Zim’s Grades For The Game: Week 2 Edition | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Zim’s Grades For The Game: Week 2 Edition

DZimmer000

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Ummmm…… I quit. Are you ****ing kidding me with that win?? Just for some fun this week, I’m going to post what I was preparing to post prior to the 4th quarter…Then I’ll post the real grades. So let’s get this one started:

QB — The Good: The Good? 36 of 50 (72%) for 469 yards and 6 TD’s?? Those are Dan Marino numbers. In Baltimore. Against a good Ravens team. Out of this world performance in the 2nd half. Phenomenal 4th Quarter. This is what Tua looks like with pass blocking? Count me in.

The Bad: The 2 picks were not good in the first half. Without those 2 picks, Tua has an almost perfect day.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — D + : I thought we were gonna lose by about 21 and I thought the 2 picks hurt us.

The Grade — A - : Someone please send Tua a forklift to help him carry his balls around. I don’t want him to be tired before next weeks game. Again, the 2 picks weren’t good…..But he more than made up for it.

RB’s — The Good: Good Hard running by Mostert today. 51 yards with a 4.6 average. Very nice. He picked up some blitzes today as well. Unfortunately, we got way behind and we couldn’t run the ball enough for my liking. Edmonds had 33 yards today as well. Mostert had 3 catches for 28 yards as well. Good effort by this group. Ingold with some great blocks and 2 nice catches as well.

The Bad — : Not much really to complain about with the RB’s to be honest. Probably the most consistent group on the field. I would love a big bruising back on this to get the tough yards….But Ingold did a good job of that today.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — B : Again, they did a good job today. No real complaints.

The Grade — A : Picking up Blitzes….Clutch catches…. Hard Runs. Color me happy with this group today.

TE’s — The Good: Gesicki with a sicki catch on a very high throw and still got his feet in for the TD. GREAT CATCH. He totaled 4 catches for 41 yards. Nice to see him back in the game plan. Smythe had a catch.

The Bad — The whiff by Smythe on the pickup of the rusher hurt. Not good. The blocking wasn’t spectacular at all and needs to improve. UNTIL THE 4th QUARTER. Then everything went amazingly.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — D + : I wasn’t happy with the pass or run blocking.

The Grade — B : Wow how good they can play when they want to. Great 4th quarter by this group.

OL — The Good: What a second half. From being totally below average in the first half to totally dominating in the 2nd half. The last 30 minutes was the best OL play I’ve seen on this team in 8 years. Good run blocking…..Good pass protection. The 4th quarter was off the charts. Amazing

The Bad — Not a good first half. We looked confused on the OL. No real running lanes. Pass protection was average at best.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — C - : They just weren’t very good at anything. Then BOOM!!

The Grade — B + : What a 4th quarter. This is a confidence builder for this unit. I was actually impressed.

WR’s — The Good: Ummm…..Again Everything. Waddle and Hill are, by far, the best WR duo in the league. Period.

The Bad — A couple drops. Whatever.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — B + : The drops hurt a little.

The Grade — A + : Ridiculous. I mean Ridiculous. As a Dolphins fan I typically don’t even dream this good. I’m pretty sure the Bills are a little afraid of these guys.

DL — The Good: There wasn’t much good today prior to the 4th Quarter. They got shredded. BUT….They had a couple 4th down stops that were clutch. In the 4th quarter…..They stepped up. I even saw Phillips out there.

The Bad — No Sacks or pressure. Gashed for huge runs. Not a good effort for 45 minutes at all.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — F : They did nothing right for 45 minutes except for a very important goal line stand.

The Grade — C - : They got off the field in the 4th quarter when it counted. Regardless, this unit has to be better than they were today.

LB’s — The Good: They showed up when it counted. Clutch coverage in the 4th quarter and good tackling in the 2nd half was huge for us.

The Bad — Jaelan Phillips has just signed with Marvel for the lead in the next Invisible Man movie coming out next summer. Where the hell has he been?? They were non-existent in the first 30 minutes and the tackling was horrible for most of the game.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — F : Abysmal. They got ripped apart by Jackson.

The Grade — C - : They should just thank God there are 4 quarters in a game. This unit wasted the first 2 and were only a little better in the 3rd.

DB’s — The Good: Not much for 3 quarters. Not much at all. X was getting burned. No one was tackling. It was actually depressing. The 4th quarter….Like the rest of the team…This unit started covering and tackling .

