This game is much more than Tua vs Herbert, I’ve just become fond of the mirror image bookend windups of both righty and lefty QB’s together. Don’t get me wrong, both of these players will play a large role in the game, but right now the Dolphins defense is an equal shareholder in the outcome of this team. I mentioned this the other day and I think this information is still sinking in. Half the season is completed and our Miami Dolphins are in the top 10 in offensive scoring (10th) at 27.8 PPG and 4th in defensive scoring at 20.1 PPG. We’re plus 61 in point differential. We knew this was year 1 of the rebuild after the tear down and I can’t imagine that any of us expected this type of result so quickly.
Emmanuel Ogbah has been so impressive this season. He has more sacks at the halfway point of the season (7) than he has had in any full season. His 13 QB hits are 3 away from topping his season best in which he started all 16 games. He’s playing 76% of the defensive snaps and is on pace to equal his rookie year of playing over 800 snaps. The thing is, it’s not just Ogbah, everyone is making plays. Ogbah has started them with the strip sacks in back to back games but Andrew Van Ginkel scooped up one fumble and ran it back for a TD and then the next week it was Shaq Lawson with the scoop and the fumble recovery TD return. Elandon Roberts has made some big defensive stops. Byron Jones and Xavien Howard have been balling although last week Howard struggled all day. Eric Rowe has been playing very well along with Bobby McCain. Big Raekwon Davis, Zach Sieler and Christian Wilkins have been money on the defensive line. If I asked you which Dolphins DB has the most passes defensed I’d be willing to bet nearly all of you would guess wrong. It’s Eric Rowe with 9. BTW, Shaq Lawson is just one shy of Ogbah with 12 QB hits. You don’t hear his name as much but he’s getting it done.
The 2-6 Chargers come in 17th in offensive scoring at 25.6 PPG and 21st in defensive scoring at 27 PPG and they have a -11 point differential. This Chargers defense was supposed to be better with Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, Denzel Perryman, Kenneth Murray etc. The Chargers recently traded away safety Desmond King and now have the duo of Rayshawn Jenkins and Nasir Adderly. The Chargers defense hasn’t been what they expected but their offense has been humming despite the running back carousel of Austin Ekeler (IR), Joshua Kelley and Justin Jackson. Ekeler is the most explosive of the crew and he’s been on IR for weeks. The Chargers are now featuring RB’s Kalen Ballage and Troymaine Pope due to injuries to Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelley. WR Keenan Allen leads the team in receptions followed by WR Mike Williams. No longer does that dominant TE control the middle of the field (Antonio Gates). Still, QB Justin Herbert is having a fantastic rookie season completing 67% of his passes with 17 TD’s and only 5 INT’s and 2146 yards passing.
For our Dolphins, the hope is that Matt Breida will be healthy or we’ll see the committee of Jordan Howard, Salvon Ahmed and Patrick Laird. Ahmed looked to have some giddyup while Jordan Howard ran like he had a blocking sled tied to his waist. Ahmed had 38 yards on 7 carries and a long carry of 19 yards. Breida is questionable with a hamstring injury. WR Preston Williams is on IR with a foot injury sustained on his TD catch against the Cards. There’s a chance we will see WR Antonio Callaway this week as he makes his long journey back to an NFL gameday roster, his last NFL action was 11/3/19. Jakeem Grant was more involved in the passing game than usual and he stepped up. Tua now makes his third NFL start, his 2nd at home. I would think the small crowd will be in a frenzy. I just hope we can keep up the good work we’ve done the last 4 games.
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
I hate the prevent defense.
Especially combined with the ball control offense
Bills moving backwards. Penalties on last 5 plays I think
We need one first down
Need to recover on side kick first
If we get the onside, we just kneel 3 times.
++++
Although we’ll probably run on the first play to get the playclock ahead for the next two kneels.
So the Chargers lose by one score again, lol. Although this wasn’t really a 1 score game, we played soft that last drive to run clock.
Parker recovers the onside kick
Stupid broadcast
Great win! We can thank Karras for making it interesting, lol. If we go up 21-0, this game probably plays out a lot differently. But it’s nice to give our shiny new QB a little adversity to overcome.
