Our Miami Dolphins (6-3) travel across the country to play the Denver Broncos (3-6). This Dolphins team has had one consistent thing going all year long, whether we won or lost on game day, it’s that’s the fact that this has been a well coached, well prepared team. The Dolphins are the 4th least penalized teams at 4.3 penalties per game and are 5th at penalty yards per game at 37.8 yards per game. It’s much more than the penalties though, it’s about getting the players to buy in to the program, and in that regard, Brian Flores has been excellent. The contract extension of DL Zach Sieler is an example. Sieler came from the Baltimore Ravens, a winning program and a perennially well run organization with excellent coaching provided by John Harbaugh. Sieler was originally a 7th RD pick that was discarded by the Ravens in 2019 after Week 4 and the Dolphins picked him up quickly. This year, Sieler got more playing time due to a season ending injury to DL Davon Godchaux and Sieler never looked back. Cultivating players like Sieler is just as important as grooming our young QB Tua Tagovailoa as after all, this is a team game.
The Dolphins remain in the top 10 on both offensive scoring (9th at 27.9 PPG) and defensive scoring (5th at 20.2 PPG). The win streak is now up to 5 games in a row as we take on yet another young QB, which will either be 1 year vet Drew Lock if he’s healthy enough to suit up, or rookie Brett Rypien. Which QB starts has yet to be determined at this writing. The Broncos are 28th in offensive scoring at 20.7 PPG and 27th in defensive scoring at 28.2 PPG. QB Tua Tagovailoa gets his 4th start after winning his first 3 contests. The Dolphins will likely get RB Matt Breida back this week but after a strong showing last week, RB Salvon Ahmed will most likely get the majority of the carries with Breida filling in as he had been doing for Myles Gaskin most of the season.
The Broncos bring a good RB tandem of Melvin Gordon and now healthy Phillip Lindsay, as well as a sprinkling from Royce Freeman. The ball has been spread around pretty evenly among the receivers, the leader is TE Noah Fant (35 receptions, 367 yards 2 TD’s), second is rookie WR Jerry Jeudy with 34 receptions for 552 yards and 2 TD’s and a heady 16.2 YPR, followed by WR Tim Patrick with 31 receptions for 444 yards and 3 TD’s. RB Melvin Gordon is the rushing leader with 439 yards and 4 TD’s but the more explosive and more dangerous back is Phillip Lindsay who has an impressive 5.5 YPC. On defense, the Broncos haven’t been effective stopping the run or any passing attack and are in the bottom 5 statistically in both. On the flip side, the Dolphins are just about mid pack in both categories but more importantly, as previously stated, are stingy when it comes to giving up points.
On the offensive line, it looks like Jesse Davis will be back at his usual RT position next to RG Solomon Kindley. Ted Karras remains the center next to LG Ereck Flowers and rookie LT Austin Jackson is back as well, returning a couple of weeks ago against the Cards. On the defensive line, I’m not sure whether DL Christian Wilkins will be able to return, if not the Dolphins will run with Zach Sieler, Raekwon Davis and Emmanuel Ogbah along with depth guys rookies Jason Strowbridge and Benito Jones. At LB, Shaq Lawson, Jerome Baker, Elandon Roberts, Andrew van Ginkel and thumbs up Kyle Van Noy round out the corps. Xavien Howard and Byron Jones make up one of the NFL’s best CB tandems along with slot CB Nik Needham. Rookie Noah Igbinoghene has been pulled back some and is usually in when the Dolphins employ multiple DB’s. The safeties are Eric Rowe and good ole Bobby McCain. I say keep Going with the Flo!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
It’s time Tua go back to Fitz
Van Ginkle for president
Fitzpatrick brought life to this offense
with a game ending interception to seal the loss? SMH
Shit happens.. At least we were in a position to tie it up.
Other than the short field that was provided by the D , Tua could not move the offense
everyone needed to play better, but Fitz only put 3 points on the board, then sealed the loss with a game ending interception, thats not bringing life to the offense like u falsely claimed
If Tua starts next week he will be on pins and needles.
What happens if i make a bad throw? Am i getting benched?
u r being silly, TUA is FINE,
he is MUCH tougher than that, and than You, hes a WARRIOR
the team played bad and lost a game, its not the end of the world and time to fire everyone
I mean you can say Fitzmagic almost tied it or you can say Fitztragic ended it , he had another play he didn’t have to force that throw, which he did throw well but he was double covered.
Not sure if he forced it. Ball was on the money and think he thought he had it. I think he just didn’t look for the safety. The safety was eyeballing Fitz and made a great play. With that said, I don’t like the back to back end zone shots. Both safeties, I believe were around the goal line at the snap. We had plenty of time on the clock and a 1st down. Sure take the first shot at the EZ then spend the next 3 downs trying to get another 1st down or TD. Should have did some underneath stuff to Breida or Perry to get closer and burn more time off the clock. We seem to get most of our red zone TD’s when the ball is inside the 5 yard line. IMO
Krishna says:
November 23, 2020 at 8:11 am
I think I was the only one who said I was worried the Dolphins would play down to their opponent’s record. They did….again.
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I was there with ya, i just trusted Flo would have them ready, and turns out he didn’t.. It definitely was a trap game against a team that has been hot and cold all year. They had our number plain and simple and we didnt come ready to play.
cant blame this on TUA alone, the entire team failed to make plays to win the game, TUA wasnt even there in the fourth quarter, yet the team just played poorly and lost a road game, its not a big deal in the long run, if anything, the team will refocus and come out harder the next game
i see no need to worry, the rebuild is going great, but is NOT finished yet
ST’s were solid, but coaching, D and O, were bad. Like i was saying Tua was injured, he was still dealing with a foot injury that he was able to practice and play through but obviously affected him because he was off all day. That last sack didn’t hurt him, but it i think told Flores to get him out of there before something did happen. Hos mobility wasn’t there, he was getting squashed. I think bringing Fitz in was a move to protect Tua and also help him learn how to handle pressure when the OL isn’t doing a good job, and Fitz, being a veteran knows how to do that best and is less likely to get killed.
