Let me start off by saying it was great to see everyone who attended the 2024 Fest! Despite the fact that the Dolphins lost after leading for most of the game didn’t ruin the day entirely because we had fantastic company! The Dolphins have now found another way to lose a game, one they were pretty much in control of through 3 and 1/2 quarters. Now, our Dolphins are 2-5, and face the daunting task of going to Buffalo to face the 1st place Buffalo Bills. The chasm between the 2 teams is wide, and the Bills record of 6-2 and our 2-5 record don’t adequately describe the difference between the teams.
The Buffalo Bills are #5 in offensive scoring averaging 28.8 PPG and are #6 allowing only 18.3 PPG. The Dolphins in contrast are #32 in offensive scoring at 13.9 PPG and mid pack at #16 on defense allowing 22.4 PPG. We could easily be 1-6 if not Jevon Holland’s game saving forced fumble near the end of game 1 against the Jaguars. Or, we could be 3-4 if Tua was somehow able to handle the high snap from C Aaron Brewer. I don’t know what to expect from our team against the Bills. No question the offense looked better in the hands of QB Tua Tagovailoa, but if you look at it in the context of we’re playing the Bills in Buffalo, it’s fugly man. Over the last 7 years, we have been outscored 290-174, and are 0-7 playing in Orchard Park Buffalo. You have to go back to 2016 to find the last time the Dolphins defeated the Bills in their house. QB Tua Tagovailoa has averaged a paltry 79.37 rating against the Bills in Buffalo over the last 4 years, and the one good game he had still resulted in a 32-29 defeat.
If, somehow, the Dolphins can beat the Bills this week, I suppose they could still have a small chance for a playoff berth, but they would have some tough sledding ahead, and more than likely need to win 7 of the next 9 afterwards, and that’s a tall task indeed for a team with the worst scoring offense, and a defense that couldn’t close out the Arizona Cardinals at home last week. What has been strange about our offense is WR Tyreek Hill has only cracked 100 yards once, the season opener. Jaylen Waddle’s season has been pretty similar, having only one 100 yard game, the last game against Arizona. TE Jonnu Smith who was supposed to be a big part of the offense has been hit or miss. Rookie RB Jaylen Wright, who to me looks like our best all around back just doesn’t get nearly enough touches. He’s averaging a team best 5.3 YPC but has only 36 carries on the season while De”von Achane has been getting too many touches with 81. RB Raheem Mostert also has had more carries than Wright with 45. I think it’s time to change that, Mostert might not even be here next season, and Achane is too fragile to handle a heavy workload.
The defense was a huge disappointment this past week. Yes, we lost OLB Jaelan Phillips for the season a few weeks ago, and OLB Bradley Chubb is still on IR. Our defense, with the Dolphins up 27-18 with 12:22 left in the 4th quarter allowed an 9 play 70 yard TD drive to close the score to MIA 27 – ARZ 25. Worse than the previous drive, the Dolphins allowed a 5:01 game winning drive to run the clock out, including 2 Miami Dolphins TIMEOUTS and the 2 Minute Warning. Pathetic!!!! Rookie LB Chop Robinson had one lousy tackle in the game. Chop has 10 total tackles playing nearly 50% of the snaps on defense. He has 2 tackles for a loss and ZERO sacks. Is it possible he turns things around? Who knows, but it’s another huge strike against letting Grier buy the groceries. Not sure I’d trust him to bring in the mail!
Whatever the result of this game is will decide the tenor of the next article. If we lose, I can guarantee my pitchfork will be sharpened and ready to stick it to the Dolphins front office, Head Coach Mike McDaniel, and many others. Grier with his myopic assessment of not only the talent of the roster he assembled, but the roster construction which is littered with one year contracts, except of the course the huge ones on offense like QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle, all to the tune of 13.9 PPG. If we don’t win this Sunday, it’s time to start looking elsewhere for a GM and a Head Coach too because no GM should have to be saddled with a lame duck Head Coach.
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
We have a great running offense. Who would have thunk?
Told you…crickets, nothing. As it should be
And I’m happy about that.
@NFL_DovKleiman
The Cowboys are releasing veteran DT Jordan Phillips. They acquired him a trade before the season.
————-
Interesting…
Xavien Howard update…
https://x.com/LoganLaine7/status/1853543734283038737
Who?
Oh, just some guy who may be able to help our injury-riddled secondary… who can no longer command/demand the $$$ he gets… and is probably much healthier now than in years prior due to his time off.
