Miami Dolphins fans should not expect much on Sunday from Ryan Tannehill

The Miami Dolphins will take on the Colts this Sunday and Ryan Tannehill will make his first start since week five of the season.

When Ryan Tannnehill takes the field on Sunday it will be the first time since he has played since the Bengals game in week five but while fans are getting excited about his return, they should not expect a whole lot from the quarterback. He is going to be rusty.

Ryan Tannehill can get on hot streaks and fans should expect this to be the case on Sunday against the Colts. The offensive line should play well enough to keep Tannehill protected but Tannehill is going to show some signs of rust.

While expectations are higher than they have been in recent weeks Dolphins fans should expect more of what we saw in the first four weeks. Methodical drives that give Tannehill opportunities to complete short passes that allow his receivers to make plays after the catch.

Anyone expecting a deep pass offense probably ate too much stuffing and turkey on Thanksgiving. It’s not fair to assume that his return is going to light up the offense. The Dolphins are not built for stretching the field right now especially given the rash of injuries at receiver. Most of their speed at the position has been sidelined for the year.

Tannehill was able to make a lot of throws during practice this week but while the Dolphins will allow him to throw deep and probably will encourage it to throw off the Colts defense, it is more likely to be controlled safe routes.

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Miami is in the thick of the playoff chase but they need to start winning and Tannehill can do that. He can lead the team down the field but he and the offense has struggled in the red-zone and that was before the injury. It will be interesting to see how Adam Gase challenges the Colts in the passing game.

The Dolphins best option however will be on the legs of Frank Gore and Kenyan Drake thus taking pressure off of Tannehill to make plays with his arm. The best option is to limit the number of passes that Tannehill needs to throw in the game.

Dolphins fans should be optimistic but a tempered optimism might be the best approach as it relates to the return of Ryan Tannehill.