Back to winning ways!! Although it does feel a bit bittersweet as there was a lot left on the field last Sunday. A lot didn’t click offensively, missed opportunities throughout the second half with Tua stuttering after coming out of the blocks hot in the first quarter. Indeed there was as much negativity from some quarters after that win, as there was after some of our losses.

On the flip side, what a BRILLIANT performance from our defense. With a dramatically depleted secondary, with one of our top pass rush options Emmanuel Ogbah sat on the sidelines, and yet we came out and held a shutout stand second half. Impressive already, but even more important given our faltering offense.

Fans all over the Dolphins world have looked at this as an ugly win, myself included, and from an offensive point of view, it absolutely was. But from a defensive point of view, it was almost masterful.

Going into this week’s game against the Lions, we have the perfect opportunity to put it right. The Lions are in the bottom regions in all the areas we would hope to exploit. This could be a game for Tua and the offense to stand up and make a statement. Now they won’t be a walkover, DeAndre Swift and Amon-Ra St Brown both looking to come back into the playbook this week and Aiden Hutchinson looks like the real deal but even so, with our roster, we have to be looking to lay down a marker. With the way, narratives work around them, of course, people will say its “Just the Lions” but these are the games that you can’t afford to lose in our position if we want to be taken seriously. So Tua should bring all that frustration, dust off that chip on his shoulder, and take it out on the Lions.

So with this week looming, I met with very good friend of mine, and passionate Lions fan Jay Walton (@TweetingWalt) to discuss this match-up. On a personal note, I really do love putting this series together, and getting to share that with my friends is a simple joy, so big love to Mike and the DolphinsTalk platform for giving me this opportunity. But self-indulgence aside, back to the game…

 

Jay, my man! I love that we are sitting down discussing this. For those reading, me and Jay were at Uni studying Theatre together, once even working the same project and painting the theatre floor for hours overnight in the early A.M.s whilst our assisting student scrambled on the floor for rouge staples. Good times man, I feel like that version of ourselves would be the epitome of that Paul Rudd “How’d we get here” meme! But 99% of readers won’t have a clue who you are, so for their sake, introduce yourself.

Haha, Wow, jumping straight in with a Shadows of Troy reference haha, brave, no one here will have a clue what you’re on about. Leave it to me to keep us on track eh? Hi everyone else haha, I’m Jay – a Detroit Lions fan from Liverpool. I’ve been following the Lions since the days of Coach Caldwell, Megatron and Tate. So to many, I suppose, I’m a new supporter having only followed them solidly for 6-7 years. Why Detroit? I’ve always had an odd attraction to the city, even though I’ve never visited (although I’m trying my best to get there!), I love the grit and determination of the fanbase, the never die attitude and the ever-present support (hidden behind the moans and groans) – even when things really aren’t going well. Back in 2015 I got the chance to watch them in London play the chiefs and after following the NFL for a few years prior I was made to choose a team by my brother-in-law (Bengals fan)…I went for the Lions, bought a shirt (Tate on the back), and went all in. I purchased a game pass subscription and have sat down every NFL Sunday to watch them play live…even the period of Matt Patricia didn’t put me off!!!!

Keeping me focussed, like it. Yeah, those Matt Patricia days eh? Feels like they weren’t only painful to live through, but also like they set you back a bit too in terms of progress. Then a difficult start to this season too, with injuries to key players and the subsequent faltering of your offense. But with Swift and St Brown due back this Sunday, what does the season look like from here on in do you think?

Fans are yearning for a win, we’re desperate to go on a winning streak. Everyone’s frustrated. There’s belief in the team, we can see the individual talent, the effort that the players put in, particularly when you look at our performance against Washington. For me that was our most rounded performance. Pre-season I think there was this mumbling of outside playoff hopes, and potential wildcard, but unfortunately, things haven’t gone our way. Injuries certainly haven’t helped and some naive play calling has cost us games (Vikings, Seahawks, Eagles) our record could quite easily be very different. Ultimately this has caused some fans as to ask the question of whether Dan Campbell is the right man.

What does the season look like for me…I find this question hard because I still have a lot of faith and if we CAN get St Brown and Swift back fit from this week, keep our OL healthy and tighten up our defense, I’d like to say there are 6 winnable games remaining and we finish…7-10…but part of me thinks my hearts ruling my head!

Oh really? From the limited knowledge of the Lions, and after watching the Hard Knocks series, I am surprised to learn there are fans questioning Campbell. I mean, with every losing team, there will be questions about the coach, but he seemed entrenched in that fan base and ethic of the city that I thought he had much more grace than this with the fans. So yeah, that stands out there and surprises me.