D, responded to your post above @ 11:04.
Yeah, i thought it was a play other QB’s might try, but most wouldn’t. In that scenario they would have taken something that got them a few more yards or a first and then used a new set of downs to take more shots. We had the time, we had another down to spare to get the first, either he should have really high pointed the throw and let Devante go up and get it like he normally does, or he should have done something else, its was too compressed int he end zone and he didn’t have the right coverage for trying that throw in that kind of critical situation.I cant fault Fitz for what he did, he did make a great through and without the safety thats a TD, but he should have seen the safety playing center-fielder.
throw
I think if he went higher with the throw it might have been a lot safer. No way the safety steps in and snagged it if he just went high with it. Parker either pulls it down or he doesn’t. If he doesn’t we have another play and best case scenario, Parker makes an amazing catch and we tie it up.
Could it possibly be that as time goes on, teams have more film on Tua in this offense to look at? First game or two they didn’t have that.
I usually go to bed around 10 pm … but last night I was awake until almost 1:00 am. Even whiskey couldn’t ease my angst.
This morning I came to a similar conclusion that MikeE posted above (about 8:30 last night)…
I heard Jerry Glanville: “Not For Long” … and Al Pacino: “any given Sunday”
We have a very young team, especially in the trenches. The team played like a young team that probably doesn’t even know who Jerry Glanville is (lol).
I have to hope that get bitch slapped by a below .500 team to “wake them up” will have a better long term impact than the ‘win streak’ being broken by a team like the Chiefs (which would only allow the delusion to continue). Again, I have to hope. This win streak may have inflated everyone’s expectations (as is expected for die hard fans).
I read that 40% of Tua’s passes were to ‘tight windows’ and Tua/Fitz combined were 2 for 8 beyond 10 yards. Our offensives rebuild is only about 1/2 done. Another OL, WR that can separate, RB.
I’m starting to think LB Parsons for top pick hopeful (Hou pick), then the next 3 picks on offensive side of ball.
Oh, and I’m just gonna say this … I hope Gailey is a one-and-done. He doesn’t seem to make calls that fit our current personnel, but rather, as if the theory is all that matters.
OK. I hope “Blue Monday” for our fanbase in the future is just another great piece of literature. 😉
reference to “Goodbye Blue Monday” -Vonnegut 🙂
I love Coach Flo and if he kept Fitz in there, I’d have no problem with it. He’s a damn good coach and there are way too many armchair NFL experts out there today. Dan Orlovsky is a joke and so are people not in the building acting like their opinion matters. The team sucked yesterday but we’ve seen some sucky games and halves already this year. The Jets second half. The first two games. The Seattle game. We aren’t quite there yet but we’re a lot better than we’ve been in a long time. We should win the next two and then we may not win another one this year. That’s a brutal final slate.
We have some personal deficiencies that will probably need an off-season
If we win the next 2 and can squeeze 2 games in the final 4, I will consider the season a success
I don’t want to go 0-4 in that final month no matter how hard that schedule is
I don’t either and the Pats are by far the easiest of that group.
An upset defeat is bad, but worse for me as far as the future yesterday was Tua getting pulled. Almost hoping to hear that he did get injured.
He was already injured. I think they pulled him because, he just wasn’t right. His throws were off, etc. I dont think he got pulled because of performance, i think he got pulled because the foot injury he was trying to play through, he just wasn’t being able to. Like i said, you could tell it was affecting his plant on his throws, and it was affecting his mobility in the pocket. He got pulled, unless i hear otherwise, because it wasn’t helping him any to leave him in and it was becoming dangerous to do it. Thats last sack as awkward as it was with how his leg rolled over was just the last straw in the decision to pull him to protect him. It happens, and that was a good decision imo.
Well I hope you are right oddly. Don’t think he mentioned at the post game presser, but could have been a “play through” injury that limited him. And it could have been as simple that they thought Fitz would play better with the OL sucking and the pass rush coming….. injury or not.
They mentioned it during the game, one of the announcers mentioned it and i remember hearing it mention earlier in the week that he has afoot injury in the last game but participated in practice.
At least our guys guys are no longer in a Frank Gore situation with Gase.
This about sums the offence up for me!
Did we really think Tus would never show rookie growing pains?
Denver specifically said they were trying to disguise the defense to confuse the rookie!
Ahhhh, victory Monday!!
The Bills have to be sweating us right now. Tied for the division lead and charging hard. They may have the tie breaker, but as long as we keep taking care of business and win our next two to get to 9-3, we will be well set up going into a tough final 4 stretch that will decide the AFC East.
Woohooo! Go Dolphins!!
Im better when the coaches read everything we have written here, by the time they replay this on NFL network we will probably win. So no worries.
betting
Nothing about that game says we have a bad team. The OL played poorly, but they have some tape now to see how they failed. Davis was a liability at RT, he was getting killed by a speed rusher, which is his kryptonite. Putting Hunt in there helped some but then we were vulnerable int he middle without Kindley. Flowers got punked a few times in the middle, and there were some twists and pass rushing things that wasn’t right at us, that we failed to pick up on, and as a fairly new OL and young one, it was just being out smarted by the coaching staff on the other side. Combo that up with a QB who wasnt moving well, and a secondary that was swarming our WR’s and we just didn’t have much to work with and we seemed just confused out there. I dont think it was just Tua that was confused,it was mostly the OL and everything after that broke down, we couldnt get a running game going and that let them dial up the pressure on an OL that was just lost.
If i had to rank the failures it was
1) Coaching: They just did not have a good game plan, they didnt make good adjustments, they make some pretty bad calls, and in general they did not have everyone in a calm and focused way. Fuck bring in the jumbo and just pound it even if its not gaining much, bring in Brieda and Ackmed and run some counters and sweeps. Spread them out and throw our favorite pass play of all time, WR screens or even some traditional ones. They really didnt change their game up at all.
2) The OL, i dont have to say much on this one, it was on display all game, they couldnt run or pass protect.
