The NFL is making waves this week, knowing exactly how to stir shit up in the offseason, by posing a simple question on Twitter: who is the most underrated quarterback in the NFL? The replies to this are pretty great, and worth a scroll through, especially if you’re the type that loves to get riled up and argue with strangers online (seriously, Mac Jones hasn’t played a snap in the NFL and Lamar Jackson was the MVP of the league in 2019 (calm down, Ravens fans)). Maybe I have my two-tone blue tinted glasses on, but Ryan Tannehill most definitely seems like the pretty easy and obvious answer to this question. The problem with this conversation is that most casual football fans don’t watch the Tennessee Titans. Hell, sometimes it seems like most national analysts aren’t actually watching the Titans. If they were, they’d know better.
Since Tannehill took over the starting job during the 2019 season, the Titans are 20-10, including two trips to the playoffs with a trip to the AFC South Championship in 2019, and an AFC South Championship in 2020. I still remember that game against the Denver Broncos as one of the saddest displays of offensive football I’ve seen in years. That game knocked the Titans down to 2-4, and it really looked like a franchise at a crossroads. But, man – Tannehill provided a stabilizing force at the position that catapulted the Titans to one hell of a run. That season, Tannehill finished 3rd in completion percentage, led the league with a 117.5 passer rating, and won Comeback Player of the Year. The Titans then ended the New England Patriots dynasty and defeated the top seeded Baltimore Ravens with league MVP Lamar Jackson at quarterback, in their own damn building in the postseason.
The question going into last season was whether or not Tannehill could sustain that level of success. But, he didn’t need to. People acted like he had to play perfect football or he was a bust. That wasn’t reality – if he could be even remotely as good as he was in 2019, the Titans were going to be fine. Lo and behold, that held true and the Titans were even better on offense, becoming one of the best units in the entire league. Tannehill’s 33 passing touchdowns was tied for 7th in the league. His seven interceptions were fewer only than Patrick Mahomes‘ six and MVP Aaron Rodgers‘ five (among starting quarterbacks that actually played most of the season. He was 4th in QBR, and he was 5th in passer rating. It’s been just about two damn years of this and some of y’all still don’t want to respect the work he’s done.
I swear…some of y’all just look at passing yards as the measure of elite quarterback play. Stats aside, just look at how the Titans have performed since starting Tannehill. He’s a confident field general in firm control of the offense, and can make plays in the passing game when called upon. I’ve already called him the 2nd greatest quarterback in Titans history. The only other arguments I’ll hear are for Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins. Maybe I’m guilty of not watching Carr or Cousins the way I’m accusing national talking heads of not watching the Titans, but I still don’t even see them in the same stratosphere as Tannehill. I know most of y’all reading this are probably Titans fans (we are a Titans site, after all), so I’m probably just screaming into the void, but damn – I needed to vent about this.
Ryan Timothy Tannehill III. pic.twitter.com/ZwGhOMYM0e
— London Titan (@LondonTitan) June 14, 2021
PS. I think my favorite answers to this question in the comments section were Jared Goff and Aaron Rodgers for two completely different reasons.
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Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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