NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans made the change, so they should make the change.
Pulling Marcus Mariota from the Denver game and giving him back the job would be less than a half measure, and the Titans are desperate for full measures. He is a broken quarterback who couldn't complete a screen and other short stuff on Sunday, and with accuracy on even basic short stuff in question, the Titans are a very easy team to defend.
Stack the box to stop Derrick Henry and dare Mariota to beat you. With the current poor state of his field vision, decision making and accuracy the Titans have scored seven points over their last eight quarters of football. In their last three losses, they've scored a grand total of 14. [Unlocked]
There are other factors for sure -- pass-protection, game-planning/play-calling, receiver separation. But a team feeds off its quarterback and there is no fuel coming from Mariota right now.
Tannehill is no miracle cure. But there is a chance he can offer a baseline of quarterback play that can be enough to supplement excellent defensive play that is currently being wasted. The Titans need someone to take command, and there is zero evidence that leads us to believe it's going to be Mariota right now.
"It’s such a critical position at any level," Mike Vrabel said. "They’re the leader of the football team. I mean, they have the ball in their hand 100 percent of the time – the decision making, the execution, the orchestration of what would be the offense."
There are a lot of things that need changing on the Titans, and a lot of those things can't be changed.
Mariota is 10 regular-season games away from the end of his contract. We've known who he is and who he isn't for some time now. He's not as bad as he was Sunday, but the Titans can't afford right now to give him another chance to match that or the first half that dug the Titans the hole they could not get out in Jacksonville.
So take a shot at salvaging a season.
"We’re going to take it one game at a time, but I don’t think that the answer is certainly a revolving door at that position or any position," Vrabel said of what's to come at quarterback. "You’d like to have some continuity, but I think where we are, we’re in a one-game – every week is a new week. Right now we’re focused on this team today, the Chargers and how to prepare our team for the Chargers."
The way to prepare is to give the first-team snaps to Tannehill and see if he can infuse the offense with new life, new life that starts with connecting on some passes that simply have to be completed.
Meanwhile, the team's website is covering the team's decision like other outlets, and it's turning off Delanie Walker, Derrick Mason and some fans on Twitter..
#Titans to decide between QBs Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 14, 2019
Decision in next 24 hours ???? » https://t.co/C4fMSjSj6X https://t.co/S6YbJ2OpTa
Hey, the Titans got themselves in this spot. Writing about it is the least of their worries.
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