Tannehill to Landry touchdown pass versus Rams: Everyone gets a touchdown

The Miami Dolphins trailed most of their game against the Los Angeles Rams, but somehow managed to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns to come away with the win. The first of those touchdowns came with just 4:13 remaining in the contest, and was, officially, a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill to wide receiver Jarvis Landry.

Unofficially, it was a touchdown for eight players.

To get a better look at the Dolphins’ first touchdown, we broke down the All-22 film for the play.

The Dolphins line up on 2nd-and-9 from the Rams’ 10-yard line with four receivers, DeVante Parker, Kenny Stills, and Javis Landry to the offense’s left and Dion Sims to the offense’s right. Parker is going to run a go-route straight up the sideline into the end zone. Stills has an out route underneath Parker, while Landry and Sims are both running curls breaking in toward the middle of the field. Finally, Damien Williams is running a wheel route out of the backfield.

At the snap, the Dolphins receivers all begin running their routes. The defense is responding to the play with just a four man rush.

The defense appears to be in a Cover 1 (one deep safety) man-zone combination, though with the quick routes the Dolphins are using, it is not exactly clear that the defense is not strictly in man or zone coverage. As Tannehill throws the pass, there are two players in vicinity of Landry.

Now that he has caught the pass, Landry is trying to do a typical Landry move and roll into extra yards as he run away from the defense. Meanwhile, both of the defenders are collapsing toward him. On the right side of the play, Sims slipped, which actually works out to serve as a block.

As first contact is made with Landry, the fun is getting ready to start. By all rights, Landry should be tackled right here, bringing up 3rd-and-4 at the Rams five-yard line. There are three more Rams defenders all coming toward the tackle, and no Dolphins near the play to assist - or so it looks. The Dolphins are starting to swarm into the play from all over the field.

There are now three Rams defenders on Landry, with a fourth coming in from the safety position to end this play.

Center Anthony Steen does his Mike Pouncey impersonation by being the first offensive lineman down the field. He throws a block, knocking some of the Rams defenders off Landry and keeping the play alive.

And now, the play starts for change. Thanks to Steen’s block, the Dolphins start to have the numbers advantage. Guard Jermon Bushrod and tackle Ja’Wuan James start pushing Landry toward the end zone, advancing a play that, until they arrived, was still sitting at the five-yard line.

Williams, who was out wide right on the wheel route, joins the scrum as three more Rams defenders start trying to shove the pile back. Already, Landry has moved from the five-yard line to the three.

And the pile continues to move, now getting toward the one-yard line.

Tannehill, Sims, and tackle Sam Young all have joined the scrum and Landry is across the goal line for the touchdown.

Again, this is officially a 10-yard pass from Tannehill to Landry for a touchdown. There are at least eight players who played key roles in getting Miami on the scoreboard for the first time in the game.

How did Landry feel about the score? Yeah, that image says just about everything you need to know from Landry. He is a spark that, eventually, spreads across the offense and gets them playing with a fire. He is emotional, he is willing to do whatever needs to be done from run-blocking to making receptions across the middle even if he knows he is going to get blown up, and he is constantly looking to motivate the rest of the team.

After the game, Landry was asked about this play. He explained, “It’s all about will, all about will. I closed my eyes and went for the ride. So, I’m also grateful for those players.”