The Dolphins hung tight with the Kansas City Chiefs for most of the game, but somehow that game never felt close. The Dolphins not only had a chance in this game against Minnesota, but they also actually held a lead. Well, for about 30 seconds. Still, this one was a heartbreaking loss because unlike the previous 3 games, they felt like they could win. There were some more positives, but plenty of negatives. Here’s what I saw on a quick watch.
THE OFFENSIVE NEEDS… WORK
First, I will give credit where credit is due. The Vikings
have one of the best defenses in the NFL. They generate a ton of pressure and have the best scoring defense in the NFL. They have held better offenses to less. The Bears scored 59 points in week one against the Panthers. The Vikings held them to 3 points at their home. The Vikings have only allowed 4 TDs all season, one of which was to the Dolphins.
That said, the Dolphins’ offense was nothing short of terrible on Sunday. Willis struggled mightily, going 9-17 and 85 yards. He was sacked twice, though one of those sacks was a “strip sack” where the ball hit a defender’s helmet right before Willis was able to throw it. Despite the best pressure defense in the league, the Dolphins mostly kept Willis clean. The bigger issue in my opinion is the lack of playmakers helping their QB (hat tip to JUK). Willis targeted 6 WRs in the contest and only Malik Washington was the only one to contribute in a meaningful way. Rookie Chris Bell was blanked on 3 targets. Greg Dulcich wasn’t even targeted. Without Caleb Douglas, the Dolphins don’t have the weaponry to consistently move the chains and have a productive offense. Some of the blame will go to Willis and rightfully so. But he doesn’t have the help he needs either. This would be the same for a rookie this season OR next season. Unless Miami goes out in FA and signs a big time WR or TE – unlikely – then whatever rookie QB they draft will also struggle thanks to the skill players around him.
THE DEFENSE ALSO NEEDS WORK DESPITE SOME POSITIVES
There is a lot being made about how the defense stepped up in this game. They finally got home to the QB getting 4 sacks after getting shutout the previous 3 games. The Dolphins were able to generate pressure all game long. Linebackers Rodriguez and Brooks had a combined 31 tackles, with the rookie getting 18 total and 9 solo tackles. The Dolphins kept the Vikings out of the end zone, forcing 5 FG attempts. But…
The Vikings were an even worse offense than the Dolphins entering this game. In week one, the Vikings QBs passed for 151 yards. In week 2, that number was 143. In week 3, they went for 168 yards. Against Miami, Murray went for 247 yards. In the previous 3 contests, the Vikings barely topped 62% CP in one game and 55% or below in the other 2. Murray went 27-37 against the Dolphins, for a whopping 72.9%. Wildly, that’s lower than what Miami had been allowing at over 80%. But they couldn’t contain what had been the worst passing offense in the league. The Vikings were able to do it without Justin Jefferson also. The damage came from tight end TJ Hockenson, whom the Dolphins could not stop. He caught 13 passes on 13 targets for 119 yards and would have scored a TD at the end but slid to force kneel-downs and end the game. Considering the Vikings #2 WR Jordan Addison was quietly 4-52, you would think the Dolphins would have forced Murray to look at someone other than Hockenson. But no. Not only that, but the Dolphins had been tighter against the run in the 1st 3 games. But they allowed Aaron Jones to go 20 carries for 94 yards. Murray went 6 for 16, but lost 5 yards on 3 kneel-downs, so he gained 21 yards on 3 actual attempts.
The Dolphins kept the Vikings out of the end zone and were able to get on the board for sacks. But they will face much better QBs and offenses in the next few games and they don’t appear to have solved the issue of keeping QBs from getting easy completions. They also couldn’t get off the field when they needed to.
If I asked you how many plays the Dolphins had in the fourth quarter, could you tell me without looking it up? I’ll tell you now: 3. That’s it. Three plays was all the offense had. We can argue about how bad the offense was and argue about where Willis should have thrown the ball on his final attempt. What we REALLY need to discuss is the fact that Minnesota got the ball at the end of the 3rd quarter – running one play in the 3rd – went on a 14 play drive to get a FG, leaving Miami with 6:41 on the clock. Miami went 3-and-out and that’s bad. But Minnesota got the ball back with 5:48 left and proceeded to end the game with a 10-play drive that should have ended with a TD, but they had 3 more plays to kneel out the game. Miami’s offense was bad. But Miami’s defense allowed Minnesota to run 26 plays – 26 FREAKING PLAYS – and burn 14 minutes in the FOURTH QUARTER ALONE!!! We can whine about the OL and QB play and all of that until the cows come home. But another easy way to help the QB is for the defense to GET. OFF. THE. FIELD! That was an embarrassment.
