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- Aug 9, 2005
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We were facing an uphill battle coming into this game. 3rd week in a row on the road (What the **** is that by the way???), the weather, Tua’s cold streak etc…. However, we could have and should have won this game. This loss is, without a doubt, on the coaches. On to the grades:
QB — The Good: 17 of 30 for 234 and 2 TD’s isn’t a bad game at all. Should have been much better but our WR corp had a few drops.
The Bad: While not a bad game, Tua wasn’t great either. A few questionable throws in there that could have gone for picks.
The Grade: C +. The drops didn’t help but neither did the play calling. Overall a good effort by Tua….But I was hoping for great.
RB’s — The Good: Wow. Mostert came to play. Great game by him. 17 rushes for 136. That’s an 8.0 ypc. Very well done. Ahmed had 43 more and our backs totaled 181 yards with Ingold’s 2 yard input.
The Bad: With a performance like that, there wasn’t much bad with these guys.
The Grade: A . Almost put up 200 on Buffalo. This group deserves the A. Spoiler Alert: It’ll be the only A given out today.
TE’s — The Good: The TE’s held up well in the running game. That’s all.
The Bad: Gesicki with 1 catch for 5 yards. And he stopped running after he caught it. Smythe with 1 catch for minus 2 yards. Awful.
The Grade: D . The only reason this group gets the D is because of the running game. They are being woefully underutilized and this coaching staff deserves the F for that alone. Meanwhile Buffalo’s TE had a career game tonight.
WR’s — The Good: Waddle was very good tonight as was Hill. 9 catches for Hill for 69 and a TD. Waddle with 3 for 114 and a TD.
The Bad: Wilson was the only other receiver with a catch. Ridiculous. Also too many drops in the first half that were costly.
The Grade: C -. Again….Hill and Waddle make this a C -. No one else did anything.
OL — The Good: Opening enough holes to hang almost 200 rushing on Buffalo is a good game. Tua, in general, had time to throw. A good effort by these guys.
The Bad: A few blown assignments when it counted hurt us. However, not a bad game by this unit.
The Grade: B - . How often do I ever say we should run more in a Dolphins game? Rarely. But McDaniel should have trusted them and we would have won this game. Awful coaching. Period.
DL — The Good: Wilkins with a Fumble recovery. Seller with a sack. Not much else.
The Bad: No pass rush to speak of. We have up 153 on the ground. And of course, we folded when we need a stop in the last 3 minutes.
The Grade: F . They played well for the 3rd quarter. That’s it. I’m sorry….That doesn’t cut it for me.
LB’s — The Good: Great Strip Sack by Phillips. That’s all.
The Bad: Anybody seen Jerome Baker? Actually….Anyone seen any of our MLB’s? I haven’t. Where is the pash rush from this group? Awful first half. Decent 3rd Qtr. Awful 4th qtr.
The Grade: F. I’m sorry….But they did not play well at all.
DB’s — The Good: N/A
The Bad: Open receivers everywhere tonight. If Noah Iggy isn’t cut on January 9th, I’m going to be pissed. He is awful. X wasn’t much better tonight. Admittedly, there was no lash rush to help them out. But they let way too many receivers get way too open.
The Grade: F . Folded like a Walmart Lawn chair when we needed them. Awful.
Coaching — The Good: Offensively we rang up 29 on the Bills. Defensively, we shut out the Bills the entire 3rd qtr. That’s it.
The Bad: Where do I start? McDaniel refusing to run the ball on 3rd and short? Or refusing to run the ball 4 time on first and goal from the 4 and settling for a FG? How about not ever running a rub route or anything of the sort on 3rd and short? Terrible. Wait! Then there’s Boyer….He has absolutely Zero feel for the game. Rushing 4 on 3rd and 17 and letting the Bills convert? How about the last 8 seconds of the first half? How do you give any NFL QB 9 seconds to throw the ball? Honestly, does Boyer know what a delayed blitz is? Awful.
The Grade: F. Again.
Conclusion: We have 3 games left and in my mind we have to win all 3 of them. The division is Buffalo’s. That’s all but official. 10 wins might get us in, but we have to rely on help for that. The problem is, Our defense has fallen apart. Our play calling is suspect. The coaching, quite frankly, is not peaking when we need it to. Nor is this team. It’s an up hill battle from here on out. I would say we’re going to find out what we’re made of in the next 3 weeks, but I think we just found out in the last 3. To be honest, I don’t like what we found.
