Game 7 thoughts: Lions at Dolphins

In yesterday’s game, the Dolphins’ offense was bad and the defense was worse. It added up to a 32-21 loss to the Lions that really wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. This was one of the worst defensive performances in recent Dolphins’ history, but the anemic offense shouldn’t be let off the hook.

On offense, the Dolphins once again failed to score in the first quarter and had just 7 points at halftime. This is familiar territory for the offensive genius Adam Gase…his offense never comes out ready to play early. I’ve read a lot of people talk about how well QB Brock Osweiler played. No, the loss was not entirely on him and he played OK – but make no mistake: he did not do enough to win. Constantly throwing short passes and not challenging the Lions’ secondary, Osweiler played a safe, scared game that led to just 21 points. And though he did make a couple of great throws (especially the TD to Danny Amendola), overall he was very ordinary. Don’t let the gaudy QBR and completion percentage fool you…those stats do nothing but satisfy Gase’s massive ego and allow him to say “see, I really am a QB guru”. What a fraud.

Anyway, speaking of Amendola – he finally did something notable as a Phin, scoring his first TD and finally looking like the receiver I expected him to be. He led all Dolphins with 6 catches. The rest of the receiving corps was all but invisible, though Kenny Stills had a 5-yard TD (his only catch of the day) and knocked down a female security guard in the process, and Mike Gesicki finally made a big play with a 27-yard catch and run off a slant. Gesicki briefly left the game with a head injury after inexplicably lowering his head at the sideline on another catch; I’m shocked that returned to the game and I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t end up in the league’s concussion protocol. Stupid play. Stills also left the game with a leg injury. And speaking of injuries, Albert Wilson left the game early after a nice 25-yard reception. It appeared to be a hip/leg injury, and it looked bad. No official word on severity yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up on IR.

The running game was basically non-existent, aside from one play: a beautiful 54-yard scamper for a TD by Kenyan Drake. Minus that run, Drake and Frank Gore combined for just 47 yards on only 15 carries, barely over 3 yards a carry.

One week after playing a nearly perfect game, the offensive line was atrocious. There was no run blocking, and pass protection was embarrassingly bad. Osweiler was sacked 4 times, with at least two of those coming against RG Jesse Davis, who had as bad a game as any lineman could have.

And now the defense. I was worried all week about the Dolphins’ defense. I didn’t think they’d be able to contain the Lions’ three excellent wide receivers. Turns out, I should have been more worried about their running game and a TE I never heard of. If you didn’t see the game, these two stats tell the story as well as anything else: the Lions ran for 248 yards and punted just one time. Just a pathetic effort on defense, filled with confusion, missed tackles and bad penalties. The Phins played zone for much of the game, and got absolutely shredded as a result. This isn’t something new; it seems like every time they play zone they get destroyed, but they just keep doing it. QB Matt Stafford did whatever he wanted throwing the ball, completing nearly 82% of his passes, but the reality is he didn’t need to do anything. Rookie RB Kerryon Johnson carried the ball just 19 times…but averaged almost 8.5 yards a carry as he ran for 158 yards, including a 71-yard burst. LeGarrette Blount had 50 yards on just 10 carries, and WR Golden Tate added 30 yards on a jet sweep. The Dolphins’ defensive line got pushed around by a very tough and nasty Lions’ OL, and the Miami LBs missed more tackles than I can count and looked completely lost the entire game. The secondary was terrible in run support, with TJ McDonald and Minkah Fitzpatrick in particular missing a bunch of tackles. Pass coverage was piss poor, especially by the LBs. The Lions’ TE I mentioned earlier, some guy named Michael Roberts, had two TDs. Xavien Howard and Bobby McCain were both burned a couple of times for big plays, and each committed a costly pass interference penalty. The pass rush was non-existent. Cam Wake returned to action and literally did nothing. Free agent bust (someone had to say it) Robert Quinn likewise did nothing. Quinn has been the biggest disappointment of the season so far, though no one else apparently is willing to admit it. He’s making $12 million this season, yet has just one more sack than I do. Anyway, the defense was a total dumpster fire and coordinator Matt Burke had no answers.

And there you have it, an embarrassing home loss to a team that had a losing record coming in. Now the Dolphins have a short week to prepare for the Texans, who have enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to give the Dolphins fits. The Phins will likely be extremely short-handed on offense, with Wilson, Stills, Gesicki and Gore all getting banged up in yesterday’s game. 4-4 at the season’s halfway point is looking very likely.


