Ryan Tannehill's bad day shielded the NFL for an inexcusable mistake in Titans-Saints
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed just 16 of 34 pass attempts for 198 yards and three interceptions in the team's 16-15 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The game may have turned out in Tennessee's favor if it were not only for a better performance from Tannehill but also from the officiating […]
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed just 16 of 34 pass attempts for 198 yards and three interceptions in the team's 16-15 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
The game may have turned out in Tennessee's favor if it were not only for a better performance from Tannehill but also from the officiating crew, which made a potential game-changing call.
It was halfway through the second quarter of Sunday’s game when Titans edge rusher Arden Key charged toward Saints' quarterback Derek Carr and whacked the ball out of his hand as he attempted a pass.
Titans safety Kevin Byard scooped the ball off the ground and ran with it to the end zone for a touchdown.
Byard's recovery touchdown would have given the Titans a 13-3 lead, instead, officials whistled the play dead and ruled the fumble an incomplete pass.
On top of that, officials denied Mike Vrabel’s challenge that the call should have been ruled a fumble on Carr over and incompletion.
After the game, the Titans' head coach subtly called out the officiating crew.
"Next week, that’s going to be a fumble and then the next week, it’s going to be an incomplete pass, and the next week it’s going to be a fumble,” Vrabel said. “So if you’re asking me whether we should let replay sort it out, I would tell you that we should let replay sort it out.
“Proud of the way Kevin didn’t flinch and went and got the ball, and the way we tried to affect the quarterback, and it just didn’t go our way. They called it incomplete and once it goes to replay, they need clear and obvious evidence that it wasn’t a pass.”
Sunday's bad job by the officials could have called for one of Vrabel's "reply all" emails, but Vrabel believed there was more than one reason why Tennessee lost this game.
"Again, I could sit here and debate it,” Vrabel said of the ruling. ”What needs to happen is that we all understand the call on the field was critical, and after that, you need clear and obvious evidence to overrule the call on the field. So good play there by the defense, but just didn’t get there quick enough. That wasn’t the reason that we lost today.”
Featured image by Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com-USA TODAY NETWORK