Weekly Recap: Ryan Tannehill’s performance against the Bengals
By Nick Belotto
Miami’s loss against the Bengals on Sunday is going to resonate with the team and fans for some time. This defeat, coming after leading by 17 in the third quarter, displayed a number of weaknesses on this Dolphins team and is, arguably, more painful than the loss against New England.
The main reason for the loss was the offense’s inability to move the ball in the second half. This falls on Ryan Tannehill, who had a weak performance overall on Sunday.
Tannehill finished the day going 20 for 35 for 185 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions and one fumble. He was also sacked 3 times on the day.
For the second straight week, Tannehill played poorly and because the offense couldn’t get into any rhythm, their 17 point lead disappeared quickly. Even though the bulk of the offensive issues should be on Tannehill, he is not solely to blame for the Dolphin’s poor offensive showing.
The offensive line is also responsible for poor protection that ultimately resulted in one of Tannehill’s interceptions and his 1 fumble, both of which ended up being returned for touchdowns by the Bengals. In the second half, it seemed as though the Dolphins line could do nothing to stop the Bengals pass rush.
In reality, only one of the interceptions that he threw is really completely Tannehill’s fault. The other two were due to terrible blocking that resulted in Tannehill being put in a complicated situation.
I am in no way saying that Tannehill shouldn’t be held responsible for some of the offensive woes. In fact, Tannehill should have had 3 interceptions on the day. Early in the game, he just barely avoided an interception as he looked to throw to Jakeem Grant who was completely covered by Tony McRae who dropped the sure interception.
Tannehill also struggled with trying to do too much with the football and forcing the ball into tight windows. For two consecutive weeks, Tannehill struggled and the offense struggled with him.
Tannehill is definitely responsible for some of the poor play of the offense and needs to be better all around if Miami wants to fix their problems that have plagued the offense for two weeks in a row. The offensive line needs to play better, sure, but Miami needs their quarterback to flat out play better.
Week 1 Grade: B
Week 2 Grade: B+
Week 3 Grade: A
Week 4 Grade: D
Week 5 Grade: D-