Finsmob Unleashed

Wow, Monday Night Football! What a marquis matchup we have here! The 0-3 Tennessee Titans come in to Miami to Hard Rock Stadium to face off against the last place 1-2 Miami Dolphins! It certainly looks bad, this is not what the NFL wants of course, but maybe it is. Maybe this is the game that catapults a team that looked like they were ruined to a successful season, while the other one falls further into a hole extremely difficult to climb out of. Neither team has played well, but while the expectations for the Tennessee Titans were modest, expected to be a sub .500 club (6-11, 7-10), the Dolphins, depending on what site you visited, were expected to compete for the AFC East crown with the Jets and Bills with 10-7 or 11-6 record. Every week is a must win the NFL, but if the Dolphins are truly to be a playoff contender, this win carries an awful lot of weight. It’s not a division game, but it is a conference game, and the Dolphins are 1-1 against the AFC with a W against the Jags, and a loss against the Bills.

In my last article I told you that things will shift, and I do still believe that. While I also feel we fell short of building the trenches properly, this team has far too much talent at the skill positions to be scoring only 11.0 points per game. Of course, the catalyst, QB Tua Tagovailoa is OUT, and will remain OUT until at least Week 8, but Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane, Jonnu Smith, Jaylen Wright and Raheem Mostert (if healthy), should be enough to score more than 11 points, regardless of who is playing QB. So who will be the QB against the Titans for the Dolphins? Skylar Thompson is injured, and by the Gods, he was putrid after having a long week from Friday to the following Sunday, in addition to having 2 years to fully digest this offense. He looked lost out there, confused, hesitant, unsure, inaccurate, indecisive, and just so disappointing. He can no longer be considered the backup or have any future aspirations of being the starting QB of this team. That leaves Tim Boyle, who at the very least looked like an NFL QB that belonged on the field, or Tyler Huntley who has had little time to digest the playbook after being signed from the Baltimore Ravens practice squad on 9/17. Huntley is a better athlete and his legs give him a dual threat, although he’s no Lamar Jackson. No matter who starts on Monday Night Football, they have to threaten the defense down the field.

There are quite a few players listed as questionable for this MNF matchup.

CB Kendall Fuller (concussion)

OT Terron Armstead (concussion)

WR Malik Washington (quad)

RB Raheem Mostert (chest)

CB Siran Neal (?)

FB Alec Ingold (?)

QB Skylar Thompson (ribs)

LB David Long (hamstring)

OT Kendall Lamm played well enough in T-Stead’s place, but it would sure be nice to see the rookie Patrick Paul get some reps so we know that’s one less spot we have to draft for next season. We spent a 4th RD pick on RB Jaylen Wright (5’10 210) from Tennessee, acquired by trading our 2025 3rd RD pick. Is it possible we can make that trade look good by actually using the guy? 7 carries in 3 games, while we wear out 5’9 190 LB RB De’Von Achane with 43 carries for 150 yards (3.5 YPC), along with 17 receptions for 173 yards. 60 touches in 3 games seems like a lot for smallish back who had lots of trouble staying on the field last season, missing 6 games. When he was used sparingly, 103 carries for the season, he averaged over 7.8 YPC. That’s a huge difference. I understand Raheem Mostert is OUT, but isn’t that why you drafted Jaylen Wright in the first place? All over the NFL I see rookie RB’s tearing it up, and YES, I’m aware Achane did just that last season, but we also saw what happened when you use him a lot, he breaks down. Let’s get Jaylen Wright some more work, shall we?

The defense has had its ups and downs. They spotted Seattle 17 first quarter points before buckling down. For the most part, the defense feeds off the offense, and if that’s the case, the defense must be starving, because this offense has sucked since the first snap of the season. Despite moving the ball against Jacksonville, we scored only a TD in the first half, and then in the second half, just a TD and 2 FG’s, one as time expired for the W. Against the Bills, with Tua as the QB, we scored 10 first half points, but also turned the ball over 3 times, (3 INT’s). Against Seattle, it was worse, much worse. We managed only a FG in Seattle, where instead of the 12th man, it seemed like 12 million. We need to score some points against the Titans on MNF, it’s as simple as that. The Titans defense is right around our defense, a couple of notches worse, allowing 26 PPG, while our defense is at 24 PPG.

Head Coach Mike McDaniel has uncharacteristically taken a lot of heat early on in this season. Who could have thought it possible thought after scoring 496 points (29.2 PPG) that fans would be calling for Mike McDaniel’s head after 3 games? I think it’s crazy myself, it’s just too early, and as we all know painfully well Dolphins fans, it ain’t how you start, it’s how you finish! How many seasons have we gone through that? While Rock is still 100% correct that all the games count, if we finish strong and end up 10-7, or 11-6, and we’re playing well, not a soul will care about our 1-2 start. It’s time to set things right, and there is no question there is a lot of pressure on this team to perform better. Not sure if Skylar Thompson will be healthy enough to suit up as the 2nd or 3rd QB, I’d prefer someone lose his uniform. In any case, the way the NFL has been churning through QB’s, we might need 3 on Monday night. I would also tend to think whomever starts will not have a long leash if the offense is stagnant. Whether it’s QB Tyler Huntley or QB Tim Boyle, they’re going to have to earn the right to stay on the field.

Have I brought up the fact that we gave both of our top WR’S really nice extensions before the season started? YEAH! We gave Tyreek Hill a 3YR/$90M extension, and Jaylen Waddle got a 3 YR/$84.75M extension! Hey, did I mention what type of production we’ve received from these 2 players?

Tyreek Hill – 3 games – 7 catches, 130 yards, 1 TD / 1 rush, 12 yards

Jaylen Waddle – 3 games – 13 receptions, 176 yards, 0 TD’s /. 2 rushes, 7 yards

That’s right folks, last season, these were stats for 1 game, and not necessarily a great game either. It’s painful, and yes, it is an indictment on Mike McDaniel at just how ineffective this offense has been. He has to turn it around, no matter who the QB is. We can’t continue to be this poor, and still utter the phrase “offensive genius”. I for one am not carrying a pitchfork ready to storm Miami Gardens FL and try to get our Head Coach fired. I mentioned last week that the Baltimore Ravens are 1-2 as well, and QB Lamar Jackson has played all 3 games. Granted, the Ravens have scored 71 points, more palatable than our 33. The LA Rams are also 1-2, and they were supposed to also be a contender. What I’m saying is it’s still early, we win this game, even win ugly, and then we move on to the next one, but we have to come away with the “W” at home, knowing well that our schedule just gets more difficult when we come back from the BYE, whether Tua is our QB at that juncture or not. My feeling is that he will be, no one should be making this decision other than #1, QB Tua, along with his wife and family. In spite of that, the optics can never be good for this team, especially if he goes down again.

Not to say “I told you so”, but I did. His health will be our problem until he miraculously gets past them or he decides to retire. Due to the money in the contract, unless he gets hurt again, or even whether he doesn’t play another down for us this season, the future cap ramifications will haunt us unless he retires. The public relations nightmare, that we’re throwing him out to the slaughter will also be there as long as he’s on this team. It’s not a pretty picture for us, or him for that matter. I believe, ultimately the blame will be on the Miami Dolphins if Tua plays again and is concussed again. I hope for both his sake and the team’s sake that after that hit, he does the prudent thing for the rest of his life and retires, and enjoys his life with his family. Let’s not forget he’s already earned $73M. That’s a helluva lot more than any of us stiffs who root for him, and I think he might be able to just scrape by if he never plays again, but once again, that’s up to Tua.

GO DOLPHINS!!!