Like Jalen Hurts said early this week after his putrid performance on Monday night football, when you take a deuce, you just gotta “flush it and move on.”
Such has been my mood with Dolphins football this week.
After the stupendously awful loss to the Bills and then the heartbreaking game against the Raiders last Sunday, the Dolphins community was down bad.
Like, really bad. Astronomically bad.
You could tell how hard these two losses have been just by listening to a few of the more prominent Dolphins podcasters in recent days. Kyle Crabbs of Locked on Dolphins was clearly in the dumps and has officially gone back into evaluation mode for the team rather than “playoff expectation” mode. Even permanently-peppy Travis Wingfield of the Miami Dolphins was somber, especially following the Bills game.
I felt similarly when I wrote this column last week, and it showed — the writing was pretty awful and just a downer to read overall.
So, let’s channel an Alabama quarterback not named Tua and flush it and move on!
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Welcome into the second rendition of FIRST AND FIN with your host, myself, Evan Morris. Come for the preview of the all-important Colts game this Sunday; stay for better writing and more humor this time around.
Let’s jump in…
Week Two Recap: 31-28 Overtime Loss to the Las Vegas Raiders
Much like last week, we’ll keep this section short because I’m sure no one wants to re-hash much of what was a gut-wrenching game.
For long, LONG stretches of this contest, the Dolphins looked about as bad as Jon Gruden’s glasses. This is saying something, because I mean, come on:
The dolphins really lost to this pair of glasses on Sunday smh pic.twitter.com/Va0Ge2Zh2J
— Evan Morris (@EvanMorris72) September 30, 2021
There were undoubtedly encouraging spurts. The team raced out to a 14-0 lead right away, and both sides of the ball looked fired up. The defense tightened the screws late in regulation despite being on the field for a large number of snaps for the second week in a row. And the offense, to their credit, put up 11 points to force overtime when they had to move the ball.
However, there were also four Raiders drives in a row that ended in points. The run defense wilted late. At times, Austin Jackson still looked like a disaster, and Liam Eichenberg took his lumps against the Raiders’ talented defensive ends.
The offensive play-calling? I don’t want to talk about it.
And I REALLY don’t wanna talk about the safety. That was one of those drop-both-your-beer-and-your-jaw-on-the-floor moments. And not in a good, surprised sort of way. More in a bad, horrified sort of way.
So the Dolphins lost, which always sucks. But take heart in this fact: Miami took a good team into overtime on the road and showed some real grit, which is one thing I got right in last week’s column. Some issues absolutely need to be fixed moving forward — mainly on offense — but much like Tua on IR, this team could be on the road to recovery after a competitive showing in Vegas.
Main Storylines coming out of Practice:
— Injury Watch: Will Fuller was banged up late in the Raiders game but returned to practice Thursday. His status for Sunday is uncertain. Center Michael Deiter is the other Dolphin worth monitoring heading into gameday. He wasn’t seen at practice on Thursday. He would be missed if unavailable on Sunday because of Miami’s starting five linemen, he has been the best so far.
— Offensive Line Plans: Dieter’s injury aside, Flores said this week that he plans to roll with the same offensive line combo moving forward. That would be, front left to right, Jackson-Davis-Deiter-Hunt-Eichenberg. Week one starter Solomon Kindley remains on the bench for now.
— Colts Injury Woes: Miami’s opponent for Sunday is dealing with major injury issues. All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson is unlikely to play, and a whopping seven other Colts missed Wednesday’s practice, including defensive stalwart Darius Leonard.
Week Four Preview: At Home Against the Colts
While I don’t like making grand proclamations this early in the season, this one needs to be said: As far as Week 4 contests go in the NFL, this game is about as close to a must-win as you can get.
Week 5 will likely be a loss on the road against Tampa, so a loss this weekend to the Colts could essentially set Miami up with a 1-4 to start the season. Even with Brian Flores’ propensity for late-season momentum and the softer schedule in the middle of the slate, that’s an exceedingly tricky hole to climb out of if this team hopes to even sniff its preseason aspirations of a playoff berth.
Indianapolis is 0-3 right now and doesn’t look particularly good. Their offense has been almost as bad as the Dolphins, which is remarkable and lucky for Miami. So the Dolphins need to, and should, win this game.
The Colts are currently putting up only 18.7 points per game and are 21st in the league in yards per game. Running back Jonathan Taylor is a talented young player and has helped the Colts be more predictive on the ground than through the air through three games, but he’s also dealing with a knee injury per the Colts practice report.
As for Carson Wentz? He’s not been very good so far this season, with only three touchdowns to show for and an 85.1 passer rating. He’s also been sacked eight times. The talent is there as always, but to this point, Wentz hasn’t settled into Indy’s offense.
Further helping Miami’s case defensively is that the Colts simply don’t have the same type of weaponry the Raiders boasted last week. While Las Vegas rolled out Darren Waller, Henry Ruggs, and Hunter Renfrow as their primary pass-catchers, the Colts rely on players like Jack Doyle, Michael Pittman, and Zach Pascal.
All of this aside, remember that the Colts’ losses so far have come against the Seahawks, Rams, and Titans — all talented squads. None of those losses have been blowouts, either. Defensively Indianapolis also has talent, and the team is 3rd overall in turnover margin per game.
The bottom line for Sunday? Win. It makes no difference how — just win.
X-Factor for the Week: Miami Fixing its Third-Down Defense
They’re allowing teams to convert an astounding 59 percent of the time, which is kind of like trying to disengage from a conversation with a stranger but being really, really bad at cutting it off. The Dolphins are like that right now, except they’re just trying to get off the field and take a breath.
Like we mentioned earlier, the Colts’ offense hasn’t been good. In theory, this would be the game to right the ship. It would also be irresponsible to expect Miami’s offense to suddenly figure things out, so if you’re only going to score a couple of touchdowns, you need to tighten the screws on defense for a winning effort.
The Dolphins’ low sack numbers also aren’t helping things on third down when opposing teams are behind the chains, as Miami is tied for 4th fewest in the league. The good news, however, is that Flores’ defense is sitting at 6th in pressure rate. Especially with Miami blitzing more than any other team in the league, those sack numbers should come up and, by extension, help the third-down defense.
While the offense attempts to find its footing without its starting quarterback, the defense will have to prop the team-up. For a win on Sunday, that starts by flipping the script and winning on third down.
Tweet of the Week: Sometimes All You Can Do is Laugh at Yourself
We will always remember where we were for this historical moment. https://t.co/tffpcvLBSK
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) September 26, 2021
If being a Dolphins fan proves anything, it’s that you just can’t take life too seriously. Had any other team had called the play that resulted in the safety Sunday, we’d all be pointing and laughing at it. So let yourself smile a little, even if it’s at your team’s expense.
And after that, just hope Miami can get this thing back on track this Sunday.
(Thanks for reading! Check back next week for the Week 5 edition of FIRST AND FIN, and follow me on Twitter @EvanMorris72 for more content. As always, Fins Up!)