Does Ryan Tannehill remain the Miami Dolphins starter? Answer is a long one

After the Miami Dolphins gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns -- on OFFENSE -- Ryan Tannehill repeatedly blamed himself.

“It’s on me,” he said in part when asked about an interception return touchdown he threw on what was supposed to be or look like a screen play to tight end Durham Smythe.

Coach Adam Gase had a different take. He talked about how the game, which the Dolphins led 17-10 at the time before losing 27-17, “avalanched” on his team when left tackle Laremy Tunsil went out of the game with what seemed to be a concussion

(Tunsil was in concussion protocol at the time and did not return).

So, bottom line...Do the Dolphins stick with Tannehill as their starting quarterback?

Legitimate question because the Dolphins have lost two consecutive games and Tannehill has played poorly two consecutive weeks.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,” Gase said, meaning Tannehill remains. “We just got to get a lot of things cleaned up. I mean, he’s getting hit too much. I got to find a way to get the ball out of his hands -- either get the good guys open quicker or figure something else out. And in the run game we just have to look at a lot of things.”

So Tannehill remains the quarterback.

To be fair, it’s not like the Dolphins have great talent behind Tannehill.

Backup Brock Osweiler has washed out as a starter with both Denver and Houston. Cleveland didn’t even consider letting him compete for the starting job. And it’s Cleveland, for goodness sake.

So he’s not a possibility.

David Fales is a Gase favorite. But his experience is limited and he’s still something of a project. He’s been inactive for every game this season. So he’s not it.

Thus ... Tannehill stays.

Even though he has had two bad games in consecutive weeks. On Sunday Tannehill completed 20 of 35 passes for 185 yards with two interceptions and one TD. He was responsible for three turnovers because he also had a fumble on a play that looked like a pass that was returned for a 19-yard touchdown.

This in addition to the 22-yard interception return touchdown by defensive end Michael Johnson.

Last week against New England, Tannehill completed 11 of 20 passes for 100 yards with an interception.

So the last two weeks Tannehill’s quarterback rating was 47.9 against the Patriots and 57.4 against the Bengals.

This story was originally published October 7, 2018 at 5:34 PM.