POLITASPORTS

David vs Goliath this was not; however, it was a fun day in South Florida once again. For only the second time this season the Dolphins were at home and they gave fans plenty to cheer about. Yes, it’s been noted that against a tougher opponent, or even one with a semi-competent offense, the outcome may have been different, certainly the score would have been. But Miami left triumphant and atop the AFC East. The defense needs to improve. The offense needs to protect the football. The latter is a basic concept of sport that these Miami Dolphins seem not to prioritize. I’ve seen comparisons to the turn of the millennia Rams, but they too were dogged for turning the football over: “In the 2000 season, they were more dominant offensively than the Super Bowl winning year, racking up 7,000 yards and scoring 540 points. But turnovers blighted the side. In the three years they were controlling on offense, they also gave up the ball 109 times – that included eight games where they turned the ball over four or more times.”¹

The news coming out of Davey is that Achane may need to miss a couple of weeks. Miami should consider putting him on IR, get him through the Bye Week and have him ready for the stretch run. He has been the best weapon on the team, and probably the most surprising in the NFL, but Miami is explosive with Mostert and having Jeff Wislon Jr coming back this week, the Dolphins should be able to overcome the absence of De’Von.

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Coaching: (A); Offensively Miami was able to do everything they wanted. Coach McDaniel has the offense humming along. Miami has scored at least twenty points in every game this season and is averaging over thirty six a game. All without a defensive touchdown. They have scored twenty four touchdowns total, twelve each receiving and rushing. The balance is incredible with nearly a thousand rushing yards and sixteen hundred passing yards. Pretty soon every coach in the league is going to be singing this song.

The defense, well, that is a much different story. Fangio’s side is a work in progress. Sure they have looked like studs against Denver and the Giants, in New England they were ordinary, and against the Chargers and Buffalo they were duds. The Pats scored three points, combined, the last two weeks against the Saints and Cowboys, not exactly stalwarts. They put up seventeen on Miami. Opponents are averaging 5.4 yards a play against the Dolphins, that is a full yard more than the 49ers allow, a half yard more than the Eagles, and .6 yards more per play than the Chiefs are giving up. Yes, this grade is what they did Sunday, they stuffed the New York Littles, but what happens in two weeks? What about across the Pond? The D needs to add a fence and fast.

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Running Backs: (A++); I Xed that (is that how you say it now?) Achane was trying to be the best Miami Dolphins running back ever, a little hyperbole sure, but man is he on fire. He has played three games this season. He is second in the NFL in yards, first by a mile in average, leads all running backs in total TDs, and is on pace for two thousand total scrimmage yards. Of course that is all now derailed with his knee injury, but impressive non the less. As mentioned, they should put him on IR and let him rest until after the bye week. If he comes out of the bye as hot as these first three weeks he’ll still win offensive rookie of the year, and it shouldn’t be close. Mostert is having a good season, but has been eclipsed by De’Von, completely. I almost feel bad for Raheem. Mostert for his part added another TD and sixty five more yards on the ground Sunday. He is on pace for nearly eleven hundred yards rushing, four hundred and fifty yards receiving, and twenty seven total TDs.

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Receivers: (A); Six different targets caught a pass on Sunday, five with multiple receptions, three averaged over thirteen yards per catch, and two grabbed a TD toss from Tua. Hill continued to dismantle the record books. Adding one hundred and eighty one yards, eight catches, and a touchdown to his totals. He is on pace to smash Megatron. Even averaged over only sixteen games. I hope he and Miami keep it up. Sunday was the first time I saw Tua hit him in stride with out Hill having to slow down on a seam route and the results were as expected. If Tua has finally figured out timing his arm limitations with Hill’s speed, watch out!

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Defense: (A); They get a quality grade this week. It was great seeing the front four bully that offensive line and put pressure on Daniel Jones. Van Ginkel, Sieler, Ogbah, and Wilkins combined for five sacks, countless pressures and knockdowns. It was a great game. The kind of consistent solid effort that will be needed against Hurts and Mahommes in the coming weeks. Any time you hold any offense in this league without a trip to the end zone, you get an A from this critic. Great job. Now don’t fall in the trap against the Panthers and come out like you did versus Denver. Dominate from snap one.

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Special Teams: (A); I guess? Sanders didn’t miss a PAT. No punts. What can you say? Barrios returned one kick for twenty five yards. As long as there is no major gaff from this group they get to ride the wave. Like me in a high school group project, thank you.

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Quarterback: (C); I am not piling on. You can go back a read all my grades on Tua. I believe I’ve been fair and frankly accurate, but then I’m not going to fail myself… I’ll give me a B- grade in grading Tua. How about that? Sunday wasn’t an off day, it was a bad day. Yes it happens, but some of the decisions shouldn’t just be brushed off, not by the coaches, not by the fans. I certainly don’t believe Tua will just forget, he’ll work to improve. The end zone interception was atrocious and should never have been thrown. Late in the half, three points in your pocket (though I would’ve gone for it on fourth in that situation) you don’t toss a ball into triple coverage, you eat it, scramble, or throw it away. That is not the time to force a play. It gave life to a dying team. The second was a bad throw whether his arm got hit or not. It was well behind Waddle, I mean hitting a helmet on the follow through isn’t to blame for being three yards behind Waddle. Can we agree on that? Tua tossed it in the direction of a play maker, it was boneheaded. Again, he could’ve probably picked up a couple yards if he just stepped up into the pocket and ran. The non interception was a poor play design. Hill and Waddle ended up within a yard of each other surrounded by four defenders. Tua threw to a spot. It wasn’t even a read. Tua needs to get better at seeing the field even on those location lobs. The LZ isn’t always going to be clear and the QB has to be able to see that at times. Tua continues to improve and gain confidence, he is rising above the system, as evidenced by the audible to the seam he threw to Hill. The more Tua grows, the greater this offense becomes. Keep it up.

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Officials: (C-); Not much to complain about, unlike the UM game. What BS that review at the end against Georgia Tech.

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Overall: (A+); I have always said; Win the games you’re supposed to, split the 50/50 games, and steal one or two and you’re in the playoffs. Well Miami is dominating the “suppose to” games and truthfully there aren’t many “steal” games on the schedule. I wouldn’t call this Dolphins team beating anyone a “steal” certainly not a fluke. I think Buffalo stole one. That is how good Miami is playing. So Philadelphia, KC, those may be the toss ups… and I think the Fins should win both.

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1. https://ninetynineyards.com/2019/01/28/can-the-rams-become-the-dynasty-the-greatest-show-on-turf-couldnt/ ↩︎