3a and O
Hey man,
How about them Dolphins!
6-3 and 5 wins in a row. We’ve got a good football team folks!!! Fuck yeah!!!!!
Great win. So glad we didn’t have to experience last minute intensity. lol.
All the guys we’re missing, this was a fairly ‘comfortable’ win.
Let’s go Cards!!!!!
And the Bills are about to lose. 🙂
Cards pick Allen!!!!
🍻
😃
WooHOOO!!! Cards with the INT. 4:30 left
That’s 3 – 0 for Tua
5 TDs and 0 ints
He’s just getting started. 🙂
Shitty series for the Cards
Yep
Need the Cards defense to make another stop
DAMN Zona picked Allen but had to punt it back
Bills still alive. Damn!!!
That was pretty good considering we were missing #1 & #2 RB #2WR & #1 DT, but of course all announcers could say was BOZO missing.
Buff with 3 TO and 3 minutes
Man that snap fumble really did something to the team as a whole. Not sure about any of you but thought they played the rest of the game with much less emotion for most of it.
Glad we got the DUB!!!!
The 3rd quarter we looked flat. I don’t think it was the fumble. The int seemed to wake the team up
Fuck all the BS noise, these Dolphins are for real and nobody want to play them.
Complementary football. All 3 phases getting it done.
Yep! This is the best coached team we’ve had in… not sure. LOL
Damn, this is stressful
Sanders should be good from 70 next week
I’m kinda glad he got that miss out the way.
out top draft pick got better while our playoff chances improved at the same time. So nice.
We just need Buffalo to lose for a near perfect day. A Steelers loss would have been the cherry. It’s starting to look like Zona is going to choke though
Fucking Zona
Fuck
F##$kkkkk. Bills score.
Cards choked
Wow!!! The Bills are really good.
That is a really good team and Allen is really good
Yep! The Bills and Dolphins are the future of the AFC East.
oh well
Cards had every opportunity to close it out and choked after the INT
Still have 34 secs lol
FUCK YEAH
WOW!!!!!!!!!!
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Holy fuck!
OMFH!!!
LOL @ all the comments.
I was just thinking … ‘we needed Cards to win this one to have a chance to win the division’ lol
That’s a samurai
And a dagger to the Bills 👍👍
What happened? I turned it off
Hail Mary to Hopkins
Mad aramble Hail Mary. Caught by Hopkins in end zone
WOOHOO!!
I always knew the Cards would win it!! 😉
lol
Lmao. Yes you did 🤔
Lol
I was skeptical of him coming into the league but Murray is special
Did they really kneel on the 2 or conversion?
Yes so no blocked kick and 2 point return
Yep no way for it to get ran back for 2pts. Smart actually
maybe the big ‘what if’ the xtr point is blocked and run back… some crazy shit. but it did seem a bit paranoid lol
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Half game out
Bills lose
well well well … don’t get to see that kind of ending too often. Hopkins is a BEAST to pull that down with 3 guys on him.
Steelers in control.
LOL
lol
LOL, Gase still looking at his tablet for season changing plays.
It’s a Tinder site for NFL head coaches looking for love and a new job.
LOL
We actually held them to 273 total yards which way below their average.
Herbert was basically nullified all game.
Way to step up rookie Benito Jones!!!
Ahhhh, glorious Sunday. I think I’ll take tomorrow off and enjoy the rest of the evening.
We have a team. We’re competing for the division. Our QB looks like the real deal and will continue to improve. We’ve got a bunch of picks in next year’s draft. We have 3 games that we rightly expect to win over the next 3 weeks. Let’s make a rum and coke and sit back, relax, and enjoy the night game.
My friend and I he’s a Dolphins fan too said the same stuff today. Isn’t it cool? 🙂
Those of us on this site are as hardcore as it gets, and it’s been a long time we’ve been waiting for this team to turn it around.
This season has been a real joy so far, and it’s great to share it with you guys.
I just love watching our team play, contributions come from all over the place. You can’t look at our team and say “If we just shut this down we win”. We really win as a team, very multifaceted on both offense and defense.
