One reason is because the Dolphins, the second-best team in the AFC East, are starting the second best quarterback in the division on Sunday.
Matt Moore.
Super sub.
Moore is so far playing the best football of his career. Think of it, when Ryan Tannehill went down with a partially torn ACL and MCL on Dec. 11, the smart money was on the Dolphins folding. Except that Moore saved the victory against Arizona in the game Tannehill exited with the injury. Then Moore beat the New York Jets in New York. Then he beat the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo.
So he’s 2-0 as a starter with one save.
If this guy were a pitcher, he’d be down the road toward a Cy Young award.
“You go four-and-a-half, five years without playing, and then jump in a game and go and win it, and then come and start two other games on the road in the division and win those, it’s been impressive,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said Wednesday.
Moore has delivered in impressive fashion. He’s thrown 53 passes and completed 31 of them. That’s a 58.5 percent completion percentage that could probably use some improving. He’s thrown six TD passes and 2 interceptions -- very good. His quarterback rating is 113.4, which is outstanding.
And he’s at a whopping 9.62 yards per attempt. Brady is at 8.22 while obviously having more attempts. The better QBs are around 7.9 to 7.7 yards per attempt.
Moore the backup is doing more than holding down the proverbial fort for Tannehill. He’s, like, reinforcing walls and building an extra barracks.
“Obviously experience in this league is hard to come by, so any time you can get live reps, it’s only going to make you better,” Moore said. “You’re going to learn from it. Things are going to go bad and you learn from those, and then things are going to go well and you learn from that too. These reps are extremely valuable.”
Yeah, um, these reps have kept the Dolphins’ season from derailing. And listening to Gase talk, it’s as if the coach expects things to get better. It’s as if Gase thinks Moore will get better as the quarterback and the play-caller get more synchronized.
“Every game that we go we learn something different about each other, as far as what either I need to remind him, or his communication to me of something he didn’t like or he does like,” Gase said. “The good thing about having a guy that’s been around for some time is that he’s not going to be shy about anything. He’s going to tell you exactly what he thinks and he’s always going to be prepared.
“I never have to worry about anything with the game plan. If he doesn’t like something, he’s going to tell me quickly, which he never says he doesn’t like anything. He’s exactly what you hope guys will try to become at all positions -- just that professionalism, always being ready to go.”
And that, too, is impressive.