THIS AND THAT
- They say football is a game of inches, but in this contest, it was a game of millimeters. Or perhaps microns. Malik Willis and Chris Bell had a highlight reel TD play wiped off the board because Bell’s toenail was across the line out of bounds. The Dolphins were going to get a first down due to roughing the kicker, but the defender got a fingernail on the ball to tip it. Ollie Gordon was “touched down” on a run despite the replay showing the defender merely wafted in his general direction. That negated what would have been a big run, possibly a TD run. All of these were game-changing plays that could have been the difference in the outcome. The toe being out of bounds cost a TD. The tipped punt that could have extended a drive resulted in a FG drive for Minnesota. That’s a 10-point swing in a game decided by 5 points. Not to mention the possible TD run stolen from Gordon. The discussion about the Dolphins offense is different today if the final was say… 24-20 in Miami’s favor.
- The officials were WAY too prevalent in this game. This isn’t a complaint about Miami getting screwed, although that argument could be made. Minnesota had more penalties than the Dolphins. There was a total of 20: 9 for Miami, 11 for Minnesota. That’s way too much laundry on the field for an NFL. There were other officiating issues across the league. It has become a very visible problem. I would say in this game, it was due to 2 crappy offenses more than anything else. But fans across the league are taking notice. Not only that, but two officials, including the referee for the Dolphins game have been suspended by the league for conduct towards players on Sunday.
- Ollie Gordon II had his breakout game, and he should be the starter moving forward. Last week, I was going to write about how OG2 seems to struggle with vision and doesn’t have the burst needed to be a full-time starter. But I waited to see what he’d do in this game. He ended up with 100 yards even on 9 carries. Most of that came on a 53 jaunt early in the third quarter. As usge, I like to exclude a long run or pass play from the stats (or a long negative play) because it can skew the averages, making something that’s actually negative look like a positive. I shall name this “The Kalen Ballage Rule”. Going 100 yards on 9 carries is an 11.1 YPC average and looks nice. But excluding the 53-yard run, he went 47 yards on 8 carries for a 5.9 YPC average. Which is also nice. That means he was effective overall despite one stat-skewing play. One of those 8 runs also included the aforementioned play where he was “touched down” when he could have had many more yards. I’m not sure what’s going on with Wright, but Gordon is clearly better right now. He runs angry and with power. My biggest concern is ball security. He was carrying the ball way too loosely for my preference when going into traffic. If I saw it, you know DCs see it. Put both hands on the ball Ollie!
- The pass rush came to play with Sieler breaking out of the slump. I thought he murdered Murray on one play. Chop earned his sack with an awesome bull rush where he mauled the RT. Uche is playing well also, to the point he might become an extension candidate. I’m not gonna count those chickens just yet, but the edge guys are coming alive. Chop is getting a lot of attention also. He is getting doubled. He’s not going to win every rep – no edge rusher does – but teams are wary of his presence. They just need another inside presence. Phillips is a good NT, but his pass rushing skills aren’t there right now. Biggers is looking more and more like a depth player. When Grant returns, perhaps he can provide some interior rush to go along with Sieler. If he can provide it, the defense might be ready to take the next step.
- I see you, Rodney McGraw. He only played 12 defensive snaps, but I noticed him on a few. I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog types in the NFL. Cam Wake has always been my favorite player because of his story. I will always root for guys like Sieler and Nik Needham, Kader Kohou, and now McGraw. I don’t know if he’ll get many more opportunities, but I hope he does. At 6’4”, 273, he can be a bigger edge player that Hafley seems to like. Malik Herring is also in that mix. He played 28 snaps and it is getting about 25 snaps per game. Could he be another waiver claim gem like Sieler once was? He seems like he’s developing into a quality run defender.
I SAID WHAT I SAID
I don’t see many opportunities for wins on the schedule this season and this game was one of them. The Dolphins squandered it away and now come home to face a much better offense in the Bengals. More on that later in the week. Anyway, there seems to be a couple of bright spots every week, even in the midst of negativity. They just need something to bring it all together. Anyone have a cardboard cutoff of Rachel Phelps?