3) The run D, specifically the LB’s because they weren’t keeping containment even thought he DL was not really allowing them through their gaps.
and not to really single out a player, but Needham was getting roasted. I dont know why the fuck he was man on Jerry Jeudy, but he was on a few occasions and got roaster, he was on that other speedy guy a couple times and got roasted. He made some decent plays at times but overall, he was getting killed. They eventually brought Igmahogany in, although it was way later than they should have, and that play he made they called PI on was an amazing play and in no way a PI. The officials were also bad in this game and we caught some really shitting calls coming our way. Also did anyone notice the ref when he had to overturn the fumble at the goal line call, he looked like he was pissed he was having to over turn it. I mean i dont know that i have ever seen a ref less enthused about reversing a call lol.
I guess the upside of this game is we didn’t see anyone sexually molested on the playing field on live TV. I had an omen that the game might be bad when i was trying to find the game and on my TV the station was listing that it was showing some bassmasters fishing thing and not our game. I was looking desperately for the frigging channel and on a whim i clicked on the bassmasters thing to see if it was just mislabeled and there is was. Bad omen, shoulda have just turned it off and did some laundry or something.
He showed real toughness yesterday getting a win despite obviously being at less than 100%. Hopefully he gets healed all up before the Jest game.
Cav — you going with the “alternative facts” version of the game?
Go back and watch the game you will see he doesn’t get much push off and he doesn’t move like he normally does in the pocket.He was affected by it. They probably should have played it smart and just kept him out, but they knew it would stir this kind of shit storm so they wanted to push through it, plus as a starter ya gotta kinda find a way sometimes, but that wasn’t a 100% Tua, so people just need to stop freaking out about it and about why he got taken out.
It’s also common practice to take your starter out once the game is put away, just like when we brought Tua into the Jest game at the end. It was nice to get Fitz some playing time to keep him involved in case we need him at some point.
No way we lose to the Jest, so we know our streak reaches at least 7. Cincy is looking like a breeze now that Burrow is done for the season. So we can go ahead and count those two Ws right now. 9-3 with a showdown against the defending champion Chiefs. It doesn’t get any better than this ya’ll.
It also might have been a little worry from what happened earlier that day when Burrow went out for the rest of the year with a leg injury. Im glad it is what it is and right now, he went out there, pushed himself, didn’t end well but as a wise coach once said……
As a fan, I don’t really care what our record ends up being. I’m interested in seeing growth and development. Yesterday was a learning moment for a young, rebuilding team that simply isn’t a really good team. What I was not happy about was watching Denver beat us with the same 3 or 4 basic plays over and over. Our personnel just isn’t there yet, but I don’t like seeing absolutely zero adjustments as the game went on.
***
And on the QBs? Fitz is simply a better QB than Tua at this stage in their careers. I said it when he was benched, Fitz does A LOT to cover up for the inefficiencies of our OL. Tua simply doesn’t as a rookie. We saw that yesterday. Tua was processing instead of playing.
The following is from PFT. It doesn’t appear Tua being pulled had anything to due with his injury.
“The Dolphins never announced an injury for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after pulling him from Sunday’s loss against the Broncos and head coach Brian Flores said after the game that there wasn’t any injury to announce.
Tagovailoa was sacked six times and looked like he twisted his leg awkwardly on the last one, but Flores said in his postgame press conference that pulling Tagovailoa for Fitzpatrick was strictly a football decision. Flores said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, that it was their “best move at that point in the game. He gave us best chance to win the game.”
Flores said that the decision he made was for Sunday’s game only and that Tagovailoa will start against the Jets in Week 12.
Tagovailoa was 11-of-20 for 83 yards and a touchdown. Fitzpatrick was 12-of-18 for 117 yards and a late interception that ended any hopes of a Miami comeback.”
I dont think Tua blew the game. But after watching him the last 4 games IMHO i dont think he’s the best qb on thisvteam and i dont think he gives us the best chance to win
If Fitz started the denver game we win that game
I was against taking tua. I wanted tristan wirfs and love with the 2nd pick.
Hindsight being 20-20 we should have taken herbert
Fitz is definitely the better QB. He put together about 30 more yards in less than a quarter than Tua had all game with the same WRs, OL, TEs, etc. There’s no shame in a rookie getting beat and I hope Tua learns some good lessons. He will need a lot more experience to become more than a potential great QB.
Miami really does have one of the worst fan bases in sports. We finally get a quality young QB and what do we do? Should have gotten Herbert! Some stupid shit, that. I’m sure Rivers loves all those wonderful rings he got while being the Chargers elite QB for years. Probably has them mounted on his wall collecting….air.
The reason miami doesnt have a good fan base is in s fl we get transplants from the north.
They come to fl for the weather but still hold allegiance to their hometown team
Would you trade tua for herbert right now?
If that answer is yes than the front office made a huge mistake
You never trade off one year’s worth of data. RGKnee looked amazing his first year. Ill trust football decisions with the people paid to make the decisions. Considering we’re 6-4 and the Chargers are 3-7 after almost losing to the Jets, I’ll stick with what we have.
My answer is no…. so guess no mistake was made.
4 games…..LOL
It’s amazing how quickly we turn on QB’s here. I can’t get over it.
Four games experience. He hasn’t looked really good except in the Zona game but I guess Tua doesn’t get the rookie learning curve other QBs get.
Not just here. Why QB controversies are so popular and the back-up the best guy on the team.
stangerx says:
November 23, 2020 at 3:23 pm
My answer is no…. so guess no mistake was made.
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And we know that your opinion comes with some serious insider knowledge as president of the NWO.
So how many of you wanna go on record saying that Tua is a bust and that we wasted the [pick, right now. Lets get this recorded so that when it doesn’t end up that way we wont have any of yall backtracking on it.
Anyone?
Tua has the ability and the intangibles to be a very good QB. The rush to judge QBs in this day and age is just crazy. It’s probably the most difficult position to play in all of sports and yet we want them to be “great” right out of the gate. I had no problem with letting Tua sit and learn awhile. I also believed that Fitz gave us the best chance to win right now. But, Tua is the future whether you like it or not. I may have waited a little longer to throw him out there, but he was gonna be playing sooner or later. I think he’ll get better with experience. It’s certainly way too early to throw in the towel on the kid.
