- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 30,987
- Reaction score
- 1,249
Positives
Negatives
Overall Assessment
- The offense was better this week on 3rd down by going 4-9 (44%).
- The Dolphins ran for 106 yards on 23 carries for a 4.6 average.
- Lamar Miller was very effective today. On the ground he had 44 yards on 12 carries and 2 TD’s. As a receiver, he had 97 yards on 7 catches. Miller was Miami’s best player today.
- Ryan Tannehill. An improved Tannehill versus Buffalo. 27-36 for 309 yards, 8.6 per attempt and 100.3 QB rating. He had some nice touch on deep balls this week when given the time. Tannehill showed athletic ability by going out for a pass on some trickeration and he also faked out Mario Williams when the pass rusher came free.
- Jarvis Landry. Made some acrobatic catches. Had some tough runs as a receiver and ball carrier. Landry had 69 yards on 11 catches.
- Kenny Stills went for 74 yards on 3 catches. Tannehill hit Stills on multiple deep balls.
- Jay Ajayi had a nice rookie debut. He ran hard and had some wiggle with 41 yards on 5 carries.
- Ndamukong Suh. Had 3 TOT, 1 solo, 1 sack and 1 TFL. He got in the backfield a lot and got pressure on Tyrod Taylor.
- Reshad Jones snuffing out an ill-timed Buffalo flea flicker.
- Much better work containing Charles Clay this time around. 6 yards on one catch.
- Miami’s screen game. They were usually well-timed and they gashed Buffalo on numerous occasions.
- The offensive play calling was balanced despite the game getting away from Miami late. The team stayed with the running game throughout and did not get one-dimensional until late when it was a must situation to pass. I think Bill Lazor also did a good job getting Tannehill outside the pocket more.Miami’s opening drive to start the half.
- Seems like the team came out relatively healthy.
Negatives
- Lost turnover differential 0-1. The defense has not created a turnover in two games.
- 62 yards on 8 penalties.
- Slow start.
- Red Zone offense: 2 TD’s on 4 red area trips.
- Bad snap on the first play for the offense that ended up in the back of the end zone for a safety.
- After a good start, Jason Fox was bad. He gave up a strip/sack. He had a holding call on a 4th down in which Landry made an amazing catch for a 1st down. Fox also had a false start penalty.
- Pass protection got leaky in the 2nd half.
- Way too many explosive plays given up by the defense.
- Gave up 420 yards to Buffalo
- Gave up 266 yards rushing for a 7.4 average.
- Buffalo converted 8-13 on 3rd down. On one 3rd down and forever, Williams ran 38 yards for a TD in the 4th.
- Red Zone defense: The Bills scored 1 of 2 trips.
- Taylor threw all of 12 passes, completed 11 of them for 181 yards (10.3 per attempt).
- Missed tackles.
- Brent Grimes was burned all day by Sammy Watkins. Watkins went for 168, 8 catches and a TD.
- Koa Misi’s penalty that killed a Suh sack.
- On a day the team needed Olivier Vernon to step up with Cam Wake out, he was invisible.
- Special teams penalties galore. Damien Williams had an illegal block in the back and pinned the offense before the safety. Bobby McCain ran out of bounds and was the first to touch the ball even though it looked like he killed the punt inside the five. Another penalty was by Damien Williams. There was another illegal block in the back penalty on a punt. From there, Terrence Fede committed a penalty that killed a long kick return (51 yards) by Williams. John Denney got a holding penalty later in the game. Way too many penalties on special teams.
- On 3rd downs, not having routes or attempting passes beyond the sticks.
- Terrible clock management today. The drive at the end of the half was well executed, but killed by the coaches. After Lamar Miller’s catch, who to be fair should have ran out of bounds, Dan Campbell, Darren Rizzi or someone had to call timeout. Instead time was running out. Tannehill threw a pass which was incomplete, but got a PI call. Of course, at the 2 the team elected to go for it and missed on the next play. You cannot go into halftime with that timeout in your pocket. It had to be called after the Miller catch.
