Ryan Tannehill gives his thoughts on the San Diego Chargers defense

Written by Matthew Cannata at 6:30 AM EST | Twitter: @PhinManiacs

We’ve heard way too much about the San Diego Chargers offense heading into today’s game but no one has really talked about their defense. That changed when Ryan Tannehill broke down what he sees on film from them and what he expects heading into the game.

“Yeah I think they are a good defense, obviously they got beat a couple times deep. If you look at the last drive of the first half, and the Broncos did a good job down in the red zone of scoring when they were down there. But the defense as a whole, I have a lot of respect for their defense and the playmakers that they have, the different personnel groups that they use. They are constantly mixing it up especially on third down and showing all kinds of looks with guys moving around everywhere. (Chargers safety Eric) Weddle is a tough guy to read, he is constantly moving before the snap and you really can’t trust any look that he gives you.”

Last season, Tannehill had success against the Chargers, throwing for 268 yards with 1 touchdown. More importantly though, he was able to keep them off balance with his cadence calls and drew them offsides numerous times throughout the game.

“You know every week we have a plan to change up the cadence and keep guys on their heels. You know if you’re letting team just get a jump on your cadence, it’s going to make like tough for your offensive linemen and your tackles. So we have to keep them honest with changing up the cadence. It was a good game. It came down to the wire, a finish with Philip Rivers taking a shot to the end zone as time expired and our guy was able to make the play and break it up. I think about a long tough game that both teams fought hard and we were fortunate enough to come out on top.”

The Chargers are coming into this game with a little bit of extra rest coming off the Thursday night game against the Denver Broncos and Tannehill wasn’t afraid to admit that it is a benefit and advantage to the Chargers.

“Yeah it’s huge, physically to be able to get some extra rest, to give your body the few days of extra rest it makes a huge difference, as well as preparation time. You are able to kind of really go back and evaluate the things that you are doing well and study your opponent. So I am sure that they are going to have a great plan for us and we are going to have to do a good job of counteracting that and be on top of our game.”

The Chargers defense isn’t as good as its offense so the Dolphins will have plenty of opportunities to strike if they are able to remain consistent and come out firing on all cylinders. We’ll find out soon enough with kickoff just a few hours away.

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