They say you don't start a rookie QB, and if you're stupid enough or desperate enough to ignore that adage, then you better protect him and give him one reliable pass catcher, preferably a tight end. And...under no circumstances—ever, should you ask to win the game for you. Ever! Miami's not the only team ignoring that sage advice, and today shows you just why they should. Statistically, Tannehill wasn't all that impressive, if you judge him by his 21 of 29 for 185 yards day, with two touchdowns. And if you drag out the ole game manager yardstick, it still looks like a weak to ho-hum performance. Statistics like 4 for 12 on third down, 18 rushes for 19 yards for a 1.1 average per run. 26:37 minutes of possession. Nothing to walk off the field and be too proud of. If you didn't watch the game and just read the statistics, you'd have thought Miami would have lost, maybe by a lopsided score—and you would be wrong. You'd probably be wondering if a rookie QB was more of a burden then the team could handle. And you would be wrong. Tannehill misfired a couple of times, but at no point did he throw anything even close to interception. His game plan was reduced to take a licking while waiting for his chances, because the offensive line lost the line of scrimmage battle early and never got it back. Tannehill got exactly three shots in this game, and converted on two. And Miami won. It's one of those—I don't understand—because the statistics all say it was the poor to okay performance he's turned in all year. For the year he's thrown 4 TD's to 6INT's with a 71.54 QB rating. You have to watch his games and compare them to the other QB's, to understand the phenomenon, and why Miami fans everywhere are estatic. The rookie is running the offense, like Peyton Manning. Yes, I dare to go there. They are two different QB's, and Peyton has a lot more freedom, because he's been there and done that, but Ryan looks like he might get close in hurry. He made no bad decisions in this game, and he took what he could get, patiently waiting. He didn't press, like a certain other QB, who plays in our division. He didn't intentionally ground a ball twice in a close game, eventually losing, like another QB in our division. (We won't mention the 4[SUP]th[/SUP] QB, because he plays up north in a wasteland, we Phin fans hope continues to remain that way.) No, he took what he could get, and waited for patiently for the chance. No pressing the ball into triple coverage on a third and eight, that he had originally converted, but was called back for holding not once but twice, putting the offense in a dire second and sixteen situation. Nope, two dink and dunks and it was forth and three. The punt team comes out. What you say? This is the NFL, you have to convert those if you want to win. Well not in this game. In this game, field position mattered. This game was won in the red zone, because between the thirty yard lines, the Rams owned Miami. They seemed to move at will, but once they got inside the twenty, disaster struck continuously. You could call it bad luck, self implosion, problems adapting to the weather, whatever, but the Rams seemed to think crossing the goaline line was akin to 'paying for bounties. Maybe they were so use to winning on the leg of their rookie kicker, known as Legatron, they didn't want jinx him. Even the one TD they did score was questionable, because it was a close call whether Bradford actually stuck the ball in with Dansby trying to bend him like a coat-hanger. Tannehill was asked to win this game and it wasn't by putting on an aerial display like in the Cardinal game a few weeks back. Coach Philbin is smarter than that, even in this platinum age of passing. You win by the pass , but you can die by the pass, especially—when your WR's aren't exactly know for being clutch. Miami's rookie Head Coach asked his rookie QB to win the game using his head—something you never ask a rookie QB to do, but he did because he had to. Miami might have had the best front seven in football coming into this game, but Philbin had seen enough in the day, he didn't want the game in their hands at the end. He put it in Ryan's hands and asked to him to win it, and the Rookie did. Miami was clinging to a three point lead, with five minutes and some change on the board. They didn't need to score to put it away, they just needed to run some time off the clock, and give the ball back to the Rams in bad field position. Tannehill did well, considering the Phins didn't score on the drive. He completed two passes on the drive when he had to, and ran once, making sure he stayed in bounds to keep the clock running. He produced when his veteran running back couldn't convert two third and one's. Philbin liked what he saw so much, he opted to fake a punt on fourth and inches, just to keep the ball in Tannehill's hands. The Result? The Rams got the ball on their three yard line with a buck forty five remaining. They drove to Miami's thirty, before being sacked back far enough, their last chance was a 66yrd field goal aimed at the same set of goal posts, their kicker had missed twice from before. You knew at the moment it was over, and I seriously doubt many fans held their breath on whether he'd make it or not, because that would be a NFL record, and the NFL gods weren't being particularly kind to either team on this day. He missed, rewarding Philbin in his faith in Tannehill, and Miami trots into the bye at 3-3. My game ball goes to Ryan Tannehill for using his brain instead of of his arm. A wonderful victory against a team that we didn't match up with very well. A team that thoroughly dominated the lines today and still came up short.
