Tannehill Talks About Pro Bowl Snub
Ryan Tannehill believes he got snubbed.
The Tennessee Titans quarterback did not earn a Pro Bowl nod despite being one of the most efficient and best statistical quarterbacks in the league. Tannehill is among the top quarterbacks in the league this season with 3,482 yards, 31 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 110.4 rating in 14 games.
Pro Bowl rosters were announced Monday night. Running back Derrick Henry was selected for the second straight year. Wide receiver A.J. Brown, in his second NFL season, is a Pro Bowler for the first time.
The news initially did not go over lightly with Tannehill, who was a Pro Bowler for the first time last season and thought he had done enough to this point to earn a second consecutive nod.
“I was frustrated Monday night,” he said. “I am biased. I thought it should have happened, but it didn’t. So, I am not going to waste time and energy on what’s in the past. Just trying to get ready for the Packers.”
Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans will be the AFC’s three Pro Bowl quarterbacks this season.
Compared to Mahomes in the last 24 games, Tannehill actually matches up well, if not better. Tannehill has a 114.0 rating over that span with 6,080 yards, 61 touchdowns, a completion percentage of 67.7 and 10 interceptions. Mahomes, the MVP front runner, has a 105.9 rating, 6,983 yards, 56 touchdowns, a 66.4 completion percentage and 10 interceptions.
“Like I said, I am biased,” Tannehill said. “Obviously going last year was a cool thing and it just felt like what our team has done and how things have gone that it was appropriate.”
Tannehill has thrown a touchdown pass in 11 consecutive games and has posted a passer rating of at least 100 in franchise-record five straight. With three touchdown passes in a 45-26 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, he became the first quarterback in the Titans era (1999-present) with 30 or more in a single season. In Oilers/Titans history, he trails only 1961 George Blanda (36 touchdowns) and 1990 Warren Moon (33 touchdowns) in single-season passing touchdowns.
He needs just 90 yards to pass 2011 Matt Hasselbeck for first all-time on the Titans’ single-season passing yards list. And with a few big performances down the stretch, he could notch his third career 4,000-yard passing season (first with the Titans).
Outside of Nashville and the Titans’ fan base, Tannehill believes there is a built-in presumption that all he does is turn and hand the ball to Henry, the league’s leading rusher who has run away with a second consecutive rushing title in recent weeks and can potentially become the eighth running back in league history to rush for 2,000 yards.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Tannehill said. “But I can’t control that. I just have to go out there and do the best I can do each and every week and the rest will take care of itself.”
There will be no actual Pro Bowl game this year, but the 88 players selected (44 from each conference) still will be recognized as Pro Bowlers. League officials said they would reimagine the game and the preceding days to “create a variety of engaging activities to replace the Pro Bowl game this season.”
Moving on, though, the Titans have work left to do to wrap up a postseason berth and an AFC South Division Title. The Pro Bowl snub will be the furthest thing from his mind going forward.
A tough Sunday night matchup at Lambeau Field against one of the best teams in football, the Green Bay Packers, is all he’s consumed with now.
“We’re excited. It’s a big opportunity for us” he said. “A ton of respect for Green Bay and the team that they are, what they have done this year being atop the NFC. We have our hands full. We’re going to have to go in and execute and play our best football.
