At long last, the Dolphins have broken their 7 game losing streak, and yet there’s little joy in victory. An 8 point win against probably the worst team in Football that’s ultimately meaningless leaves a sour taste. Still, when you don’t own your first-round pick, I guess winning these types of games is good.

Here are the rapid takeaways from Miami’s victory against the Texans:

  • Liam Eichenberg isn’t the solution at Left Tackle: The 2nd round pick was inserted into the lineup as the left tackle after early-season struggles by Austin Jackson, and as bad as Jackson was (and he was very bad), it’s hard to say that Eichenberg has fixed those issues. He’s currently one of the worst offensive linemen in football, and he should probably not be starting in one of the most important positions in football. His poor play resulted in a turnover today after his man got loose and stripped Brissett.  I truly don’t know what the solution is, as the Dolphins coaching staff seems to turn high-priced rookies into turnstiles on the offensive line. Whether it’s a drafting issue or a coaching issue is yet to be determined.
  • Jaylen Waddle & Mike Gesicki are building blocks: Despite the fact practically every Miami playmaker has missed time, both Waddle & Gesicki have been steady in their production, and they’re both great assets to any offense. Gesicki contributed a couple of highlight one-handed grabs, one of which led to Miami’s first TD and the other to a FG, whilst Waddle added 8 receptions for 83 yards.  Gesicki should be signed this offseason to a multi-year extension.

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  • Lack of creativity offensively: Miami’s offensive display against the Texans was downright awful, they only put up 17 points on the board against one of the worst teams in Football, and a lot of that goes on the co-offensive coordinators. Their route concepts limit their success, for example on a key 3rd down they had 2 receivers in the same zone and they bumped into one another resulting in an interception (which was also a horrible read & throw by Brissett). Miami’s play-calling was extremely frustrating as it was clear staying with the run game was something they emphasized. That proved to be a poor game plan as Miami ran the ball 25 times for a grand total of 47 yards (1.8 yards per carry). It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Miami’s strength won’t be the run game with a poor offensive line and a poor running backs group, yet Miami continues trying for unknown reasons.
  • Dolphins Defense gets back on track: After a disastrous start to the season and complete regression following a stellar 2020 campaign, the Dolphins defense seems to be headed in the right direction once again. Whilst the Texans are certainly no juggernauts on the offensive side of the ball, Miami’s defensive gameplan was effective as they only allowed 9 points despite the fact Miami turned it over 5 times. They constantly harassed Tyrod Taylor and never let their ground game get going. Aside from a few frustrating instances where they couldn’t leave the field on 3rd down, it was a very solid performance from the defensive unit.
  • Both teams are awful: It doesn’t take a football expert to watch this game and notice they don’t play at the standard the rest of the league does. They combined for a total of 9 turnovers, and there were very few explosive plays by either team. If either team plays any other team in the league they probably walk away with a double-digit loss. When you turn the ball over 5 times, you’re not supposed to win.