You should be writing articles for the Dolphins. Its so much better than reading Omar. lol Good read. All I can say is I agree 100%
So am I. The OL is not protecting him the way you would think, a line with three first round picks, and a third rounder should, especially with a know mangler we brought in as FA. But today he proved he isn't just a rookie feasting on defenses who don't have a book on him yet. He played very smart, and I didn't see him get rattled at all, especially after that nasty blind side hit. Or the fact his line killed that drive in with two holdong penalties negating his third down conversion.
It is amazing how QB starved this franchise has been, save for Pennington's near MVP performance. Think about it, ever since JJ arrived our QB play has been mediocre.
You don't have to tell me that. I was born 2 months before Marino was drafted. I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale and have been a fan ever since I could talk.
Thanks! I'm trying to be an indie author of novels for real. But I wouldn't mind posting once a week for certain sites as a guest. I will say as a long time phin fan, who grew up spoiled with Marino and Shula, that the last ten years has been hard to watch. The funny thing is that after years of cringing, watching Henne or the never ending cycle of pretenders who tried to play QB since Marino, today was the first time watching a game where I didn't cringe--thinking oh my god, another clutch situation that will probably end up in complete disater. I know he's only a rookie, and he will throw some bad balls in future games, but I feel like I did with Marino whenever the game was close and the ball was in his hand. We're safe and going to win...
Actually it is downright travesty. Especially not to have drafted a QB to sit on the bench to eventually replace Marino.
Smart kid, a self correction type of brain as we were told. I'm impressed. Wiser than his years they say. Calm guy and he can take a big hit.
And he has taken some walloping hits, the kind that make rookies develop cases of happy feet. I'm very impressed, because nothing seems to faze him.
Good stuff. And this was a game where I would've predicted that the dynamics were all wrong to have so much placed on Tannehill. The fact that he didn't implode is that much more a testament to how he's developing and helping this team.
I know what you mean. I like how you made the Manning comparison, I've made that comparison as well. Of course Manning is much better at it. Tannehill has 2 plays when he gets behind center. Usually one pass play and one run play from what I've recently read. I forget where I read that but its true. I am sure as he gets more experience He will have more plays than 2, but he has the authority to audible from pass to run or run to pass according to what he sees from the defense. He also makes protection changes when he sees potential blitzes. Its a thing of beauty to see all that happen! You can't help but think about Manning when you see that in action. I love it! I know its only been 6 weeks but IMO he's already the best QB we've had since Marino. He's even broken Marino's rookie record for passing yards in one game in a rookie season. I believe we are in good hands with Tannehill. He has so much potential! By the way, you shouldn't have any problem becoming an indie author of novels if that's what you wanna do. But I would rather have you become a Dolphins writer for selfish reasons. lol
I started a thread during this off season that was titled "What went wrong since the Shula/Marino days". I think that was the title of it. Anyway, one of my main points was what you just said. I can't comprehend why nobody did that until Ireland did it. The ironic thing is that our best coach Shula was also the GM and he is the first person we can blame!
Yeah, you should at least have Omar's job. Good amount of information. Stuck to the theme. Not too short. Not too long. Do us all a favor and blog Omar into submission and we will make you a legend among posters...
Actually you can, but that's another topic entirely. Tannehill has impressed me a great deal so far; for the first time in a long time I have genuine optimism that we may be set at the QB position for years ahead.
I have read far, far inferior articles from those who are [supposedly] employed to produce thoughtful and insightful articles for public consumption than what you have posted here. You could explore this particular area of writing [every serious writer needs cash to pay the bills] - and have time for writing in other genres as you might wish. I mean, Clancy was selling insurance, and Mencken was a newspaper pundit. You never know what might happen.
There are a lot of things that fans in general believe that are considered to be conventional wisdom when the opposite is what is true. Just looking at WPA stats on the 1st and 2nd year quarterbacks currently starting for their teams: Andrew Luck 1.61 Christian Ponder 1.14 Robert Griffin 1.13 Jake Locker 0.79**injured Cam Newton 0.77 Andy Dalton 0.71 Ryan Tannehill 0.61 These 7 quarterbacks are in the top 20 in WPA.
