The Tennessee Titans acquired former Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill ahead of the season to serve as an insurance policy for starting quarterback, Marcus Mariota.
But the Titans weren’t even through Week 6’s shutout loss to the Denver Broncos before they benched Mariota in favor of Tannehill.
The team hasn’t looked back since, and Tannehill has completed 97-of-136 passes for 1,161 yards, with eight touchdowns and four interceptions.
Before Tannehill took over, Mariota was 94-of-159 passing for 1,179 yards, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
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According to former Cleveland Browns general manager Michael Lombardi on his “The GM Shuffle” podcast, the move to hand over the reins to Tannehill could have come much sooner than six games into the season.
He claims to have been informed of quarterback controversy earlier in the year, and that the decision to keep Mariota as the starter came down to the opinions of the front office.
“I was told this summer that the coaches really wanted to play Tannehill, but the front office was so endeared that they had to give this Mariota one more look,” he said.
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Regardless of whether or not this has any true substance to it, Tannehill is the man under center for Tennessee for the foreseeable future, and will be leading the charge as the Titans face the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars at 3:05 p.m. CT on Nov. 24.