Brock Osweiler’s performance on Sunday surprises many

When the Miami Dolphins announced that Brock Osweiler would start in place of the injured Ryan Tannehill, not a lot of people gave Miami a chance.

Each week, I take some time to look deeper into Ryan Tannehill’s performance, looking at how he fared and then, ultimately, assigning him a letter grade based on his play. Since he didn’t play, let’s take a look at how his replacement, Brock Osweiler, fared on Sunday.

On paper, Osweiler had a great day. He finished with 380 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions on 28 completions from 44 attempts. By all accounts, Osweiler had the best performance of his career and was able to effectively and efficiently move the ball downfield but there are a few moments that really make this performance special.

Miami was down 21-13 when the third quarter ended. Osweiler, with some help from his teammates on both sides of the ball, put together three scoring drives to put the win the game in overtime. On those drives, Osweiler looked sharp and poised as he threw the ball without making any mistakes. He shouldered the team through this victory.

Specifically, after Miami’s first 4th quarter touchdown, Oswelier and the Dolphins went for a two point conversion to tie the game at 21. On the play, when Osweiler found no one open initially, he, calmly, shifted his positioning just enough to buy Kenny Stills time to pop open in the back of the end zone. There was nothing special about the play, in reality but the poise and confidence that Osweiler demonstrated was a great window into how he looked all game.

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Looking at his two interceptions, only one of them was truly his fault completely. On the first, Devante Parker seemed to misplay the ball and didn’t really fight for the pass, resulting in an interception. The second was a terribly poor throw that almost resulted in a pick-six. Regardless of the interceptions, Osweiler, most importantly, was able to shake them off and put together quality play leading to touchdowns, not just field goals.

Miami’s offense looked good in this game and Osweiler deserves some of the credit for their success. Is he the starter going forward? No, I don’t think so. It is still Ryan Tannehill’s job when he is healthy. Credit is due, however, to the man who embodied the “next man up” philosophy perfectly on Sunday.

Week 6 Grade: A-