Quarterback
Tua Tagovailoa came out of the gates firing on all cylinders from the first play of the game (well, second play since the center exchange was a bit ‘off’ on the first). We are all aware of the accuracy that he can put on any level pass, but man, he was in a zone the entire game. Don’t think anybody expected 466 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first game of the season. Whether Tua was hitting Tyreek Hill for big gains, throwing darts to Waddle running across the field, or even hitting Smythe, which seemed like 20 plays in a row, he was on fire. He showed a swagger about how he played the game. Pocket presence, when to shift, when to slide left, right, or up, he had it all working. Week two brings in the Patriots and their Bill Belichick defense, which looks to slow down this passing offense. Look, Tua is 4-0 against big bad Bill and looks to get to his 5 straight, breaking his tie with the great John Elway. I don’t think Tua will necessarily put up over 450 yards this game, but should be a reliable play this week.
313 yards, 2 touchdowns
Wide Receivers
Tyreek Hill was simply unstoppable on every route he ran, ringing up 11 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns. The Chargers were unable to cover him in what seemed like even for a single play. Jaylen Waddle had a modest 4 catches for 78 yards, but boy, when he did catch the ball, he looked quick, almost quicker than he’s ever looked, which is saying a lot. His second half slowed down a bit, but that looked due to sustaining an oblique injury during the game. Look for a bounceback from him. Braxton Berrios sure looks like a solid addition as the slot receiver and came up with some big catches that extended drives with each reception. 3 receptions and a touchdown for River Cracraft, who consistently performs well. Will rookie Christian Gonzalez live up to the hype and be able to cover either Hill or Waddle?
Hill – 8 receptions, 165 yards and 1 touchdown. Waddle – 5 receptions, 115 yards and 1 touchdown. Berrios – 4 catches 50 yards. Cracraft – 3 receptions 45 yards.
Running Backs
As much as Miami made claims to better balance their attack, they wound up rushing for 20 attempts for a measly 70 yards. This could be attributed to Tua’s hot hand in the passing game and San Diego not allowing much room to run. Mostert finished with 10 carries and 37 yards and did have the one touchdown. The most interesting part of the running attack, in my opinion, was seeing Erik Ezukanma get two carries which he turned into 17 yards. He looked explosive on those two runs and may be someone to keep an eye on as the season moves along. They clearly are looking to get him more involved. Mostert missed the first practice this week, which turned out to be a veteran’s day off, so he should be ready to roll this week. 20 carries for 70 yard will not slow down the Jonathan Taylor rumors heading into the deadline. But just for a minute, imagine this offense if they were to add a piece such as Taylor. How would a defense plan to stop them?
Mostert – 15 carries, 75 yards 1 touchdown. Ahmed – 4 carries, 18 yards. Ingold – 2 receptions, 24 yards. Ezukanma, 2 rushes 25 yards.
Tight Ends
Durham Smythe, for a one-drive, surely looked like a number one tight end. Tua looked his way a handful of times in a row, and he pulled in each catch for a very respectable 44 yards. You can always count on Smythe, whether it’s a crackback block, in-line block, or a badly needed third-down reception. Most Dolphin fans were upset with the team for not adding depth or a highly regarded tight end. But maybe, just maybe, this is similar to the mindset that we, fans, are more worried about this position than the team’s brass is. Will Tyler Kroft or Julian Hill get involved this week? This remains to be seen. But the tight end on this team does not exactly exude fantasy football prowess.
Smythe – 4 receptions 48 yards. Kroft/Hill 1 reception 11 yards.
Defense/Special Teams
The defense left a lot to be desired after the week one performance. San Diego ran the ball at will with whichever running back they chose, play after play. There were a few fronts used by the Dolphins, which had two down linemen, etc.. Look for Fangio and the team to get this tightened up. As much talent as Miami has on the defensive side, this would hopefully be an aberration and not the regular. It takes time to learn a new defense, especially one as complicated as Fangio’s. Another concern was the play of the linebackers. When your safety tally 14 and 13 tackles, the plays get too often to the third level of the defense. Jevon Holland is a stud and played like it as well as DeShon Elliott, who looked great in his Dolphin debut. Kader Kohou looked even better than last year, and that’s saying a lot. Jaelon Phillips ended with 11 tackles, and the half sack, which helped end the game, looked ready to ascend his play. X had a handful of penalties and looked to be a bit grabby this past game. I am certain that he will elevate his play and not be happy with the results of week 1. Sieler/Wilkins and company will all need to step up their game on the line, which will happen, most likely this week. As a whole, this defense, I still believe, can and will be a top-10 defense, but it appears that it may take a few games to get the new system under control.
Jason Sanders made all three of his field goals with a long of 45. Looked really good until that last extra point, which had all of Dolphin land in an uproar, sure that they would lose by one. As good as he looked on his field goals, he still just does not seem like the Sanders from a couple years ago. For any further struggles, I would expect the team to reach out for competition. Jake Baily only had the one punt for 38 yards, so not a lot can be determined by the single kick, although 38 yards is not the greatest start to his Dolphin career.
Kick/Punt Returns. Since there were no kick or punt returns, hard to say how this would have been. But Berrios does bring an improved repertoire in the return game, so I do expect this to be much improved from years past. Kick/Punt coverage teams looked solid on the single punt return, allowing only a 3-yard return. This was a weakness of this team last year, so this remains to be seen if there was improvement.
Defense – 300 yards allowed, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions.
Miami – 31 New England 17
