Ryan Tannehill’s injury hurts the Dolphins, but they can lean on Matt Moore

No one is coming to save the Dolphins after Ryan Tannehill went down with a knee injury. Though Miami hasn’t given a timetable for his recovery, a sprained ACL and MCL could potentially end Tannehill’s season.

For now, the offense now belongs to Matt Moore — a career backup with seven regular season appearances over his five seasons in Miami. While Tannehill’s status is uncertain, Moore will likely be the starter on Saturday against the New York Jets, which became clearer when the team added T.J. Yates.

Yates last played for the Houston Texans, and even started a pair of games for them last season. The Dolphins, who are fighting for their playoff lives, at least signed a free agent with playoff experience. In 2011, Yates went 1-1 as a starter in the postseason for the Texans.

There haven’t been many high expectations out of the quarterback play in Miami this year, leaving the door open for game-managing play to more than suffice. Moore inherits a passing offense ranked 27th in the league and he showed he could play competently on Sunday. He put up a 3-of-5 passing, 47-yard outing, helping lead a game-winning field goal drive to beat the Cardinals.

For their final three games, the Dolphins will go on the road to face the Jets and Bills, and welcome the Patriots to Miami in Week 17. Right now, they’re on the outside of the AFC playoff picture, but at 8-5, they’re still in the thick of the race. The Broncos, who are also 8-5 and have a daunting schedule to close out of the season, currently own the tiebreaker with them based on best win percentage in common games.

Of the Dolphins’ final three opponents, only the Patriots have a top-10 defense. That should be of some comfort going forward with big-play guys like Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills at wideout. Luckily for Miami, it still has a top-15 rushing offense with Jay Ajayi in the backfield.

Aside from Tannehill, the greatest downside for the Dolphins is that they had to put center Mike Pouncey on injured reserve, meaning they’ll roll with Anthony Steen — who has just seven starts in his career and has been dealing with injuries of his own.

An underworked backup QB and a young backup center could not only be ruinous for the passing game, but for a rushing attack that has proven successful this season.

Essentially, though, this isn’t quite the death blow the Dolphins’ locker room made it seem like on Sunday.

Miami coach Adam Gase seemed convinced on Monday that the team was in capable hands with Moore under center.

“He’s the only backup QB with a winning record,” Gase told reporters. “Guys know that he knows what he’s doing.”

Moore, who has started 25 games in his NFL career, has a 13-12 record. Prior to his arrival in Miami, Moore spent three seasons with the Panthers. His only starts with the Dolphins came in his first season there in 2011. He went 6-6, throwing for 2,497 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Moore is not going to tear defenses up, but he’s proven he can go out there and get the job done. That’s more or less what the Dolphins are looking for while Tannehill recovers. They don’t need Moore to play savior. They just need him to play smart.