It’s been an up-and-down career for Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill since the Dolphins picked him eighth overall in the 2012 NFL draft. One of the lowest points came Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, where Tannehill threw what might be the worst pass you’ll ever see.
Here’s what happened near the end of the second quarter, where Tannehill tried to throw a quick screen pass and failed miserably:
This Ryan Tannehill pass did not go as planned… https://t.co/TbxF07nxUA
— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2016
Oh, my. That “pass” only needed to go about 10 yards sideways and a couple of yards forward, and it didn’t even come close to getting halfway there. Instead of a zippy pass or even an easy lob, this was more of a knuckleball suited to R.A. Dickey or Tim Wakefield. (Are we sure Tannehill isn’t auditioning for a revival of “The Next Knuckler?”)
In fact, the pass actually went backwards, which made it a lateral and a live ball rather than just an incompletion, and the Cardinals almost recovered it. If this had been Canadian football, they would have recovered it as the last team to touch the ball before it went out of bounds. Fortunately for the Dolphins, that rule doesn’t apply in the NFL; Arizona never gained control of the ball, so Miami maintained possession.
This was a fitting moment in what was a very sloppy half of football in Miami. As Fox analyst Ronde Barber notes in that clip, this should have been the seventh turnover of the half, tying a league record. Tannehill actually wasn’t responsible for most of those; while he only threw for 81 yards in the first half and had an interception, he also tossed two touchdowns, giving the Dolphins a 14-9 lead going into the break. 81 passing yards sure isn’t great, but it’s better than what Arizona counterpart Carson Palmer did; Palmer completed just six of 14 passes for 45 yards with two interceptions in the first half. If this one keeps going that way, there could be plenty more disastrous passes to come.
All things considered, 2016 has actually been an okay year for Tannehill. His 66.7 per cent completion mark is a career high, and he’d thrown for 2,800 yards with 16 touchdowns against 11 interceptions heading into this game. He also had the Dolphins at 7-5 entering this one, already an improvement over last year’s 6-10 mark, and he has them leading this game at the half. Still, there are plenty who doubt if Tannehill can ever be a great NFL quarterback, and plays like this will certainly add to his doubters’ ammunition. Let’s see if Miko Grimes decides to weigh in; she could probably throw a better pass than this one.
