Thoughts

[dolphins4life]

1) Xavien Howard is a con artist.  If we cut that bum, how much would he cost against the cap?

2) McDaniel should have pulled his team off the field in protest over that roughing the passer call.  It's going to take something like that for this absurdity to change in the NFL.  Granted, it did not affect the game, but it could have.

3) The defense was awful yesterday.  They couldn't get off the field.  They let the Chargers march up and down the field at will.  Those 23 points are misleading.

4) Two big coaching decisions.

       - WTF was with that third down play call at the goal-line? 
       - Punting with 11 minutes left.  If you were going to punt there, which I would have understood if you were down by 5 and had the option to hold them to field goal, you should
       have thrown deep on third and nineteen

5) When will Miami next make the playoffs?


        - Next Year
        - The Year after
        - Not at least for another five years
        - Not at least for another ten years

[EDGECRUSHER]

$33 Million in Dead Cap. For all intents and purposes, he is with us until 2026 at the earliest. He is having a bad year, whether because he's been hurt the whole year like he was in the beginning or he just isn't into it mentally.

[Dolfanalyst]

The major problem this team is having is that it's surrendering far more offensive plays than it runs itself offensively.

Last week SF had 79 plays to the Dolphins' 45.  Last night those figures were 78 and 49.

Incredibly difficult to win under those conditions.  Basketball teams win poor shooting games under those conditions -- they simply take more shots and beat a team that's potentially shooting the ball better.

Last night's outcome should've been very similar to last week's.  Last week SF had a garbage touchdown at the end and the opening play featured a largely random 75-yard TD pass -- the "real" score of that game was 26-10.

Likewise last night's fumble recovery TD by Hill was random nonsense as well -- the "real" score of that game was likewise 23-10.

This team is barely scoring more than single-digit points with its 40-some plays a game.  That can't continue.  That's extremely poor.  Likewise the defense can't continue to surrender nearly 80 plays a game.

Right now this team's a total mess.  There's a lot to sort out.

[dolphins4life]

That's because it can't get off the field.

This team has been lucky, not good this season. 

The problem is, when we focus on our defense our offense stinks.  When we focus on our defense, our offense stinks.

[dolphins4life]

Are you guys still sold on Tua as a playoff quarterback?

[CF DolFan]

Are you guys still sold on Tua as a playoff quarterback?

Good grief man. Cincinnati didn't have a record as good as ours last year at this time and yet they went to the Super Bowl. Let the freaking season play out before you start evaluatiing how this season went and what changes need to be made.

[dolphins4life]

Good grief man. Cincinnati didn't have a record as good as ours last year at this time and yet they went to the Super Bowl. Let the freaking season play out before you start evaluatiing how this season went and what changes need to be made.

Cincinnati didn't have a defense that literally couldn't stop the second-worst team in the entire NFL

[dolphins4life]

$33 Million in Dead Cap. For all intents and purposes, he is with us until 2026 at the earliest. He is having a bad year, whether because he's been hurt the whole year like he was in the beginning or he just isn't into it mentally.

We got shafted

[dolphins4life]

This is Tua's chance to prove himself.

I can give him a pass week 17 2020, because it was his rookie year and the Bills were really good.

I can excuse him week 17 2021, because the Titans were really good and the pressure was great.

This year ends with two very beatable opponents.  Win both, they are in. 

Can he deliver?

[Spider-Dan]

The team lost three straight games while Tua was out with a concussion, the origins of which were from a flagged dirty hit for roughing the passer.

But yeah, it's all entirely on him if the Dolphins fail to make the playoffs.

[dolphins4life]

The team lost three straight games while Tua was out with a concussion, the origins of which were from a flagged dirty hit for roughing the passer.

But yeah, it's all entirely on him if the Dolphins fail to make the playoffs.

Some quarterbacks can force their opponents to make mistakes.  Can Tua?

[Downunder Dolphan]

It seems a little early to be posting season thoughts, and there's a good chance I'll be saying exactly the same thing at season's end (or just cutting and pasting what I say here)...

Our best was good enough to beat anyone, but some cracks are beginning to show - especially our lack of depth once one of our key starters get injured.

We haven't had two starting cover corners most (if not all) season. If Armstead is out/injured our OL in a mess. LG & RT are still glaring issues.

Tua has been most (if not all) of what I hoped for this season. Talk of him being NFL MVP was ridiculous, and talk of him being a dud equally so. Having a Head Coach supporting him has made a massive difference, adding weapons for him to use with a creative and exciting game plan...

... but has this been worked out by opponents the last two weeks? If you think about it, is what we're doing on offense much different to the old Run & Shoot? We have running backs who can't/wont block, we have tight ends who can't/wont block. Occasionally they get in the way/trip over lineman breaking away. We can't run the ball when we really need to. Even when we possess the ball we don't seem to chew up a lot of game time, and when we don't our defense spends way too much time out on the field.

Mike Gieseke has been wasted in this offense - if this is what we had in mind, we should have let him go or traded him (and I think that will happen at seasons end).

Trading for Chubb initially seemed a good move... but we still can't seem to get enough consistent pressure from him, Wilkins, Ogbah and Phillips. With the 49ers still winning and looking like being a high NFC seed in the playoffs at least it's not looking like a high first rounder.

Unfortunately though our idiot team Owner cost us our other first rounder, limiting our chances to add needed depth. Ross has had his three strikes in my book, and the sooner he is no longer associated with the Dolphins the better - he's not fit to be an NFL team owner, and must be thankful that the heat on Dan Snyder has taken the spotlight away from his incompetence.

It looks like Byron Jones (along with Gieseke) is likely gone at seasons end. After a few promising games, Noah "The Enigma" Igbinoghene has been inactive again the last four weeks (I can't find a reason why anywhere - injury or disciplinary?). We still haven't really addressed the LB position, and as mentioned we still have glaring holes at OL.

I think we have improved this season in key areas, but this does not have the look of a Superbowl team let alone a dynasty - which we all were hoping for after the blockbuster Laremy Tunsil trade. Compare where we are at to the Philadelphia Eagles (who genuinely look to have that potential), and it's hard not to be envious - and equally disappointed with Ross and Grier for what looks to be a badly bungled rebuild.