Monday Musings: Forget 'Tanne-kill' talk, Ryan Tannehill is saving Dolphins' season
Tannehill has been playing mistake-free football in the Dolphins' five-game winning streak
By
Pete Prisco
•
6 min read
The abuse of Ryan Tannehill has been nonstop the past few years in South Florida. He has been lit up on talk shows, seared by sports columnists. One talk-show host even calls him "Tanne-kill" since he was killing the Dolphins' chances of winning.
Now even the staunchest critics have to start giving Tannehill credit after what transpired the past two weeks on the West Coast.
After making some of the best throws of his career to help beat San Diego last week, he drove the Dolphins 75 yards in 1:35 to the winning score with 40 seconds left Sunday, on a 9-yard pass to DeVante Parker to beat the Los Angeles Rams 14-10. It was a pressure drive executed perfectly by a player who had three of his starting offensive lineman on the sidelines -- and it came on a rare rainy day in Southern California.
That drive came after he led the Dolphins 77 yards to another touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry to cut the lead to three at 10-7 on a day when the offense was essentially a punt-fest.
When it was time to do it, Tannehill did it.
I am not going to sit here and say Tannehill was good Sunday, but when it mattered he was that and a lot more. He has been playing mistake-free football in the Dolphins' five-game winning streak that has them at 6-4 and clearly in the AFC playoff picture. In those five games, he has five touchdown passes and one interception, that coming against the Rams on Sunday.
The yardage totals in those five games are far from gaudy, with 252 against the Steelers in Week 6 being the best of the five games, but aided by the much-improved running game he is playing much more confidently than at any time in his career.
There was talk this summer that Tannehill might not be the long-term answer in Miami. But you won't hear that talk now. Tannehill signed a four-year extension last year, one that includes a base salary of $18 million next season. That's steep, but what are the options if he walks?
Now even that talk seems crazy.
New coach Adam Gase, who is considered a quarterback whisperer of sorts, has believed in Tannehill from the start. When I talked with Gase this spring in his office, he was adamant that Tannehill could have success as a long-term starter. He was quick to note how Tannehill has now been in three different systems in his first four five seasons, which can slow a quarterback's clock.
Gase also tweaked a few mechanical things, has given Tannehill more freedom at the line of scrimmage and truly believes in what he's doing. He also said Tannehill lives the position, which is perfect for Gase and his style of coaching.
The Dolphins next play host to the San Francisco 49ers this week, a game they should win, and then comes a tough five-game stretch to close it out. It's at Baltimore, home against Arizona, at the Jets, at Buffalo and home against the Patriots. If they are to make the playoffs, they will have to fare well against their division rivals.
Quarterbacks are defined by how they close out games to win them, and also how they do in December in a playoff chase. We saw Tannehill get it done at crunch time against the Rams. Now comes the tough part -- doing it in late November and December with something on the line.
Tannehill has never played on a winning team with the Dolphins. If it's to happen this season, he will have to be a big part of it. The final six minutes against the Rams showed us that it's more than possible -- and "Tanne-kill" might be a nickname that needs to go bye-bye.
More musings from around the NFL:
Are the Lions, Giants and Chiefs frauds?
If the playoffs started today, the Detroit Lions would win the NFC North and the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs would be in as wild-card teams.
But this is a serious question: Are any of these teams any good?
Or -- dare I say it -- are they frauds?
The Giants and Lions won this weekend, barely, against bad teams at home, but the Chiefs weren't as fortunate. They lost at Arrowhead to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after they needed a road rally to beat a bad Carolina team the week before and gave up 449 yards and 25 first downs to the Jaguars two weeks ago.
So again I ask the question: Are any of them any good?
Let's start with the Lions. They are 6-4 and tied with Minnesota in the NFC North for first place, but they beat the Vikings so they are technically at the top. The two teams play each other in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, and the Lions better hope they play better than they did Sunday against the Jaguars.
They hardly looked like a playoff team. Jacksonville, now 2-8, led late and the Lions got a punt return as part of their scoring. For much of the game, they looked like the second-best team on the field. The Lions have won and lost a lot of close games -- trailing in the fourth quarter in all 10 games -- so how good they are is still up in the air.
The Giants have won five straight games, winning a close one against the Bears on Sunday, but do we think they are playoff good? They are getting there, but struggling at home with the Bears is not a good look. Even so, at 7-3 with a game at Cleveland this week, they are probably going to get there.
The Chiefs lost for the first time since Oct. 2, but the past three weeks just haven't looked crisp. That doesn't mean they can't get it going, but losing at home to Tampa Bay is not a good look. The Bucs had 442 yards of offense, which means the Chiefs have given up an average of 445.5 yards in their past two home games. They have a tough game this week with Denver.
Are these three frauds or legitimate Super Bowl contenders? On Sunday, the three of them looked more like the first one.
These kickers need a kick in the you-know-what
What the heck is going on with the kickers in this league? They missed 11 extra points and several field goals this week. That's on the heels of a decade of some of the best kicking in the history of the league.
Moving the extra point back to the 15-yard line has impacted the kickers in a lot of ways. I think it has added more pressure to all their kicks.
It's a mental thing more than a physical thing. These kickers need to get it going.
Is this it for Marvin Lewis in Cincy?
The writing is on the wall in Cincinnati for coach Marvin Lewis. The Bengals are 3-6-1 after losing to the Bills on Sunday. They have been to the playoffs five straight years, but haven't won a playoff game under Lewis. If they fail to make it this season you have to think he's gone. It won't help that A.J. Green tore a hamstring and could be gone for the rest of the season.
Someone free Jared Goff, please
I thought the Rams restricted Jared Goff in his NFL start. They didn't let him drive the ball down the field. They wait too long to play him, and then restrain him when they do. That's not going to win in the long run. Let him loose.
They're looking super in Seattle again
The Seahawks are starting to look like the Seahawks we expected to see this season. They have won consecutive games to get to 7-2-1 and they have a firm lead in the NFC West. Russell Wilson is playing well, the defense is getting back to being that defense and the offensive line is playing better. They are a Super Bowl-looking team once again.
