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 
Very nice (in best Borat voice)
PT too 😉
Huge TD before the half, and we get the ball back in the 2nd half
Almost a perfect half , and we get the ball first 😎👍👍
So far so good Toba
The fans booing the Pats off the field. LOL
Now I hope we come out of the half with a completely different running plan that is just as successful until BAM TUA TD
Raekwon Davis having the best game I’ve seen him have maybe since he’s been here
He and AVG have been great
15/20
181
1 TD
119 rating
Not a bad half
Oh, and a fucking dime to set up that last TD
GREAT start, Phins!!!
Need a strong 2nd half. The Pets don’t quit. We’re the better team and it shows. Just need to execute.
Would love to get a score on the opening drive of the 2nd half. Would like to see a long drive, good mix of run plays and take 5-7 minutes off the clock and get a FG or a TD. That would be excellent
Yep, FG makes it 3 scores.
The team came out focused and ready to play tonight.
Happy we didn’t give up on the running game in the 1st half. We’re keeping the Belicheat* Defense honest.
Lol
He always makes me laugh
Yeah, that was GRAND!!!
That’s pretty funny
Brian – agree! I can’t recall seeing this much of Raekwon Davis. AVG also stepping up big time
ZERO SACKS YIELDED BY OUR O-LINE!!!
Yep! Again
I posted earlier than Tannehill was sacked 5 times today by the chargers
Craycraft coming up big again in a big moment.
Tua spreading the ball around. 7 players with a reception.
Averaging 4 yds a carry. Not bad considering.
We just need to be able to continue to get positive yardage when we run the ball. As long as we’re not taking tackles for loss, the running game doesn’t have to be spectacular.
Only 2 penalties for 15 yds.
Strong 2nd half. Go Dolphins!!!!
Well that’s not good
Burn em with Achane
I was waiting for a reverse and now I regret it
Sometimes McDaniel can get too cute
Tried to get too cute there
Not exactly how I wanted this to go . . .
Belichick made adjustments, MM has to keep up
Is Achane active tonight?
The report I read said he was
Thanks
Well the punt as pretty good
Let’s get an interception
I think it’s Hollands time to shine
Not a TO but he did shine
get another TO
Holt shit Eli Apple
Apple blows
Fucking Apple is useless. Should have blown that play up!
Apple sour
Rotten Apple
⛄️⛄️⛄️
Huuuuge play Holland!
If the patriots adjusted out of that 3 safety stuff, maybe we can hit Hill deep
Alright, don’t get cute with the play calling on second down
Can it really be a bad thing to give Cam Smith a shot here?
He doesn’t play rookies unless you’re undrafted
Unfortunately that’s pretty accurate.
SHHHHH
I don’t want to say anything nice about anybody right now…..
I’ll wait 😁🙌🙌🙌🙌
Waddle hoppin not good
Waddle limped off
They keep playing him in the backfield and it’s awesome
They are really trying to make a new Deebo
Maybe we can give up on the reverse
🐧🐧🐧
Wasn’t that the Ezukama play they tried in the redzone before?
Awesome throw
🐧🐧🐧
🐖💨
The limp was fake I guess
On that play, he’s just getting the ball so deep in bacckfield
WOW line up EZE with Mostert and then flex the RB out to slot and keep the WR back as the RB, but on a rout.
Achane sighting!
Why pick up that flag?
Pick that one up assholes!!
That’s Jackson
Wilkins
Correct
No on the holding call that killed our drive
Didn’t even see it! 😦
Ewwwwwwww
Fuck
Come on D, stop this nonsense
Give Christian Wilkins a LOT of credit on that blocked kick. He probably saved a TD with his non-stop pursuit.
Well, he didn’t slide to pick up the guy who blocked it so we’re even!
Pick time
There ya go👍👍
Let’s get a turnover
What a baby…lol
Petulant little shit!
LOL BIll is a treasure
Pretty sure he’s going to win this challenge
Probably
but can they actually see the ball in a replay to overturn.
Sorry, but I laughed out loud at the Belicheat* challenge flag spike! 😆
I did as well
We got a break
Don’t be snitty with us Mr. Belecheat
XXX
Howard!
X loves him some Patsies
INT baby!!!!
X
X baby
YESSSSSS … AND that drive cost the Cheats a time out on that failed challenge.
BWAAAAAA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAA HAAAAAAAAA
LET’S GO MIAMI!!
I AM NOT CRYING I AM NOT CRYING
It’s just raining really hard 😎
❌❌❌
Run this ball down their throat
Yeah – Tua and Jones stats are comparable. Mostly 😉
What a tremendous play there. Game changer!
X!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Compare the throw you just saw Mac Jones make to this throw by Tua
X!!!!!!!! N
I never saw the ball once on the challenge play, even when they said you can see the ball there and it’s a hair short
Dang dangerous play, but could have been a big one
Yep
Tua looked a little revved up
Would like a nice long, high booming punt here
I feel like we are beating ourselves more in this second half, than the Patriots stopping us.
Huge kick
Good punt and coverage
Well done!!
We have to be careful here
Just miss by AVG
Make the stop on 3rd and long now
That’s just pathetic to let Jones run for a first down on 3rd and 15
They called that holding but not the push on Waddle?
It doesn’t matter- Jones had the first anyway