Tannehill Leading Fins Against The Falcons
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – If Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill thought the pressure was rough before, he's about to get a new dose of it now that he's officially the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback.
Miami will get a good look at what they have in Tannehill Friday night when the team plays the Atlanta Falcons in the third and final preseason game. Tannehill will start and likely play deep into the third quarter, along with the rest of the starters.
The third preseason game is often referred to as the dress rehearsal for the regular season. So Tannehill will likely be exposed to more exotic coverages and blitzes than he's seen thus far in the preseason.
During preseason play, Tannehill has completed 56.8 percent of his passes for 267 yards and one touchdown. Perhaps most importantly, Tannehill has yet to turn the football over in the preseason. He has command of the offense and is allowed to check out of plays at the line of scrimmage as well.
But, Tannehill has plenty of areas he needs to improve on as the regular season nears. Tannehill struggled last week extending drives on third downs, until the offense went no huddle. He also occasionally stares down receivers, which once the regular season gets started will be deadly to the Dolphins offense.
But Tannehill will need more than just his arm to get the offense moving. The Dolphins stagnant running game will have to get moving and the right side of the offensive line can't afford to give up sacks like it did against the Carolina Panthers, or Tannehill will be running for his life for most of the season.
The Falcons and Dolphins will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and you can see it only on CBS4.
