The day we’ve waited so long to arrive will be here in 3 more days. Yeah, there’s a game on tonight, and may even be a good one, but I’m looking right past it to Sunday, 1PM, Hard Rock Stadium. This team has made a lot of changes and we will be relying on a lot young players, but if you look at the drafts we had last year and this year, I feel pretty confident.
On the offensive side of the ball, we brought in free agent LG Josh Sitton, I feel that is a clear upgrade. Returning at LT is Laremy Tunsil, and he will most definitely benefit by playing next to Sitton. At center, we said goodbye to Mike Pouncey, and traded for SF 49ers C Dan Kilgore. In theory, it will be nice to have all our starting OL practicing together and hopefully developing a rhythm and a chemistry. Kilgore will probably be an upgrade run blocking, but Pouncey was good last year pass blocking, and throughout his career, so Kilgore will have to play very well to in that regard.
Gone is the go-to-guy Jarvis Landry who caught over 400 passes in 4 years here in Miami, and in his place will be veteran WR Danny Amendola, as well as rookie TE Mike Gesicki, and WR Albert Wilson. 3 new faces for Tannehill, each with their own particular skill set. I never loved Amendola, but that guy is a clutch performer, helping the Patriots big time in the playoffs with excellent performances. Wilson was relatively underused in KC, and my hope is it’s not because he didn’t have the goods, it’s because they had too many weapons in KC with Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Gesicki can be the TE we’ve craved here for too long, at least as far as a receiver, his blocking is a work in progress. Gesicki brings athletic ability we haven’t had, and he’s a very talented pass catcher. We’ll also have the oft (minor injured) Devante Parker and Jakeem Grant as well. Grant will bring excitement, and Parker disappointment, just the way it usually is.
Ryan Tannehill returns from injury as he hasn’t played a regular season game since December 11th of 2016. Tannehill is acutely aware this is his team now, and if he can elevate his play, the team will come along as well. This is a great opportunity for him, I hope he makes the most of it. With Kenyan Drake, Frank Gore and Kalen Ballage, I think he has the tools to succeed. I think the backs will share a workload, but Kenyan Drake is the primary back. There won’t be a workhorse among the 3, but Drake is the lead, Gore next, and then Ballage and Senorise Perry.
On defense, we let go a pro-bowl caliber DT, one who played an exorbitant amount of plays for us, and he will be replaced by the frequent rotation of Jordan Phillips, Davon Godchaux, Akeem Spence and Vincent Taylor, with an occasional sprinkling of DE William Hayes. At LB, 2nd YR Rookie Raekwon McMillan returns after missing last season with an ACL injury. He’s joined by Kiko Alonso and and a combo of Jerome Baker, Stephone Anthony and Chase Allen. The biggest change is at CB, where Xavien Howard returns at RCB, but opposite him will be Bobby McCain, who was previously the slot and nickel corner. Depth wise, Cordrea Tankersley, Torry McTyer and rookie Cornell Armstrong round out the CB position. At safety, a few veterans return in Reshad Jones, T.J. McDonald, Walt Aikens, but they are joined by do it all rookie sensation Minkah Fitzpatrick. We’re going to see him on the field A LOT!
So on to the game! Tennessee will be lead by 5th YR QB Marcus Mariota, and the run game led by big back Derrick Henry (Kenyan Drake’s RB mate at ALA), former Patriots RB Dion Lewis, former Dolphins WR Rishard Matthews, 3rd YR WR Corey Davis and veteran TE Delanie Walker. The Titans like to impose their will with a power run game led by a tough OL with excellent bookends Taylor Lewan and Jack Conklin. Henry had previously been splitting carries with RB DeMarco Murray, but with Murray out of the picture, Henry will be getting the lion’s share of carries. We have struggled defending the run, at least in the preseason, so we’ll see if we can hold here at home.
On offense, Devante Parker is OUT, so Albert Wilson will likely replace Parker as wideout. In the preseason, the offense was a fast pace, no huddle short pass game clinic. Not sure if that continues in the regular season, or if we’ll be more balanced with more of a rushing attack, and also get the TE’s more involved in the passing game as well. We have a rookie kicker, and supposedly Jason Sanders has ice running through his veins. Let’s hope we don’t need to find out!
MIA 30 – TEN 13
Finsmob Unleashed 
OL looks good blocking for runs
Gore’s 8 yards do count!
We can actually run block?????????????
That’s another Miami Dolphins FIRST DOWN!!
SHHHHHHH!
I can’t take this!
I AM LOVING IT
REPEAT
Now that was 1.8 yards
Offense starting to show personality
1.8
Could have been -5, nice play by Drake to escape, you have to admit that . . .
The offense looks so much better when we run the ball. …not just pass.
Didn’t like that play call
They got a little too tricky the last gee plays and slowed down a solid drive
Nice flip of TOP. Gore definitely sparked the offense
Go and throw for it
Roll out RPO!
