The Tennessee Titans needed a lot of clutch plays during the 2019 season in order to make their way to the playoffs, where they made an improbable run to the AFC Championship Game.
Pro Football Focus’ Ben Linsey recently compiled an “All-Clutch Team” based on the 2019 season and three Titans made the cut, with two of them getting “Second-Team” recognition.
Here’s who made it from Tennessee:
QB Ryan Tannehill (Second-Team)
TE Jonnu Smith (Second-Team)
OLB Harold Landry (First-Team)
Linsey explained why Landry was a first-team selection at EDGE.
“Van Noy’s fellow first-teamer, Landry, also put up grades of 75.0 or higher against the run and the pass. A PFF favorite coming out of Boston College, Landry hasn’t quite lived up to our expectations in his first two years in the NFL, but his 87.9 grade in high-pressure situations last season could bode well for a corner being turned in 2020.”
Landry took a step in the right direction in 2019, as he totaled a career-high nine sacks in 16 games. He also added another in one of the team’s three postseason games.
The only knock on Landry’s regular season is that he didn’t finish strong. The Boston College product failed to record a single sack in the team’s final four games.
One of the reasons that might have happened is because Landry didn’t have anyone to take pressure off of him after Cameron Wake was placed on season-ending IR.
The absence of Wake and the extra focus on Landry did help Kamalei Correa, though, as he totaled four sacks in the team’s last five regular season games, and two more in the playoffs..
As for Tannehill, we saw him complete plenty of clutch throws in his first season in Nashville, and Smith’s biggest catch of the 2019 campaign came via a one-handed grab that went for a score in the divisional round game.
The Titans are going to need significant contributions from all three players if they hope to re-create their success from last season in 2020.
