TITANS VS STEELERS
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020
# # #
Q. What's it like to try to come back in the fourth quarter and have that streak end the way that it did.
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, it's tough. We put ourselves in a position to have a chance to tie it up there, but really it just comes down to earlier in the game. We didn't do enough offensively. The defense played huge for us in the second half, kept us in it. But offensively we didn't do nearly what we expect to do. Got to give them credit. They did a good job, but we didn't come out and execute and it starts with me. So got to come to work this week and clean things up, be ready to go next week.
Q. If you could just talk about the grounding call. I know it is a split second situation, but kind of walk us through there. And then also if you felt there was any chance, too, of a late hit on that play at all.
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, we tried to get A.J. (Brown) down the field. The guy kind of grabbed him at the line. I was trying to come back inside, find another option. Felt (Cameron) Heyward come in off the edge. Didn't want to take a sack there. Tried to throw it over CD (Corey Davis)'s head in his general direction. He was coming in, but I thought the ball was over his head and close enough to him to not get a call, but they called it, so that's the way it goes.
Q. It seemed like that the receivers did a good job early of putting pressure on you and forcing you to throw the ball before you really wanted to. What kind of changed there late in the game when you found a rhythm in the fourth quarter?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, we let them get off and running early in the game. We weren't moving the ball efficiently. We got ourselves in long yardage situations. They were doing a good job of being disruptive. But really we had some opportunities there and just didn't execute well enough. So like I said, got to give them credit for what they did earlier in the game, but we expect to come out and play better earlier in the game, that we were not in that situation.
Q. You mentioned having to do more in the first half. What were some of the issues there in the first half that kept the offense from getting going?
RYAN TANNEHILL: It was a little bit of everything. We had some penalties, some inefficient plays, some plays where I could have been better. It was really all the way around. It just wasn't a clean half. Just couldn't get it going. Proud of the way our guys battled back into it in the second half, but really it comes down to the first half. You play a good team like Pittsburgh and basically spot them 21 points or whatever we did, you're going to be in a tough situation. So we have to be cleaner earlier in the game.
Q. When you start a season winning as many games as you all did heading into this one, do you think that it's possible to -- I know you're always trying to improve, but when you see the things that go wrong in a loss, do they maybe mean a little bit more because you lost than maybe if you had won in the end?
RYAN TANNEHILL: I don't know. I think that we've got guys that want to get better and take a real look at what we did wrong. I think we have a lot more on this tape than some of our other tape that we can do better. So there's definitely going to be a critical eye on this game. We'll watch it as a team, as a group. And like I said, there's a lot of things that we can get better and we'll be able to take a look at that and be able to have an opportunity to clean it up throughout this week.
Q. I know that they obviously have a fearsome pass rush, but did you see, I guess, a difference just without Taylor (Lewan) today? And do you feel that moving forward there's going to be more of a concern for you guys when you're in obvious passing situations?
RYAN TANNEHILL: No, I think Ty (Sambrailo) stepped in and did a good job for us. Obviously, we'll have to go back and look at the tape, but it wasn't like I was getting consistent pressure from my left side or anything like that. So I have a lot of confidence in Ty and look forward to having him in the lineup and continuing to come through.
Q. I think it was 12 of 18 first downs, first and 10 or first and goal you guys ran the ball. They came in with the best run defense on first down in the league. What was kind of the thinking going in and didn't it give them pause to think it was coming?
RYAN TANNEHILL: We just came in and played our game. We have a lot of confidence in what we do. Obviously, we want to establish the run in every game that we play. It's no secret. Obviously we had -- I have a lot of respect for their defense and what they can do, but we did end up running the ball and gaining some yards once we executed and blocked them. So really just comes down to executing earlier in the game and being more efficient.
Q. This team had found a way to win a lot of close games early and I'm sure you expected to do it again. What is the feeling when the kick misses? Was it a little bit of a surprise? And just how deflating is it for you to lose like that?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, it's a gut punch. Obviously we didn't play well early in the game, but we battled back and guys never stopped believing. Defense made some huge plays with the interceptions. Gave us opportunity. We were able to score some points and put ourselves in position there to tie it up with the field goal at the end. So proud of the way our guys battled. It was a gut punch to see that kick go wide right. I had a ton of confidence going out there that he was going to nail that kick. Unfortunately, obviously it was a little bit wide. But it doesn't come down to him. It's a lot that I can do better and we can do better as an offense throughout the games so we're not in that situation at the end.
Q. On the subject of pressure and the pressure you were under, whether it be from the right or the left or up the middle, you had quite a bit of it early on. It felt like a lot of the throws were going high. Was some of that, for you, just trying to accelerate the process and get it out of there before you got hit?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, I knew I was going to have to get the ball out coming in. A lot of respect for these guys. Obviously believed in my offensive line. But the reality of the situation is they've got a good front and I have to be able to quickly go through your progressions and get the ball out. So I've got to be better in putting the ball in the right spot and giving our guys a chance to make plays down the field.
Q. It was obviously looking pretty bleak there for a while and they kind of had you guys on your heels about as much as anybody has this season. How much confidence do you take from the fact that you all were able to make the push in the second half, and does it make it easier to not put maybe too much into this loss?
RYAN TANNEHILL: Yeah, I mean we, at the end of the second quarter there just about everything that could go wrong did. We didn't execute in any phase of the game right there, except for making the pick to stop the onslaught there at the last play. But there's so much that we can clean up as a team, starting with the offense, and what we can do there and in the first half. But like I said, I'm proud of the way our guys battled back in the second half, there was no flinch. Obviously we didn't feel good about where we were at, we knew we were going to have to come out and play better, but there was no flinch, our guys kept believing, we just knew we had to get it going a little bit and we were able to do that in the second half and then put ourselves three at the end to tie it up.
