Well….It looks like maybe the 7 game win streak was a little fraudulent. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we were never a legitimate playoff team. It was nice to be in it near the end, but we just didn’t have the horses and that was very evident today. A slow track, cold weather and rain was not going to help our game at all. Meanwhile, Tennessee was made for a game like today. It showed. On to the grades:
QB — F : He picked the absolute worst game to have his worst game. Multiple fumbles. 18 of 38 for 205 and a pick. He had trouble handling the wet ball. I mean….Pretty much the worst day that we hoped Tua wouldn’t have. The Tua detractors are going to have a field day and rightfully so. This was troubling as a Dolphins fan. Period.
RB’s — C - : Duke Johnson ran well today and had 49 yards rushing on 7 carries. Add in 16 more yards on 2 catches and that’s not a bad day at all. My problem was that we didn’t use him enough today. Especially in that weather. Gaskin added another 23 yards in a fill in role. Overall, not too bad by this unit. Should have been used more.
TE’s — D : So…. We don’t target Gesicki at all in the first quarter, then we do and we actually move the ball. Shocking. Add in Smythe’s production and you get 7 catches for 88 yards from these guys. Again…In this weather the TE’s should have got more plays in an ideal offense. The negatives with this group was the lack of separation all day and a few drops that hurt.
WR’s — F : WTF with this group. Awful. Waddle was blanketed all day….So you think someone could get some space? Anyone? Parker had 4 catches for 46 yards but was on a different playbook than Tua all day. Waddle ended up with 3 catches for 47 yards….But he was bracketed the whole game. It’s funny how going into training camp this was looked at as a strength on this team. Nothing could be further from the truth.
OL — D + : OK…..The good news is that we are 1 game away from ending the Jessie Davis era in Miami. He got walked a few times today. Austin Jackson again was not much better. The other good news is they did open some holes today and this wasn’t their worst pass protection day today. But it still wasn’t good. Regardless, Tua cannot blame his bad day on these guys.
DL — F : If you get gashed for 198 yards on the ground, you’re not getting a passing grade from me. No way. Add to that the lack of pressure on Tannehill and this is a solid F. It was a bad field and footing wasn’t good. That played into it. No matter. A bad day all around.
LB’s — D - : Again….a 198 yard rushing performance by the Titans doesn’t look good for these guys. Baker was active and had our only sack. He basically saved these guys from an F.
DB’s — F : Our inability to cover a TE haunted us today. Typically this is the LB’s responsibility. Not for us….We left that in the hands of the DB’s. It bit us in the *** in a bad way. Brandon Jones was awful today and missed on both TE touchdowns. I love watching Holland play football….But even he couldn’t help this grade.
ST’s — F : By far the worst graded unit in my book today. Palardy had a couple clutch 36 yard punts.
Awful. Holland should have fair caught the one punt that ended up at our 2. No return game today. Sanders missed a long one. Just bad everywhere by these guys.
Coaching and Front Office — F : The Special Teams guys: We’re Zim’s lowest graded unit!! The Coaches: Hold our Beer. Yep. This was a clinic on how not to coach a game your team needs in bad weather. I guess it would be less typing for me to list the good coaching decisions : ………. There were none. Blitz Zero defense? Nope. Long field goal attempt? Yep…On a horrible field. 2 stupid trick play attempts? Yep. I could go on for another hour. Let’s just say this was not Flo’s best day. As for the front office….We aren’t making the playoffs this year and I put the blame on Chris Grier. If we even had a middle of the pack OL we’re challenging for the division. It’s sad to me that he’s going to still be here next year.