Give him a 2-month deal for veteran min and he may come back to us to prove he still has it.
@Marcel_LJ
NFL trade deadline has passed and the Dolphins have stood pat LB Bradley Chubb is nearing a return and Miami will need him down the stretch. WR River Cracraft returned to practice last week, as well. OL Isaiah Wynn remains on PUP but Dolphins OL has played well recently
I saw one thought/theory as to why we didn’t make a move at the trade deadline today: Steve Ross is done with Chris Grier making irrational moves… or any moves at all. Grier may be fired after the season is over.
Now while I don’t believe that’s necessarily the case, it’s an interesting thought… especially after Drew Rosenhaus stated just yesterday that he really believed our Phins were going to be buyers before the 4 PM/EST deadline today.
Who knows and only time will tell…
If we don’t make the playoffs, and we probably won’t, he should get fired. MM, should probably go as well because most times you don’t want to saddle a GM with a HC he didn’t hire.
@TomPelissero
Full terms of all 18 in-season trades, via NFL Research: – Jaguars traded DL Roy Robertson-Harris to Seahawks for 2026 6th rd pick – Raiders traded WR Davante Adams to Jets for 2025 conditional 3rd rd pick – Browns traded WR Amari Cooper & 2025 6th rd pick to Bills for 2025 3rd rd pick & 2026 7th rd pick – Texans traded RB Cam Akers & 2025 7th rd pick to Vikings for 2026 6th rd pick – Titans traded WR DeAndre Hopkins to Chiefs for 2025 conditional 5th rd pick – Seahawks traded LB Jerome Baker & 2025 4th rd pick to Titans for LB Ernest Jones IV – Patriots traded LB Josh Uche to Chiefs for 2026 6th rd pick – Panthers traded WR Diontae Johnson & 2025 6th rd pick to Ravens for 2025 5th rd pick – Jaguars traded OT Cam Robinson & 2026 conditional 7th rd pick to Vikings for 2025 conditional 5th rd pick – Broncos traded LB Baron Browning to Cardinals for 2025 6th rd pick – Browns traded DE Za’Darius Smith & 2026 7th rd pick to Lions for 2025 5th rd pick & 2026 6th rd pick – Bears traded RB Khalil Herbert to Bengals for 2025 7th rd pick – Panthers traded WR Jonathan Mingo & 2025 7th rd pick to Cowboys for 2025 4th rd pick – Saints traded CB Marshon Lattimore & 2025 5th rd pick to Commanders for 2025 3rd rd pick, 2025 4th rd pick & 2025 6th rd pick – Jets traded WR Mike Williams to Steelers for 2025 5th rd pick – Packers traded LB Preston Smith to Steelers for 2025 7th rd pick – Rams trade CB Tre’Davious White & 2027 7th rd pick to Ravens for 2026 7th rd pick – Texans trade DT Khalil Davis to 49ers for 2026 7th rd pick
I tried to post the last MM presser, I think yesterday’s, but couldn’t find my way back to it…lol
To paraphrase, MM believes the team is better than their record of 2-6, but unfortunately, the record is the record. They will continue to make adjustments and work to improve. Turning it around is doable and they’re going to take it on.
Mike E.
says:
November 5, 2024 at 5:42 pm
If we don’t make the playoffs, and we probably won’t, he should get fired. MM, should probably go as well because most times you don’t want to saddle a GM with a HC he didn’t hire.
———–
Yeah, I don’t know about that. I mean, if you hire a vet HC who has a stellar reputation, there’s no need for a GM to vet the HC… it should be the other way around were a vet HC hires the GM.
I’m just sayin’ that it cuts both ways in terms of a GM and HC relationship. Of course they need to be compatible. I mean, we ALL know who wears the pants in Kansas City: Andy Reid. GM Brett Veach will defer to Andy Reid, not the other way around.
But in your particular instance, yes… Coach McD may need to be vetted by a new GM in order to keep his job. Coach McD doesn’t have the career accolades that Coach Reid has, of course.
Mike E,
I’m not sure how I feel about Coach McD at the moment. He’s has his 3rd DC in 3 years, he’s always made the playoffs as our HC (looking grim this season), when Tua’s healthy our team dominates offensively, and McD is still a young buck HC… plenty of time to learn even more.
I don’t believe this season is all of McD’s fault, but nevertheless, he’s now suspect. I don’t think ya can fire him after one failed season when Chris Grier tried to put a bandaid on the team (cap reasons).
