Alright Dolphins fans, relaxed, reserved, nonchalant Mike E. is gone! It’s 2023, and our time is NOW!! This is undeniably the most talented roster we have had here in Miami since the mid 90’s. and our last playoff victory was 23 years ago against the Indianapolis Colts when RB Lamar Smith put the team on his back and ran his heart out for 209 yards on 40 carries and 2 TD’s, one of them in OT for the win, a 17 yard power run carrying defenders in the end zone. It’s time to reclaim that kind of glory. We have drafted, traded for, and signed the type of roster that should take us into the playoffs and beyond. Don’t discount the fact that RB Raheem Mostert is now rippling with 215 lbs of speed and muscle. Don’t discount the fact that we actually gave a pretty big contract to a FB, one Alec Ingold. Also, don’t discount that the Miami TE room is filled with guys who block, and make space for RB’s. Sure, no Dolphins TE jumps off the page as a pass catcher, but all of them block, and block well. I know we have Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, one of the most formidable WR duos in the NFL, but this team was built for the long haul, and if you want to be a playoff contender, you have to be able to run the football, and that’s why we have all those blocking TE’s, one expensive FB, a speedy RB (Mostert) that put on 10 pounds of muscle, and a guy who I believe has a bigger impact than some believe, RB Chris Brooks, undrafted from BYU, a big bodied RB at 6’1 223. We wanted Jonathan Taylor because he’s a big back, different than anyone else on our roster, a finisher. That’s what Chris Brooks will be for us in time.
If you’ve realized, I spent an entire dialogue on the offense and now, in the 2nd paragraph, I’m going to finally talk about our defense. This is a defense just ready to climb to the top of the NFL. It would have been wonderful if we had signed DT Christian Wilkins, but both he, and the team remain committed to getting a deal done, and I don’t think for a minute that a person of Wilkin’s character needed a reason to play hard and have a great season, but the fact that he wants a huge contract doesn’t hurt any in incentivizing him to have a great season. We brought in DC Vic Fangio to finally unleash what this defense is capable of. OK, it wasn’t ideal that one of the key guys we traded for is out till most likely November at the earliest, Jalen Ramsey, but we have so much talent on this defense, including the secondary, that Ramsey will end up being a pleasant boost when he’s healthy. CB Xavien seems healthy, and 2nd year rising star Kader Kohou looks like may start opposite Howard, just going by the depth chart on the Dolphins home page. I won’t be surprised, because most of the time when I imagine Eli Apple, I see WR’s running by him and see the back of his jersey. If that’s the case, either rookie Cam Smith could be the nickel, or maybe if he’s not healthy enough, Apple or newly acquired CB Kelvin Joseph will play nickel back. At safety, Brandon Jones returns from injury, and he was having a great season before his injury in Game 7. Jevon Holland is poised to have an All Pro type season at the other safety spot.
Third paragraph in and I still haven’t yet mentioned the defensive line and linebackers, the creme de al creme. Christian Wilkins at LE, Raekwon Davis in the middle and Zach Sieler at the other end spot, who just got a nice contract extension. At LB, definitely our best unit in quite some time, with Jalen Phillips at LOLB, the unheralded LILB Jerome Baker, David Long who came over from Tennesee and will be big player in our defense, and then Bradley Chubb at ROLB. DE/OLB Emmanuel Ogbah will be getting a fair amount of reps both hand in the ground and standing up. We have nice depth at LB with familiar faces Andrew Van Ginkel, Duke Riley, 2nd year LB Channing Tindall and the aforementioned Emmanuel Ogbah who will play both DE/DT and OLB. The area of biggest concern for me is the spot opposite X. Can either Kader Kohou, Cam Smith or Eli Apple, or possibly even Kelvin Joseph hold down that spot and do at least an average job? Big question, and one that will be tested immediately against QB Justin Herbert, who loves to throw the ball down the field. I would imagine we’re not going to leave whoever plays that spot on an island and they will likely get safety help, which then would put a lot of pressure on X in one-on-one coverage. Mike Williams, one of the bigger WR’s in the NFL is a physical player who will give most DB’s a tough assignment, and Herbert has the arm to get him the ball almost anywhere on the field.
