MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Ryan Tannehill stood on the sideline in the final minutes, wiping his red eyes and accepting sympathetic hugs from his Miami Dolphins teammates even as they pulled out a sloppy victory over Arizona.

Tannehill limped out of the game in the third quarter with a knee injury that will likely end his season, leaving Matt Moore to lead the late drive that led to a field goal as time ran out for a 26-23 victory on Sunday.

Coach Adam Gase said the Dolphins fear Tannehill tore his ACL, which would sideline him for the rest of the season.

“Doesn’t look good,” Gase said. “We’ve got to go to the next man up, just like every other position.”

The Dolphins led 21-9 when Tannehill left, and the seldom-used Moore failed to lead Miami to a first down in his first three series.

“I was thinking, ‘Man, I haven’t done this in a long time,'” Moore said.

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After the Cardinals mounted touchdown drives of 99 and 50 yards to tie the game, Miami forced a punt and started at the Arizona 47 with 1:29 left. Moore threw a 12-yard completion to Kenny Stills for a first down, and threw long to Stills for 29 yards to set up a 21-yard field goal by Andrew Franks on the final play.

Tannehill was 15 of 20 for 195 yards and three touchdowns. Afterward, he was on crutches in the locker room and didn’t talk to reporters.

“He’s a huge part of this team, and will be going forward,” Moore said.

The Dolphins (8-5) won for the seventh time in their last eight games and helped their bid to end an eight-year playoff drought. But they’ll likely have to do it with Moore, who has 25 career starts, but none since Tannehill was drafted in 2012.

“We have a lot of confidence in him,” receiver Jarvis Landry said. “He’s a gunslinger. He’s a savvy vet.”

The injury-depleted Cardinals (5-7-1) fell further behind in the race for the final NFC wild-card berth.

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“We knew we had to win out to compete for a playoff spot,” receiver Larry Fitzgerald said, “and to not be able to come out of here with a win hurts.”

Tannehill was hurt when hit around the legs by defensive tackle Calais Campbell as he released a completion.

“It looked like it was illegal to me,” said Dolphins left tackle Branden Albert, who was beaten on the play by Campbell.

Frequent heavy rain resulted in a sloppy game, including four turnovers by Arizona and three by Miami.


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