The Bad — A Lot. However, I think a lot of the bad here was due to the way they were being coached. If your CB’s are bump and run guys…..Play bump and run. It seems logical to me.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — F : They we’re getting worked all day. It was actually embarrassing.

The Grade — D + : Again….I think the way they were being used hurt them. But regardless, they weren’t doing anything right until the 4th quarter.

ST’s — The Good: Sanders hit all his extra points. Morestead averaged 44 yards on his 2 punts.

The Bad — What an awful way to start a game. It set the shitty tone for the first 45 minutes of game play.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — D+ : Not much was going right.

The Grade — C : Sanders hit all his field goals and didn’t allow another return the rest of the game.

Coaching — The Good: The 2nd half adjustments were good for the most part. The 4th quarter play calling was money.

The Bad — Too Many Penalties! Play call confusion again…… We didn’t look even remotely ready to play this game. The Zero blitz look. You know Baltimore spent all week designing plays against it. I’m not sure Boyer is a very good defensive coach yet. The jury is still out in my book.

Prior to 4th Qtr Grade — F : A really embarrassing first half. Better in the 3rd quarter.

The Grade — B - : A 4th quarter for the ages.

Conclusion: What a game to watch. I couldn’t be prouder of an NFL team. Absolutely, a game most of us will remember for years. As for Tua…. the doubts are over. What he did today was amazing. He had time….He hit open receivers. Amazing. We still have to improve to beat the Bills next week…..But this team just got a HUGE infusion of confidence.
 
When Howard dropped the pick-6, I had a brief moment of, "Oh, that was our chance." But, I quickly recovered, because Miami was clearly the better team, and they were playing like it. That's what I care about - sustainable success. Great QB play with great weapons and good enough OL play is sustainable.
 
This was a great win and way more exciting than last week's game but give me a safe conservative defensive-led win like last week as opposed to the heart attack-inducing, exciting emotional roller coaster ride that was today's game. A+ for giving me feel every emotion known to man in the span of 3 1/2 hours.
 
Last year Miami dominated Baltimore on defense.

This year Miami dominated Baltimore on offense, 7/11 on 3rd downs, 2/2 on 4th downs, nearly 30 first downs. A KO TD and two long TDs by Baltimore were the only reason Miami didn't win by more.

Withstood 2 turnovers, the refs, a Special Teams TD, a leaky defense, with basically no running game on the road.
 
The defense needs a lot more help than the Offense does....LBs, speed at Corner and a pass rush from the DL. I've felt they've been WAY overrated for the last couple of years, simply making their name against the weaker QBs they faced.

Hopefully in the meantime we can just outscore most people. : )
 
I agree that the 2nd pick was all on Tua. The first pick was a ball he was trying to squeeze into a small opening and while it probably wasn’t a great choice to throw it, it was a ball that could have been caught just as luckily as it was intercepted.
So to me, his 2nd int was the only bad throw I question.
 
As a Dolphin Fan, I don't typically dream this good....just a perfect description Zim!

Disappointed with the defense, but they did come up big in some key moments. The Baltimore offensive line definitely outplayed Miami's defensive front.

I think the Dolphins will need all three units against the Bills-- offense, defense and special teams.

A coming out party for Tua! Incredible win.
 
I agree that the 2nd pick was all on Tua. The first pick was a ball he was trying to squeeze into a small opening and while it probably wasn’t a great choice to throw it, it was a ball that could have been caught just as luckily as it was intercepted.
So to me, his 2nd int was the only bad throw I question.
Seemed like one of them receiver could have made a play, just wasn't fully aware of where the ball was. Throw was kind of rushed because of the pass rush.
 
Grades all over the place - a perfect reflection of the team's play in general!

I, too, would like that big bruising back for short yardage situations. Something to keep an eye in going forward.
 
For the first time, a long time I think we can stop most 3rd/4th and shorts and I feel we can convert third and longs. I used to feel we were ****ed. It's a nice feeling. Note: does anybody know how our olinemen graded out?
 
A+ for everyone.

Clean up required during the week. The defense was really an issue for most of the day. There was no pressure, but at the same time Ravens receivers were being given acres of space.

Still, I can’t give any grade other than A+ for everyone. You can’t win a game like this without an A+ effort from top to bottom.
 
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