Tua, Tannehill & Other QB Thoughts
The last two quarterbacks the Miami Dolphins selected in the first round of the NFL draft will be at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday, which makes for an obvious storyline for the key Week 17 matchup.
Quarterbacks normally talk on Wednesdays during the NFL season, and that was the case for Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Tannehill this week.
And if you know the two quarterbacks, nothing they said should have come as a surprise.
And we'll start with that as we dive into all sorts of quarterback topics.
So this was Tannehill talking about his time in Miami: "I am thankful for my time in Miami. That was a special time of my life. I grew a lot there as a person and as a player. I became a father. I grew as a husband. I grew on the field as well. Thankful for my time there. As far as people, there are not a whole lot of players left that were there. There are handful of guys that are still on the team, but there has been a lot of turnover there. Not a big carry over of guys. Thankful for my time there and have no ill feelings towards Miami."
And this was Tua's take on facing a team with Tannehill at quarterback:
“Yeah, I mean Ryan is not playing corner or he’s not going to be pressuring me, so I’m not going to be watching film on Ryan. But I have a lot of respect for the things that he’s done throughout his career, his football career being here and also what he’s doing there at Tennessee. But yeah, we’re focused on what their defense can do to stop us. Not looking at Ryan playing defense.”
TANNEHILL TAKES
-- Let's be honest, Tannehill has no reason to have any ill feelings toward the Dolphins, who stuck with him for seven seasons (including 2017 when he was on IR the whole way) before trading him in March of 2019. The Dolphins actually sent him to the perfect situation, where Derrick Henry's presence helped him take a major step forward as a quarterback.
-- Make no mistake, Tannehill greatly benefited from having Henry with him because it opened up the play-action game. Tannehill was really good his first two seasons with Tennessee, but he's taken a significant step back in 2021, with the biggest piece of evidence the fact he leads the NFL in interceptions with 14.
-- And for those who don't see how much of a difference Henry makes, consider that Tannehill's passer rating with Henry in the lineup this year was 90.2 (still not great) as opposed to a woeful 78.3 since Henry has been sidelined.
-- Last thing on Tannehill (and this is no shot at him), while he can be effective (the Thursday night game against San Francisco last week was a great example), he also needs help around him to have big success. Just look back to the 2019 season when the Titans went to the AFC Championship Game: In the first two playoff games, the Titans rushed for more than 200 yards each time and forced a combined five turnovers. In the AFC title game, the Titans rushed for less than 100 yards, didn't force a turnover and lost 35-24. Moral of the story: It's still debatable whether Tannehill can take a team to a Super Bowl without a dominating defense and running game.
-- OK, really last thing on Tannehill, don't forget that the one time he helped the Dolphins make the playoffs, the Dolphins had a strong running game and a very opportunistic defense.
TUA THOUGHTS
-- That brings us to Tua, and the Dolphins' current winning streak and his role in that streak. You may hate the term "game manager" all you want, but that's exactly what Tua has been for the Dolphins — because it's also what's been asked of him. Let's be clear that it's the defense that's driven the team's success over the past two months and that shouldn't even be a debate. What has been asked of the offense has been to not put the defense in unfavorable situations, help with the field position game and come up with the clutch drive when needed. On pretty much every count, Tua and the offense have succeeded.
-- The next step for Tua and the offense will be to come through when the Dolphins find themselves having to play catch-up against a quality defense. Tua has shown he can do it against a team like Atlanta (though that still ended in a loss), but doing it against a team like Tennessee or New England is a whole different thing. It also would help move Tua past the game manager stage and earn even more respect for his performance in his second season in the NFL.
FINAL THOUGHT
-- It's hard to be too nitpicky during a seven-game winning streak, but it says here the Dolphins should stop with the habit of bringing in Jacoby Brissett onto the field — unless it's to run a quarterback sneak. Sure, using him only in those situations would make it predictable, but getting a first down on a sneak really shouldn't be an issue with a quarterback listed at 6-4, 235.
