Finsmob Unleashed

Let me start off by saying it was great to see everyone who attended the 2024 Fest! Despite the fact that the Dolphins lost after leading for most of the game didn’t ruin the day entirely because we had fantastic company! The Dolphins have now found another way to lose a game, one they were pretty much in control of through 3 and 1/2 quarters. Now, our Dolphins are 2-5, and face the daunting task of going to Buffalo to face the 1st place Buffalo Bills. The chasm between the 2 teams is wide, and the Bills record of 6-2 and our 2-5 record don’t adequately describe the difference between the teams.

The Buffalo Bills are #5 in offensive scoring averaging 28.8 PPG and are #6 allowing only 18.3 PPG. The Dolphins in contrast are #32 in offensive scoring at 13.9 PPG and mid pack at #16 on defense allowing 22.4 PPG. We could easily be 1-6 if not Jevon Holland’s game saving forced fumble near the end of game 1 against the Jaguars. Or, we could be 3-4 if Tua was somehow able to handle the high snap from C Aaron Brewer. I don’t know what to expect from our team against the Bills. No question the offense looked better in the hands of QB Tua Tagovailoa, but if you look at it in the context of we’re playing the Bills in Buffalo, it’s fugly man. Over the last 7 years, we have been outscored 290-174, and are 0-7 playing in Orchard Park Buffalo. You have to go back to 2016 to find the last time the Dolphins defeated the Bills in their house. QB Tua Tagovailoa has averaged a paltry 79.37 rating against the Bills in Buffalo over the last 4 years, and the one good game he had still resulted in a 32-29 defeat.

If, somehow, the Dolphins can beat the Bills this week, I suppose they could still have a small chance for a playoff berth, but they would have some tough sledding ahead, and more than likely need to win 7 of the next 9 afterwards, and that’s a tall task indeed for a team with the worst scoring offense, and a defense that couldn’t close out the Arizona Cardinals at home last week. What has been strange about our offense is WR Tyreek Hill has only cracked 100 yards once, the season opener. Jaylen Waddle’s season has been pretty similar, having only one 100 yard game, the last game against Arizona. TE Jonnu Smith who was supposed to be a big part of the offense has been hit or miss. Rookie RB Jaylen Wright, who to me looks like our best all around back just doesn’t get nearly enough touches. He’s averaging a team best 5.3 YPC but has only 36 carries on the season while De”von Achane has been getting too many touches with 81. RB Raheem Mostert also has had more carries than Wright with 45. I think it’s time to change that, Mostert might not even be here next season, and Achane is too fragile to handle a heavy workload.

The defense was a huge disappointment this past week. Yes, we lost OLB Jaelan Phillips for the season a few weeks ago, and OLB Bradley Chubb is still on IR. Our defense, with the Dolphins up 27-18 with 12:22 left in the 4th quarter allowed an 9 play 70 yard TD drive to close the score to MIA 27 – ARZ 25. Worse than the previous drive, the Dolphins allowed a 5:01 game winning drive to run the clock out, including 2 Miami Dolphins TIMEOUTS and the 2 Minute Warning. Pathetic!!!! Rookie LB Chop Robinson had one lousy tackle in the game. Chop has 10 total tackles playing nearly 50% of the snaps on defense. He has 2 tackles for a loss and ZERO sacks. Is it possible he turns things around? Who knows, but it’s another huge strike against letting Grier buy the groceries. Not sure I’d trust him to bring in the mail!

Whatever the result of this game is will decide the tenor of the next article. If we lose, I can guarantee my pitchfork will be sharpened and ready to stick it to the Dolphins front office, Head Coach Mike McDaniel, and many others. Grier with his myopic assessment of not only the talent of the roster he assembled, but the roster construction which is littered with one year contracts, except of the course the huge ones on offense like QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle, all to the tune of 13.9 PPG. If we don’t win this Sunday, it’s time to start looking elsewhere for a GM and a Head Coach too because no GM should have to be saddled with a lame duck Head Coach.

GO DOLPHINS!!!