I think of it like this M – If MM saw Skylar Thompson and thought to himself, I hope Tua doesn’t go down because this guy can’t play, that’s on him, not the GM. He has to let the GM know what he needs. It was inexcusable the shit we did for 4 weeks with Tua out. You can’t put that on Grier, that’s MM. He didn’t help either Tyler Huntley or Tim Boyle by not simplifying the offense, cut down all the motion crap to avoid excessive penalties. That’s also all on him. I think he did an absolutely horrible job of keeping this team competitive without his boy. He’s going to have to coach his ass off to get this team into the playoffs, because he basically just lost back to back winnable games. I feel like you have to evaluate everything, he gets no free pass because Tua went down.
I must admit… when ya put it that way, I cannot disagree. But still… I think Coach McD should get a mulligan for this season. AND, he should be put on notice that his seat is getting very warm.
I’m very upset that we didn’t try to upgrade our backup QB situation, and that’s not just in hindsight. You and several others may recall that I wanted a savvy vet to be Tua’s backup before the season even began.
My go-to backup QB’s name rhymes with Mase Weenum! LOL 😉
(cap reasons) He put the team in cap hell swinging for the fences and striking out last season (and made it worse extending 8-10 contracts into void years this season) Grier needs to be fired. The sooner the better.
No mulligans. Swept by the Bills with Tua.
Still hasn’t shown he can coach the team to win a big game against quality/playoff opponents.
He and Grier need to go.
Against Buffalo this year, first game it changed on the backs of 2 WRs no longer on the team (ints), that never should’ve been, the second we just didn’t have enough bodies on D to hold them off
Make no mistake I want MM and Grier gone, but we did take a big stride against the Bills
MM doesn’t seem to be able to adjust in game, causing the mess we’ve seen this year and I don’t even want to get into game/season prep
If we could only retain MM as OC and move Weaver up to HC I’d be fine with that for a year to see what happens
The WR’s had no reason to be here, and Tua had no reason to throw to them either. I blame Tua more for throwing to guys that didn’t know their routes and had no rhythm with him, yet on crucial plays, threw to them anyway.
They’re professionals and not rookies, Tua has to execute the play as called, he’s not the HC
If you had said it with MM instead of Tua I’d have agreed😜
MM you got some splainin to do to Ross, why haven’t we heard anything from Ross?
OD was right
Why Weaver? Defense hasn’t done shit.
he’s a hard ass shit kicker, that’s what we need to end the country club locker room
Good thing hockey season is in full swing. Finally, a contact sport to watch!
phish,
I thought someone said we were top 10…like 7th?….in total defense. I’m not sure if that’s accurate but if it is this defense has far outperformed our offense. Stats schmats but still.
7th in ypg allowed is correct
@RapSheet
The #Jaguars have signed QB C.J. Beathard to their 53-man roster from the #Dolphins practice squad and opened the practice window for WR/returner Devin Duvernay.
meh
I was thinking we have a chance to beat the Rams on the road but I just realized it is a Monday night prime time game so… not so much.
Steve – C’mon bro, the QB has the football, he has choices. He made the wrong choices, twice. As I recall the first pass to one of those guys the coverage was very tight, so why try to squeeze one in to a guy you don’t really know? The other one was a route miscommunication, but still, he had choices. I’m not letting either Grier or MM off the hook, but Tua has to get blame here as well, he’s not absolved.
that’s ridiculous
Tua takes the snap from center, goes thru his progression, he sees an open receiver, but wait, before he throws the ball he has to determine, if the receiver is capable of looking for the ball
I played TE, you run your route and as you come off your break you look back to the QB to see if the ball is coming your way
I mean WTF is the point in running a route, if you aren’t going to look for the ball
😂
If they just would out score their opponet they would have won too. I’m done with excuses.
They are what their record is….garbage. Somebody has to be accountable for that. Lots of top priced position players with no results.
Felt better in the tanking season than this all in season.
The ability is there.
First of all there was NO REASON to put Tua on IR. He had no symptoms after the day of the concussion. The ONLY reason they sat him was for political reasons. I have seen guy after guy get through protocol in 1 day. (That’s impossible!) well, it happens again and again and again to other guys. Whomever decided to put Tua on IR should be fired. If that was MM then he should go. If it was Grier, well he should go regardless.
I am in check in mode. I don’t watch the games, I don’t even think about them on game day. It’s actually kind of nice. But I do check every week to see if the incompetent loser has been fired yet. Fingers crossed for next week!
