The Miami Dolphins finally got in the win column. The record now stands at 1-3, while of course the Buffalo Bills are undefeated at 4-0. The win itself was unimpressive, it felt like the Jets were not only playing against our Dolphins on the field, but the officiating crew as well. The Jets were hit with 13 penalties for 101 yards while the Dolphins only 6 penalties for 40 yards. I’m not going to name all the penalties that could/should have been called on our team but the two egregious misses in my view were the tackle of QB Justin Fields out of bounds, he was so clearly already out of bounds and was tackled at least 3-5 yards beyond being out of bounds. That should have been a 15 yard personal foul. The other one was Jets 2nd TE Jeremy Ruckert caught a pass and was tackled, and then a good second to a second and a half later, a Dolphins defender decided to dive on his back way too late. Despite the fact that the game was in the evening, it was actually still 86 degrees and plenty hot, but of course the blazing sun was not a factor.

It’s one game, but I can admit at least as far as his initial game performance, that TE Darren Waller, who I mocked GM Chris Grier relentlessly for played very well and made his presence felt. Obviously, he has to do a whole lot more, because one huge factor in my criticism is that I don’t think Waller is going to be here long, but if he keeps being making big plays and helping the team, I may just end up being very wrong about that move. In any case, as any Dolphins fan knows, we lost WR Tyreek Hill to a devastating knee injury, a dislocation, which included torn ligaments as well, most notably his ACL. I’m not sure if we’ll ever see Tyreek Hill in a Miami Dolphins uniform again, but I do think the people that made fun of Tyreek’s smiling and clapping were out of line, I think he was thanking the fans applause and that’s all it was.

Jaylen Waddle time. It’s not that Jaylen Waddle has to be Tyreek Hill, he just has to be Jaylen Waddle before Tyreek was even here. Or, even Jaylen Waddle of 2022 when Tyreek first came to the Dolphins. He had back to back 1000 yard receiving seasons with 14 total TD’s over those 2 years. In 2021 he was almost like a possession receiver, but in 2022, he became a big play receiver with an outstanding 18.1 YPR with 1356 yards receiving and 8 TD’s. Let’s face it, the offense runs through RB De’Von Achane, but Waddle has to be involved. He may not be an elite #1 WR like Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson or Puka Nacua, but he doesn’t have to be any of that. I prefer a more balanced attack anyway, so keep letting Achane do his thing, if Waller can keep contributing that would be great, and WR Malik Washington has also proven he’s a very shifty runner with the football and runs good routes and understands his assignments. I’d like to see them ramp up RB Ollie Gordon’s carries too, but it sure is hard to not want to feed Achane, he’s so good.

So what’s up with the rookies? Well, so far not a whole lot of good to report. Our two first picks, DT Kenneth Grant who we took at RD 1 #13 and LG Jonah Savaiinaea have not played well. Grant was supposed to a stout interior defender who really plays the run well, and he’s been nearly invisible. Savaiinaea who required another Grier trade up hasn’t looked the part at LG at all yet. The other draft piocks haven’t fared much better, DT’s Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers have been playing but not showing up quite yet, and even RB Ollie Gordon has only 18 carries as so far though 5 games, not even 5 per game. Who knows what’s going on with last year’s Grier’s trade up, RB Jaylen Wright who has yet to play this season.

You want some good news? Grier’s late piickups, CB’s Rasul Douglas and CB Jack Jones have been playing pretty well. Not outstanding, but both played extremely well against the Jets. Jack Jones had what could easily be the biggest play of the game punching out the football from Jets RB Braelon Allen near the goal line. That forced fumble totally changed the game as the Jets were about to score, it was a 14 point swing, as the Dolphins drove one of their best drives in the last few years, a masterful 15 play masterclass, that took up 8 minutes and 40 seconds culminating in TE Darren Wallers first TD reception as a Miami Dolphin. It was really something, and that basically took the heart out of the Jets. If that didn’t do it, the officials helped there as well by not giving the Jets any chance.

We play this game in Carolina, and the Panthers are not so unlike our Dolphins. Both teams are 1-3, and both are either in the 20’s or near the 20’s on offense and defense, the Dolphins slightly better on offense (#22) with the Panthers at (#26), and the Panthers a little better on defense at (#19) while our Dolphins are at (#26). The Panthers have only played one home game in their first 4 games and in that game the Panthers obliterated a very talented Atlanta Falcons offense, shutting them out 30-0. Last week they got shellacked by the New England Patriots 42-13, so who knows which team we will face. Besides the drubbing at the hands of the Patriots, despite not playing especially well, we have been in every other game, winning last week, and of course failing to come up big against the Bills with the game still available for the taking.

We will see how Mike McDaniel adjusts to the Hill-less offense. There’s no reason why this offense can’t be a good one, and as we know, this offense will only go as far as QB Tua Tagovailoa will take it. Everyone else will have to step up, we ned that O-line to get healthy. I’m not sure when RG James Daniels will be back, or RT Austin Jackson, and even more importantly, will they play well and be able to finish the season? Tremendous question marks on both, and once again, the poor depth of our O-line rears it’s ugly head as RT Larry Borom invokes memories turnstile RT Marc Colombo, not a good thing. HC Mike McDaniel has Tua staying away from the weak right side and has been exclusively rolling to his left where 2nd year LT Patrick Paul and rookie Jonah Savaiinaea reside. So far it has worked, but as teams study film, and tendencies will be exploited, so they’re going to have to mix that up some. One notable thing in the Jets game was the surprising amount of reps QB Tua Tagovailoa spent under center, and not in the shotgun formation. He seemed more comfortable that way, and more efficient. We’ll see if that continues against the Panthers.

The Panthers feature QB Bryce Williams, along with rookie WR Tet McMillan and slot WR Hunter Renfrow who along with RB Chuba Hubbard, have the most targets with rookie Tet McMillan #1. RB Rico Dowdle backs up Hubbard and is second in carries, but Hubbard is the workhorse. QB Bryce Young hasn’t seemed to have found his stride yet, and has been uneven so far this season. It would be nice to our front 7 come alive. OLB Chop Robinson hasn’t been playing much, and vet OLB Jaelan Phillips has, but hasn’t been much with all the playing time. Phillips has been in coverage with mixed results but seems a few steps slow with the pass rush game. The team has 8 sacks after 4 games, not hideous, but we all thought this potentially could be a strength, maybe it still will.

GO DOLPHINS!!!