For the first time in his short career, Ryan Tannehill appears to have the team headed towards a winning season. The Miami Dolphins need to win just 3 of their final six games to pull it off. Three of those games are against teams with a losing record. Two more sit at 5-5 and only the Patriots have a winning record.
The question everyone is asking is “Has Ryan Tannehill finally turned the corner on his career?”
The Dolphins are one of only three teams with a winning record. They join the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants on such a run. All their wins may not have been pretty, but they’ve found ways to get it done. In those five games, they started the fourth quarter trailing in all but two. Critics have often criticized his lack of drive in the fourth quarter.
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To those critics, only Dan Marino and Peyton Manning have more passing yards in their first four seasons than Ryan Tannehill. Since the Dolphins started doing what it takes to win football games, the quarterback’s stats are 143 passes, 97 completions(67.8%), 1,017 yards 6 TDs to 1 INT, and a 99.3 quarterback rating. Not all of his games have been pretty, but statistically, that should silence the critics.
Again critics bashed Tannehill saying Miami “can’t win football games with Tannehill under center.” For his career, he is 35-39 in wins to losses. He’ll need four more games just to get back to .500. No team on the Dolphins remaining schedule should be underestimated; however, there are a couple of games that could be penciled in as a win. If the Dolphins can get healthy and pull out those four wins this season, Tannehill would get the Dolphins to 10-6 and in the playoff hunt.
The AFC West and the Dolphins hold the key to their playoff dreams. Kansas City and Denver play each other two more times, and the Dolphins are only one game behind for the wild card. Surely a winning season and a playoff appearance would help ease critics minds.
Maybe the reason for Tannehill’s success is the overwhelming support he seems to be getting out of his coaching staff. When Joe Philbin threatened to bench the quarterback before the London game a couple of seasons ago, it showed early on coaches weren’t backing the quarterback 100%.
Even as fans chanted “We want Moore!” during a home game, Adam Gase stuck up for his quarterback stating he’s their quarterback from now til the end of the season. In one of his recent press conferences Gase proclaimed “That’s why I took the job,” proving once again he’s always believed in Tannehill. If you don’t think your quarterback can win, neither will he.
One thing is for sure. Either Ryan Tannehill will become a winner or he’ll bridge the gap for the quarterback who can. As a fan, it may get frustrating at times, but there is hope. Most fans would agree that winning is more important than stats. The Dolphins seem to be turning into a winning team and have stuck it out with their young quarterback.
For as many times he’s been hit and got back up, shame on the fans who chanted for Moore. Tannehill has taken the has taken as much criticism as he had the sacks and bounced back each time. Each year a new knock on his game surfaces and each year he goes out and improves. There hasn’t been a Dolphins quarterback who’s taken as much criticism as Ryan Tannehill had and pushed through.
Will Tannehill lead this franchise to the promise land?
Maybe. Maybe not. Fans and skeptics might not like it, but he’s earned the right to lead this team. “You can’t win with Tannehill under center!” but at 6-4, Maybe you can.