Finsmob Unleashed

It’s hard to talk about must wins at Week 7, but this snakebit 3-3 Dolphins team really needs a W in the worst way. Already tied for last place in our division tied with the 3-3 New England Patriots, as well as looking up at the 4-2 NY Jets and looking way up at the 5-1 Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins can’t afford to fall too far behind here. I consider myself a pretty objective fan, which I also understand is somewhat of an oxymoron. Things really haven’t gone well for us the last 3 games, beginning with Tua being OUT nursing a concussion. The Teddy Bridgewater era lasted only one play against the Jets in a bizarre set of events. Jets DB Sauce Gardner blitzed on the very first play of the game and Teddy looked like he was stuck in quicksand, was very slow to process what he saw and while being taken down, tried to throw in the direction of Durham Smythe, or possible just throw the ball away and was immediately removed from the game and placed under concussion protocol. To my eyes, that hit didn’t look severe enough but the NFL machinations that go on behind the curtain to me suggest this was somehow punishment due to the perception that the Dolphins rushed Tua back to play too early. I mean they change the concussion protocol rule a day or so before this game and immediately slap us with it after it looked like a non violent hit. That forced rookie Skylar Thompson into action in a big division game against a hot team in the NY Jets. As we all know, it didn’t end well.

People can say whatever they want about our QB Tua Tagovailoa, but he’s a winner. This team wins and plays better with Tua at the helm. The downside of Tua is keeping him at the helm. His injury history is growing, and that just gives more fodder for the NFL, or perhaps I should call them neurological experts who think Tua should retire. That’s a fucking 10 on the Silly Scale. I can’t figure out what it is about Tua that invites such vitriol in so many ways. Most fans, including many Dolphins fans (You know who you are!) think Tua doesn’t have an NFL arm. You have fans that just flat out think Tua sucks, and is overrated. Then you have the fans who think the Dolphins mistreated Tua and fear for his welfare. In every scenario, there is just a whole lot of hot air. This kid plays well enough to win the majority of the time, and that’s all you need in the NFL. I am looking forward to having him back this week against the Steelers, and I hope his return is a very long one, not a brief stay.

This past week was the “Fest”. What a great time seeing all my friends again and a pleasure meeting a few new ones. I’d love to get 100% attendance from the blog one year, I’d love to meet a few of you I’ve yet to meet, and love to have a few of you former attendees back again. Great to meet the big ape and his wife, the rolling Boulder from Colorado, great to see Jahndoh again, and always great to see the folks who routinely appear and to those who host a great time for all. Thank you to all of you for coming, despite the loss, it was a fun weekend!

Back to the Miami Dolphins, and back to snakebit. Rookie Skylar Thompson gets his first NFL start, and the Dolphins decided to become one of the least disciplined teams in the NFL and the refs decided they were going to call every single one of them, despite the fact that fouls occur by both teams every single play. What happened to home field advantage? Anyway, there was one drive where it seemed we had to gain 140 yards to finally end up punting. The drive started at our own 18 and there was a 32 yard pass play to WR River Cracraft to the Minnesota 2 yard line that was nullified by a holding call against LG Liam Eichenberg. In all, there were 5 penalties called on one drive. INCONCEIVABLE!!!! We outgained the Vikes 458 – 234. We held the ball for 35:29 compared the Vikes 24:31. Of course, I haven’t mentioned yet that QB Skylar Thompson had to leave the game with a thumb injury early in the 2nd quarter, one drive after the 6 minute drive that netted zero. Did I mention that the Vikes punter boomed one for about 80 yards from the Vikes endzone over Tyreek Hill’s head and gave us field position at our own 20? That punt was blasted, never seen anything like that. Teddy B started slow but eventually got better, but not good enough to get us past the Vikings. Did I mention that it seemed like there were more Vikings fans at the game than Dolphins fans? That can drive ya crazy!!!

So we take on the 2-4 Pittsburgh Steelers who have plenty of problems in their own right. They have a rookie starting QB who has yet to get things going for the Steelers who are averaging less that 17 PPG. The Steelers O-line has been an issue, and QB Mitch Trubisky who started the year was also ineffective, starting the Kenny Pickett era. I doubt the Steelers wanted Pickett starting so soon, but figured why not, because Trubisky clearly wasn’t the answer. The Steelers bring one of the NFL’s best RB’s, beloved here by many of us here, Najee Harris, as well as some nice talent at WR with Diontae Johnson, rookie George Pickens, Chase Claypool and up and coming TE Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers defense hasn’t been the same without pass rusher T.J. Watt, but MFFF still resides in the secondary, and he seems to always be in the right place at the right time, except when he was here in Miami and didn’t want to be. Sometimes, MFFF seems to be the Larry Brown for all of the Neil O’Donnell’s out there, as if he’s the intended target.

Well Dolphins fans, our QB is back. This team needs to ride the enthusiasm of having Tua back in the saddle, and to play more disciplined and penalty free football, and put a lot of points on the board against a team that has struggled to do so and get back in the win column. I know the Steelers fans travel well so expect a similar scenario this weekend where Steelers fans seem either equal or greater than the hometown Miami Dolphins fans. I suppose that’s the issue of playing a in a warm weather destination for all of the USA. Our suspect defense looked a bit better against the Vikes, and now with DB Nik Needham OUT for the season with a an achilles injury, DB Noah Igbinoghene needs to build on his good showing against the Vikes, easily his best game as a pro. Iggy will start at RCB opposite X, as Byron Jones is still on the PUP. Rookie UDFA Kader Kohou will be back in the nickel spot. S Eric Rowe will rotate in at CB as well, and DB Keion Crossen whom injured his knee against the Vikes did not practice Thursday so he looks very questionable if not OUT. Worse still, DE Emmanuel Ogbah did not practice and DL Chrsitian Wilkins was limited. ON the good news front, LT Terron Armstead did log in a limited practice session, he hasn’t practiced all season, so hopefully he’s healthier than he’s been. We need this game, Tua is back, and I hope the Dolphins make the most of that.

#stangerstrong

GO DOLPHINS!!!