They tried it
It was a good call
Just missed
I want to take the FG
Won’t 2nd guess though
I like the call and the decision it just didn’t work
Well I called the play
Tanneholl twisted drake around and ruined the first down.
It was his worst throw of the game
But it could have been a catch
Just a little off – I think the titans saw it coming
Damn wish we had picked that up
Drake needed to focus more on getting his feet in.
rather than secure the pass, he was trying to look up field.
I think that was a called QB run… I would like to have seen them get 1st down, but I can live with the aggressiveness.
I thought he got both feet in
I think he did
You TAKE THE POINTS when ya can. Horrible decision to go for it on 4th down.
This could easily come back to haunt us.
stupid call you take the points this early
^^^
I owe you a beer
Time of Possession totally flipped in our favor during 2nd qtr!!!
McMillan needs to make that tackle
When you consider that the titans only have 1 TO left, going for it on 4th makes sense
Sorry, that was McDonald
Whale Shit!
Wtf!
shit… that lightening strike was just Frank Gore putting on his helmet. come on, man. 🙂
Lol.
Blue skies in Naples.
I agree on taking the 3, but I think because we got a “free” drive when they failed on 4th Gase wanted to succeed on 4th and keep it going into
Lightening delay and the sun is shining on the field. LOL that IS Florida. It can literally be raining in your front yard but not your back yard.
Odds lightning struck a hooker at the Ramada are high
So i imagine this will be halftime ? Then play 1:11 flip sides and keep going ?
well, I never thought of it, but I freakin hope so!
I dont think so
I think they okay 1:11
Take halftime
Then come back
It’s going to suck
That would suck
Good point about the time outs left too
Fuck its nice to have Sunday ticket back, as opposed to the DZone
Lull in the game totally messes up drinking “pace” for those who time their passing out for AFTER the game ends.
I already had to get to slatterys early to find a seat
Now I’m fucked
Lol
Cheep ass Ross. If he had gone the 1/3 of the missing roof there would be no delay right now….
Lol
we may be waiting a long time……
https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/miami-gardens-fl/33056/weather-radar/2243453
I’ve gone from watching opening day football to watching live weather radar of S Fla.
This is all a ploy to get me hammered.
😆
Well here is to it working.. 🥃🥃
COME ON!!!
IT’S SUNNY HERE!
You are just optimistic
Lay off the kool aid
If we lose this game with an extra hour of drinking tacked on, it’s gonna get ugly
If you watch the radar the weather is moving from south west to north east, but not around the stadium….It/s just kind of sitting there!
I’m hoping we can find stills deep in the 2nd half.
Oh man play to resume at 315.
First half observations. Our offense has been pretty efficient after the obligatory gimme first drive.
The line has been doing VERY good against theirs. (you might ask, which line, o or D…unless you were watching and then you would know BOTH)
Looks like 3:15 resume time.
Really 3:15?
Where did you get that info?
it’s scrolling at the bottom of the Giants/Jacksonville game.
Let’s go Giants!
Buffalo losing
NE Winning
Buffalo down 26-0 at the half 😎
This lead announcer for the Jags-Giants game has a funny voice to me. LOL
I hope they have the AC SCREAMING COLD in the Titan’s lockeroom right now.
Cramp city.
ticker at bottom of screen stated 3:15 ET approximate expectation of resumption. Momentum? I loved that we were making their Def play so much… starting from scratch.
Maybe that lightning strike didn’t come DOWN from the sky…. maybe it was from BAT going skyward after the decision to not take the 3 pts. lol
I feel as though ORob has the right idea, regarding running Gore up the gut and running Drake outside. And as such, we just might have the best RB tandem in the NFL.
Gore also had a Nice run outside to our left
I just had to break the seal at slatterys
Now I’m fucked
Lmao!
Not good for my tolerance of bs.
Patties score so smug fan down the bar says “same old, same ol.”
My Stella bottle way too slippy for that shit.
Same ild same old indeed check out the non catch Gronk is credited with catching on their last drive of the half
They announced no halftime
Thank god
Another thought as we endure this game delay…
Seems we have the same ol’ Tannehill… playing dink-n-dunk, with the expectation being that his receivers gain chunk yardage after the catch. If it works, I’ve got no problem with it.
I’d be willing to bet that the longest ‘air yardage’ Tanny has thus far is 10 yards (the TD strike to Stills). Again… if it works, I’ve got no problem with it.
HOWEVER, I’d like to see opposing Defenses get STRETCHED OUT. Perhaps it’s due to the wet weather and nothing more. But damn it, other teams WILL be able to shut our Offense down if we can’t stretch out the field. AS IN, they will be able to successfully defend our rushing attack by playing 8 in-the-box.
Hey… so far, so GOOD! I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, I’m just throwing caution to the wind for the future.