3rd game in a row we got an early score helped out by defense or ST. That’s worth an extra splash of rum!
Don’t forget STs fuckface!!! LOL
Definitely ST’s, they have been huge, and Jakeem Grant is really starting to shine on ST’s and on offense.
Jakeem Grant can change a game. Yeah he’s what 5-7 170 but not only is he fast, but tough as hell.
Our point differential is now 69…
Strowbridge also had a couple good plays.
Yeah, he was pretty active. It was funny, as soon as they pulled Ballage out for a play, Strowbridge crushed Joshua Kelley.
The scary thing is when Tua really starts to get it. 🙂
AND that we have 4 early picks next draft.
Oh yeah that too!!! Enjoy Dolphins fans!!! Bat, we’re the fuck are you? LOL
Zach Sieler has been huge for us too. With Godchaux out for the season and Wilkins out today, he’s been solid as can be.
I saw it in Sieler last year. Not surprised. We’re seeing the same thing we saw with the Pats for two decades. Unknown players stepping up to win games. Flores brought this to Miami. 🙂
Wow, what catch by Hopkins. Thank you Zona!
Bills on the bye next week. Does anyone really think we’re going to lose to Denver? I don’t, and I’ll say it. We’re going to be tied for the division lead at the end of week 11.
That would be a bad loss.
Howie’s List
🦍 31-16 🐬
A somewhat unmentioned thing is we are winning without really top numbers on O or D.. we’re just winning.
And also
The coaches def seem to be devising a game plan specific to the opponent.
Wtf?? Who does that?
Mack Hollins is a great STs player. Good depth at WR too.
Landon Roberts is a THUMPER
Every week he’s laying wood on opponents. I saw it again multiple times today. Easily our biggest hitter.
Great football weekend for me! The Herd & Dolphins win. Pretty sure I’m going to win my FF matchup. The only bad thing is I have a freaking mountain of laundry to fold.
LOL, it’s a small price to pay…
Oline was phenomenal protecting Tua today. And they didn’t do too bad in run blocking at times either.
How smart was Flores’ decision to make the move to Tua?
Our team is playing such great complementary football that Tua isn’t being asked to carry the team or games on his back. He’s playing a complementary role while he learns on the field. You couldn’t drop a rookie QB into a better position.
5 wins in a row. Geez this is fun.
Bucs RB #27 with a 90+ yard TD run. One defender had a shot to catch him and you could see the defender was faster. He gave it his all and he closed the gap, but you could see he ran out of gas and couldn’t quite make the play. THAT is what made Metcalf’s play so great. Not just to run flat out, not just to have that special speed, but to run flat out for that long and not flag before catching the opponent.
Brian Flores is the front runner for Coach of the Year. If he was doing this with another team I’d say the same thing. He’s that good.
I cant believe Sanders missed that FG we should cut him!
Has a kicker ever had a perfect year?
Wasn’t there an Atlanta kicker (or maybe it was Minny) that had a perfect regular season, then missed a game winner in the playoffs?
I know Mosley did it with the Redskins one year and I thought the kicker on Baltimore has done it
Talk about threading a pass.
I cant believe tua threw that ball right threw the defenders arms to have the rec catch it!
Through
LOL, just the way it was drawn up. 😉
He has really good zip for a little guy.
I thought he had a noodle arm 😉
HERD: Saw your comments on laundry. I’ve been doing all the laundry, folding it, and putting it away for almost a month b/c of my wife’s knee replacement surgery and all of her problems related to that. I’m also doing the dog walking (a little mixed breed plus a 70 pound 2 year old Greyhound) 5 times a day on weekends and 3 times a day during the week. Cooking almost all the meals and doing the dishes. Feeding the dogs, mowing the lawn, taking Mrs. OD to all her appointments (she’s not close to driving yet). And did I mention the grocery store and the pharmacy?? I’m SURE I missed something important (like TRYING to work 40+ hours a week at my job) but you get the picture. Had to delay some of my post cancer follow up tests, but I’ll be back at those in about a week, unless they shut everything down because of the Coronavirus (not likely).
