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 
Big play Bradley
Thank goodness Chubb got in there
Huge sack by Chubb
Gotta make the stop
Fuck off lol
Kidding me????
let this game end PLEASE lol
he didn’t get it
Short
That’s short!
It’s short
Strange play in more ways than one
So all those years it was Brady that got the calls .. 😊
God damn that was intense
Our ball
OMG FOR ONCE IN HISTORY
The Pats don’t get the home cooking
Right call
BB’s post-match will be epic
We finally out Ref’d Billy!!! 🙂
BALLGAME. We win TWO road games to start the season. 49ers only other 2-0 team to do the same.
TUA UNDEFEATED AGAINST BELECHEAT
2-0
Nogtih all. Can’t see my adrenalin levels dropping too quick tho 😕
Tua 5-0 vs the evil empire
AVG in on the stop
Phew! That was a crazy play!
First place baby !!!
I’ll tell your what, we ripped on Eli Apple, but if he doesn’t throw his body in there, that’s a first down
Yup that was huge
I will never understand why we retained Crossman
only 5 road games left (at KC is neutral site)
Mostert with 121 yards 2TD NICE
I think someone picked that score
1 o’clock games for the next 4 week
I really need that
😂 it’s a tough start to the week
Huge win tonight. Wasn’t as close as it ended up
You got to explain to me terry what is “is”
Dumbasses
In our next 4 we have Broncos, Bills, Giants, and Panthers
Only the Bills on the road
3 of first 4 on the road is a tough start … If we are 3-1 (that Eagles road game on Sunday night looks to be a huge challenge), we DO get 4 of last 5 games at home!
It might be fun to spend a few hours tomorrow reading Pats sites as the collectively blame that last play for the loss (even though they were STILL 7 pts behind anyway). But, they will need to find a reason they were “cheated”.
A LOT of teams with playoff dreams are now 0-2! Jets, Chargers, Bungles,Broncos are among them!!
JUST A GREAT, GREAT WIN! And kudos to our O-Line for another strong performance! Finally, Finally, Finally we now have an O-Line!!
Sure wish I could have said that over most of the last 15 seasons. Better Ultra Late than never!!
HOPE #17 is NOT concussed. And hope the jerk who cheap-shotted him is severely punished by the league!
It’s mostly the same guys ….
We are currently in 2nd place in the AFC behind Balt who edges us with 19 net points to our 9 net points
Both wins on the road against AFC teams is huge as well
GREAT win, Phins!!!
Great fight, g’night!!!
Belecheat certainly feels like he was cheated. It’s beautiful. LOL
I’m not going to get any work done tomorrow.
Ditto
Two weeks in a row our defense sealed the win.
are the Patriots eliminated from the playoffs yet? lol
GOOD NIGHT, Y’all!!!
GONNA BE A FINE DAY TOMORROW!!!
So many times in the 2nd half we could have put this away, but our special teams really let us down, and the snap issues are ridiculous.
But we’re 2-0 with two wins on the road and two conference wins. Can’t ask for more than that.
Don’t count your chickens, blah blah blah but next Sunday is the home opener which is going to be emotional and it is going to be a hot as balls swamp ass 1pm start. Those guys don’t know what humidity is. I hope the grounds crew turns on the underground soaking system to turn up the heat that much more.
I am hopeful for 3-0 going into our first match up with Buf.
GREAT GAME
NOGTIH ALL
Tua “only” had a 92. something passer rating today because of that pick and running for TD’s instead of passing.
W is a W and we are 2-0 WOOT
Now Nogtih all LOL
Nope, no one picked it between rock and Kong they nailed it though 🤷♂️
Howie’s List
Week 2
🐬@ 🐍snakes🦞lobsters🪱worms🦹♀️cheaters👎losers🤡clowns
🚷running forbidden,
🦬 33-17 🐬
🌴 20-13🐬
🗡 41-17 🐬
🐟🐠🦈 36-10 🐬
🇨🇦 35–17 🐬
🏈 31-16 🐬
🐷45 – 14 🐬
🪨 31-24 🐬
🦍 24-20 🐬
🗿34-17 🐬🔥
🇬🇧 30-20 🐬 (💳-🐎 go 0-2) 😂
We held the Pets to 88 yards rushing, 3.5 per on 25 carries. Longest carry by a RB was 12 yds (Mac Jones had a 18 yd scramble).
Ex-Dolphins were two of the top three receivers for the Pets.
Parker led the Pets with 6 catches for 57 yds.
Gesicki was 3rd on the Pets with 5 catches for 33 yds.