Beer of the Day: Once again, none. My daughter’s soccer games are really killing my gameday beer consumption!

Hero of the Day: Danny Amendola, who finally surpassed 59 yards receiving and scored his first TD as a Dolphin. It’s been a very underwhelming season for Amendola so far, but yesterday was a great effort.

Goat of the Day: I’ll give it to LBs Jerome Baker and Raekwon McMillan, who were both brutally awful in all phases of the game. Dishonorable mention goes to RG Jesse Davis, who took his turn as a human turnstile, making Lions’ defender Ricky Jean Francois look like a Hall of Famer.

Oh, and screw weak-ass loser Adam Gase for continuing to call run plays on 3rd and long. Might as well just punt. So tired of seeing this team play scared all the damn time.

Anyway, the defense was a total dumpster fire and coordinator Matt Burke had no answers.

Totally agree and this is what had me so unsettled yesterday. Getting Wake and McCain back, I was hoping for a solid effort with the turnovers that had won games for us this season. Nope.

This defense looked to be totally exposed. HOPEFULLY the Lions offensive line is a really good unit. Otherwise, future teams will just follow this blueprint and destroy us all year.

Agree with your point on zone defense. If we don't have the players to execute, why the hell do we keep using it? Play man and take the risks!

FINALLY THE WAIT IS OVER!!! THIS IS THE BEST THING ABOUT MONDAYS BY FAR!!!

JMP wrote:Free agent bust (someone had to say it) Robert Quinn likewise did nothing.

it was scary how easily Detroit's rookie OG eliminated Quinn on Blount's 2-yard TD. the C likewise on Godchaux as McMillan was neutralized by the FB.

You guys don't have to worry about Quinn, he can be released after this season with no cap hit and even Tannenbaum's smart enough to do that.

EDIT: It's the final year of Wake's deal as well. So that'll be at least two DEs gone. He finally got old it seems.

Also, this team would need to lose to the Texans by 37 or more to have the same or worse point differential than last year at the same point (which was actually the Fins' second worst PD after 8 games since the merger). Which has a 50/50 chance of happening IMO.

white1 wrote:

Anyway, the defense was a total dumpster fire and coordinator Matt Burke had no answers.

Totally agree and this is what had me so unsettled yesterday.  Getting Wake and McCain back, I was hoping for a solid effort with the turnovers that had won games for us this season.  Nope.  

This defense looked to be totally exposed.  HOPEFULLY the Lions offensive line is a really good unit.  Otherwise, future teams will just follow this blueprint and destroy us all year.

Agree with your point on zone defense.  If we don't have the players to execute, why the hell do we keep using it? Play man and take the risks!

The Lions do definitely have an excellent OL, and they have arguably the best 3-deep WR corps in the league. But none of that excuses the terrible games by Wake and Quinn, or the incredibly horrific performance of the LBs and DL.

I'm so fed up with Quinn...it's been building for weeks, but watching him yesterday just put me over the top. He's done nothing. One sack and one forced fumble in 7 games...not at all what I thought we were getting. I wasn't crazy about the trade to begin with, but I expected a helluva lot more than this. And clearly, Wake is finished. It's sad, but time for him to exit the game.

One of the big problems yesterday was that the Lions have a very tough, physical team - and as always, we have a weak finesse team. We get pushed around every single time we play a tough team, same as when we had Philbin. It's embarrassing. I'd love to bring in a head coach that values beating the guy in front of you, instead of trying to out-finesse him. We need a smash-mouth mentality to compete with the big dogs, but that's never going to happen under Gase.

DolFan 316 wrote:
Also, this team would need to lose to the Texans by 37 or more to have the same or worse point differential than last year at the same point (which was actually the Fins' second worst PD after 8 games since the merger). Which has a 50/50 chance of happening IMO.

The Phins are currently the only team in the NFL with a winning record and negative point differential (-26). That won't last...the winning record, that is.

The Jets, with a rookie QB and 3-4 record, are +6.

I’ll say it again. Give me Dan Campbell back and start up those Oklahoma drills.

white1 wrote:I’ll say it again. Give me Dan Campbell back and start up those Oklahoma drills.

