Ryan Tannehill waved down a defender to cover him on a trick play despite being a decoy, and his acting job helped the Titans to an overtime win

  • Ryan Tannhill led the Titans to a brilliant comeback win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
  • On the final play of the game, Tannehill lined up as a wide receiver, and called out to his teammates in order to get the defense's attention.
  • The move worked, as a Texans defender slid over to cover him, despite him not being involved at all in the coming play.
  • When running back Derrick Henry called for the direct snap, he was able to make it to the end zone for the game-winning score with ease, thanks in part to the fact that Tannehill had opened up the field for him.
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Tennessee quarterback Ryan Tannehill came up huge for the Titans in their comeback win against the Houston Texans on Sunday. Still, his biggest play of the game may have come in a play he was intentionally designed not to be involved in.

After a dramatic comeback in the final minutes of regulation, thanks in part to a brilliant move from head coach Mike Vrabel to save the Titans some time, Tennessee had the ball to open the overtime period.

Running back Derrick Henry did the heavy lifting for the Titans early in the extra period, breaking off a stunning 53-yard gain off a short pass from Tannehill to put Tennessee in position to score.

Facing third-and-goal from the Houston five-yard line, the Titans pivoted to a bit of trickery, setting up a Wildcat formation with Henry ready to take a shotgun snap and Tannehill lined up as a wide receiver. As the Titans got to the line, Tannehill was left wide open and turned to Henry, raising his hand to indicate as much.

Ryan Tannehill was wide open.
CBS

The move caught the attention of Texans safety Justin Reid, who rushed across the formation to cover him.

So Justin Reid went over to cover him.
CBS

Unfortunately for the Texans, it was the wrong move. Henry took the direct snap and waited in the backfield for some blocking to develop.

When the play opened up, Henry made his move to the end zone, and Reid was too far out of position to make a play on him before he crossed the goal line to win the game for the Titans.

Reid realized he'd been fooled just a second too late.
CBS

While it all happened in just moments, Tannehill's call was able to draw a defender out of position on the game's deciding play and gave Henry an easier path into the end zone.

As Tannehill revealed after the game, he was never supposed to be involved in the play but wanted to make sure the Texans marked him with a defender to give Henry more room to operate.

"I wanted to get one of their [defensive] guys out there on me," Tannehill said, per Peter King of NBC Sports. "If nobody walked out on me? Maybe Derrick rips me a pass, and we win that way. How incredible would that have been?"

Thankfully for Tannehill, he didn't need to catch a pass and make a run for the goal line to complete the Titans comeback win. Instead, his simple bit of acting was enough to help his team secure victory.

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