The narrative for the Miami Dolphins isn’t that they can’t play in the cold weather because I remember the Dolphins playing the Buffalo Bills twice in one year, in December and January in 2022, and they played well but lost. The issue is the Dolphins can’t beat good teams, and at times, like Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers, they can’t compete on the level of good teams. It’s been an issue under head coach Mike McDaniel for the last 3 years.
To McDaniel’s credit, he recognizes it’s an issue, and it’s not going away until the team does something about it. The Dolphins in these games look uptight and undisciplined. They sometimes play stupid, make the same mistakes over and over, and are unprepared. We saw a lot of that on display Thursday night in Green Bay.
It started on the opening kickoff when the Packers ran it back to the 43-yard line. To the Dolphins’ defense credit, they held the Packers to a three and out, and as a fan, I started to feel better, but then came the punt. Malik Washington muffed the punt inside his own 10-yard line, and the Packers recovered, and then 3 plays later, touchdown Packers. Washington should never have tried to catch the ball, and it was evident because he lost it or got caught in the wind, but it is the type of mistake the Dolphins make in these games.
On the Dolphins’ first possession on offense, they get a first down, but they have a couple of false starts and then a 15-yard personal foul penalty to back them up even more. Then the Packers get the ball back and score another touchdown.
Then the Dolphins get a drive going and decide to go for it on 4th and 4, and they get a delay-of-game penalty. McDaniel is standing right next to the linesman. Call a timeout, you idiot. The Dolphins got bailed out when they made a field goal, but the Packers were called for encroachment, and they took the penalty and went for it to get the first down and the first goal at the 8.
Then a stupid end-around is called for a 6-yard loss, and the Dolphins kick a field goal. Then, see the Packers go down the field and score another touchdown, and the Dolphins get the ball back and turn it over on downs at midfield, and the Packers go up 24-3 at the half. The game was over basically when you blinked your eyes.
Should Mike McDaniel still be calling plays? Is it time for Frank Smith to call plays? Eric Studesville?
This was the latest example of the Dolphins’ inability to win big games against good teams. It has been a problem for 3 years. The defense looks good against bad or average opponents but craps the bed against good teams and contenders. The offense looks good against average or bad teams but looks lost and fizzles against the better teams.
The problem is, how do you fix this problem? The answer is, I don’t know. To me, the Dolphins are stuck with the players they have who are locked in, and I really don’t see anything changing with this group. You could change the head coach and general manager, but that’s easy, and whoever comes in has to deal with this group.
I honestly have no confidence in this regime’s ability to get this right. This team has talent, and it makes it so frustrating for me as a fan in these big games, especially when they start out like they did Thursday night. It reminded me of the Bills game in week 2 on their own home field.
One issue I feel has to change is the philosophy of getting players on the line of scrimmage because that is where the game starts. I think the Dolphins have to devote a lot of their resources in draft and free agency to interior offensive and defensive linemen. The Dolphins need more tough football players in the trenches, and next year is a time to do this as they have at least nine players on both sides of the ball not under contract, and there is no way I would consider resigning a good majority of them. The Dolphins need some new blood there.
The problem is General Manager Chris Grier is very stubborn in addressing the line of scrimmage when it’s an issue.
The offensive line is better than I give them credit for, but they come up small in big games. On the defensive line, he signed a bunch of players to one-year contracts, and some have done well, but they need to be rebuilt as a whole. I don’t think Grier is smart enough to see that.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has to let the season play out to see how things go, but after the season needs to see what Grier and McDaniel’s plan is for the off-season. If he sees what we see, which he better, and doesn’t like what he hears from both, then I think the Dolphins should shake things up and go in another direction. As a fan, I’m tired of us falling short and not being competitive against the good teams, especially when we get embarrassed during prime time in front of the whole world.
The Dolphins need to pull back after the season and realistically look into this.