Our offense clearly will be a different animal this season. No question Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle will get lots of touches, but I do believe we will be a more balanced offense this season. I have yet to mention RB De’Von Achane, who at some point will show the NFL his speed and smooth running style. This will truly be a RB by committee situation, with Mostert at least for now the lead back, but I think plenty of touches for Achane, Ahmed and the rookie Chris Brooks. Don’t be surprised if like in the preseason, Chris Brooks gets lots of carries deep in the red zone. QB Tua Tagovailoa has done all he can in the offseason to help himself stay healthy, and help lead this team an entire season of games. He added weight, learned through martial arts proper falling techniques to keep his head from crashing to the ground and as we saw in the preseason, he employed those techniques, and most importantly, they worked.
I think all of us here at FMU have looked at our defense and expected better. I think Vic Fangio looked at this opportunity through the same lens we do, this a defense just waiting to flourish with proper guidance. Fangio is exactly 5 years my senior, born August 22nd 1958. He’s been a defensive coordinator since 1995, no need to count, that’s 23 years (Fangio took a break from the NFL from 2006-2010). It’s hard for me not to believe that Fangio is the missing piece. Flores had some strong points on defense, learning from Bill Belichick in NE. Then Flores’ dismissal led the Dolphins to hand over the reins to Josh Boyer, who in my opinion, was too one dimensional and far too reliant on the zero blitz coverage scheme. I would expect less sacks from the safeties and more from the LB’s and DL. I think David Long is going to be great in this defense, both as a run stopper and helping in pass coverage. It’s not crazy to think we could have a top 10 offense and defense simultaneously.
We have a tough opening game, no doubt. The Chargers were the 2nd team last season to stymie both Tua Tagovailoa and our offense. It was the second leg of a dreadful west coast trip that began with a loss to the Brock Purdy led SF 49ers. Tua was sacked 3 times, and threw 2 INT’s against the vaunted SF defense. The offense was totally one dimensional, we ran 8 times against the Niners. Against the Chargers, it was no better. The Chargers hit Tua, but mostly took away his passing lanes which led to an awful 10 of 28 performance for only 145 yards. We made a slightly better attempt to run, but still had less than 20 carries (19). Despite having one of the best RB’s in the NFL in Austin Ekeler, Herbert was throwing everywhere, attempting 51 passes in all and completing most of them, 39 completions for 367 yards. We’re going to need to do a whole lot better on both sides of the ball to win this one. I expect more running from us, and hopefully that will open up the passing game for a few shots here and there. This would be a huge opening day win, and a big shot fired in the AFC towards the playoff race. I don’t have him in FF, but if I had Chris Brooks, I’d be inclined to insert him in the lineup because I think the kid may get a couple of TD’s in this one. In any case, we must have a better showing than we did on December 11th, 2022 against the Chargers last season.
GO DOLPHINS!!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Fuck you sanders
SANDERS (newman voice)
What a pass!
There was no space for that ball to drop in there.
Hopefully the D can actually step up
Turn-over!!!!!!!!!!
That point better not cost us this game.
That’s grounding
Feeling queasy
Throw thow fuckin flag!
Staley is a fucking moron
Don’t let the defense rest you idiot
PHILLIPS with an assist 👍👍
Yeah!
The missed extra point doesn’t bug as me as much as leaving them with 2 time outs. Just run on first down
There’s #15
X2👍👍🍾
It 4-13…. Right where they want us 🫣
If we ran on first down, the game would be over now
Phillips!
WHAT A GAME
And pay that 94 as well
Holy shit the way we turned the defense on
There’s a big play from #15
Did Phillips make an impact?
FUCK YEAH!!
Money play!!!!!
There you go Mikey!!!!!!!!!!!
💥💥💥
“I knew we had this all the time,” he says, getting an IV.
Great start to the season!
Ho-lee-she-it
Looking good, not in first place in the AFC yet, but looking good.
NE looses
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMS!!!!!!!!!!!!
WAY TO GO, PHINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tua was an absolute beast today!!! That was not unlike the Ravens performance
Marino-esque
466yds, 215 to #10. He’s like the Marks bros in 1 player
Pats LOSE Pats LOSE
LOL
We will be in 2nd place in the East tomorrow, if they do not tie.
Great win
The D got home when it mattered most
Take a Conference road win any way it comes
🐆
Jason Sanders almost became a horse’s ass today, but Fangio’s blitzing saved us!!!!!!
Now let’s watch the highlights all night
All fucking week!
🐖💨
You bet!
WOW!!!!
You guys need to quit picking such close scores. You’re gonna give me a heart attack!
Phillips was felt today, absolutely. He will have double digit sacks this season.
HOW ABOUT OUT O LINE!!?? WTF?
Rock, was just going to say props to Lamm and Jackson. Especially Jackson on Bosa!
NANA NANA
NANA NANA
HEY HEY HEY
GOODBYE!!
