Can Dolphins make the playoffs without Ryan Tannehill?
After leaving Sunday's game with a knee injury, Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill re-appeared on his team's sideline, wearing a rain coat and a dejected expression on his face.
Tannehill sprained the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee on a hit from Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell. While he avoided a full tear that would have sidelined him for the season, the injury still could be sidelined for sometime and put Miami's playoff chances in jeopardy.
“I told him I loved him. I said this team, regardless of what your situation is, this team still needs you,” backup quarterback Matt Moore said of his sideline conversation with Tannehill. “He agreed, and said ‘I’m there. He said, ‘Let’s go win one game at a time.’”
The Dolphins' season wraps up with three AFC East games: road trips against the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills before a home finale against the division-leading New England Patriots.
But Miami's playoff push might be led by Moore, who has starting experience for the Carolina Panthers and Dolphins but has been Tannehill’s backup since 2012. Moore re-signed with the Dolphins as a free agent this offseason.
“We’ve got to go next man up, just like at every position,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said Sunday, prior to official word of Tannehill's status. “That’s why we signed Matt back this offseason. It was one of those things where, he was kind of looking, we were kind of looking. At the end of the day, we felt it was the right fit for both of us. I just know I’m glad he’s here.”
Moore has started three or more games in a season four times in his career. None of those teams reached the playoffs.
The veteran admitted Sunday afternoon, after leading a game-winning field goal drive against Arizona, he felt rusty.
“I was thinking, ‘Man, I haven’t done this in a long time,” said Moore, who has attempted just 35 passes since 2012.
It was an unfamiliar situation for Gase, too, who has developed a rapport with Tannehill but hasn’t called plays for Moore since the preseason. But the longer Moore remained in the game Sunday, the more comfortable both coach and quarterback felt. His first two passes were incomplete, but he completed three passes for 47 yards in the final three minutes of the game, including a 29-yarder down the left sideline to Kenny Stills to help set up the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Plays like that pass to Stills will help build Moore’s confidence as he makes his first start since 2011, knowing the Dolphins need every win possible to stay in the hunt for a wild-card spot. At 8-5, the Dolphins are fighting the Denver Broncos and the second-place team in the AFC North — either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Baltimore Ravens — for that berth.
The Dolphins can help Moore by leaning on the formula that helped Tannehill earlier this season: a heavy dose of the running game, led by tailback Jay Ajayi, and strong performances from the defense.
Ajayi, however, had just 48 yards on 20 carries against the Cardinals. The Dolphins will need more from him for the stretch run.
Still, much of the pressure will be on Moore.
“I’m going in confident and feeling good,” Moore said.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
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