Ryan Tannehill earning his stripes in season's stretch run

Tie game, ninety yards to go, one timeout, a little over a minute left in regulation.

And the league's 5th ranked defense standing in the way.

That was the situation rookie QB Ryan Tannehill was faced with yesterday afternoon; a situation, I might add, he'd faced four times before.

He trailed by three in Indianapolis, and lost.

He was tied in OT against the Jets, and lost.

He was tied in OT against Arizona, and lost.

And finally, you have last week's game in Buffalo, where Tannehill took over, trailing by five, with under two minutes left to play.  Another chance, and another loss.

So here he was again, facing a defense that beat Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Tony Romo, in a tie game, with just a tick over a minute and a half to play.  Some thought Joe Philbin would run the ball, play conservative at home, take his chances in overtime.

And then Ryan Tannehill took the snap on first and ten.

19 yard pass to Davone Bess.

15 yard scramble.

Another 25 yards to Bess.

7 yards to Charles Clay.

Game. Set. Match.  24-21, Miami.

And just like that, with every pass, every scramble, every spot on decision, Ryan Tannehill grew up.

And isn't that what this season is really about?

Yes, I know, it's about January, the playoffs, the Super Bowl, I get that.  But this team isn't ready for any of that just yet.  They lack a legitimate wide receiver. They need another offensive lineman.  They need another cornerback, and probably another pass rusher opposite Cameron Wake.  Yes, they are only one game out of a wildcard spot with plenty of football left, but, as I've mentioned before, anything outside of Ryan Tannehill's progression is icing on the cake when the smoke settles on these 2012 Miami Dolphins.

And, as we saw yesterday, that progression is coming along just swimmingly.

In-fact, I'll argue that Ryan Tannehill's performance yesterday was the BEST one of his young career.  Why?  Because the kid adjusted, bounced back, and won a game for his team that, without him, they probably wouldn't have won.

Jump back to the first three quarters, when Ryan Tannehill was being vastly outplayed by rookie counterpart Russell Wilson.  He threw a bad interception early, another one later on a throw that absolutely should not have been made (thankfully, it was nullified by a penalty), and was looking very much like he'd officially hit that proverbial "rookie wall."  However, when the final fifteen minutes were put on the clock, Tannehill made us all believers.

He led two 80 yard TD drives, both times when trailing, and then capped it off with his final act in the closing minutes.  His fourth quarter numbers?  Outstanding.  7-9, 156 yards, and one perfectly thrown TD to Charles Clay.  His fourth quarter QB rating? 155.7.

When it mattered most, Tannehill, the rookie, put the team on his back, led not one, not two, but three scoring drives, and did what rookie QB's have to do to make it in this business:

Earn his stripes.

And he earned a big one yesterday.

Unfortunately, the guy he's facing next week has more stripes then a herd of zebra's.

But hey, that's another story, for another time.