As Ryan Tannehill Goes, So Go the Miami Dolphins

The San Diego Chargers defense may as well have been a pumpkin patch, because Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill carved it up from start to finish on Sunday.

The Dolphins trounced the Chargers, 37-0, and they have mostly their third-year signal-caller to thank.

This continues a season-long trend for Miami: As Tannehill goes, so go the Dolphins. The bigger question is whether he can sustain the high level of play we saw on Sunday over the course of the season. The Dolphins will need him to do so if they want to contend for a playoff spot.

Result	Comp %	Passer rating
Win	67.1	103.3
Loss	58.5	74.9

It's hard to win when your quarterback plays poorly, but it's relatively easy to win when the quarterback is as on fire as Tannehill was on Sunday. He completed 24 of 34 passes (70.6 percent) for 288 yards (8.5 YPA), three touchdowns and a 125.6 passer rating.

This was no patty-cake defense either. Headed into Sunday, the Chargers defense was ranked No. 4 in points allowed (18.6 per game) and No. 6 in passing yards allowed (219.1 per game). The Dolphins surpassed both of those numbers by halftime (20 points, 282 yards in the first half).

In Tannehill's career, the Dolphins are 15-1 when he has a passer rating above 90, and they are 5-19 when he has a passer rating below 90. When the Texas A&M product is on, the Dolphins can roll like a dune buggy through a desert. When he is not, they can look like they're pushing a skateboard on a sandy beach.

A performance like the one we saw on Sunday gives hope that Tannehill has what it takes to lead the Dolphins where they haven't been in nearly six seasons—to the playoffs.

The problem with buying into Tannehill on a long-term basis is that he has yet to show the ability to string together high-level performances week in and week out. Through his career, he has posted back-to-back passer ratings of above 90 only five times.

Let's not forget the defense, which has been an unsung hero for the Dolphins all season. The Dolphins ranked third in turnovers headed into Sunday and picked up four more. They've been average on third downs, allowing conversions 41.5 percent of the time, but allowed the Chargers to move the chains on only three of their 11 third downs (27.3 percent).

With that defense, the Dolphins don't need their quarterback to be deadly; they just need him to be deadly efficient. 

Tannehill's play seems to be taking some notable steps forward, though. The Dolphins do not seem as cautious about using him as a runner, and he is doing a better job of going through his progressions.

His comfort level in the Miami offense seems to change every week. Last week, he looked out of sorts and struggled as a result. This week, he picked up the pace and never slowed down.

At 5-3, the Dolphins could be one of many teams in the hunt for the wild card in the AFC, but depending on how the rest of the season shakes out for the New England Patriots, Miami could even be in contention for the AFC East title. 

The bigger question, though, is whether the Dolphins will be searching for another quarterback in the 2015 offseason. Certainly, that's not a discussion anyone is likely to have following such a strong performance by Tannehill, but it is one worth having considering the inconsistencies he has shown this season and throughout his career.

Tannehill's future may hinge on how this season finishes. If previous performance is any indication, there's no telling what to expect from him down the stretch besides consistent inconsistency.

But that won't be enough. This year, the deciding factor in the Dolphins' ability to contend for the playoffs will be whether Tannehill can sustain this level of play.

If he can, there's no reason Miami can't be a threat to one of the six AFC playoff spots.

If he can't, the Dolphins could be searching for a new quarterback in a few months' time.

Follow @ErikFrenz