This past week, an unfortunate non-contact injury arose at practice with Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill. His left knee appeared to buckle as he scrambled out of bounds. This scenario was a ticking time bomb after he opted against surgery when he first partially tore his ACL during Week 14. After this game, Tannehill would go on to miss the rest of the season and watch Matt Moore take over duties. Moore put in a valiant effort in his three games started, winning two of them to continue the Dolphins surge. However, his inexperience got the best of him as he was exposed against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoffs. He threw one interception and had two fumbles, as the Steelers defense took advantage of Moore‘s uncertainty in the pocket.
Tannehill has personally believed his health is of 100 percent priorty as he opts to go for surgery this season. This had led Miami’s front office to sign former Bears quarterback Jay Cutler to the team. One positive sign for this signing is his previous experience with current head coach Adam Gase. They both unite after Gase worked with Cutler as the offensive coordinator for the Bears.
Under Gase, Cutler’s career was at it’s peak in terms of individual performance. He threw for over 3,600 yards and had 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. This touchdown to interception ratio was the best of Cutler’s career. Cutler’s passer rating was 92.3, another top achievement in his career. Gase transformed this quarterback into one with confidence in the pocket despite the lack of receiving talent around him. Gase’s football coaching strategies will all come back fresh to Cutler’s mind when he works with team in practice. It should be a quicker transition for Cutler, but getting in football shape will be of greatest importance.
Miami Dolphins Preseason: Game One Quarterback Analysis
In their first preseason game, the Miami Dolphins eked out a 23-20 victory over the 2016 NFC Champions, the Falcons. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see the debut of Jay Cutler, who hasn’t even spent a full week meeting his new teammates. Instead, we got a front-row seat to watching two quarterbacks who will play no minutes in 2017. These two quarterbacks are David Fales and Brandon Doughty, who both were tremendous collegiately with San Jose State and Western Kentucky respectively.
However, they put up modest numbers in their outing against the Falcons. Fales completed eight of 17 passes for 184 yards, producing two touchdowns and one interception. These stats are not as gaudy because half of those yards came off a 99-yard touchdown pass. He did show some promise leading a quick 30-yard drive, hitting Francis Owusu for a 17 yard pass. Doughty completed seven of 12 passes for 69 yards, producing a touchdown and an interception. After getting drafted by the Dolphins in the seventh round of the 2016 draft, he has one year of experience on the team’s offense. Despite putting up fewer numbers than Fales, this could be a factor in determining the third-string quarterback.
Why did the Miami Dolphins not play Matt Moore?
Current backup quarterback Matt Moore only played in one series, as the coaching staff are being cautious about his health. They cannot afford to lose another quarterback after making strides in this off-season for key playmakers. Cutler is still working on understanding the playbook and building a rapport with the Dolphin’s receivers. With another preseason game coming up, Moore is anticipated to see more reps with Cutler becoming more acclimated with the team.