Whew, great to be 2-0!!!
Can’t wait to play at our normal time next week. Way to go Dolphins!!
Nogtih
Couldn’t blog during the game. Couldn’t long on with my iphone.
GO DOLPHINS!!!!!!!!!!!
Player of the game for me: AVG!
Dude balled!!
Was it just me or did Lamm really suck blocking that first half atleast? He was missing a block on every running play in that first half.
I hope Armstead is ready soon.
One last thing…big call by the ref crew on the road to end the game. Gotta give them props.
It was 100% the correct call, but you can see the mindset with that nimrod Collinsworth basically making the point that it was game sealing so maybe they shouldn’t have overturned the call.
He can be a serious ass in that regard. Never mind the obvious that he was down short.
Yep! I hate the idea of ‘don’t make the correct call because it will end the game and it’s anti-climactic’.
We were really lucky there was such a clear view of the knee, the ball, and the hash mark in front of the player. It made it clear and obvious.
I’m sure plenty of talking heads will turn this into a bigger deal than it should be, but eff ’em, he was short. No one got robbed.
Sanders 1 of 3 on FG sucked ass and this would not have been close
Question, did we replace Apple with Bethel on that last series? Good thing we got rid of Gesicki who AGAIN could not break the tackle of a much smaller DB and had to lateral to an OL who was more capable of fighting for the first only to come up inches short. Something Gesicki has NEVER been able to do.
I didn’t see it since I was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, but Brian said Apple was in on the tackle that won the game.
Good play by Bethel.
I don’t know. Will have to re watch the play but Bethel was the one that stopped Gesicki in his tracks to force the lateral.
Another great element of this win is, not only are the Pets 0-2, but they were both home losses.
Nice!
People knock Mac Jones but thought he was good tonight. He’s a gamer.
Pats are at Jets next week. Hope they beat the shit out of each other!
We are the top scoring offense in the AFC with 60 points in 2 games.
Though we are in the bottom half of scoring defense in the league with 51 points.
Big team win on the road against a division rival to go 2-0 in the AFC. 🙂
There are only 3 undefeated teams in the AFC.
2-0 Dolphins
2-0 Ravens
1-0 Browns at the Steelers Monday night
I could go for a Pats win over the Jets Next week then another loss at the Cowboys in week 4.
A week 4 where the jets have the Chiefs at home
Van Ginkel should get game ball.
^ AVG!
He’s a gamer.
He’s just an average guy.🤣
He should retire. It’s crazy how the Dolphins care so little about him they are letting him play QB. The NFL shouldn’t let him play anymore. He has a weak arm and is terrible throwing the ball down the field. Plus, anyone could put up those numbers throwing to Hill and Waddle. Oh yeah, and he’s too short and unathletic as well.
Did I miss anything? lol
😂
You missed his low release point. Unable to get the ball over his OL.
Mostert also deserves a game ball.
Tua is a modern day left handed Joe Montana.
I’ll say this, if we don’t clean up the snaps on offense and STs that could be our Achilles heal. Sanders! Yeah you.
CavalierKong says:
September 17, 2023 at 11:26 pm
I will never understand why we retained Crossman
It’s mind boggling for sure. We were awful on ST’s .
I’ll give the STs a pass on that blocked FG, but you would have hoped that SOMEONE , a player or coach, would have noticed it and called TO.
Victory Monday
We scored 24 points despite the offense not playing up to snuff and Sanders not converting 2 FGs. Defense played lights out except for Eli Apple. Road win against Belichick and watching him throw that red flag in utter contempt was so satisfying.
Knowing we can rely on the running game and receiving options 3-5 is comforting. We haven’t seen that in a long time. You’ve got to find ways to win in this league.
Rockphin says:
September 17, 2023 at 11:40 pm
Don’t count your chickens, blah blah blah but next Sunday is the home opener which is going to be emotional and it is going to be a hot as balls swamp ass 1pm start. Those guys don’t know what humidity is
On Saturday we moved stuff into storage in Sebastian FL, about 6 hours worth, the last 2 hours were brutal with humidity, that’s the same pain the donkies will feel on Sunday
Herbert led Chargers are 0-2 now too.
It was nice to see Tua last week throw for all of those yards, in a game we needed it
This game it wasn’t need and he threw for a modest 249
Hopefully his stats aren’t padded this year so much, that his next contract averages over 50m, because of it
Shall we now compare Tua with 0-2 Herbert 😜
Tua wins period
Tua has been sacked once for 5 yards thru 2 games without Armstead
It was great listening to the lamentations of the women this morning
As fans we often expect ‘perfection’ on every play … but winning in the NFL is difficult every week.