—————————————–
STILL–I had time to watch a little bit of FAU’s pounding of FIU last night plus the highlights of Marshall’s wonderful win yesterday. So it’s NOT all bad, for sure. And then there was TODAY’s Dolphins’ win PLUS Arizona’s “Hail Mary” to beat the Bills!! –NOW, all I need is for the Ravens to kick the living shit out of New England and the weekend will be close to PERFECT!!! Well, I’ve got to clean out the dishwasher, put away the clean dishes, and get the coffee maker ready for tomorrow morning. I hope to watch the first half of tonight’s game before giving the dogs one final walk. LIFE IS GOOD when you REALLY think about it!
—————————————-
OK, Denver, you’re NEXT!! Miami’s unstoppable march to the playoffs continues!!
Van ginkel with at least 2 awesome plays.
Browns 6-3
Titans 6-3
Raiders 6-3
Dolphins 6-3
Those 4 teams are fighting for 3 WC spots.
I think with all the 6-3 teams we stayed currently at the 7th spot in the playoff standings.
But took a large step toward 3-4 seed
Really wished the Browns lost today
👎
lol
Ahead of Browns and Titans but behind Raiders
And we’re going to win our next 3. We’ll take care of our own business, and those other teams won’t matter.
Don’t count Ws until we play the games
I don’t think there isn’t anything wrong with expectations, and I expect to win those games. How about I wont worry about the Browns instead? 😉
GO FINS
Win next week and first place baybay!
Besides winning, my favorite thing about these new Gins is the fact they are coming out and starting games with urgency. Not like the previous years of sleep walking the first half. Any of the 3 units at any given time! Love it!
*Fins*
Fucking autocorrect!
Actually, E.R., there’s nothing wrong with trying “new Gins,” either.
ESPECIALLY NOW that we’ve got something to celebrate!!
Actually, I hope the ravens and pasties beat the hell out of EACH OTHER. I hate em both.
Ahmed 21 carries 85 yards
AHMEN!!
OUT for tonight!
2 teams I despise are playing. Root for injuries 😬
😊👍
Ravens are also 6-2 and currently lead in the WC race
In regards to Tua’s arm, it’s pretty clear he can throw it with some zip, but it’s also clear he doesn’t have an elite arm.
But I’ll take his accuracy, his ability to move through progressions, and his release over a Josh Allen arm all day long.
He has a very strong arm. Lefties look a little deceiving because it comes out a little different but Tua has a gun
Yeah, I saw you guys argue that in the offseason, but I’d never seen him play so didn’t have an opinion. He doesn’t have a noodle arm, but he doesn’t have a big arm either.
Did Cam smoke crack in a cave with Ricky for his full offseason after his MVP?
Because he looks like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We could get some playoff help next week.
Eagles @ Browns, you never know what Cleveland team will show up
Titans @ Ravens
Packers @ Colts
Chiefs @ Raiders
Also Patriots @ Texans, who to root for????
First of all, we just need to take care of our business!
I’m going to root for the Browns next week just to spite Ken.
Chiefs will be looking for revenge against the Raiders, and if the Packers beat the Colts, we’ll move into the #5 slot after we beat Denver.
That’s wrong. Baltimore is in the #5 slot. So we can move into the #6
Cav:
I am superstitious. I don’t participate in Howie’s list, I wear the same sweatshirt every Sunday, I don’t take calls during the game and I expect we will lose every game but am pleasantly surprised when we don’t 😳
I hear you, bro. I’m just playing around and messing with ya 🙂
I’m not superstitious, but I do set up a Dolphins shrine every Sunday LOL
I know you big ape 🦍
🍻
🙂
Howie’s List
🦍 31-16 🐬
🐃🐃34-20 🐬
Guys,
I missed the game due to some side work. I looked up the stats and data but missed obvious context. We looked awesome first quarter, then Karras fucked the ball transfer and changed the game. Stats show he fumbled twice? Did he fuck another transfer to Tua?
Also, Tua’s stats looked awful in the second and third. What happened there? Was it drops, miscommunication, no separation, good defense, or just bad throws?
