The run must continue! The Dolphins were able to stay alive this past Sunday defeating the visiting Las Vegas Raiders, 34-19. Currently sitting at 4-6, the Dolphins still have plenty of work to do to be considered a legitimate playoff contender, but we’re in ONE-WEEK-AT-A-TIME mode here. No reason to think ahead, just concentrate at the task ahead of you each week. This week our division rival New England Patriots come to Hard Rock and the Dolphins are a TD plus favorite. If last night’s gane is a wake up call to not look past ANY opponent, the red hot Pittsburgh Steelers, the previously 8-2 Steelers, were riding a 5 game win streak, and played in a snowstorm in Cleveland which is something the Steelers are quite comfortable playing in, but the Browns came to play and ended the 5 game win streak and dropped the Steelers 24-19. That could happen if the Dolphins aren’t prepared. A loss to the Patriots this weekend would likely be the death knell for the 2024 Dolphins season. We have no margin for error, especially playing at home, in a game we’re favored by a TD. You lose to Green Bay on Thanksgiving late in the evening in likely frigid Green Bay, that’s one thing, and that loss would also very much damage our chances. We’ve put ourselves in a position where just can’t afford to lose more than 1 game, so this Sunday just can’t be that one.
The Dolphins have been playing better on both sides of the ball, and the offense has been humming, despite having any kind of deep passing attack with 2 speedy WR’s in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The good news is we have finally started to use the TE as a receiver, and when we picked up TE Jonnu Smith, I was excited to finally have a receiving TE. It took a while to make him part of the passing game, but he truly is a weapon, and he’s getting more and more action each game. The run game has been keeping opposing defenses honest, but it hasn’t been great lately. The “bellcow” back has been De’Von Achane, and his dropoff in YPC is the first thing you notice. Last year Achane averaged 7.8 YPC, but with much higher usage and many more carries, Achane has managed only 4.3 YPC. He has done a lot of damage in the passing game though, and Achane leads the Dolphins with 46 receptions for 349 yards. This is all part of the Mike McDaniel offense that is taking what is given to them by opposing defenses, who continue to play the umbrella defense, 2 high safeties protecting against the deep ball. Tua has remained patient, hasn’t forced the ball at all, and we’ve been better for it. QB Tua Tagovailoa has completed 73% of his passes for 1443 yards, 9 TD’s and 4 INT’s. Considering he started the season with 2 TD’s and 3 INT’s after game 2, he’s thrown only 1 INT in the last 4 games against 7 TD’s. Ball security however, has been a concern for Tua with 5 fumbles, one very important one lost, the Arizona Cardinals “Fest” game which many of us here saw in person.
QB Tua Tagovailoa has a perfect 6-0 record against the Patriots, with and without Bill Belichick. He’s going to need to keep that going this week. The Patriots offense has been struggling, but it does appear that the Patriots have found their QB in 2024 1st RD pick (#3 overall), Drake Maye. So far in his rookie campaign, Maye has completed 126 of 189 pass attempts (66.7%) for 1236 yards, 9 TD’s and 6 INT’s. Besides RB Rhamondre Stevenson, this Patriots offense hasn’t much to look at. TE Hunter Henry leads the Patriots in receptions with 46 for 491 yards and 1 TD, and he is the most targeted receiver. WR’s Demario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne have had quiet seasons. There’s a reason why this Dolphins team, who has no business being a TD favorite any week, will be this Sunday. That being said, Mike McDaniel has to have his team ready for anything, and they need to take this game seriously and put this team away.
While the bizarre season’s continue for WR’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, they have been a little more involved in the passing game in the last couple of weeks. Despite that, neither receiver has yet to crack 500 yards, which is crazy considering Tyreek Hill was on pace for 2000 last year. There’s a good chance that these 2 receivers combined won’t crack 2000, but the stats don’t matter, winning is ALL that matters, and this team has a lot of winning to do the next 7 weeks! RB Raheem Mostert has struggled to hold onto the football and that has elevated the carries that RB De’Von Achane gets. Mostert and rookie Jaylen Wright each have less than half the carries Achane has (Mostert 58), (Wright 52) whole Achane has 122 carries. Wright, in particular, has been stymied as of late, but to be fair, he’s getting one or two carries a drive, and it’s hard for RB’s to get into a rhythm like that. One important factor is FB Alec Ingold has been OUT, and he’s trying his best to play this weekend. When Ingold is in there as a lead blocker, the run game is much better. TE Julian Hill has been getting lots of blocking assignments with mixed results. We definitely miss Ingold.
