What Went Wrong for the Dolphins vs the Seahawks

One thing that speaks volumes about a football team is when their player of the game is their kicker, nothing against Jason Sanders. For those readers who are not on twitter, here is a very predictable line said about the Dolphins fans after probably the 2nd Sanders FG to cut the score to 10-6: “You can’t beat Russell Wilson with field goals.”

Miami got 5 Field Goals and scored 1 Touchdown. What was the result? A loss.

I said in my preview this past weekend that the way to beat Russell Wilson, one of my keys to the game was that you had to control the clock and keep Russell Wilson on the sideline. What else was said on there? Not settling for field goals!

Miami failed to do that. We know that Seattle is one of the favorites in the NFC to head to the Super Bowl. We knew that Russell Wilson had been cooking prior to this game.

The inability to convert touchdowns as opposed to field goals showed, despite controlling the clock. How? Seattle’s longest scoring drive on Sunday was 3:07. When the Seattle offense was on the field, they made quick work, averaging 7.1 yards a play as opposed to Miami’s 6.1. Miami once again missed Byron Jones on defense and Dolphins 1st round pick Noah Igbinoghene had another tough game covering a top receiver.

I’m going to go easy on Noah. I was reminded today that he started his Freshman year at Auburn at WR, so his ability to develop as a DB in his later college years, to become a first-round pick, there’s an opportunity to improve. I am not going to write him off yet. He was also forced into this situation with Jones being hurt.

Let’s keep this in perspective.

Of course, it did not help that both of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s Interceptions gave Seattle short fields, once again another way that Russell Wilson and the Seahawks were able to make quick work of the Dolphins defense.

Even when Miami did not turn the ball over, Russell Wilson was still able to make quick work of the Dolphins defense when they converted a 4 play, 75-yard touchdown drive just before the 1st half ended, making it 17-9 heading into the locker room.

Miami’s defense did buckle down in the third quarter and early in the 4th. It started with Seattle’s first drive in the second half, where Seattle was driving to possibly make the score 24-9. Instead, Dolphins corner Xavien Howard jumps the route, getting in front of Seahawks WR DK Metcalf for a momentum-changing interception.

Once the defense got the ball back to the offense, Ryan Fitzpatrick and company were driving down the field, yet were still unable to convert for a TD. Field Goal bought it to 17-15.

Yes, there are times where you need to just take the points, but it’s all Miami has been able to do all day, at some point, you have to go for it on 4th down to make a statement.

Again, you can’t beat Russell Wilson with field goals.

Late in the 3rd/early 4th, Miami had a 17 play drive that took 7:59 off the clock. Again, an attempt to keep Wilson on the sideline while attempting to take the lead. The 4th and 5 was at the Seattle 11, and I was screaming, “go for it!” Brian Flores can’t coach scared, I know that the defense made great adjustments in the 3rd quarter to give the ball back to the offense, but if you have the opportunity to take the lead, you create that momentum, and if you don’t, Seattle had to convert an 89-yard drive.

Then the wheels fell off, Seattle goes for a 75-yard touchdown drive to take a 9-point lead to pretty much put the game away, including a 30-yard pass play from Wilson to Lockett where Noah Igbinoghene beat on a crossing route to set up the drive nicely for Seattle. The drive ended in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to David Moore, who ended the day with 3 catches for 95 yards and a TD. I’m not sure how many people had David Moore on their scouting report with Seattle having the 2-headed monster in Metcalf and Lockett.

Then, in a desperation drive where you’re down 2 scores with 5:24 left to start the drive, Seahawks CB Shaquille Griffin jumped the route on Isaiah Ford for the Interception, setting up Seattle in a short field situation to really put the game away. Let’s not forget that Ryan Fitzpatrick was staring down his receiver and Griffin read that play all the way, pretty much giving Miami a very little chance to come back.

Remember how I said earlier in the article how Miami had one touchdown? That one touchdown did not come until their final drive, where it was capped off on a Ryan Fitzpatrick 10 yard touchdown run, and then converting a 2-point conversion to Preston Williams. The first thing a lot of you probably thought was, “Where was that in Week 2, Preston?” That touchdown is what we like to call, “too little, too late.”

Then one very questionable thing happened at the end. After Miami was unable to recover an onside kick, the Seahawks kept running the ball to burn Miami’s timeouts. On 3rd and 3 with 1:42 left, Seattle had a very close spot to the first down, and as the chains were brought to measure, from the camera angle that FOX had, it looked like the Seahawks were short of the first down. However, they were given the 1st down, and even after a booth review upstairs, the call was upheld.

Not saying that it would’ve made a difference in the game, Seattle probably would’ve tried a QB sneak on 4th down to end it, but I felt that denied Miami an opportunity to at least try for a game tieing drive to send it to OT. However, does not change the fact that Miami did not give themselves a chance to win with their lack of execution once they crossed midfield.

The offense has not been a huge issue, but when you’re not converting for touchdowns and turning it over deep in your own territory, and the MVP front runner is making quick work of your defense(which is the even bigger issue on this team), then we can honestly say that they did not deserve to win.

This game reminded me a bit of that one Monday Night Football game in 2009 where Miami hosted Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, keeping them off the field, but in a losing effort and an inability to score touchdowns.

Miami could’ve won, but far too often, they shot themselves in the foot.

One thing we know is that the cry for Tua is going to become louder amongst Dolphin fans. Like Mike, Tom, and the rest of the staff and other contributors have consistently said, Tua’s time will come. That was in Week 2 when most of us said that. That time may come sooner than we think if the team falls to 1-4 against San Francisco, with Miami’s week 6 game against Denver looking very winnable at this point in time, with all of their misfortunes with injuries. I predicted that he will make his first start against the Chargers, but I would circle that Broncos road game as one that Miami has a huge possibility not only to win but to insert their number 5 overall pick in the QB spot.

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