For me, what we have seen with 2 road wins to start this season is the CULTURE of this team is in place and expresses consistently.
Amazing to see how relaxed Tua is late in 4th quarter AND how the energy/urgency of the defense spikes at critical moments to close out a game!! Not only does this group expect to win, they show an understanding that talent still requires energy/effort to get those wins.
Looking ahead to Denver … although they lost both games by only a combined 3 points, our matchups look pretty good.
Their defense is bad vs pass, the OL gave up 7 sacks to Washington, and their leading rusher this week was Russell Wilson with 56 yards. The previous week the best RB had 52 yards.
We’ll get our first chance to see how Fangio handles a QB who wants to run (albeit not like Lamar Jackson but still….).
Glorious victory Monday
Happily, I don’t see anyone talking about the overturned call at the end; it’s all about the blocked kick.
And this from the guy who blocked the kick:
“According to Schooler, now in his second year as a core special teams contributor, the Patriots coaches saw a weakness in Miami’s field goal protection that they could take advantage of with Schooler starting in motion.”
Said it last night Lamm struggled in run blocking especially in the first half.
Mac Jones completed 31 of 42, 73.8%. I believe about 1/3 of that was vs Eli Apple. I can only remember 1 incomplete when Jones threw his way. Several penalties also.
That 1 on 1 4th down stop by Bethel on Gesicki was a game saver. Yeah Gesicki lateraled and we rallied and got the stop but Bethel made that stop possible.
Hopefully we get good news on Waddle and Ahmed today
Waddle? I thought he came back in the game.
Pensacola Beach this weekend. They say great white but believe it’s a Mako
It was a Mako.
Oh, so it is a concussion with Waddle. Shit!
Hopefully not 🤞
Winner | RB Raheem Mostert
Winner | Vic Fangio
Loser | Dolphins Special Teams
Loser | Eli Apple
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins-vs-new-england-patriots-winners-and-losers-raheem-mostert-vic-fangio-and-more/ar-AA1gRQyq?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=03e6ad194a6b470c93f7d1cbcb750eed&ei=10
From the main article “We know Head Coach Bill Belichick well, and we all know here that he will simply not allow Tyreek Hill to beat his defense”.
Got to say the way Hill cuts with speed and Tua throws with anticipation, I didn’t believe this was possible even with three safeties and CBs in the mix. But MM stayed away for the most part and Mike nailed it. Tip of the cap.
So glad we didn’t have to endure OT.
Even though the numbers weren’t gaudy last night (or this morning for me) cf Bolts game, they were still impressive on the road in a hostile stadium vs BB. Massive win and it showed us continuing to trend in a good direction with different areas to improve on. Keep showing me Fins, keep showing me. You’ll make a believer of me yet!
Ah victory Monday!
My favorite day of the week
Glorious!
I was going to post the McDaniel Locker room speech myself. This is the most articulate I’ve heard him since he got here.
lol, true
Did anyone feel we were going to lose this game at any point last night? I didn’t. I’ve spent the last 20 years with this sense of impending doom during a game, but this team is definitely different.
Same feeling
I got a littler nervous after we missed so many chances to put them away
It’s not necessarily a trait of a bad team to lose a road game to a division foe – sometimes you lose the games you should win
So I started to think, even if we lose this one, we are still on track
Pats at Jets next week
Bills at Commanders next week
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/dolphins-2023-week-2-snap-count-observations/ar-AA1gTuNg?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d8756912f86f467b9f943acb5471bdf2&ei=61
Would not be surprised to see Oglala traded before the deadline. Don’t see him back next year – only $2M dead cap if he’s a post June 1 cut.
https://nypost.com/2023/09/18/jets-cowboys-fans-fight-in-bloody-brawl-at-atampt-stadium/
Chubb was really good last night
Worth mentioning bc people criticize him
Phillips and Chubb together all season are going to be very good for us
👍
Agree and have to add Raekwon Davis had one of his best games
You really can’t ask for 2 bigger defensive plays than the fumble and then the sack. Both of those plays killed drives
pheloniusphish says:
September 18, 2023 at 1:52 pm
Would not be surprised to see Oglala traded before the deadline. Don’t see him back next year – only $2M dead cap if he’s a post June 1 cut.
————–
Was just thinking that same thing. Also, if there are some major WR injury to a team Wilson could be gone also. I don’t see us getting much for him though.
Ogbah