POLITASPORTS

Coming out of the bye week Fins Fans hoping to see a return to the high octane offense that garnered comparisons to the the early two thousands Rams were sorely disappointed. Miami’s offense felt stagnant all game, but especially in the second half that saw them manage only three field attempts, converting two. It was another win versus a team Miami should beat, which is a positive. If Miami wins all the remaining games on their schedule against such teams, they will finish the season with eleven wins, which would all but guarantee them a spot in the playoffs. Their nearest competitor for the AFC East title, Buffalo has only two such games (teams they are supposed to beat) left on their schedule. The Bills will need to win some “50/50” games and even have a couple upsets to get to eleven wins. Miami is firmly in the AFC East cat bird seat. Will they maintain their perch?

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Coaching: (B-); Fangio once again elevates this grade. Early in the season Coach Fangio was bringing down the “coaching” grades, but over the last couple weeks that has flipped. McDaniel for the second game in a row has called an ill timed wide receiver screen that was easily snuffed out by the defense. I’m not sure what he sees in the red zone that makes him believe this is a great call, but he goes to this well too often, especially since the water it provides has been bitter. I was not a fan of the Hill screen against KC and was not a fan of the fourth down call on Sunday either. As a whole, the play calling wasn’t awful and Miami left points on the board due to lack of execution that can’t be placed at the coach’s feet. Kicking a fifty yard FG twice, once on fourth and one however, that is on the head coach and those are bad decisions. Use your offense to keep the ball. Don’t let the fact they held you earlier deter you from making the correct call later.

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Running Backs: (B-); Mostert had a decent game. His average per rush suffered a bit, but he continued to work and found space when Miami needed it. He finished with almost ninety yards on the ground and is well above pace to gain more than eleven hundred yards for the season. Achane unfortunately suffered another injury his first game back from IR. Hopefully it’s not serious and the news coming out of Dolphins camp is he could play on Black Friday. I would highly doubt that, but at least it gives the impression that it isn’t season ending and he could provide help down the stretch and into the playoffs. Mostert has done better this year when he has had a solid counter part to play off, Ahmed and Wilson have not provided that in the backfield, Achane most certainly did. The Dolphins need him back, healthy, and productive to be at their offensive best.

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Receivers: (B); This was another one man show, great for Hill, poor for the Phins. Waddle has had a down year. Hill had ten receptions, six more than his next closest colleague, Waddle. The third leading receiver by yards was a man that was cut on Thursday and re-signed on Saturday before the game. A player gaining one hundred forty six yards and a TD on ten catches will elevate the grade, but this unit needs to start playing better or Miami will have a short January.

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Defense: (A-); They may be sea creatures, but they walked like Egyptians on Sunday thanks to their Pharaoh Ramsey. He added another two interceptions against Las Vegas and both came at pivotal moments including the game sealing steal with thirty seconds remaining. His first pick came on the first play after Sanders missed the field goal on the Dolphins’ opening drive of the third quarter. Ramsey sent the Raiders home with no loot and their first loss since firing Josh McDaniels. Phillips had one of his best games with two sacks and an interception. The defense held Vegas to thirteen points, their third straight game holding an offense to under twenty points. This unit is getting Super Bowl ready, if the offense regains it’s form, Miami will be a front runner.

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Special Teams: (C); Sanders missed a kick. Yes it was a fifty yarder that Miami should have gone for on fourth down, but missing makeable kicks brings down your grade. Fifty yards is the brink of makeable range, anything above fifty is on the long side, but quality kickers, in fair conditions, should be able to hit from fifty and in regularly. The other major ding is Bailey’s thirty yard punt from the fifteen yard line. That can’t happen. Yes he had some nice punts including a sixty six yarder, but to shank one from deep in your own territory gets a bad grade, even on an other wise decent day.

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Quarterback: (B-); The stat line looks good on paper at the end of the day, but the film tells it different. Again with the “miscommunication” line on a Tua INT. He over threw his man. I said it on X, at least it wasn’t underthrown. But his worse ball was the one into triple coverage that was dropped by the Raiders. It was a poor pass and a horrible decision. Over/Under thrown balls happen, but throwing balls you should never throw is on the QB every time. Tua needs to get better at not making those mistakes. The fumble stinks, but when quarterbacks scramble, they fumble more than running backs, that has been true since Randal Scramble. Yes, two hands, protect the ball, but it’s going to happen. It wasn’t a great day for Tua, but really I think this is probably what Tua is, he may not be elite. That is fine, just be really good and eliminate the dumb stuff.

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Officials: (C+); Nothing grotesque jumped out from Sunday which gets them as good a grade as I will give the zebras. They did get the Davante Adams call on the sideline overturned correctly so that gets them an added plus.

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Overall: (B+); A few things to clean up and a long week to do it. As Wonka would say “so much time and so little to do; strike that, reverse it.” I can’t wait to enjoy Miami on Black Friday, a Fins First. My favorite Thanksgiving memory involves the Miami Dolphins; the Lett game. I’ll never forget how disappointed my brothers and I were when Stoyanovich missed that kick, and then how much we jumped up and down when the Dolphins won that game. Snow on Thanksgiving in Dallas, doesn’t happen often, I wouldn’t think, but it made for a wonderful 90’s Turkey Day. Let’s hope Miami can win the NFL’s first ever Sale Bowl.

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