Countdown to Kickoff: 2 Days

The countdown to kickoff continues.

The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is two days away. So, today we look at one way the number two figures into the team’s recent history.

Ryan Tannehill was the NFL’s 2019 Comeback Player of the Year, but the truth is that he did not get back to where he was. He went in a whole different direction, figuratively speaking.

There was no better example of that than the Tennessee Titans quarterback’s two rushing touchdowns in a Nov. 24 victory over Jacksonville. In seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill never scored more than two rushing touchdowns in a season, and the only time he did that was as a rookie.

Against the Jaguars, he started the scoring on a 21-yard touchdown run with 6:29 to play in the second quarter (pictured) and capped it with a three-yard plunge with 9:47 remaining. The Titans never trailed and won 42-17.

In so doing, he equaled the single-game, franchise high for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback during the Titans era (1999-present). The only others to do it were Steve McNair (four times) and Marcus Mariota (once), and both of those guys were known for their ability to run in a way Tannehill is not.

Additionally, the performance made Tannehill one of seven NFL quarterbacks with two rushing touchdowns in a game last season. The others included Houston’s Deshaun Watson (twice), Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Seattle’s Russell Wilson and – surprisingly – New England’s Tom Brady.

Tannehill’s first rushing touchdown for Tennessee, which came two weeks before the Jacksonville victory, was his first in 27 games. He finished the year with four, twice his previous career-high and tied for fourth among all NFL quarterbacks in 2019.