7-3 after 10 games?? Who here wouldn’t have taken that last April?? I know I would have. The crazy part is our QB had 325 yds passing and our offense had another 99 yds rushing and it felt like a bad day because we only scored 20 points. I love it. The feeling here is that this defense is starting to roll. We have an exciting ending to this season coming up! On to the grades:
QB — B - : Not Tua’s best day. Not Tua’s worst day either. Mediocre pretty much sums it up in my mind. Again, Tua had 325 yards and a 103 QB rating. I guess I can’t be too critical here but the fumble and the interception weren’t what we wanted to see. As I see it, Tua was a little rusty on Sunday. Let’s hope he’s more efficient this Friday.
RB’s — B - : Again, a decent day by this group. Mostert led the way with 86 yards on 22 carries. That’s a 3.9 yard average. Not overly efficient. It was nice to see Achane back for 5 minutes. Also, I thought the offensive line had a below average day. That definitely contributed to the inefficiencies by this group. On a more positive note, we had a Nice TD on a beautifully set up screen by Salvon Ahmed.
TE’s — C - : Man, did we miss Durham Smythe. Julian Hill had one catch for 10 yards, and a fumble that could’ve been very costly. Luckily for us, it wasn’t. You can definitely tell he’s a rookie. Let’s hope Durham Smythe is back Friday.
WR’s — A : Tyreek Hill went off. 146 yards on 10 receptions and a touchdown is a good day for any receiver. I’ve got to give props to Chris Grier for making the trade. Great move. Waddle had a good game himself with four catches for 55 yards. In general this group had a great day.
OL — C - : This is the group that probably had the worst day on the offensive side of the ball. The pass protection was average at best all day. The run blocking wasn’t so special either. Regardless, we got out of there with the win. A big hope is that we have Hunt back on Friday. His absence was definitely noticed on Sunday. Again, we had 425 yards of total offense, so I can’t be too critical.
DL — A : We only allowed 36 yards rushing and 271 yards passing Sunday. This group was a huge part of that. Wilkins looked good and was active all day. Sieler was his usual solid self in the trenches as well. Overall, a very good day from this group. Solid, workmanlike effort. I like watching a good defensive line do their thing.
LB’s — A : Phillips had two sacks, Van Ginko had two passes defensed and Chubb was active all day with 3 solo tackles. A really good day for the linebackers as they helped hold the Raiders under 310 yards of offense. Nice day by these guys.
DB’s — A + : How good is Ramsey these past 2 games?? Amazing to watch. Kohou had a really good game as well. In my mind, Xavien Howard better get ready to see some footballs coming his way. By the way, Holland was exceptional as well Sunday. This defense is really starting to cook and I can’t wait to watch what happens the rest of the year.
ST’s — C - : Along with the OL and the TE’s, this was the worst performance of the day. Sanders missed a 50 yarder and has been really inconsistent all year. His performance this year has me concerned. Bailey wasn’t much better although he did hit a beautiful punt late in the fourth quarter. My guess is that we have new kickers next year.
Coaching — B : I thought the offensive play calling was a little too generic this week. But if you think about it, we still had 424 yards of offense. The defense is starting to get nasty and I think Fangio is really starting to show his worth. Overall, a good coaching day, even though we were a little rusty on offense.
Conclusion: We’re in really good shape going in to week 11. I really want to see Smythe and Hunt playing Friday if possible. Both guys definitely make a difference. We played well enough to put ourselves in a really good position for the rest of the year. With Thanksgiving coming up, the Dolphins are one of the reasons to give thanks. I want to wish everyone that reads this thread a happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.