NFL Power Rankings: Top Ten After Week Five
Oct 6, 2013; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw (91) sacks Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) in the first quarter at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
9. Miami Dolphins (3-2):
Last Week’s Rankings: 7
Another team that dropped a bit from last week, is the Miami Dolphins, who dropped from seven down to nine this week. They played a very winnable game against the Baltimore Ravens, but just couldn’t not pull things through in the end, giving up a field goal to end things 26-23 with 1:41 left in the game. A second straight loss for the Dolphins isn’t exactly what they had been hoping for, fortunately the Patriots also lost meaning they’re still only a game back in the AFC East standing. Ryan Tannehill had another pretty good performance throwing for over 300 yards and a touchdown, but couldn’t pull things through on the final drive. After his best game of the season, Lamar Miller put up a stinker, only totalling 15 yards on seven rushes, the rush game in general was terrible, as they only managed 22 yards on 11 total carries. Asking Tannehill to throw the ball 40 times a game is too much, so the Dolphins will need to figure out this offensive attack and find some more balance. The Dolphins defense was mediocre this game again, giving up 26 points on the game, and letting Ray Rice get into the endzone twice, but they did also manage some good plays, including intercepting Flacco once, recovering a fumble and totalling two sacks on the game. Probably the most worrying part of this game, was the terrible protection that Tannehill has been getting. Players like Jonathan Martin, John Jerry and Tyson Clabo will get a young player with potential in Tannehill, to get absolutely killed. Six sacks in a game, is far too many, and just take you as a team out of your flow. They’re drive killers, and this absolutely cannot happen again. Some changes might need to be made if this kind of play continues.