- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 30,987
- Reaction score
- 1,249
Positives
- Won Turnover Differential 2-1
- Tempo. The team is playing well and in control with tempo. This needs to continue to be a staple of their game and “speed up” contests.
- 1st team O-line gave up no sacks
- Ryan Tannehill. He was crisp. Got the ball out and was accurate. For a defense that befuddled the Fins last year on Monday Night Football, Tannehill was in control and sliced the Panthers defense up.
- Kenyan Drake. Drake was explosive. Broke off some great runs and was a big factor in the passing game.
- Jakeem Grant. Produces again when given a chance.
- Robert Quinn: 2 sacks
- While he has taken some static for one bad angle and pursuit, Raekwon McMillan was better this week.
- Xavien Howard interception.
- Andre Branch with a sack. He might not be starter worthy, but is a quality 3rd or 4th DE.
- Kendall Langford was not that bad considering he was away from football all summer.
- Trae Elston with the stick and Mo Smith with the pick.
- Mo Smith with a team leading 8 tackles, 3 solo and the pick.
- Greg Joseph bangs one in from 54 yards.
- Jason Sanders was perfect kicking on the night.
- A Dolphins punt killed at the 2.
- Penalties across all units.
- The offense was 2-12 on 3rd down.
- Not scoring TD’s enough in Red Zone especially with the 1’s.
- Early drive is set back by early penetration and a negative play on a Drake run.
- Laremy Tunsil holding penalty in the Red Zone.
- Delay of game penalty in the Red Zone. How does Tannehill nor a coach see the play clock running down as such? Players could not get and too much confusion.
- Brock Osweiler. Inaccurate. Unable to move the team. Mostly checkdowns.
- David Fales. Big step backwards for him. Terrible accuracy that led to a acrobatic interception by Corn Elder. Fales had terrible numbers and it showed.
- AJ Derby with an OPI to help stunt a drive.
- Two penalties by Isaac Asiata.
- Sam Young allowed two sacks and a host of pressures.
- Leonte Carroo not get his feet down on a possible touchdown.
- 71 yard Christian McCaffrey run. Awful angles and disengagement. The defense seemed not ready to play.
- Carolina was 2-2 in scoring TD’s in the Red Zone.
- The defense (all three units) was a 6-12 on third down.
- Explosive TD by Ian Thomas leaving McMillian in the dust.
- Cordrea Tankersley was terrible. Played with no confidence and got smoked.
- Chase Allen having two penalties. One penalty negated a sack and forced fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Jordan Lucas. Missed a tackle on a TD run.
- Terence Garvin missing a tackle on a TD.
- Drew Morgan. Morgan has his tryout last night and did little with it.
- Cam Newton was pressured and flung the ball away absolutely in the pocket and with no receiver in sight. Totally intentional grounding.
- The PI call on Howard was weak.
- Adam Beasley saying Ian Thomas was slow. He was one of the fastests TE’s in the draft this past year.
- Game Pass CANNOT ever tire out and lose its connection. Not for the price the league has fans paying. And by the way, why aren’t preseason games on for people that have bought Sunday Ticket? Big miss.
- I am concerned at the overall CB depth behind Howard, McCain and Fitzpatrick. Torry McTyer is next man up. He played okay the other night, but there is little depth here considering Tankersley is playing terrible and Tony Lippett looks like he cannot physically compete.
- Same goes for DT. I want to see more Kendall Langford. This is another position that the team needs to have options to be able to line up some run stoppers if called upon. William Hayes will help in these spots, but I would prefer him being at DE instead of DT.
- There is zero energy when Osweiler enters the game. I have seen enough.
- That said, Petty deserves a shot with the 2’s. He has NFL experience recently. He comes in and seems to know what is happening and leads his 3’s and 4’s to scores. He should have a look in the next two weeks.
- I am not sure why A.J. Derby gets the run he does.
- Drew Morgan got an extended look. Again, not sure why.
- I really like how the offense plays with tempo. It could be an X factor this season. I say why not. The Dolphins best chance is to push games with speed. The team in all three phases has speed. Play a fast game and get teams out of a comfort zone. Let teams drag in the heat early in the season. They have depth to toss in different players with different skill sets to when someone needs a breather. We have seen signs that the Fins playing fast on offense can have success. I think in turn it could help the defense. This defense needs be able to attack and to do that the offense needs to get ahead on the scoreboard. Time to jump the ball and play with tempo.
- For the Fins to take the next step they need to play well in some big yet obvious areas. 1. Cut the penalties especially in these mind-numbing situations: erasing defensive scores, penalties in the red area, flags on 3rd downs on defense, infractions while the offense is on the move.
2. Red Zone defense. I am not worried about the offense in the Red Zone. They scored at a good clip last year, Tannehill is good down in close and Adam Gase is a great designer of Red Zone plays. However, the defense has to become better at forcing field goals. They allow too many TD’s. Somehow they have to stiffen in the red area.3. 3rd downs. The offense has to sustain offense. Stay on the field. The starting offense has stayed on the field to this point and that is encouraging. In the past few years, the offense simply leaves the field too quick with nothing to show for a possession. The defense seemingly coughs up 3rd and longs. Get off the field, defense. 4. Turnover differential. Miami has to be a big winner in this spot. The four stats I put out one could say, “duh”. I agree. But anyone that watches the Fins over the last few years know they have been big losers in these areas and it must improve. Plus, they have been so close in games and if these areas moved in a positive way they could easily flip the scoreboard...yet, they haven’t. I would just like to see the Fins be “middle of the pack” on some and very effective on others while not being completely terrible on any and see where the chips fall this season.