Thank you sir! You and I are seeing things the same way. It can't be argued that Tannehill fell into the perfect postion, but it also goes the other way. Miami got extremely lucky in drafting him, because he's playing the A Rodgers captain of the offense role perfectly here in Miami, but you see the Manning-esque qualities coming out. And his poise is incredible. The first three games, I thought he was just young and having fun out there--kinda of a--this is a dream come true and I'm just enjoying it, but now--reality has set in. He's learned those hits hurt. He's also heard the fan's screaming after losing the first three out of four, so he knows the honeymoon is over and it's time to start winning games. And it hasn't fazed him a bit. Impressive, really.
LOL, something to think about--because you would never guess Omar is a Dolphin writer... Personally, I think he's secretly a Jet's fan.
Tannehill's performance yesterday is really underrated. Consider he had no running game; Protection was as bad as he's had all year; His preferred target was completely shut down all game. With all that you could have predicted a few picks and bad plays. Yet he got a lot of people involved, made great decisions, completed 78% of his passes, and threw 2 TDs. I was very impressed.
It's absolutely mind boggling, isn't it? Someone said Mitchell, but we all know he was just a pretender who took advantage of an oppurtunity and parlayed that into a nice paycheck in Detroit. I realize we needed help on defense and that became the primary focus in the Marino years, but just once, they should have stopped and said hey! Marino will not be here forever. Lets draft a rookie, and quietly develop them.
i don´t know about the "didn´t break a sweat at that 66 yards attempt, i was really nervous....but we finally had a break in a game and won.....
Yeah, but I think he was something like a 4th round pick, the kind you guy you take and cross your fingers he develops into something.
Perhaps it's just me, and research would probably need to be done, but doesn't it seem like we've been overly unfortunate when its come to opposing kickers hitting critical long-range field goals the past decade? Funny thing is, that 66 yard attempt apparently had the distance, just not the accuracy. Wouldn't shock me if he breaks the NFL record by season's end if he gets the chance.
It can't be explained in any logical way unless they discovered the fountain of youth and thought it was real and would allow Marino to be young forever. They just went as far as they could on the talent they had til there was no talent left. They never stopped to think about the future. I was born when Marino was drafted, I've spent close to half a lifetime waiting for the day we would draft a QB in the first round and it finally happened with Tannehill. And just because you draft a QB in the first doesn't mean you automatically get a franchise QB but we never tried til now and we seemed to hit the nail on the head!
I have no idea what Miami or Shula was thinking at the time. Wanny was more interested in keeping the defense stocked, and he had Fielder, I guess. Then come the real dumb moments. Drafting Ginn and Beck, instead of Quinn. Passing over Matt Ryan, though I guess if Flacco had fallen to them, he might have been the pick and wouldn't that change things. I can't fault the Culpepper over Brees decision. I would've been happy with either or (Not knowing at the time what would happen). Wow, has it really been this long since Marino retired? Really? I've been a fan since 1980 when I was eleven. I was in my prime during the Marino years. I cannot imagine a Miami fan growing up during the dark years after he retired and thats what they were... But having witnessed the start of the Marino Era, I can tell you personally, it feels alike this. No matter how we finish this year, you're witnessing the start of something special in Miami, right now.
I'll add this since I know most of you are young. Tannehill reminds me of Marino not in the way they play (RT looks like with some real weapons, he could be a sort of Manning/Rodgers hybrid) but in the confidence he inspires--having that so called it factor. In the prime Marino years. Miam could be down 21 to nothing, and you had no doubt we wouldn't come back to win the game. IDK how many games I watched, where the winning drive started out with two incompletions and you didn't worry, because Marino only needed one pass out of three to convert. No, he didn't always win, but you always thought he would it and that's the kind of confidence I'm starting to get with Tannehill.
IMO fisher was/is too confident in the kid. He'll definitely break the record eventually cause fisher seems to want him to do it. They had almost 20 seconds. It was 4th and 7, outside of the Vernon sack they were moving the ball on us quite well. They even had the timeout to use so the middle of the field would have been an option. We'll never know but 4th and 7 with the game on the line? I dont trust our defense there... Instead Fisher CHOSE to let the clock run down and kick a 66yd field goal. Ballsy, and maybe just a tad bit overconfident
Jay cutler is almost universally hated because he just has this "I don't give a ****" look on all the time. Mark Sanchez seems to have a droopy "aw shucks guys" look. Eli kind of had that for years too. But tannehill? Has he ever looked anything but confident? The way he carries himself on the field, in the huddle, etc. The dude is almost inspiring.
Here's something that might blow your mind if you're a numbers guy. It been 13 years since Marino who of course wore the #13 and Tannehill is the 17th QB since Marino, and Tannehill wears #17! It's fate! lol