So you mention poor play calling or you could be in a lot different spot, does that mean that performances have been good, and only play calling let you down? Are the fan base concerned or can they find performance aspects to seek solace in?

Patience…that’s what we’re told consistently. We need to be patient. And that’s frustrating, obviously more so for long-time supporters. Other franchises seem to be able to turn things around, look at the Jets, Giants, Bears are 3-4 with no QB. It’s really difficult at the moment to keep positive when we’re sat 1-5.

We’re all trying hard to be patient and watch the pieces fall in place but we’re on a longer journey than many had hoped for and patience is wearing thin.
However, I see some positives, other than the last two games our offence has been solid. We’ve certainly found a gem in Ben Johnson as our offensive coordinator, I hope he can put the last two games behind him. Our fully fit OL is the best in the league in my opinion and you can see the benefit this has on Goff, having more time in the pocket and better receivers than last year. The squad is packed with talent Jeff Okudah, Hutchinson, Rodriguez, Sewell, Decker, Swift, St Brown, Ragnow you could go on. I don’t feel that player desire/talent is being questioned, but coaches certainly are. Aaron Glenn particularly.

Oh hell, I mean I have to start in one place. Your Offensive Line is the BEST the league? I mean I know you have talent there, Ragnow is very good, and Sewell is a baller. But the BEST? I struggle to believe that can be possible if you are 1-5.

I have to hope you are wrong too, because our pass rush has been insipid this year. Getting to the Quarterback has been such a chore. We have done better than expected in the run-stop game in recent weeks, but getting to the QB has been painfully slow. If your Offensive Line is as good as you say, Goff could have more time than ever to make his throws.

But then some of the other names you mentioned. Swift, Okudah etc, you have had a lot of exciting draft picks in recent years, and of course your flashy WR who hasn’t yet been able to see the field. That must be something to put patience and hope in? How are they producing? Can you see yourselves building a future around them?

Oh yeah, absolutely. Without question mate. We seem to be getting it right so far, the additions of St Brown, Swift, Sewell, Hutchinson, Okudah, TJ Hockenson, fans across the league can see the quality they possess. St Brown and Swift particularly.

Holmes has an eye for a quality player and when we can find the like of Malcolm Rodriguez in the later rounds it gives me hope that the long journey of rebuilding through the draft is the right one. There’s a core group of young players here that could be the foundation of a really solid, well-balanced roster in a year or two…but maybe that’s too long of a wait for some fans.

I can identify with that too. With picks like Tua, Waddle, Holland, Phillips, and even Noah Igbinoghene turned up with a match-winning play last week! So I get that feeling of believing in your draft picks.

Yet, we find ourselves only 4-3, having won games we were expected to lose, and lost games we were expected to win. Yet we finally stopped the rot of recent defeats by beating the Steelers, all be it in an underwhelming fashion offensively. But with Tua back, we have belief again, we are 4-0 in games he has started and finished this year! How does the Lions fanbase see the Miami Dolphins? Do you guys see us as the team that started 3-0 or the team that then went 0-3?

Generally speaking we know with Tua and the dual threat of Waddle/Hill that you’re a dangerous team and we’re up against a 3-0 team not 0-3 when they all play. Stopping those three is the conversation amongst fans, but there’s also some low-level optimism that our defensive displays over the last two week showed some promise and with a fit and in form Jeff Okudah – remember he kept Justin Jefferson in his pocket a few weeks back – that we could be a bigger challenge than you think, particularly if offense sparks up again. However, our stats don’t lie, and if TUA connects you’ll be in our redzone more often than not.

Optimism eh? Well, fair enough. Like I say, we have lost games we were expected to win, so a Lions win would be on trend for us haha. But although Okudah is playing well and a proper, proper talent, he can only keep one of Hill and Waddle in his pocket, so I expect Tua to avoid him where possible.

Although that isn’t really Tua’s style, he tends to trust his WRs, and trust his own accuracy, for better or for worse. We have seen interceptions due to this, but we have seen eye-of-the-needle completions also. So I am sure Okudah will get the ball thrown his way, I just hope it’s just such a dot that he had no chance of making a play.

I guess I already know the answer to this next question the, but who worries you from this Dolphins roster? Hill and Waddle yeah?