On defense, rookie OLB Chop Robinson has been lining up wide to give him more space between himself and the tackle and it has paid dividends. His quick burst forces the tackle to commit one way or the other from a distance and this has allowed Chop to change his path. When he was lined up closer to the tackle, far too often he got engulfed. DE Zach Sieler has been awesome since returning from his eye injury. ILB Anthony Walker has made a difference replacing ILB David Long. RB Rhamondre Stevenson is a load and will be a good test for our defense. He’s a physical runner that goes strictly north/south, but a difficult guy to bring down, especially when he has a head of steam. ILB Anthony Walker will probably be covering TE Hunter Henry a good part of the day, but we need to tackle well on Sunday. The defense is currently 15th in the NFL in points allowed at 22.1, but you can see how much better this defense is with DE Zach Sieler back. Sieler and DE Calais Campbell have been awesome, they make this defense go. Major props to OLB/DE Emmanuel Ogbah who is right behind Siler and Campbell in QB hits, Sieler has 8, Campbell 7 and Ogbah 6. Campbell has 4 sacks and leads the Dolphins followed by Sieler and Ogbah with 3 each. Jalen Ramsey continues his excellent playh, but with CB Kendall Fuller OUT with a concussion, the CB spot opposite Ramsey has been a revolving door with CB’s Kader Kohou, Storm Duck and Cam Smith. I would love Cam Smith to step up and take that spot, but he hasn’t been able to do that as of yet.
I’m interested to see if the Patriots, who have watched the Dolphins perform well using a ball control offense, running the ball and a short passing game try to make the Dolphins beat them deep, something they haven’t done in weeks, with the exception of the Jonnu Smith 57 yard TD which was a coverage breakdown by the Raiders D. The Dolphins held the ball for 33 minutes and put on a master class of ball control. The Dolphins had 2 TD drives possessing the ball over 8 minutes, another drive where they had the ball for 7:47 and scored a TD and one more where they had the ball for 5:47 and scored a TD. Long, successful drives are a marvel to watch, and in the long run, is better for our team, mostly the defense, because it gives them time to rest. While I loved our quick strike offense, this version of the offense is the one you win playoff games and bad weather games with, so keep that in mind.
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Incomplete
🐷 – right on!
We need another reliable TE. Don’t know what happened to Smythe in the last year, but Julian Hill isn’t cutting it. Dude’s mental game is off.
BBMike has been scouting a bunch for us
Hill is rubbing off on Smythe
We have to upgrade from Hill. Maybe this is a sophomore slump but it doesn’t look like it. Maybe Rucci will beat him out at some point.
I like Rucci
🐧 show
Mike E. says:
November 24, 2024 at 2:06 pm
BBMike has been scouting a bunch for us
————-
Ask Brian what his name is…
That runt from Penn State? 😉
His name rhymes with Wyler Tarren!!!
cameraman but on the fake
Bit too!
I think he trapped it but can we have the penalty back?
Brian – what’s the TE’s name that we should be drafting?
See my reply above! I’m a PSUer too, ya know!
not a catch Waddle
Wow. Thought would be overturned but not complaining. 😂
Lol
That is a catch his hand is under it.
lol
The ball can hit the ground if your hand is under it which is exactly what happened
this is what I envisioned, when we signed Jonnu
^
Jonnu is looking GRAND today! So my question would be… do we need BOTH Jonnu and Tyler Warren? Tempting, indeed… but would that be overkill at the TE position?
Jonnu watched tape all week of Brock Bowers
Speaking of Brock… do the Raiders regret drafting Michael Mayer from Notre Dame? Perhaps we could use Mayer…
Nice playcall
Beautiful, SB7!
TUA to ACHANE!!!!!!!!!!
Making it look easy. Jonnu is huge for us.this is what we all hoped he would do. I wish it didn’t take so long to get him involved
Great route design
Damn Chop just manhandled that dude.
Wow!!!
did you see chop push that Guy back
🐷🫱🏻
Yes!!! Power bull rush!
CHOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
I think his arm was going forward
Chop is a beast today
Horrible
Chop either timed that perfectly or he was a nanosecond early. Dude was in there.
Man, Chop looking fierce
Chop’s coming out party today
Time to score another one.
Chop is unstoppable
Best all around half if football for this team
Going for the throat
Shit punt
Rockphin, please cover your ears and eyes to this post…
Suddenly, Chris Grier is looking like a genius!
I can’t agree with that. He’s a one step forward, two steps back GM.
Alright, that’s fair… and I DO agree.