Yes. Tua didn’t look so great yesterday. But the whole team for the most part was in a fog. Almost like they figured they could just show up and get the W but the Broncos obviously had other ideas. Hopefully this is a wake up game that teaches everyone on the team a lesson – have to be prepared and bring it 100% every game. But better to learn the lesson sooner than later.
A lot are saying they just want to see continual growth from the team (I agree) and I think everyone need to give that benefit to Tua as well. Let’s see if this was an aberration or the start of a trend. And like Herd said earlier maybe teams have enough tape on Tua now – so time for him and the coaches to see if they can adapt.
Finally, yeah Fitz looked generally better at the end but it was obvious the Broncos had a specific game plan tailored to thwarting Tua (which was obviously successful) but probably didn’t have prep a whole lot for Fitz. So only natural Fitz might have more success in there.
Not a Tua apologist though – he has to bounce back, grow and adapt if he wants to be successful – and he has to show at least a air deal of that over the remainder of the year.
Nicely said Twice. Broncos weren’t a team to take lightly. Yeah they’d lost a lot of games , but most of them close. Not talking the Jets last Sunday.
And heck — Vegas only had us favored by a FG.
Yes, and as crazy as it sounds – can’t take the jets lightly either – front office may or may not be tanking, but players have pride.
CavalierKong says:
November 23, 2020 at 1:30 pm (Edit)
He showed real toughness yesterday getting a win despite obviously being at less than 100%. Hopefully he gets healed all up before the Jest game.
Reply
stangerx says:
November 23, 2020 at 3:21 pm (Edit)
Cav — you going with the “alternative facts” version of the game?
Someone has much better weed than I do. 😂
I have had some from West Virginia before, i dont know ho wit can get much better, Kentucky has some good shit too.
Yep. My hometown is on the WV/KY border….probably goes a long way explaining why I’m the way I am. 😉
LOL — he is from Cali.
“We’re thinking about that every day. We’ve got to get one. You don’t want to go 0-16, especially this might be my last year. I can’t go out like that.”
— Frank Gore, who chose to go back to Gase btw
Bring Gore back for a last hurrah year with us, just make him take a really really really good bath first to get that Jets smell off him.
That aught to help??????????
What a great excuse for a poor game…. even if legit.
I was thinking more about the next game!
If he was just now listed that may not bode well for the rest of the team COVID-wise….
Interesting take!
Doesnt matter how anyone else takes that “benching” as long as Tua, Fitz and the Coaches know why, and consider it the best avenue, everyone else can kinda deal with it.
Man it’s a tough crowd!
You guys are swimming in circles waiting for a baby seal to fall in the water!!!!
Mmmmmmm baby seal…… *said with my best Homer Simpson impersonation*
herdfan says:
November 23, 2020 at 4:15 pm
Yep. My hometown is on the WV/KY border….probably goes a long way explaining why I’m the way I am.
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I have a friend who lives in Ashland KY i guess thats kinda in a corner with Ohio, KY and WV all kinda touch one another.big stoner lol.
Preach it Twice! Preach it Twice!
We missed Raekwon McMillan
Elandon Roberts is the new Raekwon
Slower version!
I don’t think Roberts is as quick as Raekwon though, but he lays the wood
Yep. Our WRs suck. Only one that seems to be open when thrown to is Grant, but he’s so small it’s hard to get it in there.
I guess we shouldn’t complain. The last time somebody ran that many counter tre’s we lost a super bowl!
Just sent my best girl Shadow to the big sleep. If only people could be as good as her. She and her brother always watched Phins games with me. Stand up yesterday and go “Dolphins touchdown” on the first score. She went from nearly comatose to jumping off the couch with a full 4-foot plant and asking for her treat.
RIP Shadow
So sorry, Stanger. That’s always tough.
Breaks my heart to hear that. I have grieved for pets more than I have grieved for people, except for Mrs. K.
Worried about my boy these days, a beautiful Maine Coon cat with an attitude. He’s 15 years old.
Sorry Stanger 🥲
Sorry Stanger yer pups were very nice to us when we visited… it is losing a family member
Pretty much sums it up for me.
“We started the game decently but they made adjustments and we have to make better adjustments and play better.” – Coach Flores
For me this game was a humble pie game and part of the maturation of a young team which hasn’t changed just because we did a cool thing by winning 5 in a row. They were riding high and got picked off on the road by a team also trying to find themselves. It’s not like the Broncos have no talent.
Think about our offense; we’re starting 3 rooks on the OL at times, a rookie QB, a rookie RB and a rookie WR at times in Perry. There are also other young players in the mix. It’s not like this group has won anything special together yet. The same on defense, it’s a mixed bag and a very new group. There are going to be bumps in the road. But we’ll also play well again and win some more games. 🙂
Stanger.. Was shadow your min-pin ? Those are awesome dogs !! Sorry for your your loss man 😔🐕
Mini — poodle with enough attitude to put German Shepard police dogs into a frenzy. One tough little girl.
Thanks guys — was a tough day.
It’s always tough to go through that. I wait a bit and rescue another so their spirit lives on with the one I rescue, but that’s just what my family does. So many dogs in shelters need a home and they are always the best dogs.
Lol….E V chases dogs. Surreal.
Funny story:
Was putting the garbage out when I saw my cat, E V, at the street, but in the next door neighbor’s driveway. Then, he seemed upset. I looked around and saw a neighbor’s dog 2-3 times his size looking back at him. I was like, oh shit, E V’s in trouble. Nope, just about the time I start to go get E V, he makes a beeline after the dog and chases him off.
I was like, that’s not supposed to happen. It was truly surreal. Then, over the years I’ve witnessed him “go after” dogs much bigger than him several times.
A boxer just moved in next door and she kept barking at him while he was in his own driveway. He charged the boxer, and boxer ran off. Lmao.
The boxer’s owner had a good laugh, too.
E V’s got attitude. Sound like same attitude as Shadow. Good stuff.
