Ryan Tannehill is in a crucial season with the Miami Dolphins. Most of the other quarterbacks taken in his draft class have already endured some kind of playoff experience. However, Tannehill has yet to experience a playoff berth. Now in his third season with Miami, the Dolphins need him to start making that next-level leap and through two games, he is not. Tannehill's play has struggled to start the year and the quarterback is taking all of the blame.
The Dolphins may have upset the New England Patriots to start the year, but a loss to the Buffalo Bills brought everyone back down to earth. Tannehill threw for 241 yards and was sacked four times. The team was shutout in the first half and only managed 10 points in the second. The quarterback missed wide open receivers and the team failed to run the ball efficiently, leaving the quarterback to take the blame for the poor performance.
"It's not discouraging, it's frustrating," Tannehill said, via the Sun-Sentinel. "I'm upset at myself the way I've played, so obviously I want to get it corrected. But we've got a long season ahead of us and it starts with this week. You flip it around in one week and you play well and then you start stringing good games together. So it's just a matter of going out and taking care of business this week. I just haven't been putting the ball in the right spot. I haven't been at my best and it's got to change, and it's got to change fast."
The Dolphins have tried to set the quarterback up with offensive weapons to be successful. They signed Mike Wallace in free agency. They drafted Jarvis Landry along with bringing in Knowshon Moreno after his career-high season. However, that has not been enough and injuries could make things worse. Right now, the Dolphins are down to just Daniel Thomas in the run after Moreno and Lamar Miller suffered injuries. Landry is going through some rookie pains and the offensive line is struggling to protect. The team could be getting Brandon Gibson back from injury, but that might not be enough.
Pro Football Talk mentions that if Tannehill cannot improve this year, the Dolphins might start to search for his replacement. This year's draft class will likely be stocked with talent as players like Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston and Brett Hundley are expected to be available. If Tannehill is not careful, he could be second-string next season.
