Sunday against the woeful Carolina Panthers, only one word comes to mind: collapse. Let me explain why this team has failed. No, there is too much, let me sum up.
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Coaching: (F); Weaver certainly needs to accept much of the blame. The defense has been awful this season. The Dolphins began the season by losing three straight games. In those contests, the defense surrendered at least 31 points. The Jets are the only team the Fins have held under 27 points all season. Carolina was a 1-3 team that had been averaging less than 19 points per game. They scored 27 against Miami. Add in careless penalties, including the unnecessary game ending pass interference, and the entire unit is in disarray. McDaniel shadow benched his biggest threat. Waller had 5 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Coach MnM decided to send him home early for his efforts. Waller did not garner a single target after the break. Mind boggling coaching decision. Hill and Conner each had catches in the second half. He made the choice to not target Waller. Explain it to me. No adjustments were made to slow the Panthers’ running attack. Miami ranks in the bottom four of the NFL in yards allowed per game. Dead last in rushing yards p/g. Weaver has failed. McDaniel is failing.
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Running Backs: (D); This group did nearly nothing. The running backs combined total was 19 yards on 14 carries. Achane led the way with 16 yards on 10 carries. Atrocious numbers. Running requires lanes, lanes require blocks, and blocks require lineman. Miami had none on Sunday. This is why the grade is a D and not an F. The line couldn’t open beaded doorway against the Panthers. The Dolphins rank 30 of 32 in rushing yards per game.
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Receivers: (B+); Miami mitigated Hill’s absence in the first half by using Waller as a second receiver. I listed Waller’s first half stats above. Miami jumped out to an early 17-0 lead and then abandoned the strategy. Zero targets for Waller after the second quarter. I thought Malik would step up. I even added him to a fantasy roster. He finished the game with zero yards on four catches. Which begs the age old question, what is easier, losing every leg or winning a parlay? He had one catch of 8 yards which means his other three receptions were negative plays. Waddle shined absent Tyreek as he has done in the past. Culminating with a 46 yard touchdown to briefly give the lead back to the Dolphins. In all, seven receivers were targeted, with six bringing in a catch.
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Defense: (F); Miami’s defense has kept their no punt streak alive. For the fifth consecutive game, their opponent did not punt in the first half. Like last week against the Jets, this was in part due to turnovers. Miami forced turnovers on each of the Panthers first two possessions. Then they decided to board the team plane and head home early. The Dolphins’ defense ranks at or near the bottom in key “allowed per game” metrics. They are: 29th in yards, 27th in points, and dead last (32) in rushing yards. Dowdle the Panthers’ back up running back finished the game with 206 rushing yards. Hubbard, the injured starting running back has only 217 rushing yards for the season. Dowdle after one game as the starter, now leads Carolina in rushing yards. With an average defense, Miami is above .500. With their defense, they are lucky the Jets played poorly.
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Special Teams: (A-); Bailey. When your best player is the punter, your future does not contain playoffs.
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Quarterback(s): (C-); He plays solid. The dolphins need stellar. Tua is the best back up QB in the league. Too bad for Miami, he starts. The team still owes him over 100 million dollars in guaranteed money. His cap hit for next year is 80 million dollars. He is and will be quarterback in Miami. They tried to build an offense for him to excel. It failed. The only hope now is building a defense so that it doesn’t matter. It would behoove Miami to draft a quarterback this year and let him sit behind Tua all of next season.
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Officials: (D+); The final third down play, was a correct call. It was pass interference or holding. Either is an automatic first down. I will say this again; there are FAR too many defensive penalties which result in auto first downs. There are only four “loss of down” penalties on offense, but fifteen automatic first down penalties on defense. Even “unsportsmanlike” conduct penalties on offense do not relinquish the down.
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Overall: (F); I can not picture Weaver remaining with the team. I can not fathom Grier retaining his job as GM. I can see McDaniel staying. I do not believe Ross will fire him. At least not while he has to pay Tua. I think Ross keeps them together. The fact he owes Tua so much money and the cap hit so exorbitant, they will both be back. McDaniel tied himself to Tua and Ross will let them sink together. He knows he can’t force Tua onto a second head coach. McDaniel saved Tua’s job and now Tua’s contract will spare them both. At least one more season.
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POLITASPORTS 