Finsmob Unleashed

The Miami Dolphins haven’t given us a whole lot to celebrate, but today’s article is a milestone, and something we should all be proud of. This article will be #1000, and that’s a pretty significant mark. That takes years my friends, and we have all been together for quite a number of years. So let me thank of all you who still come here to share our misery, or happiness together. My hope is we have a lot more happiness than misery for the rest of this season, but the Dolphins draw a difficult matchup in the Los Angeles Rams, in their house on the primest of prime time games, Monday Night Football. The Rams are on a 3 game win streak, while our Dolphins are going the opposite way, 3 straight losses. The good news is, despite the 3 losses, in the last 2 games, our offense has played their best football of the season, and you have to think if they can continue playing as well on offense, the wins will happen.

QB Tua Tagovailoa played nearly flawlessly last week against our division rival Buffalo Bills. Tua completed 25 of 28 pass attempts for 231 yards and 2 TD’s and zero INT’s. This marks the very first time that QB Tua Tagovailoa played well against the Bills. He played well enough to win, that’s for sure. You can blame Mike McDaniel for leaving too much time on the clock, 1 minute and 38 seconds to be exact. Obviously scoring was paramount, but knowing how well Bills QB Josh Allen plays with the game on the line, it would have been better to leave him little or no time to generate a comeback drive. Our defense hasn’t been great this season, but we were also missing key players all over the defense, namely DT Zach Sieler, S Jevon Holland, CB Kader Kohou and CB Storm Duck. We did force a 61 yard FG attempt by beleaguered PK Tyler Bass, who earlier in the game missed an extra point attempt, but of course, we’re the 21st century Miami Dolphins, and of course the 61 yarder was GOOD!

Let’s face it, we’re 2-6, but there’s still the slimmest chance to remain relevant and make a playoff push. It MUST start here, this Monday night in Los Angeles. We’re 31st in offensive scoring but the last 2 games with Tua at the helm, we’ve scored 27 PPG, and lost both. We miss Zach Sieler, and we miss Jevon Holland as well. I don’t think we get Holland back, but Sieler is probably going to make his return. How about DE/OLB Emmanuel Ogbah playing with a torn biceps muscle? You have to give this guy some serious respect. The defense has also made a significant change, and so far the change seems to be the right one. The Dolphins have replaced ILB David Long with backup ILB Anthony Walker. Long was being targeted far too much in the passing game, and so far, Walker has been up to the task and has been better than Long. Recent OLB pickup Tyus Bowser has also seen a lot of playing time with Emmanuel Ogbah doing more work on the DL with Sieler OUT. Despite our recent defensive woes, our defense has been better than the Rams defense. Dolphins have allowed 23.4 PPG good for 17th while the Rams have allowed 24.3 PPG which is 22nd. Getting Sieler and Kohou back will help, although Cam Smith looked like he at least belonged on the field, and his coverage on that ill fated illegal hit to the helmet by S Jordan Poyer was tight, he had the receiver played perfectly until Poyer came in with the helmet to helmet hit which was such a huge penalty.

Right now it’s one game at a time. Go to LA, get the “W”, and you’re 3-6, but come home to face the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday, and then the following week, the New England Patriots, once again, at home. This truly is a must win situation for our Dolphins. I’m not going to look for statistics, but I wouldn’t expect to find an NFL team that made the playoffs that started out the season 2-7. The situation is desire, and there really is no room for error. We had the Cardinals game, leading by 9 points in the 4th quarter, and let that one slip away, the missed snap of course loomed very large in that game. Last week we score the go ahead TD against the Bills only to lose on a long 61 yard FG. We just can’t afford to make costly mistakes, our margin of error is GONE! The Rams WR corps in now healthy, which means our defense will have its hands full. Both star WR’s, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are healthy, although Puka Nacua is playing through a knee injury. Their RB Kyren Williams has been having an excellent season, rushing for over 600 yards with 8 rushing TD’s, and 116 yards receiving with 2 TD’s.

I think the run game has really been the key to our offensive success the last 2 games. Our O-line has been opening up huge holes and our backs have been making the most of that. Of course, having a competent QB run the offense makes all the world of difference, and Tua has played extremely well. His patience has been exceptional, he hasn’t gotten frustrated and tried to take what wasn’t there, he’s not forcing the ball to Hill or Waddle. The RB’s have become a much bigger part of the passing game, with Achane leading the Dolphins in receptions with 37 for 302 yards. TE Jonnu Smith has also been used in the pass game as an outlet. I commend QB Tua Tagovailoa for his resolve, I’m sure his two star WR’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle must be in his ear constantly begging for the ball, but he has resisted throwing into heavy coverage. There are 2 rookie defensive players on the Rams that have played excellent football, 1st RD pick (19th overall) OLB Jared Verse who has 3.5 sacks, and his Florida State teammate, DT Braden Fiske, who was the 2nd RD pick (39th overall) for the Rams, has 3 sacks. These guys were thrilled to be drafted by the same team, and are a dangerous pair. The Rams have 21 sacks overall, while our Dolphins have only 10. DE’s Calais Campbell and Emmanuel Ogbah lead the Dolphins in sacks with 2 a piece.

We’ve been saying it for a couple of weeks now, we have to win, but this time it’s not just a warning. A loss this Monday Night and there is a very good chance some heads are going to roll. Our playoff chances will be over with, and I don’t know how patient Dolphins Owner Steve Ross is going to be. He opened his checkbook and paid for whatever Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel asked him to pay for, and 2-8 doesn’t cut it. Even if somehow we were to win enough games to be either 7-10 or 8-9, winning with the pressure off because the playoffs are unattainable should be unacceptable to this owner. Like it or not, there was Super Bowl talk around this team, because of the success we had last season, the fact that Tua stayed healthy the entire season. Steve Ross OK’s paying Tua, and WR’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and then CB Jalen Ramsey and even RB Raheem Mostert. We then signed a boatload of players to 1 year contracts to fill up the roster. This is supposed to be a Super Bowl run, and instead we’ve had an injured QB, and then a roster and a Head Coach that seemed totally unprepared to play without the starting QB. A completely non competitive team all around, and if we are to lose on Monday Night Football, both GM Chris Grier and HC Mike MCdaniel might want to take some pictures when we get back to FLA next week, because they could potentially be some of their last days there.

GO DOLPHINS!!!