It’s all about attitude. My first dog when I was a kid was a mutt beagle/husky/something else LOL. He was like 35 lbs, could run like the wind and was a fierce protecter and fighter. He would challenge dogs twice his size and either chase them off or beat them up. His two losses were against a pure beagle, and a woodchuck – got his chest torn open and needed stitches. He lived to 15 and had a good life. Got him when I was 5 years old to 20 years of age. He was a good boy my friend Buddy.
Doggy, my issue is that humans put too many dogs in shelters and that needs to stop or be decreased in a major way. But we all know purebred breeders aren’t going anywhere and those dogs need homes too. My daughter got a beagle puppy from a mill in Amish country in PA. She’s a beautiful dog and pure beagle attitude. If those pups aren’t purchased and they already have too many, they shoot them and breed on.
Humans suck too much. We need more enlightening.
Yessir.
Herd,
We have some pretty good stuff out here in CA. Raising a pipe to ya in a cross country cheers. 🙂
Stang,
You guys have your version of events, I have mine. It’s pretty sweet where I’m sitting seeing as we’re 7-3. 😉
Sorry to read about your pup, bro. 2020 is the year that keeps on giving. 😦
Then in Cav World the Ring is a given…. I like it. And thanks.
NT is not a need. Raekwon Davis is that. Our run defense issues are not up the middle, it’s on the edges – mostly the left side of our defense specifically with Wilkins out the last two games. He makes a difference.
Davis and Wilkens going forward looks good. I think if we are up high enough with Houston pick that Parsons would fit Flores’ defense beautifully… move him all over the place. I initially was hoping for a top three pick to take OT Sewell, but now I think 5 is the highest we might pick.
Stanger – Sorry about Shadow pal, that’s a tough one. My condolences.
Appreciated. You met her, but was probably the white pooch (Laddy) who paid more attention to you guys.
So sorry to hear about Shadow Stanger
She liked you Ken.
Stanger, our pets are Family. Anyone who has lost a pet-buddy knows how the loss hurts. No matter what else is going on in our lives, they only see US and want to be with us. So sorry for your loss. I have two dogs (both under 3 yrs old) but also a cat that was born in our house 18 yrs ago and has sat next to me for every single game I’ve watched (football, baseball, basketball…). She’s hanging on by a thread but I’d sell my car to keep her going another 6 months. Keep lots of pics of Shadow around and share stories of appreciation with your family.
Thanks Rhino…. hope your cat holds strong. Heard of them living into the mid-20’s. Our other pup is 16 and going strong.
During 4th QTR last night, I kept expecting (somehow) that Brady would be replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick. 😂
My Florida brethren what can you tell me about Florida Southern College in Lakeland? My son Daniel was accepted there as well as Nova Southeastern with scholarship money at both. I need to get to Florida but damn Covid making that near impossible right now
Personally as far as location and schools, id go with Nova, thats a great school and its in Ft. Lauderdale, so its more urban. I assume that more of what he is use to? Lakeland is north of Gainesville and its a lot less urban, it still a city and all but nothing like the Ft. Lauderdale area. i dont know a ton about that school, however.
My bad i was thinking Lake City, Lakeland is in between Tampa and Orlando and is in a metro area though not neck deep in it. Tons to do there, would be a pretty sweet place to live IMO. Still not sure about the school lol.
We are in more rural urban area of Connecticut but I think he likes the city life. Florida Southern is offering more money. 50% tuition vs 33% tuition
That area of Florida is where tons of people come to to have fun every year, so while Ft. Lauderdale offers a bigger city, and its right there next to Miami if he wanted something bigger, me personally id prefer the Orlando area.
Regarding the Herbert and Tua comparisons … some context can help the discussion:
1. Chargers were built for Rivers. 2017 9 wins, 2018 12 wins (plus win over Balt in playoffs), 2019 first year in LA 6 wins with another 8 games lost by 7 pts or less. 2020 team is essentially the 2019 team only replace Rivers with Herbert.
2. 2019 despite only 6 wins, Chargers offense was ranked #6 in most Total yards, and defense was ranked #6 in fewest total yards. Fins offense #27, defense #30.
Chargers were ‘getting younger’ at QB … Fins are in full rebuild.
Going forward I’ll stick with Tua led Fins. For all the hindsight hand wringing, Chargers STILL can’t close out a game. Miami didn’t close out the game with Denver, but that’s ONE game … Chargers couldn’t close out at least 6 games this year on top of the 8 last year. Herbert stepped into a team that was a season removed from 12 wins (with 2 playoff games). The team Tua stepped into was Nowhere near this stage of development.
Thus, imo, as Flores/Grier continue the rebuild (upcoming draft is second half of the plan when we traded away Tunsil and others) … Tua trajectory is upward at a steep increase… Herbert will have an incrementally smaller increase. Herbert is no doubt a good QB who will probably never win a SB like his predecessor. When Tua and this team develop, we know Tua can, and will, close games.
I was MUCH more impressed with Burrow being the real deal because he excelled on a legitimately crappy team in all phases of the game… but even Burrow’s crappy team was ranked higher last year than Miami in both offense and defense (26th and 29th respectively).
Miami is suffering at skill positions because they did what Cincy didn’t … build OL first, then go after skill positions. Cincy got that kid demolished.
I agree with Rhino, losing a pet hurts. I have bawled my eyes out over the loss of a pet many times. The hurt is maybe not as hard as it is for losing a human you are close to but its not far off. Very sorry for your loss buddy.
The day I lose one of my cats I will be an absolute mess and
Lakeland is between Orlando and Tampa it’s not north of Gainesville. I’ve never heard of that school however.
The academic requirements of the school are pretty high actually a little higher than Nova
I was thinking of Lake City , corrected myself once i realized the mistake.
Not sure where he would be slotted in the draft if he enters but here is a BIG do everything LB from Tulsa. Junior LB Zaven Collins, 6’4 260. Through 6 games he has 4 sacks with 2 FF and 4 INT’s to include 2 pick six’s.
My guess is 2nd round, especially if he performs well at the combine.
I know I did a November mock but this is a special Thanksgiving mock. LOL I doubled down on RB and WR just for the hell of it. I wanted to add size and power at RB and speed to WR.
