Game 14 thoughts: Dolphins at Vikings

The day opened with three AFC teams tied with 7-6 records, hoping to get the 6th playoff seed: the Titans, Colts and Dolphins.  The Titans won today, 17-0.  The Colts won today, 23-0.  The Dolphins?  They lost today, 41-17.

Coach Adam Gase apparently took the week off after the “Miami Miracle”.  His team came out flat and disinterested, and as a result the Vikings jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the 1st quarter.  The Dolphins might as well have flown home after that, because they put up little effort the rest of the way – despite a brief comeback. This is nothing new for the Dolphins; they usually look unprepared and get blown out in road games under Gase.

Ryan Tannehill, as is usually the case in a big spot on the road, absolutely sucked today.  Yes, the OL couldn’t protect him at all, but Tannehill’s sub-50% completion percentage, 104 yards and 0 TDs are just unacceptable any way you slice it.  Tannehill held the ball too long throughout the day, and he was wildly inaccurate as a passer.  The OL was dreadful (especially Ja'Wuan James), allowing 9 sacks and non-stop pressure the entire game.  The WRs were nearly non-existent, combining for just 5 catches (0 for DeVante Parker).  A week after scoring on the “Miami Miracle” play, Kenyan Drake had just 1 carry for 6 yards and had just 3 catches.  Kalen Ballage filled in for the injured Frank Gore and had an awesome 75-yard TD run (the only real offense the Phins showed all day), but did very little aside from that. I have no idea why Ballage out-touched Drake 13-4, or why Branden Bolden had the same number of carries as Drake (1), but for some reason the Dolphins went out of their way to ignore their biggest offensive playmaker today.

Here’s an interesting stat: the Dolphins had 193 total yards today, while the Vikings had 220 rushing yards.  You’d be hard pressed to find a more pitiful offensive performance by a team that is supposedly in the playoff hunt.  Just a pathetic display by Gase and his offense.  And, PLEASE stop with the bullshit wildcat plays – enough already!

Speaking of pathetic, the Dolphins defense was horrific.  They got absolutely destroyed in the 1st and 4th quarters, and aside from a Minkah Fitzpatrick pick-6 they really did nothing positive.  The Vikes ran over them at will, led by Dalvin Cook’s 136 yards and 2 TDs.   Minnesota made the Miami front 7 look like a bad Pee Wee League team, absolutely embarrassing the piss-poor Dolphin LBs.  Kiko Alonso looked like a rag doll, getting thrown and pushed around with ease.  DBs Bobby McCain, Torry McTyre, TJ McDonald and Fitzpatrick were beat repeatedly.  Fitzpatrick, in fact, was well on his way to a second consecutive Goat of the Game honor when he saved himself with the pick-6.  Overall, just a brutally bad defensive effort by Coach Burke and his players.

The Dolphin special teams sucked for the second week in a row, allowing over 115 punt return yards and doing nothing on their own returns.  Punter Matt Haack again failed to help the field position battle.

Overall, this was a disgusting effort by a fraudulent team.  The Dolphins are a bottom-4 team in both offense and defense, and it is seemingly impossible for them to win a game without some type of trick play or miracle finish.  They are extremely lucky to have 7 wins, and whether or not they win their next two games against the crappy Jaguars and Bills, this is a garbage team that does not belong in the playoffs in any way, shape or form.  Adam Gase has no business being a head coach, and Ryan Tannehill should be a backup QB.


Beer of the Day: Not much...just a couple of Montauk Wave Chasers…easily the best part of the game.

Hero of the Game: no one

Goat of the Game: I thought about giving it to the entire team, but I’ll give the award to both Gase and Tannehill – two people that are simply not good enough at their jobs when it matters most.

One other note: how about Gase giving up in the 4th quarter? The Phins were down by 17 and had the ball deep in their own end with 6 and a half minutes left - and the Phins went for it on 4th and 12 or so. Predictably, Tannehill got sacked on 4th down, and predictably, the Vikes got a TD shortly after. Yeah, I know you're down by 17 and need as many snaps as possible...but goddamn, do you have ANY feel for the game?? There's absolutely no way the Phins were going to convert, and there's absolutely no way the D would stop the Vikes. At least punt it deep and give yourself a chance. Gase sucks.

One more note: Drake and Ballage were GODAWFUL in pass protection. So bad...just got pushed around and tossed throughout the game.

I’m here in Minnesota.

The stadium is really nice. Good number of Fins fans here. It’s a good beer town too everything local I’ve tried has been excellent.

