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You know, if this team had come out Week 1, I’d be merely disappointed instead of devastated.
Alas, this was Week 2, so I was already devastated and am almost to my midseason Dolphins brand numbness before October hits.
This version of the Fins is at least manageable
In contrast to their initial outing, the team that showed up for their second go ‘round reached double digits in scoring. They ran a successful two minute drill to score a touchdown at the end of the first half, going 77 yards on 6 plays in 1:23. The defense stopped a drive from ending in points for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Those are all nice things.
There were even some young players (i.e. Malik Washington and Willie Gay Jr.) who stood out in a positive way.
Losing 27-33 with ample opportunity to drive for a game winning score is the kind of setup that an actual NFL team could find itself in each week. Sure; it’s not the outcome any Fins fan wants, but at least it’s within spitting distance of something useful.
After one of the most deflating opening weeks I’m willing to remember, it was some semblance of a silver lining that Miami made an effort. It wasn’t a great one (the results speak to that), but it wasn’t a retread of that disastrous debut.
And that’s probably as far as I’ll get with sunshine and rainbows, because even though the team looked better than useless:
Mistakes repeatedly killed momentum
Despite the *Patriots trying their level best to match serve on the total number of penalties committed, Miami showed its historical knack for timing up fouls in the most effective way to destroy anything positive they had built up to that point.
It’s one of the things they love the most.
Operational penalties like delay of game (or even those plays that are sans penalty, but break the huddle at 10 seconds on the play clock to rush out a quarter-assed attempt at execution) have been endemic since MM took over and there’s been no real improvement in all that time.
His failure to remedy pre-snap nonsense like that is one of my biggest criticisms of the McDaniel era. This is year four, my guy. The game is the same. You get as much time as before to get the play call in and have the offense ready each snap. It’s inexcusable and costs momentum throughout games and wins throughout the season(s).
As a quick aside, they hate having momentum so much they even managed the rare tit-for-tat special teams return touchdown duet, just to make sure all the joy fizzled on their side and swung hard to the opponents’.
That was all bad and embarassing to watch and disappointing to experience and a waste of everyone’s time.
The offensive line might not be the team’s biggest problem
That statement doesn’t mean that the o-line is good.
Larry Borom is a backup and is playing like one. If you swap him for a healthy Austin Jackson (which may never happen), this line is probably serviceable. And serviceable is a marked step up from a lot of Dolphins’ lines of late.
There are aspects of the team that are worse. The tight ends and the secondary, well, more probably the entire defense, are both more confounding than the line.
And I say all this knowing full well that Tua was sacked 5 times against New England.
There were plenty of workable pockets from in which Tua could throw. He did manage to complete 81% of his passes, after all. The line let him down a few times (looking square at Borom again), but I think that their middling play is forming a symbiotic relationship with a separate, and I feel, much more worrisome issue:
Tua’s elusiveness might be the team’s biggest problem
When people use the phrase ‘can put the team on his back’, what they are trying to articulate is a quarterback’s (almost exclusively) ability to extend plays and turn both otherwise neutral and negative plays into positive ones.
They’re picturing Brett Favre, Cam Newton, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes; all NFL MVPs.
Those players all had/have mobility to go with their other valuable attributes.
Another segment of passers achieved the same results by changing the play at the line or manipulating the pocket just enough to find an open receiver a la Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady (also all NFL MVPs).
Today’s iteration of Tua is neither mobile enough to match the first group nor capable enough as a field general to belong in the second.
My theory is that what we see now in Tua’s inability to avoid pressure, extend the play, or rush for positive yardage is the final outcome of his hip injury.
I assume many were like me in imagining that the most impactful outcome from that injury would be either lingering re-aggravations resulting in missed games or a reduction in his throwing capacity (speed or depth or both). Certain-to-arrive-in-the-comments digs at his arm strength aside, I believe the worst impact is to his mobility, both inside and outside the pocket, and that has become his biggest challenge.
I expect that’s why so much of the offense is designed around getting the ball out quickly and leveraging the speed of skill players. On one hand, if his line was perfect, it’d all likely work magically as it did in 2023. But as soon as the line falters (and falter it will), he struggles immensely to bail himself out of trouble.
I don’t have an answer. Just a bummer of an observation.
Weekly Overreaction: This defense will finish last in every major statistical category
I don’t know if it’s the players, Anthony Weaver, or what in terms of the ultimate responsibility for the defense’s performance so far, but it’s atrocious.
We all know the stats: 211 points, 42,015 yards, and 2 losses surrendered in 2 weeks (source: shut up).
Two weeks in a row they’ve allowed what should be decent-at-best quarterbacks to look like Hall of Famers on their way to more than 30 points. The pass rush isn’t getting home much, the secondary doesn’t hold on long, and the linebackers get beaten by tight ends and running backs alike.
The ‘Bend and Also Break’ concept is a hard one to watch. The talent is there in theory, but it is falling on its face in games. I don’t really know about practice, but I assume it’s also subpar.
If it keeps going at this pace, they’re going to set records in the wrong direction.
Buffalo’s offense on the road on a short week is not a recipe for a quick turnaround. While stranger things have happened, I’m not holding my breath that the defense will find its footing in Week 3.
But I’d love to be proven wrong.
Does the defense give up more than 40 against BUF? Do the Fins score more than 14? Is there a mercy rule in the NFL? Wallow in the comments below.
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