8. Jaylen Waddle WR, Alabama
17. Joseph Ossai EDGE, Texas
40. Javonte Williams RB, North Carolina
49. Josh Myers IOL, Ohio State
80. Tedarrell Slaton IDL, Florida
118. Caden Sterns S, Texas
199. Marquez Stevenson WR, Houston
202. Chris Rumph II EDGE, Duke
251. C.J. Verdell RB, Oregon
I could have done a little better maybe.
Its good especially the round and positions layout. I am not big on Ossai so to me there are probably better players you could take at that spot but its kinda splitting hairs and its about player perception.Looks good to me.
Id take that draft all day.
Ill see your mock and offer another. 🙂
8. Christian Barmore DE/DT Alabama
17. Jaylen Waddle WR, Alabama
40. Najee Harris RB, Alabama
49. Kadarius Toney WR Florida
80. Tedarrell Slaton IDL, Florida
118.Creed Humphrey OC, Oklahoma
199. Jabril Cox OLB LSU
202. Rahmondre Stevenson RB Oklahoma
251. Caleb Jones OT Indiana
Stanger, really sorry to hear about Shadow. Our pets are family and usually are better friends than humans. They love us no matter what, unlike humans. It’s why it hurts so much to lose them.
Kind of you Herd. She was so full of love, and what hurt most about this was before her time.
“In Fitzpatrick’s 11 minutes of game action, he eclipsed Tagovailoa’s production in 49 minutes.”
D, Thanks! I could have went for the more solid pick at 17 with LB Dylan Moses. I just haven’t got over my Ossai man crush yet. lol Yours would be nice as well. I think WR Tony is a good pick also. I felt he was being underutilized at UF then he got hurt last year but now having a really good senior year. He is an ankle breaking YAC guy for sure and fun to watch.
Must mean Wilkins is still out
He played this past Sunday. They already know Wilkins is out? That can change can’t it?
I just want to say that anyone who doesn’t think Tua needed benched either; doesn’t know football or is trying to ride the coat-tails of a talking head…who doesn’t know football. Let’s deconstruct the argument.
1. Rookies have bad days but need to try and bail themselves out. Tua was terrible and he wasn’t going to bail us out. He did very, very, very little in 49 minutes and was overwhelmed. You learn the same exact thing about handling adversity from the first 49 minutes as you would in the last 11. It’s just much more likely he will make bad mistakes. TERRIBLE IDEA
2. He will be looking over his shoulder now. Didn’t you just want to see how he handles adversity? That was a quick 180! If he can’t handle some adversity, then you might want to know that now. Fitz provided a spark and some good film for Tua and the coaches to study. Tua provided little of that on Sunday.
3. People will wonder if he’s going to be benched now if he has another bad outing! No one in that locker room gives a damn if fans will be wondering this. Players also don’t care who QBs as long as they win. Crazy, right?!
4. They let Manning and others work out bad games! This is part of what makes every QB just like Manning!!! They did the same for bad QBs too. Didn’t seem to help the bad ones. Can we compare more apples and oranges?
Tua had 83 yards and a 55% comp % in 49 minutes. He was bad Sunday, no doubt. That’s unacceptable and I’m glad Flores is letting everyone know the QB isn’t above his rules. If you are playing like shit, you will be switched out…no matter who you are. Fitzpatrick learned that last year and thrived afterwards. Tua will learn this lesson and get better. It’s almost like the HC knows more than talking heads. No way! Journalists are garbage.
^
I don’t think it was a big deal whether he was pulled for performance or an injured foot. Like I said yesterday this offense overall is a work in progress. We’re rolling a lot of young players out there week to week. Like Flores said about the game, we need to make better adjustments and play better. It was one loss after winning 5 in a row and people are panicking. It’s going to be alright. 🙂
Well, I’m not panicking, for sure and pretty much agree with New Age.
Agree with Tim Knight, too.
We actually had a chance to win that game and Flores made the “adjustment” needed to give us the best chance to win that game.
That’s almost a TwiceTheThe comment…lol.
I thought he waited too long to put Fitz in. Tua looked bad, I said to my daughter in the first half that we’d be seeing Fitz soon.
I like the starting pitcher analogy that Tua was just off Sunday so go to the bullpen.
There were some real nice throws mixed in there as well, the Parker TD was as good a throw as it was a catch. The throw to Callaway for a crucial first down was a beauty. It was overall a poor outing one he should be able to grow from.
Van Ginkle made the play of the day knocking that ball out and giving us a chance to drive to tie it up, that’s winning football that will translate to wins going forward. I felt like if we tied the game we’d win it. Almost.
Van Ginkle is a STAR in the making, IMO. That young man is doing BIG things, and I’m proud of him!
Our O-Line was nothing short of incompetent on Sunday, due to the constant shifting/rotations due to injury, COVID, and lefty vs righty at the QB position: makes it very difficult to gel as a unit.
Had Von Miller played on Sunday, we’d be looking at 8,9, perhaps even 10 sacks on Tua… UNACCEPTABLE.
No, I’m not placing blame solely on the O-Line. We don’t have a legit running game (same song), we don’t have a legit OC (same song), and Tua’s throws are more like Mr. Pennington’s (noodle-arm, same song) in a faster Defensive environment than Mr. Pennington ever faced. It’s truly amazing that Tua’s not yet been intercepted (he was, but Defensive holding called it off).
Don’t know what happened to our Defense on Sunday, but we couldn’t stop the run (same song). I hope it was merely about the absence of Christian Wilkins… we’ll see.
2021 Draft, in no particular order (same song):
DE
RB
O-Line
And… WR, if Tua can’t make use of our current weapons, SMH
Look, it’s WAAAAAY too early to say… but current Justin Herbert would be KILLING IT with our current WR corps.
That said, Tua (same song) needs a TRUE offseason where he’s not focused on his rehab as last, rather, he’s only going to get stronger, and Stronger, and STRONGER… with focus on his arm-strength.
Okay! I’m merely repeating myself (hence, ‘same song’) from weeks ago! LOL
GO PHINS!!!
