National Football League

Tannehill's turnovers cost Titans despite nine-sack effort

Updated Jan. 22, 2022 8:42 p.m. ET

Sometimes, not even a great defensive effort can overcome an offensive stinker.

The AFC's top-seeded Tennessee Titans saw their season come to an end on Saturday at the hands of the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals — but it's fair to say that Tennessee partially did it to itself.

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw three picks on the day, including a costly one with 20 seconds to go at the Cincy 47-yard line.

Four plays later, the Bengals had moved the ball 19 yards to the Tennessee 34-yard line, before rookie kicker Evan McPherson kicked the game-winning 52-yard field goal as time expired, earning Cincy a 19-16 win and its first AFC Championship Game berth since 1988.

Ironically, Tennessee's first play of the game was a sign of things to come, as Tannehill was picked off to start the day by Jessie Bates III.

On the Titans' first drive of the second half, Tannehill was once again picked off, this time by Mike Hilton.

Logan Wilson later shut the door on the Titans in crunch time.

While the story of the day should be the Bengals, they will likely be overshadowed by Tannehill's rough outing.

Tannehill threw more interceptions Saturday (3) than he did in his first four career playoff starts combined (2). Tennessee had five games with three-plus turnovers in the regular season — tied with the Giants and Panthers for the most in the NFL — and including Saturday's loss, the Titans went 1-5 in those six games.

Tannehill became the first Titans/Oilers QB to throw three-plus INTs in a playoff game since Steve McNair on Jan. 3, 2004. Tannehill is also the sixth QB in Titans/Oilers franchise history to throw three-plus INTs in a playoff game.

On the day, Tannehill completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts and added a touchdown to his three picks. His 220 passing yards were a playoff career-high.

But that was about the only positive the Titans QB could take from the day.

Adding to the disappointment for Tennessee is the fact that the Titans tallied a whopping nine sacks on Saturday and held Cincy far below its regular-season points per game average of 27.1. The Bengals also scored just a mere six points off Tannehill's turnovers.

Cincinnati now becomes the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to win a playoff game despite allowing nine sacks, while Tennessee moves to 0-3 in the playoffs as the No. 1 seed (2000, 2008, 2021).

For the Bengals, it was the McPherson show for much of the day, and in two postseason games this season, McPherson has been as solid as a kicker can be.

McPherson is now 8-for-8 on field-goal attempts this postseason, including two 50-plus-yard FGs on Saturday.

In addition, McPherson has never missed an FG on the road. He's 18-for-18 in the regular season and playoffs combined.

Next up for the Bengals is the winner of Kansas City-Buffalo, which will take place Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Next up for Tennessee? Possibly, a long look at its QB situation.