I think Oklahoma drills might be a violation of the CBA. Even if that's not true any coach who even mentioned it would lose the locker room because players today are pathetic pansies who don't even realize that their insistence on less practice time (because two a days were just too HARD) is a direct cause of the massive increase in injuries across the board. No wonder the players' union gets bent over by the owners every time there's a new CBA.

I think Oklahoma drills might be a violation of the CBA. Even if that's not true any coach who even mentioned it would lose the locker room

Well, it worked for him a few years ago. They played hard for him. They just weren't very good.

The coaching staff must be changed. Their should be no hold overs whatsoever. Essentially we have been playing with the Bengals defense for the past 6 years.

Kevin Coyle - 2012-2015
Vance Joseph - 2015-2016
Matt Burke - 2016 - Present.

How long does it take for someone to notice that Bengals coaches suck ass!!!!! WTF!!!!!

Umix10 wrote:The coaching staff must be changed.  Their should be no hold overs whatsoever.  Essentially we have been playing with the Bengals defense for the past 6 years.

Kevin Coyle - 2012-2015
Vance Joseph - 2015-2016
Matt Burke - 2016 - Present.

How long does it take for someone to notice that Bengals coaches suck ass!!!!!  WTF!!!!!

You know what's gonna happen this offseason don't you?  The Bengals are finally going to fire Marvin Lewis, and the Phins are going to fire Gase.  And the next Dolphins head coach will be:

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

JMP wrote:Oh, and screw weak-ass loser Adam Gase for continuing to call run plays on 3rd and long. Might as well just punt. So tired of seeing this team play scared all the damn time.

If I owned the Dolphins I would have fired Gase yesterday. We can’t continue to just punt the ball away. Those third and longs are due to poor play calling. Miami is completely routine

I will say this. If Gase gets swept by the Bills, regardless of the injury situation, he should be fired on the spot. Like, right there on the field after the second game.

The Lions could have done anything they wanted to the defense. Once they saw how they were shredding us on the run, they just kept pounding and pounding. In reality, the pass defense was not much better. If he wanted or needed to, Stafford could have probably scorched us for 350+ yards.

As for the offense, they were just OK. Sometimes you just have to help your defense out when they are having an off day and actually OUTSCORE the other team. Asking the offense to put up 33 points should not be unheard of. It's not like they need to drop in the 40's to pull this game out.

Not excusing the D at all, they were atrocious, but a good team can score 33 points when they need to.

Marvin Lewis has made the playoffs 7 times in 16 years in a division with Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

I'd gladly take him over anyone we've had so far this century. Not that he's great, but he is decent. Hell, we've made the playoffs twice in those same 16 years!

That said, if Gase is gone, I think Ross backs up the truck and makes Jim Harbaugh the NFL's highest paid coach. And while I don't think he's exactly a savior, I think his NFL track record suggests that he has a better chance than Nick Saban to succeed at this level.

The one thing I DON'T want to happen is us hiring Jason Garrett after Jerry finally lets him go.

I am of firm and unwavering belief that this organization as a whole and not just the coach is ifilled with dissention. It is my belief that no matter who we hire the my are destined to fail. There is no cohesion to this organization. There is no one team one dream mentality. Only mutha fakas trying to be the last man standing after hammer drops. Everyone must go on the next fire sale. I don’t giive a flying fuck who it’s just make sure there are no holdovers from any part of the organization. Startt fresh, bring in your own people your own offense your own identity right down to your own napkin dispenser and salt and pepper shaker!!!!!!!

Umix10 wrote:Everyone must go on the next fire sale.  I don’t giive a flying fuck who it’s just make sure there are no holdovers from any part of the organization.  Startt fresh,  bring in your own people your own offense your own identity right down to your own napkin dispenser and salt and pepper shaker!!!!!!!

Yep - clean house - get rid of everything that's not nailed down.  Hire a legit football guy to build this team.  Let him hire the GM, and together they hire the next head coach and scouting staff.  That's the only way.

But yes, I think Hal is right...if Gase goes, Ross will do whatever he can to land Harbaugh. I just hope Ross shit-cans Tannebaum and Grier too while he's at it.

Here's the really sad part. The Fins started 3-0 and the Texans 0-3, yet in just a couple of days the Texans will have the better record just 8 games in. SMH.