WORK TO BE DONE BUT TANNEHILL LOOKS LIKE REAL DEAL

The Dolphins opened their 2012 preseason schedule against Tampa Bay, but failed to give Philbin his first win as they fell 20-7 to the Buccaneers.

The starting defense struggled, the starting offense moved the ball but couldn't finish off drives. Overall it was what you could call a "sloppy" performance. Nothing to be real alarmed about for Dolphins fans, as this was the first preseason game and there was no game planning. One of the biggest reasons why the preseason exists is so teams can shake off the rust and get in game shape. Work obviously needs to be done before the team is ready to travel to Houston to take on the Texans in week one.

The biggest story of the night for the Dolphins though was the play of rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Playing mostly with the second team offense, he hardly looked like a rookie. Tannehill took over late in the second quarter and played until the end of the 3rd quarter. Tannehill was 14 of 21 for 167 yards and 1 touchdown, and almost had a 2nd touchdown pass to Roberto Wallace in the 2nd quarter, but the play was overturned after an official review. 

With David Garrard out for 2-4 weeks with a knee injury and Matt Moore as his only competition, it appears the Tannehill era might be starting much sooner than anyone had ever anticipated. While it is still early, the signs are pointing to Tannehill possibly being the answer to the decade plus search at the quarterback position.

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