HELL YEAH!!!
I don’t think anyone here had a problem with Tua being benched. What bugs me is when people go off a cliff about how they never wanted him, we should have taken (name your favorite other QB), he’ll never be any good. For fucks sake, it was one game, and he’s only played 4 games now. Maybe people need to take their meds!
M – I think you may just be overrating our WR corps. Parker is good, not great. I like Grant but he’s just OK, if he doesn’t have separation he’s tough to throw to. I think I’ve overrated Gesicki, because he just doesn’t seem to get any separation. Callaway played a drop, he’s got talent but he’s a wait and see if he can work here. Williams is OUT, Perry is a work in progress. Hollins shows a little promise but to say we have a great receiving corps isn’t accurate to me.
Agreed. None of our skill players have broken a big play including RBs. They’ve gotten some chunk yards and have scored some TDs but not many big explosive plays. Our longest run is 29 yards by Grant, receiving Gesicki 70, Williams 47 and Shaheen 43. Other than that everyone else is like 30 or less. That’s not a lot after 10 games.
The 5 game winning streak made us all put the cart before the horse. This team is still developing regardless of record. But we should all be happy knowing that when we play really well we can beat good teams. Even really good teams lose games they should win when they don’t play their best ball. We see it all the time. Just keep progressing and see where we end up. Making the playoffs would be a great accomplishment in year two of the rebuild. It’s still possible and I think this team wants to accomplish that. Go Phins!!!!
I don’t really see arm strength as a flaw with Tua. He was just bad last game and Denver had a plan.
He avoided an interception last game by zipping it through a LBs hands. It was kinda Marinoesque, but NOT saying he’s even close to Marino. I recall MANY Marino throws that SHB intercepted.
Not even close to a Pennington arm either, imo.
Tua’s arm is fine. Most of his inaccurate throws were overthrows, not ducks. He came out fired up but seemed too amped up. I think he was trying to win the game in the 1st quarter. Not worried about that, he wasn’t on. It happens.
Yep, off target in every way.
I wonder if his foot injury was a factor.
Kindley has been in and out with injury lately and Davis is out with the covid (on the list anyway) so we might see Deiter for the first time this year besides on ST.
Lots of players have had to play a role this year which I think is a good thing moving forward. That next man up mentality actually means something on this team.
“Seeing the rush”, Tua was seeing the rush last Sunday and he wasn’t able to see down field, he was holding the ball way too long. The ball has to come out.
Yep, and the major difference between Fitz and Tua at this point. Experience!
I hope Wilkins is ok, this becoming an extended period of time, he’s a big man. Fins up 94! 🐬💪💥
Good points guys. I’m really excited to see the continued growth of this team this year and the next few. We really don’t have many superstars so it’s a team effort every week. Outside of our CBs, the best players right now are our ST aces. Denver isn’t a terrible team either. Lock has some issues and they’ve been hit with a lot of injuries so far. Time for me to move on to this Sunday at this point.
Lol…..it is time to move on.
Our WRs are average at best. Again…only one that gets separation is Grant and he’s just too dang small. All Parker’s catches are contested. I see other teams WRs running free all the time…..seems only our TEs do that on rare occasions.
Isn’t running free more a lack of execution on the D side?
Foot injury for Tua? Remember, he’s had that strap surgery on both ankles.
Goes back to my major concern about him from before day one. I think he’s fragile.
JUST FOUND OUT about Young Stanger’s unfortunate loss of a young pet. Mrs. OD and I had a similar situation in January when our young mixed breed Isabella was claimed by a huge abdominal tumor. Her constantly wagging tail and positive ways always greeted me every day I got home from work. A couple of weeks later my wife found out about a lady looking to “get rid of” a 12-pound “Chiweeny” (part Chihuahua and part Dachsund). She brought the little guy home and he’s become a major part of our lives!! It was pure LUCK that we got this treasure! My wife’s major issues with her 5 Lumbar surgeries and her knee replacement surgery (which, so far, has failed to reach our expectations) meant that a SMALL DOG was what she REALLY NEEDED.
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About a month ago we adopted our second retired racing Greyhound. She’s a bit young (will be 3 in February) and a bit too full of energy. But Greyhounds tend to become couch potatoes around the age of 4, so, help is on the way. Some of you may remember we lost our first Greyhound the day after she turned 10. That was about 2 years ago. With Greyhound racing now BANNED IN FLORIDA, we knew this would be OUR LAST CHANCE to own a retired racing dog. They are wonderful companions. And when she looks out on our street from the dining room, passers by are truly impressed with her size (75 pounds) and her STARE!!! A kid from Jamaica asked me if she could outrun Usain Bolt? –I replied,”Bolt could not outrun a racing Greyhound on his best day!”
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YOUNG STANGER, we hope you and your’s can find another sweet dog that brings joy and happiness to your family. We’ve been extremely lucky with pets over our 34 years of marriage (had our 34th celebration on Sunday while the Fins were losing to Denver.) I’d recommend it to those who have the patience and the desire to help a pet looking for a good home. It will be one of the most rewarding decisions you’ll ever make.
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GOTTA REGAIN MY NFL FOCUS THIS WEEK. IT’s “JETS WEEK” people!!!!! I’m sure the players are very unhappy with their performance in Denver. And I’m also sure coach “FLO” is busting some ass in the practices this week. Since this likely will be coach Garse’s LAST GAME facing the Dolphins, I’m SURE those Dolphins who were on Gase’s last Miami stint would LOVE to give him an appropriate send-off this Sunday!! The Dolphins won their last game vs. the Jets 24-0. A repeat performance would please me and Mrs. OD VERY MUCH!!!!!!! Hopefully, some of Miami’s walking wounded will be back on the team by Sunday!! IF SO, something tells me Flores wouldn’t mind running up the score against our hated rivals!
Thanks OD. Maybe Isabella and Shadow are watching Phins games together in doggy heaven.
Mike E. says:
November 24, 2020 at 6:47 pm
M – I think you may just be overrating our WR corps…
————–
Nah, I’m not. Look at last year and early this year with Fitz VS this year with Tua.