- Plus, if they were going to go for it, I did not like the play call at the 1. Run the ball. Be physical and get that yard. A quick slant to a TE on a bullet throw has little chance of succeeding.
- There were other clock management issues in the 2nd half that in the end did not haunt, but having to burn two timeouts because the play clock was running down was not good. One of those timeouts was used on the opening drive of the half.
- Terrible officiating today. Awful. First of all, Karlos Williams did not have control of the ball when crossing the goal line. The video was not in dispute. Reprehensible for the ref not to call that a touchback. Yet, before that TD, they had no problem, reversing a referee that stating Sammy Watkins elbow was down. Both complete terrible results of reviews. Another play, Suh had Taylor in the grasp. Suh completely could have ended the day for Taylor slamming him to the turf. Suh played “nice” and Taylor heaved the ball away with his left hand. No in the grasp call. After a declined penalty, Taylor went up top for a long TD...in which Suh was blatantly held on that TD pass.
- The D and E teams of CBS’ broadcasts are straight up bad. First, viewers thought the Fins had downed a punt inside the five as we went to break. Thanks to Twitter we knew in the middle of the commercial reel that there was a penalty. If you were not on Twitter, you got the news when they returned from break. From there, they had poor angles at the goal line on Williams TD in which he was losing the ball crossing the goal line. There were times, it seemed like Spero Dedes and Soloman Wilcots did not even do research coming into this game. An example was when Dedes said that Tannehill was not an athletic QB. By the way, I do not think once in my life I ever agreed with Mike Carey.
Overall Assessment
- I have no opinion of whether or not they should have kicked a field goal or gone for it at the end of the half. My issue is the butchering of the clock management and the play call. Call the timeout and get multiple cracks at the end zone. From there, if you are Dan Campbell and are at the 1 yard line and want to prove you are a physical football team, attempt to smash the ball in the end zone. A slant pass from the shotgun to a TE is not a good play call. Campbell missed a chance to mark this team’s identity.
- I am not killing Campbell for taking the holding penalty and forcing the Bills back out on the field to which they scored on the next play. The defense has to execute. They kind of did in that Suh was held and a flag should have been thrown. That being said, the DB’s needed to cover better...especially on such a pass. If that pass was incomplete or better yet, the flag thrown, Miami would have avoided giving up points.
- Unreal that the center/QB exchange is an issue right now.
- Miami did not play well enough to win today. Let me set that straight. That being said, they lost 33-17. If the Fins do not snap the ball out of the end zone, they are down to 31. If they make the right call on the Williams TD, down to 24 points. Call holding on the Watkins TD catch, down to 17. Campbell elects to kick the FG at the end of the half...I am not going there. Miami was not good enough. However, the bad calls today alter lives. They get people fired and waived. By far, the worst officiating this season against Miami.
- Good to see the Bills wearing old Patriot shirts this Thursday. Awful design.
- How about CBS broadcaster, Steve Tasker, wearing the camo Bills jacket on the set?
- I am so tired of the Dolphins being a punchline on TV and Twitter. From nerds like Jason La Canfora to grenade throwers like Alex Marvez to has-been writers like Vic Carucci, I am sick and tired of my team being the butt of jokes. It is time this franchise change everything around. It is time that it finds a vision that everyone in power has bought into. It is time to find mentally tough, focused players. It is time to play physical fundamentally sound football. I have no idea if that happens again this season with any consistency let alone see it again. However, I want to see who on this coaching staff and roster is worth keeping going into next season.
- That said, Dan Campbell is not done, though stories will start to run this week I am sure of who will be the next coach. Campbell can show improvement over the next few weeks with his coaching and his ability to keep the team fighting. He and his staff must make adjustments and show innovation. Campbell has to continue to make decisions that show he believes in the players. Campbell is still 2-2 and perception can change if they are able to stack some wins together. Do I think Dan Campbell ends up with the job next year? No, I do not. He is young and needs seasoning and there are going to be a host of attractive candidates available. Plus, interim coaches do not typically have much success. However, there are a ton of games left for Campbell to show what he has to offer. You know Campbell is going to show fight. I am still willing to see what he’s got.
