The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

THREE losses this season on a field on the last play of the game.  In all three games, Sanders has missed a field.  Granted, the one today was not his fault.

Too bad we don't have Tom Brady as our quarterback.  He would gotten that flag on the third and three with ten minutes left in the second quarter.  That was FAR more contact that what the Chiefs defender did in the Super Bowl on the interception that was called back.

In the last two weeks Tua has thrown six touchdowns and three interceptions.  His rating has been above ninety both times.  Yet Miami is 0-2. 

You should show everyone your true football genius by taking your "never punt" mantra and extending it to include "never kick field goals".   

  Never punting might be a good idea for the rest of the season. 

The team has gone from buttressing Tua's typical rookie level of play in 2020 with staunch defense and a league-leading defensive takeaway rate, to undermining his better level of play in 2021 with significant regression in those areas.  He's not going to overcome what's going on around him, even with the developmental step he's taking.  He's playing well enough to make lots of these games close, however, and they'll win some of them in the future.

^^^ Had Tom Brady had those stats last week his defense would have pulled it out. Ours has been really bad. Tua's mistakes are magnified because this team has no room for error.

If the team hadn't gotten lucky with a strip of Matt Ryan on his 4th-quarter scramble, he would've likely driven the field and made the score 34-21 or 30-21 with only a few minutes left, thus making anything else Tua did meaningless.  It's only when the defense can approximate its 2020 takeaway rate that it can function effectively.  They were a paper tiger last year.  Feasted on weak passing teams and were exploited by strong ones.  Persisted almost entirely on takeaways.  This year the takeaways are down, which is to be expected because it's a largely random variable and not one reflective of persistent skill, and so now they're being exposed for what they were last year minus the takeaways.  The problem lies on the defensive line, where there is no player who reliably disrupts the opposing passer in the pocket.  Consequently opposing QBs sit back and tee off on the defense.

Yes, right now we have the worst or 2nd worst defense in the NFL. If we were merely just a pathetic 26th ranked defense, we are 4-3. A bad 4-3 that's all an illusion but 4-3 nonetheless.