Finsmob Unleashed

The Dolphins surprised many of us here last night and actually made a game of it last night in Buffalo at the OLD Highmark Stadium. Some fans will blame the game on DT Zach Sieler and others will blame it on QB Tua Tagovailoa and others still on all of them and add in HC Mike McDaniel. If you didn’t watch, I’ll sum up the chain of events. With 10:20 left in the 4th quarter, the bills were punting, and and Dolphins were in punt block formation. Zach Sieler came right up the middle and the big guy dove to block the punt, but the punter got the ball off easily and Sieler and his momentum couldn’t stop and he rolled into the Punter and thw appropriate “Roughing the Punter” was made. That gave the Bills a first down in Miami territory and the Bills of course took advantage of that and scored a TD.

So now the Dolphins are down 28-21 with 7:17 left in the game. The Dolphins start the drive at the 36 yard line after a 29 yard kick return by Dee Eskridge who had a nice evening in the return game. The Dolphins drive the ball to the to the Buffalo 21 yard line where it’s 1st and 10 with 4:40 remaining in the game as the Dolphins are going in for the tie. It never happens, because on 1st down, Tua in the shotgun looks to hit WR Jaylen Waddle on short pass on the right side but QB Tua Tagovailoa threw the ball right into the waiting arms of Bills LB Terrel Bernard who saw Tua looking at Waddle the whole way. The Bills then drove for an a FG to put the game out of reach at 31-21 in what was a winnable game for us.

I’m on Dolphins twitter often and although I haven’t ventured on yet this morning, I know very well what I will see. It will be something along these lines, but this a fictitious tweet.

“Tua played a great game, kept us in it, that Zach Sieler penalty killed us”

It seems no one wants to hold dear Tua accountable. I ask all the time, when will Tua ever make the big play to WIN a big game rather than lose it, and honestly, I don’t believe we’ll ever get an answer to that question. It’s so unfortunately clear that he is just incapable of elevating his play and helping this team win when the chips are down against a good team. He’s not it, not the guy, he’s a good QB who can’t show up when you need him to. That’s his ceiling.

If you add in the fact that Mike McDaniel was brought in to soothe Tua, and to help elevate his confidence and his game, I guess that makes two guys who just can’t get it done. If you add in that our roster is a freaking joke, I guess that makes three guys who can’t get it done as Chris Grier has assembled this mess. I was a on a text thread will my buddies and my friend Scott is a Steelers fan and telling me that our team has a lot of talent. I’d say De’Von Achane is the best player on the team. I’d say Tyreek Hill on the right team with the right QB is next. Maybe Bradley Chubb on the right team is right there too. What does that say? I think we owe both of those guys an opportunity to be great somewhere else! Both should have good enough value to to get our new GM some decent draft capital. Hill may fetch as high as a 3rd, and Chubb probably a round or two later but we could sure use those picks and I’d bet a new GM would be able to use them singularly, without using two or more to get a good player, unlike our current GM who loves doubling up draft picks and squandering our draft capital.

So we’re 0-3 and we get to show the world our fancy new Rivalry Uniforms, the dark navy blue uniform with aqua and orange trim. Don’t forget to buy them all, Stephen Ross would sure appreciate it! Anyone who buys any jersey for this team right now and spends a lot of money must be crazy! Who knows who will be here next year when we clean house? Or will we? That’s the scariest part is not knowing whether Ross can actually fire GM Chris Grier, HC Mike McDaniel and in turn, end QB Tua Tagovailoa’s rein here in Miami. He’ll be on the roster because his salary is around $60M next season, but that doesn’t mean he has to play.

I do believe at some point this season if the misery continues, we should take a look at QB Quinn Ewers. Not now, it’s too early and there’s too much season left, but I do believe it’s in our best interest to see what we have in Ewers and see if maybe he’s the next Brock Purdy, but hopefully one that doesn’t get hurt as much. We know now, or at least Tua Tagovailoa has shown us time and time again he’s not the guy, so we need to find his replacement. Ewers could be Skylar Thompson 2.1 and that’s fine, at least we know he’s not the answer either and then we should draft our next QB early in the draft next year.

We gave the Bills a much better fight than the NY Jets, no question about that, and the Jets were home for the Bills. BTW, did I mention it was a warm and comfortable evening in Buffalo at around 66 degrees, so it wasn’t the cold last night that did us in. If the game is on the line and your franchise QB has the ball, you need him to tie that game last night and not turn the ball over again, and he let us down as per usghe. Does any of this mean anything for next week’s game, of course not, but I just don’t know how much more proof any fan who knows the game needs to realize he’s not the guy.

DC Anthony Weaver was the hot name to be interim HC if Mike McDaniel gets fired. Have we really seen anything this season that makes that a wise move? Our defense wasn’t as bad last night against a better opponent, but it wasn’t good, and it didn’t help us win the game last night either. I don’t think it’s a slam dunk in any way, We’ve allowed 32.3 points per game, so is that the guy that’s earned the right to be Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins, even if it’s just an interim title?

I’ve said it myself that the defensive front 7 could be a really good unit if they stay healthy. Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips, and how about that exciting 2nd year player Chop Robinson who is primed for a big season? Chop has 3 tackles and 1 sack. 3 games, 3 tackles??? You can get run over and a ballcarrier could trip on your fallen body in their path and get a tackle, so three tackles in 3 games? Besides Bradley Chubb. who has 3 sacks, Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson, Kenneth Grant, Benito Jones, Zach Sieler have been invisible. Well, Sieler was invisible until he ran into the punter last night anyway. I know our secondary is a mess, but so is the rest of it. There’s nothing goo to see here. S Dante Trader did make a really nice shoe string tackle to probably save a TD last night as he closed quickly and dove hard to make the play. S Minkah Fitzpatrick is 3rd on the team in tackles with 22, but has he made one impact play that makes you think we have an All Pro Safety back there?

Maybe the Jets will be the elixir that makes us feel good for a week. Or, maybe the Jets will make us feel good for a different reason because if the NY Jets find a way to embarrass our team more than they have been already, in our house wearing those silly dark navy Rivalry jerseys, maybe that’s the last straw for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and finally does what needs to be done. What I fear most is Ross solely firing HC Mike McDaniel and leaving Chris Grier in. That might send me into a tizzy, I’m not gonna lie. I honestly don’t know if I could dedicate any more time on this team if Ross tells us Chris Grier is the the guy who will continue to run this franchise, I really don’t.

GO DOLPHINS!!!