I mean, it’s hard to look past those two names, isn’t it? The dual threat of Waddle and Hill is not something we’ve faced so far and one which is causing some anxiety amongst our fans, particularly if TUA is on his A-game. We’ve lost our safety Tracey Walker who was a blow and big leader in defense, but my concern is Amani Oruwariye who is a penalty nightmare – against the Vikings he drew six penalties and was dropped the following game. That’s not his highest penalty game, in 2020 he had a 7 penalty game. So, expect to make your way up the field through penalties, via a handsy player who has openly said he’s ‘not going to change.

 

We’re all hoping he can get back to his best form of last season which saw him finish the season with 6 interceptions and a leader in our backfield.

WOW, that is some penalty stat. Is that really true? How is that guy even in the league, I’d have thought Campbell would have ran him outta town for that kind of stuff. You bet Tua knows this information too, Coach McDaniel too, they will put the ball high in the air with speedy WRs around the guy to look for pass interference calls. Waddle and Hill are masters at drawing those fouls.

So that’s definitely something we can be looking to exploit. But who else don’t we know about? Who should we be more aware of but who we could be overlooking?

Easy answer, don’t even need to think about it. Josh Paschal our 2nd-round draft pick made his debut against Dallas Cowboys in what was one of our best defensive displays of the season. We’ve waited a while to see him play following his injury but he played 56 snaps on Sunday at seven different positions. His ability to play the closed-end position allowed us to free Aidan Hutchinson and play him more at the open rush side which resulted in him recording 2 sacks.

Paschal looked good in run defense, and when he couldn’t make the play himself, he set up a teammate well to make it instead. Such a play happened on an Okudah run stop, where Paschal forced the running back to bounce outside into the arms of Okudah. This was a delight for all fans as we’re often poor against the run.

Secondly, Jeff Okudah shone against Dallas, particularly in run defense. He’s proving what a quality pick he was after a difficult start with past injury-ruined seasons. Okudah finished with a whopping 15 tackles, a dozen of which came as solo tackles. He was a beast as a tackler, especially along the line of scrimmage.

There were some positives to take from last week, and with Paschal in the mix this week, I wouldn’t be so hopeful as a Dolphins fan that’ll we’ll be the walkover you expect.

Oh I don’t think we’re viewing you as a walkover, but more as a game we can’t afford to lose. We know we have talent and we know we have our QB1 back. We know we lost to the Jets and limped to victory against the Steelers. 4-3 could be 4-4 really easily. But with the talent we have, and their desire to challenge for playoffs, we have to look at games like you this week, and Chicago next week and think it is must win.

You will not be a walkover and there are players in Detroit blue who will give us uncomfortable moments, but with all respect, if we can’t come into games against 1-5 teams and push to win, how can we consider ourselves playoff contenders. I think the demand for a win is more about where we want to see ourselves, than what we think of you guys.

Especially as you have an overlooked QB, but one who has been to the Superbowl in his short career! Yet he seems to be overlooked again and again. What is the situation with Goff right now? When he landed in Detroit, he had never had a losing record, had been to the Superbowl, yet now he’s talked about with negative connotations. What’s the script, who IS the Lions’ version of Jared Goff?

Where to start? Overall the consensus seems to be that the fan base want a new QB. The conversation has never gone away since Goff walked in the door. We lost a great QB in Stafford but the trade made sense, we needed draft picks to rebuild, Stafford deserved to go to a winning team and Goff was a sensible option – but everyone was expecting us to draft a new QB in this upcoming draft. Last season wasn’t good, but to be fair to Goff he wasn’t working with quality, injuries across the OL and a lack of quality receivers, St Brown grew as the season went on.

 

Then this season, doubters changed their opinion. Goff looked solid, offense was flying and everything looked good. Opinions changed to focusing on defensive options in the draft and picking a QB in later rounds. But after to poor offensive games, questions about Goff have risen again.

 

Whats my opinion? He deserves more time, ignoring Dallas and Patriots games he’s proven he has the quality and leadership to be our QB1, his connection with St Brown and TJ Hockenson, supported by the dual threat of Swift and Williams has been a joy to watch – when they’re all fit, lets not forget our addition of DJ Chalk who is injured again. If our offense starts clicking again and they record more wins this season, I want to see defensive draft picks. After all if we had a stronger defence we would have beaten Eagles, Vikings and Seahawks this season and fan opinions would be very different.

Yeah, I tend to agree with you, I feel he is unfairly overlooked. The guy is talented but in a rough situation with the rebuild and Dan Campbell rebrand of this franchise. When he was in LA and put in positions to win, he did exactly that.