I’ll give you this much: perhaps Tua needs speed-demons (see Ruggs and Jeudy at Alabama) who can take short or mid-range passes to the house. It’s a shame that Albert Wilson opted out regarding COVID.
But PLEASE don’t tell me/us that DeVante, Gesicki, and/or Preston Williams — or even Jakeem in the slot — is me overrating our WR corps. Quite honestly, Philip Rivers — or even Justin Herbert — would take us DEEP into the playoffs this year with our WR corps… even w/o a legit running game.
JMO, as always, my guy.
MF-13; Good to see you on the board.
IMHO, it takes at least 2-3 full seasons to fairly determine which of 2 rookie QB’s was the better selection. You probably remember John Elway was unceremoniously benched after a handful of poor performances his rookie year. But, as time went on, he reclaimed the starting role and the rest is history. I fully expect that TUA will prove to be the better guy after 3 full seasons. And I’m just as sure we WON’T KNOW FOR SURE after just one season.
Neither Rivers or Hebert have done that before?
Why would you think they can do it now????
Tua had a shitty game!
I’m sure he would agree with you on that!
Parker was thriving somewhat with Fitz yet still only had 1 100 yard game. Grant has speed but hands are very questionable. Gesicki doesn’t seem to get enough separation which is so disappointing. He didn’t do anything with Fitz this season either, he had one or 2 games where he showed up but has been invisible. I’m not trying to argue, I just don’t see a great receiving corps right now, nowhere near top 10 and maybe not even top 15.
Dolphins fans. 😉
At 8-3 everyone is talking playoff positioning and maybe winning the division. One loss and it’s back to the draft, play Fitz over Tua, we need this and that. The fun of fandom. LOL
Actually, Tim, I think you’ve mis-characterized at least some of us. I, for one, am still convinced Miami will make the playoffs and, with some luck on injuries, we could win the division. I do NOT believe we should, or we WILL, start Fitz over Tua vs. the Jets. What I DO believe is that Tua will have his ups and downs during his rookie season and that, by the end of the season, TUA will be our starting quarterback. And I think a majority of Dolphin fans believe that TUA will be our starting QB for the first game next season.
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Gotta walk the Greyhound and get my beauty rest. OUT for tonight.
I’m just speaking in general how some fans get so bummed out after a loss they feel things are off track and things have defined already. I don’t mean everyone. We’re all bummed we lost but how does one loss erase a 5 game winning streak when we were the talk of the town? Time to take it out on the Jets. 🙂
I meant 6-3.
How do I say this?
Tua’s QB experience was and only has been up until the last 4 games was limited to an NFL-caliber line at AL allowed him the luxury of taking his time to find his receivers that were always open by 3-5 yards, huge separation.
In the NFL, it’s not even close to what he’s USED to. He his behind the curve. He needs the experience to learn, quicken his thought process, and settle down. Most rookie QBs go through this and most fail.
Give the guy a fucking break and hope he doesn’t get broken in the process.
Fitzpatrick’s efforts on display the last game showed the vast chasm between a seasoned smart veteran v a rookie with 4 games.
Not even close and truly not a fair evaluation at this point. Apples to oranges, imo.
Maybe Trask will be available after Lawrence is taken R1P1?
Brian Flores Wednesday November 25 media availability thread
7:50 AM · Nov 25, 2020·Twitter Web
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58m
@WingfieldNFL
Coach starts by sending thoughts and prayers to Marcus Paul the strength coach for the Dallas Cowboys.
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58m
Coach on potential OL opportunities
We have a few guys who haven’t played much but have practiced well (Deiter, Pankey, Davenport). They’re all rearing for an opportunity if that opportunity presents itself.
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58m
“No issues.”
Coach’s response to Tua’s response to the decision to go to Fitz on Sunday.
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52m
Coach on his favorite holiday — Thanksgiving.
He’s thankful for health, his wife (who puts up with his nonsense on a daily basis and keeps the household together). His family. He’s thankful to be the coach of this team.
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52m
The Flores family is a turkey AND ham family
I’m a turkey and ham guy too, but usually only if we are doing a big family holiday. I don’t believe in little turkey or partial turkey and little ham so when it’s not a big family thing I just go with a big ham since it keeps and eats better as leftovers. I love chunk meat game sammiches.
I’m a turkey guy all the way. Ham just tastes like a salt block. The real question is cranberry sauce or no cranberry.
Turkey all the way, ham does nothing for me.
Turkey for Thanksgiving and ham on Christmas. Save ham bone and leftover ham for New Year’s day greens and blackeyed peas.
I won’t disparage this wide reciever group. They are 10x the receivers Tannehill had as a rookie. I didn’t finish watching the game, so I can’t why Fitz had more success than Tua. Coverages could have changed, playcalling could have changed, combine that with his experience vs Tua who may have been hurt. I do know that the playcalling in the first half with Tua was uninspired and that our defense couldn’t get off the field on third and long so eventually the Broncos run game was able to get bigger gains and move the chains better. I thought the run defense did well enough in the beginning.
A big problem I see with our WR separation has to do with the play design. A lot of times, I see guys bunched in the same area. Gailey also just seems to be calling plays with no regard for situation or rhythm. He doesn’t start the game with getting Tua some quick completions and get him in a rhythm or grow his confidence. He’ll just call a screen to call a screen or a delay to call a delay. It’s the weirdest thing. We seem to have these long developing plays causing Tua to hold the ball and that’s been going on for weeks, regardless of who the QB is. It’s one of the reasons we didn’t win several of the games in the first quarter of the season.
Gailey as an OC is like Fitz as a QB. Both are streaky and inconsistent. When they are on, they look fantastic, but when they are off it’s disaster. That’s why Tua is a better choice at this time, because he doesn’t make those boneheaded mistakes that Fitz does which can also cause problems, but less so than Fitz forcing it when there’s no need.
My biggest problem with Sunday’s game, wasn’t that we lost or that we were beaten, because we weren’t. We went in there with a poor game plan and no adjustments. I don’t care if we lose and we’ve fought hard all game and just traded blows or the opponent just outplays us. I just hate looking inept.