Week 1 was quite a surprise for me. I expected the Dolphins offense to look good, but it was really the defense that I expected to shine, and until the end of the game when they sealed the victory, the defense was a huge letdown. Chargers running backs Austin Ekeler and Joshua Kelley combined for 208 yards rushing on 32 carries for a ridiculous 6.5 YPC. Ekeler is indeed one of the best in the game but both he and Kelley feasted. Ekeler had a long run of 55 yards. I’m pretty sure all of us thought David Long was an upgrade at ILB, but on opening day, Long played only 17 snaps and gave us 1 tackle. In contrast, Andrew Van Ginkel played a surprising 63% of the snaps at LB, and produced a modest 5 combined tackles. For additional contrast, former Dolphins LB Elandon Roberts started for the Steelers and played 43% of the defensive snaps and had 8 tackles, and 2 tackles for a loss. This an early disappointment, and something that we’ll need to keep an eye on.
The offense though was better than I could have hoped for. It’s been well documented how the Chargers shut down Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins offense last year during that horrific west coast trip that started with a beatdown in San Francisco and ended with a stymied offensive output against the Chargers who took away the short passing lanes, and the Dolphins at that time had no answers. This past Sunday however, the Dolphins had all the answers and absolutely shredded the Chargers defense to the tune of 536 yards, 466 of those yards through the air, compared to 145 yards on a paltry 10 completions out of 28 pass attempts. Tyreek Hill was unstoppable, and provided nearly half of the receiving yards with 215 yards receiving and 2 TD’s. Jaylen Waddle had a nice day as well, 4 receptions for 78 yards, but that pales in comparison to the monster day Hill had. We were running the football well, but basically stopped running, although the results say we did the right thing because the LA defense could not contain the passing game.
One game is not enough information to really identify what a team is all about. We know Head Coach Bill Belichick well, and we all know here that he will simply not allow Tyreek Hill to beat his defense. That’s what he does, his M.O. is to take away the thing you do best, and make you beat them a different way. Raheem Mostert has been practicing, so he’s likely to start, and the run game should get a boost from rookie De’Von Achane who has also been practicing and will play this Sunday night. You never know what the gameplan will be, but if I could conjure a guess, it would be that we will be running more than we did against the Chargers, and also that De’Von Achane will get his share of touches. With extra attention on Tyreek Hill, others will benefit, like Achae, Waddle and perhaps even Durham Smythe, who will see his former TE mate against our defense for the first time, Mike Gesicki. As far as the defense, I also expect a better effort against the Patriots, who don’t have top tier talent at the skill positions that the Chargers have, namely Herbert, Ekeler, Allen and Williams. Instead, it will be QB Mac Jones, WR’s DeVante Parker and Kennrick Bourne, big back Rhamondre Stevenson and TE’s Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki.
The Patriots hung in there opening day against a very good Philadelphia Eagles team. It was a close game, the Patriots came back from a 1st quarter 16 point deficit, but ended up losing 25-20. The Eagles defense contained Rhamondre Stevenson to just 25 yards on 12 carries, but Ezekiel Elliott had moderately more success, 29 yards on 7 carries. In general, the Patriots offense doesn’t scare opposing teams, but a Bill Belichick team is always a dangerous team, although the Dolphins have recently had Bill’s number, taking 4 of 6 games in the last 3 seasons, and more importantly, winning every game QB Tua Tagovailoa played in, 4-0. I’m sure the Patriots will try and disrupt the rhythm Tua has with his receivers, and if that’s the case, Tua may need to find secondary and tertiary targets, which is why I think there’s potential for Achane to have a fair amount of action Sunday night. Waddle, Berrios, Cracraft and Ezukanma should also see more action. This would be Achane’s first NFL action, so I should probably temper my enthusiasm for him, but if he’s healthy, this is what he’s here for.
It was frustrating seeing the defense gashed in the run game, and of course even more frustrating, for me at least, to see our vaunted pass rush neutralized nearly the entire game. At the end, we made the plays to seal the victory, but Wilkins, Davis, Sieler, Phillips and Chubb didn’t get to Herbert most of the game, and if not for absurdly gaudy offensive day, the Chargers 433 yards and 34 points would have been a really good offensive output. If this defense is going to be a top unit in the NFL, we’re going to have to better than last week’s effort. One other surprise on defense was S DeShon Elliott playing 100% of the defensive snaps. Clearly, S Brandon Jones is not where he needs to be yet, but Elliott rose to the occasion with 13 total tackles, 8 solo. CB Kader Kohou got the start and of course had the huuuuge sack on Justin Herbert that was nearly a safety. Kohou played 98% of the defensive snaps and has been a huge pickup for our team. Eli Apple played 74% of the defensive snaps, but it was clearly Kohou who is in the drivers seat. I’m curious to see if CB Cam Smith will get any defensive snaps, he played only special teams against the Chargers.
There are a few things I’d like to see this Sunday night against the Patriots. We know Terron Armstead is a scratch, he’ll be given at least one more week to heal up, which means T Kendall Lamm will play at least one more game. The offensive line was better than any of us could have hoped for, 45 pass attempts, ZERO sacks. That’s pretty much a shock if we’re being fair. I’d love to see that continue of course and I’d like to see more out of our running game, and that can include short passes to the RB’s either behind the line of scrimmage or beyond, but I want to see Mostert, Achane, Ahmed and even Ezuknama get some touches if the defense is doubling or even tripling Hill. These guys need to make the NE defense pay if they go all in on stopping Tyreek Hill. Mostly, I want to see the defense bounce back and look dominant, and not get pushed around in the run game and be ineffective getting to the QB. I want to see Tua remain upright making plays, and as mentioned, let’s the exciting rookie De’Von Achane get some touches and see what he can do!