Easily ONE OF THE TOP 5 GREATEST WINS IN DOLPHINS’ HISTORY!!——-
AS GOOD, if not BETTER, than the comeback vs. the Ravens last year!!
TUA and HILL both had unbelievable performances!! –And the defense came through when the game was on the line!!
i
NOW PLEASE TELL ME WHO WAS THE BEST QUARTERBACK ON THE FIELD TODAY???
What a douche bag!!!!!!!!!!
it’s ok. Tyreek is getting paid 10x more so…
Next week waddle will have 200 yards
That’s the way you do it
I wonder who the number one offense is this week?
I know who the #32 run defense is!
What an opening weekend!
Dolphins win!
Pats lose
Chiefs lose
Bengals lose
Steelers lose
Titans lose
Now we can sit back and watch the Bills and Jets beat the shit out of each other!
I am rooting for QB and RB injuries tomorrow night.
Selfish? Yes..Hello, have we met? My name is Martin
We were very lucky to win this one, being we lost the turnover battle (-2).
Kudos to our O-Line, kudos to TUA(!), kudos to ‘Reek Da Cheetah, and kudos to Vic Fangio for FINALLY dialing up some heat when we needed it (he better watch his ass! Should have done that far more often!).
Oh yeah… and we lost the TOP (27:19-32:41)
OUTSTANDING EFFORT to recover and win!!!
Phillips sack was so good my tv glitched
SAME!!!
What was up with that? I thought I was losing my feed.
DOES ANYONE HAVE TUA’s final stats for this game??
Tua Tagovailoa
TEAM
C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT SACKS RTG
28/45 466 10.4 3 1 0-0 110.0
28/45 466 10.4 3 1 0-0 110.0
thanks, piggy!!
Not counting Tua rushes, we ran 15 times to 50 pass plays. 5 of the pass plays ended up in a Tua rush.
Wooohooo! That was awesome! 👏🏻
Waddle and Hill both went for 19.5 yards per catch!!
28-45 62.2% 466 yards 3 TD 1 INT 119.0
GAUDY!!
THANKS, BBM!!
We played nickel all day and won the game. Let’s bash everything and not enjoy the win.
Tyreek Hill 11 rec 215 yards 19.5 per 2 TD
He only needs 9 more games!
LOL
Dolphins in first!
Fins 1-0
Stej -1/2
Buffs -1/2
Patsy’s -1
Our OL gave up ZERO sacks!!
Tua finished above his passer rating from last year. Upping his average. I think he leads the league in yards this week.
Where are those doubters?
We need to run the ball more….
🤣🤣🤣😂😂
can’t wait 20 mins before I start criticizing.
Did you guys see that FULLBACK!?
Who was it that highlighted the MM timeout just before the half where we were able to get a FG with a couple seconds on the clock?
You called it!
That was Piggy…. I was wrongly upset , thinking that they would not have had enough time to kick it if the clock had run
Me…that was ballsey
That was growth.
That was on the road too … the West Coast too … and that’s a team we might need to win a tie breaker with.
just HUGE
Ingold caught 2 VIP passes.
Smythe had a string of extremely important receptions.
Edge of seat game as always. Always enjoy the wins though. Really impressive seeing no sacks against those DEs. Defense looked average and X has lost about 2 steps. Almost rode those WRs. Not a bad first game though against a very good opponent.
against a very good opponent
Fangio learned a lot about our players,
so he can take that intel and improve our run D.
So glad we won, and I don’t know if it’s on Williams or Tua or a little of both but they’ve got to fix that.
yeah no doubt!
In 76 offensive plays for the Chargers, new Dolphins ILB David Long had 1 tackle…
yeah we might need to draft a first round MLB if that shit keeps up.
How about the genius of blitzing f’n Justin Bethel at the end?
Bethel is fast and has tons of experience and is great on STs,
so he knows how to navigate a broken field and hit a guy in motion in space…
and the Chargers never thought of game-planning for a Justin Bethel blitz package !!!
It truly took team EFFORT to bounce back and win this one against a very strong team and on the road. Our team will NEVER wilt with Coach McDaniel as it’s HC.
Oh yeah… and with Christian Wilkins as the heart and soul of this team.
Let me translate.
Fuck You Mike E!!!!!! 😉
I know what time it is. You finally fucking woke up!!! LOL
Lol
Just finished watching. Anyone else ever pushes the Herbert vs Tua comparisons can suck my green ass
Yuck
DOUBLE YUK. Counselor you are out of order!!
