing yards, and a single-digit quarterback rating (I didn’t even know they went that low).
Things were bad, and they got worse.
Reason Number Three: October 13th, 2019 felt like the waving of the white flag. Getting shut out, at any level of the sport, is the ultimate sign of ‘Football Ineptitude.’ It was a punch in the face for fans who were foolish enough to talk themselves into the Titans building on yet another 9-7 season, with insult being added to injury when Ryan Tannehill was thrown into the game in the middle of the third quarter, in place of a struggling Mariota. Benching the QB1 in the middle of a humiliating loss (again, at the hands of a Joe Flacco team) and slipping to 2-4 on the year, it started to look like Tennessee was punting on the season.
What happened next?
If you don’t remember that date, I’m sure you know what happened next. We know now with the power of hindsight, that the season wasn’t over at all. Although the change very well could have signaled that, and honestly probably should have in any other circumstance.
The midseason quarterback swap is a lot like Seinfeld’s Roommate Switch— it can’t be done! Nobody can do the switch! Look across the league for recent examples. The Bengals benching Andy Dalton for Ryan Finley, the Washington Football Team swapping Case Keenum for Dwayne Haskins, or even better, Tyrod Taylor getting benched for Nathan Peterman in 2017. The point being, this kind of thing just isn’t done. Unless you’re planning on losing even worse than before.
Ryan Tannehill became the exception, and the decision by Mike Vrabel to send him in for that Week 6 shutout to see what he could do changed the course of the 2019 season. And not just because he became a better starter for the Titans than Mariota was, but because Tannehill became one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Tannehill was sharp, decisive, accurate, and athletic in a way that not only helped the Titans get some wins in what felt like a lost season, but in a way that elevated the team around him– leading to that miracle playoff run. And even better, leading to a 2020 season where a deep playoff run would feel less like a miracle, and more like the expectation.
Throwing Ryan Tannehill into the mix in the middle of the season came with one million different things that could have gone wrong. But it turned out to be a revolution for the 2019 Titans– one that could shape their 2020 season.
What could have been:
With one decision, in the midst of one of the lowest points in recent Titans’ memory, Mike Vrabel changed the course of history for his team. And if he’s lucky, that one decision might still be affecting the course of the Tennessee Titans throughout the 2020 season.
By pulling the plug on a struggling offense, by handing the reins to Ryan Tannehill in the middle of the third quarter against Denver, and having enough faith in Tannehill to leave him in charge going forward– Vrabel might have saved a few jobs and given Tennessee the chance to play in their second Super Bowl in franchise history.
A world in which Vrabel doesn’t decide to roll the dice on Tannehill, or even a world where he gives Tannehill the chance to start a few weeks later, looks quite a bit different for Tennessee than where they ended up. Most likely, the team would have struggled to a five or six-win season and would have begun a teardown on offense.
Mariota would be gone regardless, but Tannehill might not have had a chance to prove himself either. In a strong class of quarterbacks and with a high draft pick, all while in a world where Tannehill remained the unproven quantity he was coming in from Miami, the Titans most likely would have tried their hand with a rookie quarterback. They probably would have fired Arthur Smith, whose offenses were underperforming just about every reasonable expectation until the point where Tannehill took control.
The ripples stretch further though. With Henry’s poor performance with Mariota under center, who’s to say the team would even want him back? Rather than an NFL Rushing Title, rather than a new mega-contract, Henry might have been out too. AJ Brown, who had his four highest-yardage games in the league after Tannehill took over, might not have looked like the breakout star he would eventually turn into.
Instead…
But take a deep breath, because that’s not our reality– far from it. What the Titans got instead was an offensive revolution in 2019, and one that can continue into 2020. Derrick Henry became a terminator, AJ Brown started getting Julio Jones comparisons, Arthur Smith became the hot new name in offensive play-calling (please don’t leave us, Arthur), and Ryan Tannehill took that chance that Vrabel gave him and ran with it, masterminding this revolutionized Tennessee offense.
Those guys that could have left if not for a mid-game quarterback change on October 13th, 2019, are all still with the team, and are all looking to finish what they started. The offensive core that set the league on fire for ten weeks of regular season play is back, and has a very real chance to be better than ever.
For every sign, warning, or preconceived notion of regression– there’s one glaringly obvious reason to think that the Titans offense can replicate a similar level of brilliance in 2020, or even one-up themselves. Familiarity.
A quarterback’s job is based so much around two big elements: trusting your personnel and understanding your offense. In 2019, Ryan Tannehill was a first-year Titan, with no prior work with any of the Titans playmakers, or any of the coaching staff. He spent most of the year as the backup quarterback, training with the number two offense. Until the day came, in the middle of the season, where he got called up as the starter. All he managed in a situation, with the deck stacked against him, was becoming one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL.
In 2020, the odds are in Tannehill’s favor. He gets an offseason to grow in Arthur Smith’s offense, he gets practice time with the first-team offense to work on his timing and his trust with his players. And maybe above all, he gets the added benefit of the locker room being undividedly his from Week One.
The Titans are just eight months removed from playing in the AFC Championship, and holding a double-digit lead on the eventual Super Bowl champions, after actually beating them in the regular season. The Tennessee Titans team that will take the field in 2020 looks a lot like the same group that was one of the best in the NFL last season. The one that beat the reigning Super Bowl winners in New England, the one that beat the Baltimore Ravens and their MVP quarterback, and the one that remains the last team to beat the current NFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Tennessee could be on a warpath right now, from Week One straight back to the playoffs. But before the season officially starts for the Titans, before we know for sure whether or not they’ll look the part, try to remember that this all started way before the 2020 season began.
The Titans of now, the ones who are looking to play for a Super Bowl, they were formed back in Week 6. Back on October 13th, 2019. After one small coaching decision from Mike Vrabel, one that put Ryan Tannehill in charge of the offense, was made during the worst game the Titans had all year.
If the Titans can do what they think they can, keep that day in mind as the day where it all started.