SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After it was over, the Dolphins punter was quoting Ted Lasso.
Ted Lasso is, in fact, a great show. But you don't want your punter quoting him in the locker room.
"Gotta have the memory of a goldfish, to quote Ted Lasso, honestly," Miami punter Bradley Pinion said. "Just forget about it and move on to the next one."
Pinion would like everyone to forget that he dropped the ball. Literally. But such things are not so easily forgotten.
The Dolphins are 0-2 and they lost at the 49ers, 35-13, and to be clear this is not all on Pinion. Drop or no drop, Miami was not wining this game against a far more experienced and far more talented opponent.
But my goodness is the punter dropping the ball and getting quickly tackled a microcosm
of a game. Miami can only hope it's not the microcosm for this season.
"I just got to be better," Pinion said. "The ball just slipped out of my hand, and I just got to be better."
For the record, Pinion dropped the ball at his own 28-yard line and was tackled.
It was the third quarter and it was already 28-6 San Francisco but flat-out dropping a punt and having it recovered by the opponent is both embarrassing and painful.
"I'm not sure what to tell you about the punt that we dropped," Miami coach Jeff Hafley said after the game, adding later, "He's been punting for a really long time. He's got to catch the ball."
'I just got to be better,' Dolphins punter Bradley Pinion said
The bigger issue, to be frank, is that Miami's defense allowed five touchdowns to the 49ers on their first five possessions of the game.
Brock Purdy was 20-for-22 and was not sacked and led the Niners in rushing.
So, yeah, there's that.
"It's not fun," rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez said, adding, "We've got to get somebody in the quarterback's face. We got to make them feel off balance. And, you know, we just didn't do that today."
The Dolphins secondary allowed 49ers to run ridiculously open all day.
"It was just a miscommunication, breakdown like you said," safety Dante Trader said. "We've just got to be tighter and clean it up."
This is going to be a very long, very painful Dolphins season.
Is 2-15 or 3-14 possible? It surely is.
Dolphins headed for Top 3 NFL Draft pick
The biggest benefit, we supposed, would be a Top 3 or maybe even Top 1 draft pick.
Meanwhile, Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis has been sacked nine times in two games.
"I want to play better," Dolphins right tackle Austin Jackson was saying. "I've got to be better."
The Dolphins have committed 15 penalties in two games. This isn't just about better fundamentals and technique. These things can happen when a team is physically overmatched and overwhelmed.
We cannot blame Hafley for Miami allowing five consecutive touchdowns to the 49ers.
The San Francisco organization is already where Miami hopes to be headed.
That's what this dramatic teardown has led do. Nobody is surprised. Nobody should be surprised.
Nobody.
Now if the punter can at least hold onto the ball in the next game
Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and on X @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins punter quotes Ted Lasso after drop that defines 0-2 start
