Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill has checked every box so far this summer — except one

From the category of Stats Sometimes Lie:

Ryan Tannehill’s longest pass completion this preseason is 15 yards.

So what’s up? Have the Dolphins struggled to go down-field in his six drives this summer?

Not quite.

Let Adam Gase explain:

“It’s who we’re playing. It’s hard to take shots when [the corners] are 10 to 15 yards off. That’s why Carolina was one or two in every category. They let you get those yards, and then they say, ‘You’re going to get in the end zone.’ They’re a top red zone defense.”

Gase continued: “They didn’t give up a whole bunch of balls over 20 yards last year. I remembered that going into the game. The thing we need to do different that last game was, when we get in the red zone, we need to execute. Put it in the end zone. We didn’t do that.”

Tannehill, who completed 14 of 17 passes for just 100 yards against Carolina, largely agreed.

“I think the ball went in the right spot except for the one where I overthrew Jakeem [Grant] down the left sideline,” he said. “I think other than that, the ball was in the right spot. That team plays a lot of soft coverage and they were giving us the easy underneath throws. You kind of have to just keep taking them when you play a team like that and just kind of wait for the right time. When you have the right play call and the right coverage, then you take a shot.”

The problem with playing patient is, the defense bets on you to mess up before you string together enough successful plays to score.

The Dolphins moved the ball well in Charlotte, N.C., but on each of those early drives with Tannehill under center, could not overcome a negative play or penalty.

As a result, the Dolphins starters are without a touchdown this preseason.

“We need to get in the end zone,” Tannehill said. “That’s the whole object of being out there is to get points and more importantly get the ball in the end zone. It’s going to be huge for us to be able to finish drives.”

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This story was originally published August 21, 2018 at 4:15 PM.