We won pretty handily and Flores is just what we needed. It’s been about two decades since we really won the games we were supposed to at a somewhat frequent level. Flores has also rebuilt this team much better than Big Tuna ever did. I really feel confident moving forward.
What flaws did you guys see today that we need to fix?
Thanks guys!!!
Tua looked good stats were a little deceiving. He made good decisions with a few throw aways. 3rd quarter Chargers dominated on offense. They were running the ball at will which took our offense out of rhythm. Some poor play calls too especially with one series near the goal line. Team seemed to get energized after X made his pick
Yep, the X INT grabbed the momentum back for us. X nearly had a 2nd INT on the last Chargers drive too.
Karras had two muffed snaps in the same series. The first one, Tua picked up and calmly threw it down the sideline and Parker made a nice grab. The 2nd the Chargers recovered (we were in the redzone) and they ran it back to our side of the field (Tua made the tackle).
Tua wasn’t bad in any quarter, it was more about circumstance. In the 3rd quarter, first drive, we had a 3rd and one and didn’t convert. The Chargers had a decent 3rd quarter, and that’s about it.
We played a pretty damned complete game. Our ST was good. Grant had a number of good returns, and Haack had a couple of nice punts. Sanders missed a FG, so we should fire him.
Defensively we got consistent pressure on Herbert, and our corners locked down their receivers. Herbert’s legs were not a factor, and other than a good 3rd quarter drive, they really didn’t do much.
Ballage had a good game, and we didn’t do great against the run, but they also didn’t eat us alive rushing the ball.
Flaws, just our rush defense, and our inability to convert 3rd and short. IMO
After the fact, I’m glad Sanders missed. It didn’t hurt us, since won anyways, and takes the pressure off of him.
Someone above mention a kicker not missing all year, until the playoffs. It was Gary Anderson, the miss would’ve given the Vikings a 2 score lead and would’ve propelled them into the SB, instead of the Falcons that shat the bed against Denver in 98.
I remember that Anderson miss now
Best thing was 0 sacks. Tua’s best play was avoiding a sack at end of 1st half that would have taken us out of FG he literally pulled himself free from being in the grasp
Howie’s List
🦍 31-16 🐬
🐃🐃34-20 🐬
🤠27-13 🐬
Go cheats, it would put us in the 6th slot.
Then Baltimore 7-0.
One of the highlights I watched they asked who was the MVP? Flores, the rest are a bunch of no names, with the sum greater than the parts.
Every win has been a team win, so everyone can just do their jobs, and if they fuck up someone else will pick them up.
Can’t believe the turnaround with Grant. He had a horrible game about 4 or 5 weeks ago, but has been lights out ever since.
Agreed on Grant. He has been really good returning the ball recently, and I think Tua’s accuracy makes Grant more of a factor in the passing game.
LAC vs NYJ next week, could be the last time the jets have a chance to win. The next 5 they play are 6-3, then they finish with the cheats.
Only 4 teams have less losses😏
Only 3 penalties on the Dolphins, all 3 were false starts, one was on a WR, another was on a RB. Both of those are just concentration issues. Otherwise, nearly perfect in that regard.
Charger had 5 for 31.
I can’t recall if we had any penalties called against us that were declined.
Refs were so much better than last week. I hope the league fires that whole damned crew from last week.
When you play at home against a team with a bad record you shouldn’t get any whackjob penalties against you.
The last time we beat the Chargers at home it was a real struggle, trying to beat the officiating crew too.
I was hoping Fitz would start the year for us and thought he could get us to the playoffs, but didn’t think he could win there. I wanted 2a to take over midseason, because I felt it would give us a better chance to win in the playoffs. At 6-3 I feel exactly the same way.
Thanks, Steve. I couldn’t remember if it was the Vikings or Atlanta that had the perfect kicker, probably because they played each other in that game, lol.
I also am glad Sanders missed, and in a way that didn’t cost us. He came back and nailed his next kick, and now he doesn’t have that ‘perfect’ pressure.
Some tough games next week for our fellow 6-3 teams.