Let me start by saying this: teams are allowed to have bad games. Unfortunately, it happened to come against the Bills, and now people are saying they are on a completely different level to the Dolphins and this and that. Let me tell you, I do not subscribe to that notion. The Dolphins and Bills are on the same level. Yesterday, they were not. Good for the Bills; they outclassed the Dolphins in almost every way in a “statement” victory.
I chose to be a cautiously optimistic fan, so this will be written from that perspective. First off, the defense yesterday was a joke. Kader Kohou is a good player for what he is. He’s a slot corner, not a boundary corner. I do not understand why he was playing the boundary against Diggs, who had one of his best years as a pro. Xavien should have been shadowing him all game, and even if he allowed Diggs half of what he did in this game, Miami would have been in it. I am very disappointed in this defense. Thus far, Fangio has been on par with Josh Boyer. Wilkins is playing like he doesn’t wanna be on the field; Chubb is playing horribly. The only player who seems to be trying is Van Ginkel, who I believe has earned a starting role. If anything, he gets sacks. The back end is a joke. Holland is a great safety, and he had a horrible game yesterday. I trust that won’t happen again from him. The linebacker play needs to improve. I trust the defense will get their act together; however, their play this year has been concerning, to say the least.
What can I say about this offense? I was beyond disappointed with their performance. Mostert had a shockingly bad performance handling the football, which, again, I know Mostert is a good back, and he won’t let this happen again. Waddle and Hill were okay. Waddle’s presence was not felt today. Hill had a disappointing outing, considering his standard. The best takeaway is that Achane is a stud. He needs the ball more. Every time they handed him the ball, something good happened. Tua was meh. The interception was just a bad throw, and that happens. He probably should have had two more interceptions, but they were dropped. The offensive line was terrible, and Connor Williams was sorely missed. Kendall Lamm will have to step up, as I am sure Armstead will miss serious time. The offensive performance was less concerning than the defense; I know they will figure it out and adjust to this film.
The Dolphins have the Giants, Panthers, Eagles, and Patriots coming up. Anything less than 3-1 would be a disappointment, in my opinion. They can and should win all four of these games, with 3 of them being at home. Look, yesterday was bad. There is no way around it. The defense needs to be better; I trust Fangio will make the right decisions right now. Hopefully, the Dolphins get healthier and learn from the film. This week against the Giants is a must-win; they need to get right.
