Ryan Tannehill

Kiko Alonso Creates Turnover, Ryan Tannehill Gives it Right Back (Video)

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Just when you thought Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill had turned a corner, he went ahead and ruined Kiko Alonso’s amazing defensive play.

In Week 10, the Miami Dolphins stole our hearts with a last-gasp victory over San Diego Chargers, as it was one of several surprisingly captivating contests on Sunday. Ryan Tannehill looked like a smart, former first-round pick operating Adam Gase’s offense perfectly. And offseason trade acquisition Kiko Alonso came up huge with the game-winning pick-six.

It was a storybook ending to a nail-biter of a game and Alonso followed up his brilliant Week 10 with another wonderful piece of individual skill in Week 11.

Kiko Alonso forces the fumble.
Kiko Alonso recovers the fumble.@MiamiDolphins ball. #MIAvsLA https://t.co/IZbzJNsod2

— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2016

It isn’t easy to hustle and recover your own fumble from an open-field tackle, but that’s exactly what Alonso did here. Just as he did last week on his pick-six of Rivers, Alonso showed great tenacity and football smarts to win the ball for his team. That said, Lance Kendricks deserved to get an earful from Jeff Fisher for coughing that up and a fumble doesn’t bode well for him with rookie Tyler Higbee breathing down his neck.

Also deserving of an earful is Tannehill for what he did with the possession Alonso gained.

On the first play after recovering a fumble, the @RamsNFL take it back.

Tannehill is PICKED! #MIAvsLA https://t.co/wzuVxtFlaK

— NFL (@NFL) November 20, 2016

If Fisher was royally ticked at that turnover, then imagine how ecstatic the defense-minded coach was that his team won the ball back immediately after. On the Dolphins first play following Alonso’s forced turnover, Tannehill was intercepted by Maurice Alexander on a deep pass attempt for DeVante Parker, who had 103 receiving yards against San Diego.

You can’t complete every deep shot, but I do wonder if Parker was as much at fault for this one. No, it wasn’t an accurate throw, but Parker’s flailing attempt and poor positioning took him completely out of the play. Parker’s best at winning in contested situations and that’s where Tannehill trusts him. He simply has to do better on 50-50 end zone shots than this.