Miami Dolphins
Roster Move | We have signed T Ryan Hayes to the practice squad.
Steve – When you voted, there were probably about 5 or 6 different choices. Did you have any trouble picking the one you wanted?
It’s a lot like that when you’re the QB, you look down the field, and believe me, Tua knows who’s running which route. So, he has a choice, he made the wrong one. It happens. Hill and Waddle have been running routes all day for weeks and have far less targets, so he has choices, he’s the one that makes them
Gotta keep in mind that Tua only has about 2.5 seconds to make his mind up… that’s just how our O-Line is built in terms of pass-pro.
Voters — on the other hand — had a year (or longer) to make up their minds.
I mean, there IS a reason we have the fastest Offensive players in the NFL at the skill positions… and that’s to get the ball out quicker than Defenders can penetrate our weak-ass pass-pro on the O-Line.
One thing I’ll always give our O-Line as currently constitued under Grief? They are very good as run-blockers. That’s all part of the plan, see.
M13,
Grier and MM didn’t go out and sign and draft guys like Hill, Waddle, Achane and about a dozen others because of the OL. That’s not how it works. They want to get the ball out as fast as possible, get it into the hands of their skill people and let them do all the work.
It’s but a working theory of mine, not yet a hypothesis. Nevertheless, it stands to reason.
And think about it… the WCO doesn’t operate as getting rid of the ball as quickly as possible. It’s usually a more patient Offense in the passing game, not a 1-read pass play. Now in the running game? Yes, 1-cut and hit the hole in the OBS.
None of us can recall Montana, Young, Elway, etc, getting rid of the ball as fast as possible (Tom Brady in his later days).
“Six of the eight teams currently in first place did something to bolster their respective rosters.”
I never thought we’d be 2-6, and can only dream of a 9-0 finish with everyone back and healthy….lol.
@AaronWilson_NFL
#Dolphins designate Patrick McMorris for return
Mike McDaniel said that he is “optimistic” regarding Zach Seiler’s availability for the Dolphins primetime matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. There is also a chance that Bradley Chubb is cleared to practice this week, though his status for the Rams game is less certain.
@OmarKelly
Austin Jackson dealing with a knee injury.
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/nfl/dolphins/2024/11/07/miami-dolphins-chop-robinson-rams-jared-verse-rookies/76111167007/
@Ravens
We have waived OLB Yannick Ngakoue…
———-
It’s being reported that the Ravens hope that Ngakoue will clear waivers and then they will re-sign him to their PS. I’ve got news for the Ravens: Ngakoue ain’t clearing waivers.
Don’t be surprised if we pick him up, unless a team on the waiver wire claim list ahead of us picks him up first.
I’m as upset as anybody regarding our season, but man… this site has become a ghost town in recent weeks. Sad.
M13,
I guess I don’t really think of what we do as a WCO. There’s almost no play action, which was a huge part of the WCO concept. The types of WRs they had were your classic WRs back then. They did have some speed, but they weren’t small speedsters. The similarity in passing concepts with lots of motion is there, but that’s about it. You take out play action, and it changes everything.
Football has evolved….and unless you just have an outstanding OL or have a great play action game….which people forget SF had back in the WCO days, defenses just get pressure way faster now than they used to. Defenses are faster than they’ve ever been. You don’t have 3 seconds to stand there. So, if your QB can’t extend plays…which Tua can’t…you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s why we’re seeing all these dual threat QBs becoming successful. Well that…and the fact they can’t be touched anymore.
Good post Randy. That is my biggest worry on Kurtis Rourke, he is not that mobile. He’s not Tom Brady bad but still. lol
The two missed calls on the Bengals two point conversion was just terrible officiating.
The LB wrapping up Gesicki on his route should have been an easy call.
The second no call was Burrow getting smacked in the facemask after he threw the ball. On the replay, ref appears to be staring right at it.
There also was another no call facemask to Burrow on the TD drive.
Were the refs just tired? Were they just letting the game play out no matter what? Or was it something else?
Bengals were 4-5 and in the WC hunt at 1 game out of the #7 seed going in to that game. Should they have just kicked and tied the game with 38 seconds left or was going for two the right call?
I think it was the right call. Bengals couldn’t stop the Ravens in the 4th quarter giving up 3 TD’s. I don’t think the Bengals could have held them in OT.
NEW BLOG UP!!!