Ryan Tannehill was outshined by fellow rookie starter Andrew Luck in last Sunday’s showdown of young quarterbacks.
Tannehill has two opportunities to tie the game in the closing minutes or take the lead, but accuracy issues contributed to the offense short-circuiting in the 23-20 loss to the Colts.
“We knew the game was in our hands,” said Tannehill, who completed 22-of-38 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown. “They played tight coverage, and I overthrew the ball in the corner. We had a couple of opportunities, but we didn’t make it happen.”
Despite the loss, and the late-game struggles, Sunday’s game was Tannehill’s second-best day as a pro. He finished the game with a 90.9 pass rating, and most importantly, he had no turnovers.
He hasn’t committed a turnover in 98 attempts.
Sunday’s game was the fourth in a row that Tannehill didn’t throw an interception. However, it’s the first of those games where the Dolphins have lost the contest.
And Tannehill did all this despite playing on a left knee he hyper-extended a week earlier in Miami’s win against the Jets.
Tannehill has a 78.2 quarterback rating, which has him ranked 28th in the NFL. Carolina’s Cam Newton, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, Kansas City’s Matt Cassel, Cleveland’s Brandon Weeden and Arizona’s John Skelton are the only quarterbacks behind him.
Offensive coordinator Mike Sherman is excited about the significant progress he’s seen from Tannehill, whom he coached at Texas A&M, in the first half of his rookie season.
“The thing that excites me about him is he is hard on himself and very critical. He is just going to keep getting better and better and better,” Sherman said. “He has light years to go, but he has come a long way too.
“I am really excited about where he is going to end up because, like I said, he is his own worst critic and he is hard on himself and very seldom does he make the same mistake twice. The fact that he hasn’t turned the ball over in that many snaps I think speaks volumes on his decision making and where he is going with the football.”