I went home during the delay and got a couple things done. Left my drink on the bar, walked home and came back.
It is really nice living across the street from the sports bar👌
Did you do your laundry too
Tooo long!
I changed clothes and started a new tab at the bar
https://twitter.com/tomgarfinkel/status/1038862638862749697?s=21
I am guessing there will not be an official halftime?
Look up
NICE Strip fumble against Gronk in the NE game
My mom called me with 4 mins to go in the 4th qtr and I declined the call
Bills today
So they are going to play 1:11, only to take half a halftime after. …sounds stupid to me.
It’s super weird
What if Titans come out and take a knee…lol
It must be to get those commercials in.
That’s probably accurate
They might have to contractually do something at the half
It’s going to be silly
Stay tuned everyone
I know it’s for the safety of the players and fans, but the likelihood that lightening would hit the field or stands below / around the giant metal roof that covers most of the stadium is so astronomically low.
May as well start delaying games for meteor showers
My only beef is they should have treated it like halftime. Play the 1:11, then give the teams their timeouts for the 2nd half and keep playing.
That’s what I said
Why not just finish the 1:11
Bucs led by Ryan Fitzpatrick dropping 34 points on the Saints. Saints were supposed to have a very good defense . . .
LET”S GO LAMAR MILLER
It was delayed again
3:22
😡
Watson just not playing well.
Oline looks great in protection and they are KILLING IT in run blocking. Both backs are getting it done. Gore looks really fresh.
Tanny looking good so far.
Fitzpatrick is unbelievable. Can’t believe he’s a rookie, smh. We scored an allpro on that pick if he stays healthy.
I would have rather taken the 3, but how the fuck does NY not call for a review of that play? That was bullshit not to review it. I thought he may have gotten both feet down.
Should have reviewed it
I agree
Piggy,
Thanks for telling me to “look up”. People in the bar are wondering why I am looking at the ceiling.
If I knew you would have taken it so literally I would have told you do the hokey pokey and report the reaction back to us
Lol
So what is everybody drinking right now, anyway?!
I started with Stella and went to guiness
I have a theme
I’ve been drinking MGD since kickoff.
It’s unfortunate the game will end later
But whatever
We will all survive
I shouldn’t have started with Catpain Morgan.
Right?!! LOL
BORTLES with the LONG run!!!
Right before the game, I set up my little Dolphins shrine and pumped some air into my Fins game ball. When I pulled the needle out it tore the o-ring out, and the ball went flat. I just kept thinking “this can’t be a good sign to start the season” lol.
lmao … I’d have been sacrificing chickens in a hurry!
I was leaning back in my hi top chair at the Winehouse when we went for it on 4th down. I applied a little body English and down I went.
Just like Drake on first down! 😉
wing house
LOL, hope you didn’t break anything.
Kong – I thought Drake might have gotten his feet down too, I said that earlier. Surprised we didn’t challenge
I just read 3:44
Pig,
He only thing with the hokey pokey is that I always get it wrong when they say: “ you put your head in….”well u get the idea.
delayed yet another 30 mins to 3:44 ET 😦
ocalarob says:
September 9, 2018 at 3:12 pm
wing house
————
LOL, I was wondering if you like Amy “Winehouse”! 😀
yes I just don’t like auto correct
ALL good, my man! And yes, I LOVE Amy Winehouse’s music!
2 Stella and a Guinness so far.
Now start time of 3:44
Wife is enjoying the delay , it allows her to watch 9ers game .. not so much the score thoug🤪
Dang gonna have to walk home.
Mike, it was under two minutes so the challenge had to come from NY (unless that rule changed this year). We got screwed.
Ah, gotcha – Good point
3:44 resume time now
Wtf!
Start time 3:44, play for 1:11, then take half a halftime. …well, that’s the Dolphins luck.🙁
Had to have a Large glass of milk as the salsa we made last night was Kick Ass hot … sinuses all cleared 👍👍
my Back has been killing me and ibthink that fall straightened my spine out
Sheesh! Aints fans will be wearing bags on their heads again soon. 41-24 Bucs, 3rd QTR
With Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB
Yep!
He’s a VERY good journeyman QB.
Peterman now has a 0 QB rating.
And the Buccos are doing it WITHOUT Jameis at QB.
We are averaging 7 yards per rush right no
F. Gore 5 49 0 21
K. Drake 6 40 0 16
A. Wilson 2 7 0 5
R. Tannehill 1 2 0 2
98 yards 14 carries
Bill losing 40-0
I took the Ravens in a survivor pool…..almost too the Saints. Whew!
I had 5 entries , and changed from:
Baltimore
New Orleans
Cincy
Green Bay
Rams
To Baltimore X5
Just got home. How’s it going?
Lightning crashes
an young lady dies, her placenta falls to the floor
just waiting for the uniforms to come out of the dryer
Shades of last year when everyone was playing but us on opening day
Well there is this!
True!