Dolphins' rookie QB Tannehill looks good in debut
Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill came off the bench and completed 14 of 21 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown in the Dolphins 20-7 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday.
With veteran David Garrard out two to four weeks with a knee injury, the Dolphins three-man competition for the starting job was narrowed to two.
Matt Moore started in place of Garrard, who was listed No. 1 on the depth chart, and played well into the second quarter before Miami's first round draft pick replaced him. Moore completed 7 of 12 passes for 79 yards with one interception.
Tannehill impressed in his NFL debut but played mainly against Tampa Bay backups. His 11-yard touchdown strike to tight end Charles Clay occurred in the third quarter that made it a 14-7 game. He was 7 of 8 for 82 yards on the nine-play drive that covered 70 yards, according to NFL.com.
It was raining heavily when Tannehill came into the game with 3:16 left in the first half. He got off to a slow start with a three-and-out.
He recovered on the Dolphins' next drive with 19-yard completions to Clay and 22 yards to Julius Pruitt while running a no-huddle offense out of the shotgun.
Later, an apparent touchdown pass to Roberto Wallace was reversed after an instant replay review.
Dolphins coach Joe Philbin let Tannehill go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 7 but his pass intended for Clay near the goal line was tipped away by Tampa Bay's Anthony Gaitor. The Buccaneers took a knee to end the half.
Pat Devlin replaced Tannehill with 9:06 remaining in the game.
Tannehill ended the game with a 106.6 passer rating.