Goff does seem to have the faith of Campbell though, although from what you say they could be intrinsically linked these two men. If Cambell turns this around, so will Goff and they both could be with you a while. Whereas if this continues and Campbell is out on his ear, then Goff could be looking for his 3rd franchise too.

Campbell sure has his unique approach to the job. Similar to our own Coach McDaniel in the fact they are unapologetic in their own ethos and approaches to the job. Although saying that, they are VASTLY different in those approaches. Yet you have hinted that he isn’t the flavor of the month in Detroit anymore?

Dan Campbell is splitting opinions among the fanbase, people are calling for him to go, others understand that this is a longer-term rebuild. Personally, I think that’s more due to the frustration of watching talented players in a losing team and having seen us lose games because of bad play calling.

 

Campbell signed a 6 year deal, when he first came we knew that this was a long-term project with a roster built through the draft. Some fans have bought into that, others are calling for quick fixes. Depending on what side of the fence you sit defines your opinion of Campbell.

For me, we’re in the midst of a rebuild that goes beyond our roster. Both Holmes and Campbell are building a culture within the organization that will define the franchise and ingrain a mentality and philosophy that will breed winners. If we’re going to rebuild through the draft with young individuals they need to enter an environment that not only supports their talent development but their mental development too. Our players are buying into this, it’s a team built on love, grit, determination and respect and I’m all in on it. We’re seeing the human side of football with the emotions DC and our players show – hard knocks proved this – we forget to quickly the days of Matt Patricia…would we have seen a video like the one of Dan Skipper during Matts tenure? We could have something special if we’re all patient.

Yeah I think I agree with you again mate, mates thinking alike and all that. But giving him that 6 year deal must mean he has some security, they know it’s a long-term thing. That said, if you don’t get to 4 or 5 wins, that long term project could be somebody else’s real quick. But I think there is enough in the locker, just give it time.

Look at Tua, he has been battered from all angles since he was drafted. He has had Herbert and Mac Jones comparisons this whole time yet his W/L record is up there with the best of them as is his passer rating. Had he not got that injury we could be in a much more dominant position comparatively.

But he’s back now, and seems to have a chip on his shoulder. What does the Lions fan base think of him? He was building a head of steam before he got hurt, are you guys concerned about him?

He’s a dangerous QB that has some weapons in his offense. There’s no doubt that there’s talent there and no matter how much people try to point out his flaws or beat him down he answers his critics with solid performances on the field. There’s no specific opinion from Lions fans on him, personally I think the critics aren’t justified, I’d rather he wasn’t playing against us to be honest.

A respectful, neutral answer. Fair comment, even if uneventful and straight edged haha. I expect him to turn up the jets a little bit this weekend. He’s very level-headed, but last week we saw his frustration at the poor offensive display and I get the feeling he will be as tuned in as every before this Sunday.

Finally then, what is your score prediction? How do you see this one playing out?

Going to cut straight to it here. Yes, I think you win. But this will not be the walk over we are hearing about from some Dolphins fans. This will be closer than some think. Dolphins to win, 24-14.

As I say, I am not sure many think this will be a walkover, but many including myself feel it is a must win game, and the assassin side of Tua will dial in and show his quick snap, clinical modes and move chain after chain.

I think we get a few trips to the end zone, coming out on top 34 – 17, with Tua leading the charge.

On a personal point mate, this was a joy. It’s a shame we can’t get together for game day this time, but no doubt we’ll be in touch throughout. Thanks for jumping on here man, it’s a pleasure to share this series with a mate and I look forward to our fantasy battles in the coming weeks.

 

I mean this, I really don’t expect a walkover. Both teams are stacked with young, hungry talent. But I think we edge it with our stand our, experienced veterans having the edge over theirs. But they have playmakers and we should be wary of that.

But last week was frustrating, and if you saw the media avails after the game, you could sense that they were even more frustrated than us. This is a week where I feel they have regrouped, they have got together and they will want to put right last week’s wrongs. There are too many egos not to.

Jaylen Waddle, Tua, Gesicki, Tyreek… do you think those guys are going to be happy with being shut out in for the second half of the football game? Do you think Coach Mike will not have analyzed every aspect of this game plan after some questionable moments last week?

I feel like our team is more accountable than it has been for a long time, and just because they don’t shout and scream, and threaten to bit off peoples knee caps as Dan Campbell did, we shouldn’t mistake that as a weakness.

Make no doubt, they will be ready and we will be having more Victory Monday celebrations in a few days’ time!

Fins Up!