The team embarrassed me. It was a game for a few minutes in the third quarter. Our offense was toothless. Defense was lost.

I’m watching Steelers Pats at a bar near my hotel. Nice to watch a competitive game.

JMP wrote:One other note: how about Gase giving up in the 4th quarter?  The Phins were down by 17 and had the ball deep in their own end with 6 and a half minutes left - and the Phins went for it on 4th and 12 or so.  Predictably, Tannehill got sacked on 4th down, and predictably, the Vikes got a TD shortly after.  Yeah, I know you're down by 17 and need as many snaps as possible...but goddamn, do you have ANY feel for the game??  There's absolutely no way the Phins were going to convert, and there's absolutely no way the D would stop the Vikes.  At least punt it deep and give yourself a chance.  Gase sucks.

I heard he punted on 4th and 3 from the Vikings' 40 down 21-0. That's a fireable offense in and of itself if true.

white1 wrote:I’m here in Minnesota.

The stadium is really nice. Good number of Fins fans here. It’s a good beer town too everything local I’ve tried has been excellent.

The team embarrassed me. It was a game for a few minutes in the third quarter. Our offense was toothless. Defense was lost.

I’m watching Steelers Pats at a bar near my hotel. Nice to watch a competitive game.

WOW...you really are a masochist if you're voluntarily watching the Pats win

Agree. I lost my mind when the punter trotted out.

So let me get this straight...the Fins have the ball down only 4 after trailing 21-0 to start and they respond with...four straight punts and lose by 24?!?!

Well okay then.

Yeah.

Oh, Steelers just missed chip shot FG. Fuck my life

So let me get this straight...the Fins have the ball down only 4 after trailing 21-0 to start and they respond with...four straight punts and lose by 24?!?!

Well okay then.

I didn't believe this would turn out any other way.

Ross must love to lose. He must really love it.

DolFan 316 wrote:
I heard he punted on 4th and 3 from the Vikings' 40 down 21-0. That's a fireable offense in and of itself if true.

Yep. And then he goes for it on 4th and 12 from his own 24. There's just no rhyme or reason for anything he does...just throwing shit against the wall.

Degarmo wrote:I didn't believe this would turn out any other way.

Ross must love to lose.  He must really love it.

I genuinely think Ross gets pissed at all the fluky ass wins the Fins keep pulling out the past few seasons to keep them from being the league's worst team.

It's like the Fins are acting in a perpetual play called "Death Of A Season", playing the Biff Loman of the NFL.

I can’t get 9 sacks at Walmart. The only person that’s buried deeper than Ryan Tannehill in a football stadium is Jimmy Hoffa!

https://www.pscp.tv/MiamiDolphins/1MYGNyNQNLOKw

Is Ross not watching this man's interviews he sounds like he has given up himself. these interviews would be the first indication of I need my ass fired and replaced with someone who actually wants to win. Gase has to go this is pitiful.

first and foremost, i would like to thank the Miami Dolphins for just going ahead and effectively eliminating themselves from the playoffs at this point. i appreciate the fact that they have now allowed me to freely enjoy my holiday season without having to worry about silly things like whether or not the team i support (now tenuously) will make the playoffs. i was afraid i would have to constantly keep tabs on my team the week between Christmas and New Year's in hopes that they might put together a competitive string and somehow back into the playoffs. yes, i was really worried i would get my hopes up only to have them dashed on the rocks of disappointment yet again with a collapse in Buffalo with the post season on the line. well, thankfully that's all to be avoided now. thank you, you steaming shit pile of a sad excuse for a professional football team.

CarsonChris wrote:I can’t get 9 sacks at Walmart. The only person that’s buried deeper than Ryan Tannehill in a football stadium is Jimmy Hoffa!

Haha, that's me every time I go into Wal Mart! Nine sacks is the bare minimum most times, actually.

mercury22nathan wrote:first and foremost, i would like to thank the Miami Dolphins for just going ahead and effectively eliminating themselves from the playoffs at this point.  i appreciate the fact that they have now allowed me to freely enjoy my holiday season without having to worry about silly things like whether or not the team i support (now tenuously) will make the playoffs.  i was afraid i would have to constantly keep tabs on my team the week between Christmas and New Year's in hopes that they might put together a competitive string and somehow back into the playoffs.  yes, i was really worried i would get my hopes up only to have them dashed on the rocks of disappointment yet again with a collapse in Buffalo with the post season on the line.  well, thankfully that's all to be avoided now.  thank you, you steaming shit pile of a sad excuse for a professional football team.

Well said, merc.