Penguin
This is fun to watch😎
Two not great throws to end 1/2
that could have been two INts for him in the last two throws. Tua was careless there. That last one would have been taken all the way back.
Agreed… Tua got too cocky there.
Thank goodness Mapu’s head got in the way. Two bad throws by Tua.
Beer to Toba
Yup! Way too cocky this last drive.
Tua a little reckless with the last 2 throws
I would say VERY reckless. Tua can’t be doing that kind of thing. He needs to stay FOCUSED.
Here’s hoping he has them out of his system now , and back to dealing rest of game
Here, here!!!
Who here believes that Jaylen Waddle should become the Emperor of Antarctica?
(see what I did there? LOL)
Mike E,
Just had my first look at the Colts’ uniforms today… YIKES! Those are some FUGLY unis!
Don’t look now, but Tua is pacing towards nearly 500 passing yards and 6 TDs today.
if he gets it, it means the cheats got back into the game
M – a real eyesore – Gotta have while helmets, and I never liked unis with all one color pants and jerseys, they end up looking like pajamas
We’re going to a lot of running and we’re going to have some long drives
not synonymous to us
I want Achane and Mostert to take over this game now
Starting the half how we ended it.
Sloppy
Hammy for Walker
Patriots using up the clock for us. 🤣
gonna be an ugly half
fugly
Brady would go play action to start this drive
steveccnv
says:
November 24, 2024 at 2:46 pm
if he gets it, it means the cheats got back into the game
————–
Truth! It’s incubant on us to wind the clock down and put this game to rest… and hopefully coming out of this one with no injuries to key players (or any player, to be honest).
Odell missed that
I think OBJ is as bad a signing on Offense as Poyer is on Defense. Talk about pissing your money away.
He has been disappointing
I liked it as a third receiver, although I was disappointed as it would take snaps away from M Washington. He’s a pretty big disappointment
come on. Let’s not stumble down the stretch for the rest of the game .gotta stay sharp for Thursday night
Exactly!
I would like to see Washington get more reps as WR 3 as opposed to the trick play guy
The team came out too relaxed
Those are the Omaha we brought OBJ in for, and he couldn’t come up with the catch.
plays- no idea how that autocorrected to Omaha…
I WANT A SHUTOUT TODAY!!!
C’mon, Defense!
Seiler don’t need no Wilkins
Sieler needs an extension.
ZACH ATTACH!!!
Waddle putting a show
🐧🐧🐧🐧
🐧
PENGUIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
Waddle deserves this for being so patient
Seiler did the Trump dance. lol
LOVE IT!!!
And Steve Ross did the “Penguin Dance”!!!
WINNING!!! *in my Charlie Sheen voice*
As fun as this has been just put in Skylar for the rest of the game
^
This is WISDOM
Hulk wise when not so angry
LOL, INDEED! And SAME here!
Did Poyer make a play?
Jordan Poyer sighting! Nice PBU!
Mostert seems like he doesn’t have any juice left.
Agreed.
Seriously, we should probably put in our entire 2nd team Offense at this point in time: NO MORE INJURIES! It’s garbage time right now.
Jalen MF’n Ramsey in the HOUSE!
fuck
Boo
FUCK! There goes the shutout.
Oh well, so much for the shutout. Just win, and stay healthy
That’s right, man!
Bingo
secondary break down
Just run
Stop throwing
OBJ can’t get separation anymore either
I’d rather see River Cracraft out there than OBJ. Clearly, he’s not the same OBJ
shitty call
Agreed
Stop them here and then throw Skylar in. Or just run it. I don’t want to see Tua throwing up 24 in the fourth.
Know who would be awesome in this situation… so as to wind the clock down as a tough runner who could still hit a homerun in the running game? CHRIS BROOKS.
I still can’t believe we released him. I believe he’s playing for the Packers right now.
That’s why we can’t rely on Thompson
Now run the ball 3 straight times I don’t care if we get 0 yards
Skylar and Cracraft in!
How about some good play from Skylar now?
Only if it involves handing off the ball
Oh well he can’t even do that
well it did Ken, and that’s what happens. That’s why I said look at Daniel Jones. Thompson fucking sucks
nope
Skylar sucks.
that’s why we waited to pull Tua. Our backups are third stringers and PS players
Quite correct.
Aaaaaaaand Tua back in
If Skylar is that bad, how did Grier and MM both sign off as him being the backup?
I would tend to put more blame on MM because he should be telling Grier what he needs
OMFG…we have to put Tua back in!
Has it really taken the last 30 min for only 2 min to come off the clock
And Tua is back in!
Ugh