Not bad
Oh yeah
Herbert was sulky that they ran the ball so well….
The Ross OL is so bad we had no sacks allowed and over 500 yards of offense.😉
Durham Smythe 3 rec for 44 yards
Mike Gesicki 3 rec for 36 yards
I’ll take Smythe any day and all day over Gesicki.
Stop it. That’s just silly talk…..so I am told….
😆
But Gesicki doesn’t really have a QB
It’s not very often a team can gash ya for 234 rushing yards, with 5.9 YPC and 3 TDS on the ground — and still lose.
Vic Fangio has his work cut out for him.
Jevon Holland had 10 tackles.
DeShon Elliot had 8 tackles.
Sieler getting that sack when he did was huge.
That throw to convert that 3rd and 10 for our last score was a true big-boy throw. That was a money throw on the run after stepping up to avoid pressure. Amazing play, and thrown right on the money.
Totally clutch. That was putting the team on your back when it mattered
That was a $666,666.00 throw.
The devil made him throw it
If you multiply it out by the amount of throws this game and then by 17 games…
I hope someone asked McDaniel about being the worse running team in the league this week.
We ran it 15 times for 65 yards and a TD.
4.33 ypc … not too bad
(not including Tua’s scrambles0
That average and zero sacks is a great day at work for the OL
against Joey Bosa and Kahlil Mack.
I remember some people saying
they were afraid for Tua with Lamm and Jackson against those guys.
yeah yeah LOL
No sacks??
Star of the game was Sanders, by missing the extra point he made the D aggressive on the last drive, down 3 we’d have played not to lose
😉
Iggy just scored a TD for Dallas.
Unbelievable- Iggy TD
IGGY WITH A TD LOL!
So looking forward to listening to the radio on the ride to work tomorrow morning
We got 3 sacks.
Sieler – 1
Bethel -.5
Phillips -.5
Kohou -1
We’re in first place in the AFC E.
Before I get too excited,
the Raiders are in first in the AFC W.
This throw
https://x.com/willmanso/status/1701015162847744130?s=61&t=NWZ–WfgKu_dYbC-fKuB3A
Oh my
We are in first place in the East for at least the next 24 hours. Then we will be behind a NY team.
We can’t be behind anyone. We’re undefeated.
Winner tomorrow would be 1-0 in the division, so technically in first
That was a great win. Tua is the man !! Hill was unbelievable and our Oline did great. Now if we can just properly snap the ball 🧐 Victory is always effin awesome. Go Phins 🐬👍🐕
He looked very calm doing it. I feel….at least I think I feel. Last year even though it worked it felt more frenetic I feel.
The play calling, timing issue from last year is clearly fixed.
Williams doesn’t deserve a f^cking reworked contract.
The oline did absolutely fine today against Mac and Bosa. Did Mack even play today?
The D is a work in progress, but when the Chargers were forced to throw the ball, we made a bunch of plays to seal the game.
The offense was completely unstoppable.
Anyone who still has any nonsense to say about Tua doesn’t deserve to be heard. That late 4th quarter 3rd down DIME to Hill was a thing of beauty.
Glorious way to start the season.
Tell the truth, how long have you been waiting to use that one?
It’s been in the chamber for years, brother, lol
You know who the highest scoring offense in the league is? (Drunkenly chuckles)
Green Bay
2nd worst scoring D Behind the Chargers….. Bwaaahaaaaa haaa haaaa haaaaa haaaaa
Here you go
https://www.miamidolphins.com/video/tua-tagovailoa-s-best-plays-vs-chargers-week-1
I wonder how Orob is doing.
5:16 is bad ass too
Tua threw for the 4th highest yards in NFL history on opening day.
1951 Norm van Brocklin 554
2011 Tom Brady 517
1994 Dan Marino 473
2023 Tua 466
Tua was awesome this week .
Tua sucks!😂
In case Mike E missed it?
🙂
No one missed that😜, did you notice how loud the crowd was? Lots of Fin fans at the game
Howie’s List
Week 1 – 🐬 @⚡️
🦬 34-24 🐬
🗿31-28 🐬
🐟🐠🐡 28-17 🐬
🎰 17-5 🐬
🌴31-27🐬❤️
🐷42-14 🐬
⚔️ 37-20 🐬
🌞 24-21 🐬
🦏 35-17 🐬
🏈 24-17 🐬
🇨🇦 35-20 🐬
🇬🇧 27-24 🐬
🦍 27-20 🐬
🪨 24-21🐬
👴🏻 27-23 🐬
Obviously I was closest
❤️