GO DOLPHINS!!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
OMGLFG!!!!!
Hopefully Mac Jones plays like Tony Eason tonight
MIAMI
RUN
THE
BALL
DO IT
LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
GO PHINS!!!
HELL YEAH!!!
I’m feelin somtin I’M FEELIN SOMTIM HEHR
Fins Up Baby!!!!!!!!!!
ooooooooh #8 fd that up
Hello Mr Long
Well that’s a punt!
Nice!!! Got the stop!!
Harumph
I reserve the right to freak out still
Good D
Let’s Roll Tua
OK
Let’s see our offense cut through the defense like a hot knife through cheese
Good start for the D
Does anyone know why Tua doesn’t fully buckle his chin strap? It was like that all last week
He’s from Hawaii.
Ahmed was wide open
That was a real shitty end to an excellent drive. They have to get the ball in the end zone.
Two weeks in a row Williams screws up a snap at the 5 on the opening drive
Is this some bizzarro “hold in” ? 🤔
It sucks that we settled for the FG,but it’s nice to see an answer to Belecheat’s machinations
The Eagles also struggled against the Pats D in the red zone
At least he managed to get it to sidelines , and not to a defender
Eli Apple sucks
There’s a Chubby
WOOT WOOT
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!!
Chubb with the club
Great play by Chubb!
Defense baby
Glad we got the turnover but hate all the blitzing. Bourne almost had a TD there
That play gave me a chubby…
I have a chubb
Someone start talking shit about Ogbah!
Not sure I’m gonna be able to handle Eli Apple until Ramsey comes back
No kidding, put the rookie in.
Is he active?
1.50am. Whoever thought this was a good time for the Fins to play?
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
That’s an encouraging 3rd down conversion
We are gonna have 200 yards rushing this week
🐧
Great job to break the tackle
I think we are gonna see some reverses tonight
🐧🐧
Jeez, you give Hill or Waddle a little space and those guys get gone fast!
Speed kills
Who dat #17?
Back to school
Let’s get this TD Miami
Woot woot
Woopooooooohoooooooo!
RUSHING TD!
Patriots look so confused on that play
Nice choice of gap to shoot by Mostert
We got the TD with the Mostest!!!
💥🐬💪
Ok, all right, LET’S GO DEFENSE!!! THREE AND OUT!
NOT EVEN!
TURN OVER ON FIRST!
TURN OVER
TURN OVER
TURN OVER!
LET’S GO DOLPHINS!! AHHHHAHHHHAAAAAHHHAAAAHHEEEAAAAAAHHHHG
cough sniffle
I liked the wrinkle on that Waddle screen where Reek ran that short motion. They were using that play last week and it was on the plays that even Belichick reviewed on his web show called the Belestrator.
Huge that we got the TD there. I’d like to see the d force a three and out here!
Not your AVG defensive player
AVG!!@
Empty hand
Never mind he had enough
Incomplete
Bad decision to challenge
Just a time out.
That ball was not in control
Bad challenge. No shot they overturn that
Bad challenge
“Firmly grasped around the ball” my squiggly
Probably not going to win the challenge but I like the challenge anyway
The ball is on the palm of his hand but it moved from a regular throwing grip after the hit
It moved from his grip to the palm of his hand before going forward
Probably gonna lose the challenge though
1 challenge lost. Again
He hit the arm before it came forward
Yes he did
The ball moved too
But it moved to the palm of his hand
I think he lost it after hand was goi g forward , and/or too close to reverse… hope I’m wrong 🤷♂️
Problem is they need irrefutable evidence to overturn, there’s too much if a question in my mind
Still worth challenging because if you win it is huge if not you lose a time out
30 yards for a time out!
Worth it
I think so too
Especially with 7 mins in half left
How was that not a PI?
Are you kidding me?
No PI on that
He shoved Waddle before the ball arrived
Waddle was walking around after looking at each of the refs like come on you too?
Underthrown, but no big deal.
Should have been PI
You aren’t allowed to push receivers as far as I know
The ball was so underthrown, don’t see any way that could be a defensive penalty
He turned his head
That’s what she said
Bailey fucking stinks
He only punted once last week, but it was like 36 yards
a whopping 37 on that one
I really hate eli apple
Eli Apple making Parker look like Randy Moss
That’s what we needed. Slow this down, and now dig in and stop them
Is this the Fins reject drive?
Need a Pats version of the Miami miracle now
Mike
It wasn’t under brown
Waddle is supposed to come back for that throw
When he did the DV shoved him
That’s PI
You can’t touch the receiver which the ball in the air
It’s doesn’t matter if it’s under thrown or overthrown
It only matters if it’s catchable
And even if it’s not catchable it can still be illegal contact
That’s not supposed to be a reply
Doesn’t matter if a ball is underthrown you still can’t push the WR
DEFENSE
DEFENSE
DEFENSE
LET’S GO DEFENSE!
STAND THE FUCK UP!!
Need a pick 6 from Kouhou
Beautiful play!!! Block that kick!!!
That’s interference
I thought it was
Isn’t it the patriots timeout when there player goes down ?
Who wants that t/o back now? Asking for a friend
😎
Tua just keeps putting throws on the numbers
What a throw
Crazy Good
That is a throw
That throw
PERTY
what a catch too
Just clock it
Wooooooooooo!!!!!!!
BOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome answer
💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
That’s a drive that should be in an Art Gallery
that review still basically gave us a timeout
Yep
🐆🐆🐆
He’s amazing
Tua is lit
Every throw on the M-O-N-E-Y
💰 💰💰💰💰
3 options for that TD!