QB — The Good: 17 of 30 for 234 and 2 TD’s isn’t a bad game at all. Should have been much better but our WR corp had a few drops.
The Bad: While not a bad game, Tua wasn’t great either. A few questionable throws in there that could have gone for picks.
The Grade: C +. The drops didn’t help but neither did the play calling. Overall a good effort by Tua….But I was hoping for great.
RB’s — The Good: Wow. Mostert came to play. Great game by him. 17 rushes for 136. That’s an 8.0 ypc. Very well done. Ahmed had 43 more and our backs totaled 181 yards with Ingold’s 2 yard input.
The Bad: With a performance like that, there wasn’t much bad with these guys.
The Grade: A . Almost put up 200 on Buffalo. This group deserves the A. Spoiler Alert: It’ll be the only A given out today.
TE’s — The Good: The TE’s held up well in the running game. That’s all.
The Bad: Gesicki with 1 catch for 5 yards. And he stopped running after he caught it. Smythe with 1 catch for minus 2 yards. Awful.
The Grade: D . The only reason this group gets the D is because of the running game. They are being woefully underutilized and this coaching staff deserves the F for that alone. Meanwhile Buffalo’s TE had a career game tonight.
WR’s — The Good: Waddle was very good tonight as was Hill. 9 catches for Hill for 69 and a TD. Waddle with 3 for 114 and a TD.
The Bad: Wilson was the only other receiver with a catch. Ridiculous. Also too many drops in the first half that were costly.
The Grade: C -. Again….Hill and Waddle make this a C -. No one else did anything.
OL — The Good: Opening enough holes to hang almost 200 rushing on Buffalo is a good game. Tua, in general, had time to throw. A good effort by these guys.
The Bad: A few blown assignments when it counted hurt us. However, not a bad game by this unit.
The Grade: B - . How often do I ever say we should run more in a Dolphins game? Rarely. But McDaniel should have trusted them and we would have won this game. Awful coaching. Period.
DL — The Good: Wilkins with a Fumble recovery. Seller with a sack. Not much else.
The Bad: No pass rush to speak of. We have up 153 on the ground. And of course, we folded when we need a stop in the last 3 minutes.
The Grade: F . They played well for the 3rd quarter. That’s it. I’m sorry….That doesn’t cut it for me.
LB’s — The Good: Great Strip Sack by Phillips. That’s all.
The Bad: Anybody seen Jerome Baker? Actually….Anyone seen any of our MLB’s? I haven’t. Where is the pash rush from this group? Awful first half. Decent 3rd Qtr. Awful 4th qtr.
The Grade: F. I’m sorry….But they did not play well at all.
DB’s — The Good: N/A
The Bad: Open receivers everywhere tonight. If Noah Iggy isn’t cut on January 9th, I’m going to be pissed. He is awful. X wasn’t much better tonight. Admittedly, there was no lash rush to help them out. But they let way too many receivers get way too open.
The Grade: F . Folded like a Walmart Lawn chair when we needed them. Awful.
Coaching — The Good: Offensively we rang up 29 on the Bills. Defensively, we shut out the Bills the entire 3rd qtr. That’s it.
The Bad: Where do I start? McDaniel refusing to run the ball on 3rd and short? Or refusing to run the ball 4 time on first and goal from the 4 and settling for a FG? How about not ever running a rub route or anything of the sort on 3rd and short? Terrible. Wait! Then there’s Boyer….He has absolutely Zero feel for the game. Rushing 4 on 3rd and 17 and letting the Bills convert? How about the last 8 seconds of the first half? How do you give any NFL QB 9 seconds to throw the ball? Honestly, does Boyer know what a delayed blitz is? Awful.
The Grade: F. Again.
Conclusion: We have 3 games left and in my mind we have to win all 3 of them. The division is Buffalo’s. That’s all but official. 10 wins might get us in, but we have to rely on help for that. The problem is, Our defense has fallen apart. Our play calling is suspect. The coaching, quite frankly, is not peaking when we need it to. Nor is this team. It’s an up hill battle from here on out. I would say we’re going to find out what we’re made of in the next 3 weeks, but I think we just found out in the last 3. To be honest, I don’t like what we found.
