Finsmob Unleashed

OK Dolphins fans, the Dolphins defeated the disinterested NY Jets who came in without any desire to play and there is much joy in not only this FMU blog but with Dolphins fans everywhere. We love beating the Jets! Bah! Humbug! Rivalry you say? NY Jets at 3-9 and our Dolphins at 5-7, and I’m supposed to get all jacked up about our supposed rivalry? Nope! I dream for more, hope for more, expect more. This team was supposed to be competing for not only a division title, but a playoff run to the Super Bowl. We hold a slim chance to get in, which so you know, will require a whole lot of losing by the other teams that are ahead of us, namely the Baltimore Ravens (8-5), The Los Angeles Chargers (8-5) , and the Denver Broncos (8-5). The Ravens remaining schedule includes the NY Giants, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, and Cleveland Browns. I see at least 2 wins probably 3, because they face both the Steelers and Browns at home. The Chargers have an even easier path, they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Denver Broncos, both at home, and the 2 final games they travel to New England and then to Vegas to face the Raiders. I see at least 3 wins there. Finally, the Broncos face the Indianapolis Colts at home, travel to LA to face the Chargers, travel to Cincy to play the Bengals and then the finale at home against the Chiefs, who may or may not have anything to play for. So not only do our Dolphins have to go on an improbable run of 4 straight but we also need one of the 3 teams above us to collapse. Each and every team ahead of us has been, and will likely continue to be better than our Dolphins. Most have been better defensively, and some of them offensively as well. With the exception of the Ravens, the Chargers have the number one defense (points allowed), and the Broncos are #2.

In Dolphins news, the Miami Dolphins and WR Odell Beckham have mutually agreed to part ways so our supposed 3rd WR who was going to be the guy that could step in for either Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle is now gone. Beckham contributed 9 receptions for 55 yards. Boy, we have whiffed on some backups this season for reals folks! QB – Skylar Thompson check, LG Isaiah Wynn check, WR Odell Beckham Jr. check. I haven’t discussed the tsunami defensive line plan. Hey, let’s talk about one good signing. TE Jonnu Smith has been money this season, easily the best signing they made. It’s actually pretty close with DE Calais Campbell, but Campbell will only be here for this season, and thankfully we have Jonnu for one more season. I said before the season he could be a really good weapon for us, but even I didn’t expect the volume he’s been getting. If I told you he’d be within 100 yards of either WR Jaylen Waddle or Tyreek Hill through 12 games you would have laughed at me. He’s been a run after catch monster and took over the OT session against the Jets last week for the win. Tua did throw a dime on the TD throw, but the 2 screen passes were all Jonnu, especially considering one of them was tipped.

With the departure of WR Odell Beckham Jr., this elevates rookie WR Malik Washington to slot WR and #3 WR. RB De’Von Achane is the leading rusher but his YPC average has fallen to half of what it was last season. Achane in his rookie campaign averaged 7.8 YPV, now down to 3.9 YPC. It seems that Mike McDaniel has almost given up Achane getting chunk yards in the run game and he is often used in screen passes which sometimes allow him some space and time to get moving. WR Tyreek Hill has the most receptions with 65, but is followed closely by Achane with 63, and Jonnu Smith with 61. Last year, if you recall we didn’t have ONE TD from any of our TE’s. This season, Jonnu Smith has 5 of his very own. He has been a huge difference maker, a welcome addition.

On to the Texans! This will be a tough matchup for our Dolphins, quite different from last week’s battle against the “Walking Dead” NY Jets. One good thing is the climate won’t be to our disadvantage, the Texans play in an indoor stadium. The Texans are on the fringe of top 10 on both offense and defense, 11th in points scored (23.7 PPG) and 12th on defense (22.2 PPG). They have one excellent WR, Nico Collins who missed 5 games but is back and playing great football. WR Tank Dell is also a capable receiver but not in the class of Collins. John Metchie is the slot WR and he’s a good one They also have a dual threat back in Joe Mixon, who is their workhorse back and has 887 yards rushing and 244 yards receiving, along with 12 TD’s, 11 rushing and 1 receiving. CB Kendall Fuller is back, but he looked disinterested in contact last week, and we’re going to need a better effort from him against the Texans. Nickel and slot corner Kader Kohou has struggled tremendously lately, and behind him are UDFA CB Storm Duck, CB Ethan Bonner and CB Siran Neal who is more of a ST’s guy. This will be a tough task for these guys, especially if we don’t get pressure on QB C.J. Stroud. Bradley Chubb is nowhere to be found, so it’s going to be on Sieler, Jones, Campbell, Chop, Ogbah, Bell and Kamara, and some timed blitzes from our guy who does everything, Jalen Ramsey.

The dink and dunk offense has been working, but the problem we’ve been having is scoring TD’s. Losing those huge chunk plays, or seemingly even the threat of them has really hurt us. I’m not going to harp on this, but this offense was supposed to carry the team, and the defense, if whole, could have been adequate. The problem with the latter is we lost pass rushing LB Jaelan Phillips in game 4, and our other star pass rusher Bradley Chubb has begun practice but no timetable as to his availability has been heard. Our offense is 23rd in the NFL in scoring (20.3 PPG). Our much maligned defense is actually 14th in points allowed (22.5 PPG). Last season, our offense was 2nd in scoring (29.2 PPG). We were supposed to be close to that, and of course, we lost Tua for 4 games, which hurt us big time. This is the the type of game we need our QB Tua Tagovailoa to be great. Don’t throw completion percentages at me, or yards passing, those don’t translate into winning football games. Scoring, however does. If we can put a 30 spot on the Texans I feel pretty good about our chances. If we’re going to kick FG’s all day and out the onus on our defense, then this game could easily end this supposed playoff run. We need greatness, the weather won’t be a factor, this could be a signature game for QB Tua Tagovailoa if we can outpace the Texans.

GO DOLPHINS!!!