Minutes after Joe Philbin refused to commit to Ryan Tannehill as his starting quarterback Monday, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said he has no doubt Tannehill will start Sunday against Oakland.
(Check out Armando Salguero's blog for details on the quarterback situation. Armando writes a change is being considered.)
So if the coach and his coordinator aren’t exactly on the page, that would be very much in line with the rest of the Dolphins’ sputtering offense, which is scoring fewer points per game than the one considered such a failure last season that it resulted in the firing of offensive coordinator Mike Sherman.
A team that ranked 26th in scoring last season at 19.8 per game is scoring less than that now (19.2). Entering Monday night’s game, only seven teams had scored fewer points than the Dolphins.
A team that was eviscerated for 58 sacks in 2013 is now on a 48-sack pace this season and allowing Ryan Tannehill to be hit far too many times.
An offense that couldn’t consistently connect on the deep ball last season is now barely hitting it all.
Tannehill has dropped to 29th in the league in passer rating, at 74.1, ahead of only Tennessee’s Jake Locker, Tampa’s Josh McCown and Minnesota’s Matt Cassel.
Asked directly Monday if Tannehill will start Sunday and several other variations of the question, Philbin declined to answer directly.
But when Lazor was asked if there is any doubt Tannehill will start Sunday, he said: “No. Is there any doubt I will be the coordinator this weekend? We all rent these seats. It’s a production business. That’s what we’re here to produce.”
Asked if Tannehill might not be as well-equipped for his offense as Lazor hoped, he said: “I cringe when [people] say ‘your system.’ It’s built on what the players can do. Our offense is what Ryan can run: What you’re seeing is the things he’s very capable of doing and will do.”
Lazor was measured in assessing Tannehill’s play. Of Monday’s 21 for 43, 195-yard performance against Kansas City, Lazor said: “There were some examples in the first half he played just like you want an NFL quarterback to play, slide in the pocket, throw some accurate throws. He threw the ball more accurately than he did last week. I think he will watch the video and see some plays he would like back.”
