Titans Trust Tannehill When Time is Short

Ryan Tannehill described his final pass as “pitiful.”

Before that, though, the Tennessee Titans quarterback got the ball in the hands of several different receivers and led the offense on an 83-yard drive that ended with Stephen Gostkowski’s 25-yard field goal, which was the difference in a 16-14 victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday at Empower Field at Mile High.

Tannehill completed five passes to four receivers on seven attempts on that possession and continued to build a reputation as a guy who can deliver when it matters most. In 11 regular-season starts for the Titans, dating back to Week 7 of last season, he now has directed four game-winning drives. The combined margin of victory in those games is 12 points.

“I try to be the steady hand, the steady hand that drives the ship,” Tannehill said. “Obviously focused, intense but calm. … We knew we were going to have to go the length of the field. We knew we were going to have to put a drive together and had to do it one play at a time.”

When the offense got the ball at its own 10 with 3:05 to play at Denver, the idea was to drive the length of the field all the way to the end zone. After all, Gostkowski did not seem like a quality option given that he had missed all four kicks (three field goals, one PAT) he had attempted.

The plan nearly worked. But on third-and-1 from the Denver 7 with 24 seconds to go, Tannehill overthrew A.J. Brown in the left side of the end zone.

“The one at the end, I just missed him,” Tannehill said. “He ran a great route. He was wide open. And it was a pitiful throw.”

To get there, however, he connected with each of his top three wide receivers, Adam Humphries (twice), A.J. Brown and Corey Davis, as well as running back Derrick Henry, for 45 of the first 61 yards as well as three first downs. He likely would have had another completion if not for a pass interference penalty committed against Brown, which gave the Titans another 16 yards.

The result was the Titans’ longest drive of the contest, in terms of yards – and it came after consecutive three-and-outs the first two times the offense tried to answer Denver’s go-ahead touchdown with 9:08 to play.

“Yeah, huge drive there late,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “… To be able to move the ball down and grind out some clock and some yards to get us down there into chip-shot range, was huge. We've got a lot of faith in Ryan to get us in the right play and operate our offense.”

Last season, Tannehill led the Titans on game-winning drives against the L.A. Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs in a span of four games. Each of those marches ended with touchdowns, which was another reason there to think this drive would end the same way, even if six points were not necessary.

“Being a part of the offense, we want to put that thing in the end zone,” Tannehill said. “And I had an opportunity to hit A.J. So, I’m not too happy about that. [It was a] big opportunity so that does not sit well right now.”

Still, it has become clear the Titans can rest easy when the game is on the line and the ball is in his hands.