I am very late in getting this out this week with Christmas and family events, but what a game on Sunday! Nochebuena was a great night in my home. Watching with my boys and in-laws (not Miami fans) as Tua and the Dolphins did against the Cowboys what they failed to do against the Titans. Drive down for the game winning field goal. Tua was perfect on that final drive and the line opened up lanes on the ground to secure the victory and allow Miami to take the V formation before the final kick. Converting several 3rd and short situations with the Dallas D focused on stuffing them short to give Dak and their offense the ball back, yet Miami pushed through. It was Tua Time and he shined. This week traveling to Baltimore will be the next “biggest” game of the season for this squad and I hope they will rise to the occasion. I hate all the talk of scenarios and what ifs. Miami doesn’t need any of that, they control their own outcome. Win. Win. That is it, division title, first round bye, home field throughout playoffs. K.I.S.S.
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Coaching: (A-); I loathe field goals. Obviously, the winning drive is when they are needed and that was a glorious “two minute” offense. But settling for field goals on 4th and short early in the game may not cut it. The defense on Christmas Eve played outstanding keeping Miami in the game as they kicked FG after FG. My biggest critique of Coach MnM is the 4th and goal fade to the short side. I don’t have to call it garbage, he did, on HBO just a week ago. Seems he could’ve come up with something better there.
Coach V and the D continue to impress. It was a shaky start through the first four games of the season, but man, this is a playoff and even Super Bowl caliber defense. Yes, they need to stay healthy and Ramsey’s knee is a bit concerning, but when Miami has the defense they want on the field, they are scary. Great job coach. Need to contain Lamar. Limit him on broken plays. Let him get his yards on designed QB runs, its the scrambles that deflate a defense and energize an opponent.
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Running Backs: (B); Mostert getting hurt slowed this unit. He averaged over four yards a carry and got his TD, but after seeing what Buffalo was able to do, I had higher expectations for the Fins’ run game. Wilson Jr was tremendous on the final drive picking up two critical first downs. Under one hundred total ground yards on the day and no scores, hard to give that an “A” grade. Controlling the clock and punching in short yards will be vital this week against the Ravens.
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Receivers: (B+); Three receivers over fifty yards, four over forty. Four different running backs catching passes as well, one for the only Dolphin TD of the game. The receivers did well, especially after Waddle went down early. Receiver Wilson Jr stepped up with three big grabs and Smythe had the best singular TE performance of the year with five receptions for nearly sixty yards. Waddle has already been ruled out for Sunday, NYE, so Chosen, Claypool, CWJ, and BB will all have to contribute. Go get it done.
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Defense: (A+); They held Dallas to under three hundred and fifty yards. Under one hundred rushing and under two fifty throwing. Got them off the field, Cowboys were only 4/12 on third down and came up with a huge goal line stand early that saved the game. The touchdown saving tackle by Elliott followed on the next play by the fumble recovery by Jones was hard nosed football. That tackle was incredible. As amazing as Sanders’ day was, probably should’ve been on the elevator.
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Special Teams: (A+++++); Five plus marks for five made field goals. My disdain for kicks in evident, just skim through my articles and recaps. I don’t require analytics, kicking a fifty plus yard FG when you only need to pick up one or two yards with the top ranked offense in the league is just bad judgment in my mind. But on Christmas Eve, Miami needed every one of those spectacular kicks. Last year the only game I could attend was the Field Goal Snoozer verse the Jets to clinch on the final game. My dad and brothers made fun of me and said “hahaha of course you would have to go to that game and only HAVE to watch Miami WIN with Field Goals” well on Nochebuena was more of the same. ”I bet you love field goals now” blowing up my phone. I loved the outcome of every kick, not the decision before though.
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Quarterback: (A); Tua had a solid game, limited his mistakes to practically none, and connected with open receivers in key moments. His pass to Waddle was a thing of beauty! It is what he did in the final minutes that elevated his performance. Against the Titans as I mentioned, he collapsed. The whole team folded. This was critical. And he stepped up and hopefully, stepped in to his role as the once and future QB of the Miami Dolphins. Sunday is just one more opportunity to showcase himself and build on his legacy.
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Officials: (D); There were some questionable calls. Yes they missed the hold on Cee Dee Lamb, but that 4th down call was atrocious. This isn’t the NHL, we don’t need officials making up for earlier missed calls. Not the worst game. In my algorithm the highest grade an official can get is a “C” so “D” isn’t too bad.
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Overall: (A); It was an early Christmas present to me. Better than the socks my wife got me or the tie from my kids? You bet it was. Now like all of Fins Nation I’m hoping for a wonderful end to 2023 and a beautiful beginning to 2024. Beat the stinking Ravens. Let’s Go Dolphins.
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POLITASPORTS 