How Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins Coaches Can Work Together to Fix Struggling Offense

Incomplete. Off-target. Dropped. Sacked. 

Those words were heard all too frequently for the Miami Dolphins in the passing game on Sunday in their 34-15 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3. 

It would be irresponsible to place all the blame on one party. Through three games, the only thing consistent for the Dolphins has been inconsistency. Across-the-board inconsistency.

The offensive line can't consistently pass protect. The receivers can't consistently get separation. And when they do, they can't come down with the ball. The quarterback can't consistently deliver accurate passes. 

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, or in this case, lesser than the sum of its parts.

What can the Dolphins do to get their offense back on track?

Start Faster

The Dolphins didn't score their first points until there were two seconds remaining in the first half, and by that point, the Chiefs had already scored 14 points. Playing from behind is never a good way to start a game. That being said, a 14-point deficit is hardly insurmountable. With a 10-point flurry from the end of the first half to the beginning of the second half, the Dolphins looked primed to make it a close affair. 

Without a zero-point stalemate in the first quarter, though, the Dolphins could have given themselves an early leg up. 

These slow starts have been hardly uncharacteristic, though.

Opponent	1st-half points	2nd-half points	1st-half yards	2nd-half yards
New England Patriots	10	23	138	222
Buffalo Bills	0	10	62	228
Kansas City Chiefs	3	12	210	122
Total	13	45	410	572

Through three games, the Dolphins have scored an average of 4.3 points in the first half, the fourth fewest first-half points per game in the NFL, according to TeamRankings.com. Their average of 15 points per game in the second half ranks sixth.

More No-Huddle Offense

When the pace quickens, Tannehill steps his game up.

We heard all the grand plans and designs on running a high-tempo offensive attack like the one the Philadelphia Eagles run under Chip Kelly—which makes sense given Bill Lazor's previous working relationship with Kelly—but so far, it's been all talk and no walk. The Dolphins ran nine no-huddle plays out of a possible 71 plays against the Patriots, 10 out of 74 plays against the Bills and eight out of 67 plays against the Chiefs.

So far, the no-huddle accounts for 12.7 percent of the Dolphins' offensive plays: The Dolphins went to the no-huddle for a brief spell in the second quarter against the Patriots, running four plays before Lamar Miller fumbled the ball; the Dolphins didn't run a single no-huddle play until there was 10:31 remaining in the fourth quarter against the Bills; and they ran the no-huddle in fits and spurts on a number of drives against the Chiefs. 

When the Dolphins have gone to the no-huddle, though, it's been mostly successful. On a drive that began with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter against the Patriots, Miami moved the ball from its own 47-yard line to the Patriots' 3-yard line before the drive stalled out and the Dolphins kicked a field goal—and for context, they took their foot off the no-huddle gas after a holding penalty nullified Miller's touchdown run. 

Perhaps their no-huddle endeavor against the Bills would have been more successful if they had tried it before they faced a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit. 

"As I've said before, we haven't been very good at third down the last couple of weeks and so sometimes the way we want to do it is, once we get to third down and get to a new set of downs, we like to sometimes get into the no-huddle at that point in time," head coach Joe Philbin said on Monday. "We just haven't had great rhythm to do that."

He has a point; the Dolphins are currently converting 36.4 percent of their third downs, the eighth-lowest percentage in the NFL. But they haven't necessarily been waiting until after they convert for a fresh first down before going to the no-huddle; in fact, the Dolphins converted a first down before starting the no-huddle on only one of their nine drives that contained any no-huddle plays this season.

Last season, the Dolphins were one of the highest-scoring offenses inside of two minutes remaining at the end of the first and second half. That success was largely due to Tannehill's command of the two-minute offense and how it forces defenses to simplify their coverages and make fewer checks at the line of scrimmage. 

The Dolphins must play to Tannehill's strengths and live up to their word of opening up the no-huddle attack. Perhaps an early dose of the no-huddle could help alleviate those aforementioned slow starts. By getting a defense on its heels and out of its game plan at the start of the game, the Dolphins can dictate the tempo while playing to their strengths. 

Missed Connections

No, not like Craigslist, though these are equally worrisome.

It's not that the quarterback and receivers aren't on the same page—though that happens from time to time—so perhaps it's just that they're not on the same paragraph. It seems that the communication is fine. The receivers often look like they're running the right routes at the right depth, and the quarterback typically makes the right read. 

What happens next is where things start to get hazy.

Sometimes, receivers drop passes. Other times, they fail to get separation. Other times, Tannehill simply fails to put the ball in a catchable location.

Make no mistake, it's a two-way street. Dolphins pass-catchers have dropped 11 balls thrown their way by Tannehill, giving him the second-most dropped passes for any quarterback in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). But even when accounting for drops, the site says Tannehill's 71.7 overall accuracy percentage ranks 26th out of 35 qualifying quarterbacks this season.

Tannehill's receivers aren't helping him out, but Tannehill isn't helping himself either. It's all led to a lot of hand-wringing and consternation about Tannehill's future as the starting quarterback. 

Philbin isn't exactly closing the door to the possibility either; given four opportunities to support his quarterback, Philbin neglected to say for 100 percent certain that Tannehill would be the starter next week against the Oakland Raiders.

"We are going to get our 46 best players to the game and we are going to utilize them the best way possible," he said when asked if he would consider benching Tannehill in favor of backup Matt Moore.

That's not exactly unwavering support, but the blame shouldn't all fall on Tannehill, though. If his teammates played better, his shortcomings would be less magnified. 

Benching Tannehill for Moore doesn't bring the Dolphins closer to a Super Bowl this year, but the Dolphins are justified in their trepidation about Tannehill in the long term. A franchise quarterback should make everyone around him look better. Tannehill has always had the raw talent—arm strength and athleticism—but the missing components have been accuracy and awareness.

Those traits have not improved a great deal, if at all, since Tannehill's entry into the NFL. Unless they do, or the coaches can find a way to help solve the problems presented by those missing components, things will have to change at some point in the Dolphins' future.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes obtained via team news release.

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