Waking up from a tryptophan induced coma just in time to catch NFL pregame on Prime, not a bad way to start a Friday. Knowing you were mere minutes away from a mayo, turkey, cheese, on toast with a large side of Jets beat down, well, that’s called Thanksgiving leftover nirvana. I for one hope the Sale Bowl becomes an annual tradition. Give them a little “1/2 off” trophy like college football does with some of there little rivalry games every year. Maybe have it be the two worst teams from the previous season? Or have it be more fluid and current; the two worst records at the start of week 9? Give those two something to battle for, a moment of pride in a lost season. The only game on when most of the country is home. Either way, I hope they keep playing the game, and I’m glad Miami was part of the inaugural event. And victorious of course. Sale Bowl champs, 2023. Now keep pushing, keep fighting, and be the first ever Sale and Super Bowl Champions from the same season. It’s been too long since ‘ol Vince has worn the Agua and Orange.
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Coaching: (A-); I thought it was a well coached game, both offensively and defensively; however, early on Coach McDaniel did something I mentioned last week one shouldn’t do. He allowed a previous “failure” dictate a current decision. This is what I said last week: “Don’t let the fact they held you earlier deter you from making the correct call later.” It holds true. Miami went for it on fourth and two, threw and incomplete pass, then on the next possession on fourth and one, they kick a field goal. I don’t like that. Trust your instincts, trust your offense, trust your personnel. Fangio for his part once again had the defense humming. I was critical of his unit early on this season, but it has surpassed the offense, the offense that was touted as “the greatest show on surf” for a couple weeks. Now, it too is benefiting from pummeling pancakes, but some of these pancakes have beaten some pretty good teams, so I’m not thumbing my nose at the Fins’ wins. It was a well coached game on both sides of the football.
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Running Backs: (A+); Last week I said that Mostert runs best when he has a tag team partner. I wondered who would step into that role and propel the group forward with Achane once again succumbing to injury. Well, on Friday it was Jeff Wilson Jr. He averaged over five yards a carry on eleven attempts. He and Mostert were the only backs with more than two touches. They each had over fifty yards. It was a productive day against a vaunted Jets defense. Mostert would finish the day with ninety four yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. He now leads the league outright in rushing touchdowns. It was a stellar day for the running back group. JWJ also added three receptions for another seventeen yards bringing his total yards to seventy three. A grade well deserved.
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Receivers: (A); Like the running backs room, this group was lead by a duo. Most of the year Hill has carried this unit, but on Friday Waddle stepped up and led the team in yards and was only one catch behind Hill. Waddle finished perfect hauling in all eight of his targets for one hundred and fourteen yards. The only thing he didn’t do was find the end zone. He also lead in average, with fourteen yards per catch. Hill not to be outdone brought in nine of his twelve targets for one hundred and nine yards and a score. He also added another reception of over thirty five yards. Hill is still on pace for two thousand yards, but only in seventeen games, he has fallen a bit off on the sixteen game pace. In sixteen game season he is now on pace for one thousand nine hundred and twenty six yards. Still would be doable, but he would need a couple monster games to boost his average. I don’t know if he will or won’t, but the chase has been fun and if it keeps Miami’s offense engaged and performing at their best, I’m all for it.
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Defense: (A++); They held the Jets to one hundred and fifty nine total yards. Holland had ninety nine on his interception return touchdown. They held the Jets offense to seven points even with the Dolphins’ committing three turnovers. They had seven sacks, forced two turnovers, and shutout the Jets for three quarters (not counting the pick six the Miami offense gave up). The only blemish is not something that would bring down the grade, just the mood, and that of course was Jaelan Phillips injury. It was, by my count the seventh achilles injury this season: Aaron Rodgers, JK Dobbins, Tre’Davious White, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Cam Akers, and Kirk Cousins. That seems like a lot to me. He had added another sack on Friday bringing his total to six and a half on the season. Well on his way to double digits before his season ended.
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Special Teams: (A); It was a nice day for the third unit. Sanders made both field goals and all four extra points, Bailey had one nice punt, Berrios had both a nice punt and kick return, and the defense forced the Jets to miss a PAT. That gets a Special Teams “A” every week.
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Quarterback: (D); Tua threw two picks and lost a fumble. That is three turnovers attributed to one player. It doesn’t really matter what the rest of the stats look like, that isn’t going to be a solid day. And I’m pretty sure Tua would agree with that base assessment. There are Tua apologists and Tua haters in the Miami Seaquarium, I am neither. I think he is doing a really solid job as the Fins QB and if Miami hopes to go far he needs to keep performing well, better than he did on Friday. He has struggled coming down the stretch in his career, he will need to get that corrected. The throws he made Friday to the outside were both bad throws and poor decisions. One of those two things on a play is pardonable, both is inexcusable.
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Officials: (C+); It was a blowout and they didn’t have much of an opportunity to affect the outcome. But riddle me this: how were Keenan Allen’s and Tyreek Hill’s catches and fumbles but AJ Brown’s was a drop?
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Overall: (B+); Last week I said: “Miami is firmly in the AFC East cat bird seat. Will they maintain their perch?” Well, not only did they take care of their business, but Buffalo took another tumble. The Dolphins now have matching loss records with the Ravens, Chiefs, and Jags for the AFC lead with only three, though because of their late bye, the Ravens have more wins with nine. Miami still has a chance at a first round pass in the playoffs if they can get over their hump of not beating quality teams and continue their dominance of losing NFL franchises. As it stands now, they only have two games remaining against teams with a winning record. If Miami finishes undefeated after the bye, I believe they will lock down home field in the AFC and have a their best chance at getting back to the promised land since ’84. Viva las Vegas baby.
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POLITASPORTS 