If the Titans are serious about winning a Super Bowl, they need to upgrade at quarterback.

The Tennessee Titans finished the 2021 season with a 12-5 record and clinched the #1 seed in the AFC. They were able to achieve this feat despite using an NFL-record 91 players due to injuries throughout the lineup. Despite their impressive regular season, Ryan Tannehill’s year wasn’t much to speak of.

• 67.2% completion

• 3,734 passing yards

  • 21 touchdowns (16th)

  • 14 interceptions (t-3rd)

• 270 rushing yards

  • 7 touchdowns

• 89.6 passer rating

The Titans were able to maintain with Tannehill at the mantle; they weren’t better because of him. He managed his team, but he didn’t elevate them. In fact, there were a few instances where he hurt the Titans, such as his four-interception game against the Houston Texans.

One of Tannehill’s biggest critiques is that he hasn’t been able to produce when Derrick Henry isn’t effective. That has begun to look like reality.

While his numbers didn’t get significantly worse without Henry, they didn’t improve either. This shows that the Titans’ success in the second half of the season wasn’t due to Tannehill’s level of play. Moreover, it shows that Tannehill is too dependent on Henry’s success. Tannehill is 0-3 in his last three playoff games, all which Henry had less than 100 rushing yards. Even if there was an argument to be made that this isn’t the case, it is hard to defend Tannehill’s latest postseason outing.

In the Divisional Round against the Bengals, he went 15/24 for 220 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. The Tennessee defense sacked Joe Burrow nine times while holding him to zero touchdowns and one interception. Derrick Henry and D’Onta Foreman combined for 128 yards on 24 rushing attempts. Julio Jones had six catches for 62 yards, and A.J. Brown had five receptions for 142 yards and one touchdown. The only outlier was Tannehill. He had interceptions on his first and last passes in the Divisional matchup, and all his turnovers ended up costing Tennessee in the end. If the Titans had any resemblance of effective quarterback play, they would’ve been going to the AFC Championship, and possibly the Super Bowl.

As someone who is getting paid nearly $30 million/year, Tannehill cannot continue to be dependent on other players. Obviously, no one can blame him for playing worse when his key players were out. However, when he has been asked to perform in the face of adversity, he has not been able to do it. There was a point where Tannehill was the savior for the Titans, but he is beginning to be a liability. If Tennessee wants to go to the big game, they need to move on from Tannehill.