I have to hand it to the Dolphins. I went into that game expecting a blowout loss, but the way it happened even took me by surprise. I mean, I didn't expect the game to be over before the 2nd quarter even started. But seeing how unprepared the Dolphins were, it's really no surprise. We have a soft team led by a weak-minded coach, so nothing should surprise me anymore.

At least the team makes a lot crazy, unexpected big plays - which is why they've won 7 games - but man, it is painful to watch this team play. They are just so damn BAD on both sides of the ball. And when you hear things like Laremy Tunsil actually saying they were "unprepared" for what the Vikings defense did, it really makes you wonder what is happening in practice during the week. This coaching staff really has no idea what they're doing. I don't know that I can sit through another season of garbage football if this staff is back next season.

mercury22nathan wrote:first and foremost, i would like to thank the Miami Dolphins for just going ahead and effectively eliminating themselves from the playoffs at this point.  i appreciate the fact that they have now allowed me to freely enjoy my holiday season without having to worry about silly things like whether or not the team i support (now tenuously) will make the playoffs.  i was afraid i would have to constantly keep tabs on my team the week between Christmas and New Year's in hopes that they might put together a competitive string and somehow back into the playoffs.  yes, i was really worried i would get my hopes up only to have them dashed on the rocks of disappointment yet again with a collapse in Buffalo with the post season on the line.  well, thankfully that's all to be avoided now.  thank you, you steaming shit pile of a sad excuse for a professional football team.

It is rather liberating. That one time all they needed to do was win ONE of the last two to make the playoffs was hell for me. Because even after that ridiculous shutout loss to Barfalo they could still get in by beating the Jets who were horrible, which meant I was forced to actually care, and of course that backfired so much I vowed from that point on I absolutely, positively would NOT invest ANYTHING emotionally into them going into the last 2-3 games of ANY season no matter what. Jmp knows what I'm talking about.

JMP wrote:I have to hand it to the Dolphins.  I went into that game expecting a blowout loss, but the way it happened even took me by surprise.

What got me was seeing that they'd fallen behind 21-0, had rallied to make it 21-17...and then lost by even more than they'd initially fallen behind by! SMH.

and once again, Gase blames everyone and everything, but himself. has this guy even taken accountability for anything?

“We just had to hold off better than what we did. And we didn’t. Just wasn’t good.”

“We just couldn’t stop them,” Gase said. “Couldn’t stop the run, and they were able to do all their play-actions off of that. That was the last thing we needed to happen, was get behind like that. That puts us in a different mode on offense.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article223179450.html

sure Adam, you had this amazing hire-powered offense ready to rumble up and down the field, but the defense - its all the defense's fault that you couldn't trot out your super cool, QB-guru inspired offense. guess what buddy, both your offense and defense suck commensurately. but do you even know what is going on over there on the defense?

“It’s not like we’ve been dominating the running game anyways,” coach Adam Gase said as if accepting how terrible the run defense has been.

that's right coach, just give up. i mean really, why even bother trying to stop the run when you know you can't.

but hey, you could at least try and score some points, huh? the Vikings scored TDs on their first 3 possessions, but you guys got 3 chances too, right? punt. punt. punt. what happened there?

“Not blocking,” Gase summing up the problem. “We had a couple of chances when guys were open. We don’t get it off. We just didn’t block well enough. We knew what we were in for as far as the pass rush. They just beat us.

“Protection-wise we were just horrible.”

i gotta agree there - to the tune of a record 9 sack day. but wait a minute. if you knew what you were in for, then how come you didn't prepare something...oh, never mind - i forgot, its not your fault.

news flash Mr. Gase. you are the head coach. if there is something wrong, YOU are responsible. this crap pile of a season is YOUR responsibility.

the Miami Dolphins need a complete rebuild. that only thing worse than the shit we've seen for this head coach would be to allow this same bumbling regime to be responsible for that rebuild. Tannebaum, Gase, et al must be fired.

At least Philbin cared enough to want gum wrappers picked up off the floor. I mean yeah, that's OCD but he at least cared about *something*. Gase is the type who'd toss gum wrappers on the floor and then think, "Yeah, whatever, it's not my fault" and walk away.

Also, even if the Fins win out, and even if he manages to play both games Tannehill will STILL, after seven seasons, not have won more than 8 games as a starting QB in any of them. Even Blake Fucking Bortles won more than 8 games in a season once, think about THAT for a minute or five.

Reading some stuff online and just saw this:
When you account for the yardage lost via sacks, Tannehill finished the day with 37 net passing yards.