Game Thoughts: Week 8: Dolphins at Steelers

The winless Dolphins returned to primetime with a Monday Night Football matchup in Pittsburgh. Would it be the ugly embarrassment that most Dolphin primetime games have been in recent years?

Well…yes and no. It ended up being ugly, but for awhile the Dolphins were on top of the world.


Since this is a Monday night game, I thought I would do things a bit differently. Here are my notes, by half.

First half

The Dolphins got the ball first and went 3 and out. On the Steelers first possession, Xavien Howard essentially ran Ju Ju Smith-Schuster’s route and intercepted the pass, giving the Phins great field position.

The Phins quickly got to first and goal with a beautiful pass by Ryan Fitzpatrick, as he stepped up in the pocket to complete a pass to Grant. Fitz followed that up with a beautifully designed TD to Albert Wilson.

And here’s where I tell you about the genius of OC Chad O’Shea. The Wilson TD was a classic Patriots play, perfectly drawn up and perfectly executed. Wilson started out on the right side, then went in motion to line up in the slot on the left. Preston Williams was lined up wide left. After the snap, Williams cut inside and set up a pick, and Wilson flared outside all by himself for an easy TD. This is the type of creative playcalling we’ll see more often once this team is rebuilt.

The Steelers’ next drive nearly ended with another INT, as CB Ryan Lewis snagged a pass that was broken up by Jomal Wiltz. Unfortunately, Lewis stepped out before gaining possession. DT John Jenkins had a batted pass and a nice pressure on that drive.

On the second Miami drive, Fitz again stepped up in the pocket and fired a dart to DeVante Parker for a first down on 3rd and 14. Following a couple of nice catches by Williams, the Phins took a 14-0 lead on a 12-yard TD by Allen Hurns. Former Hurricane Hurns broke 3 tackles en route to the endzone, getting a final push from fellow Cane Mark Walton. Great tough running by Hurns.

As the first quarter wound down, we were treated to not one, but TWO Charles Harris sightings. The Invisible Man showed a great motor, coming off blocks to make downfield tackles on 2 consecutive plays. Not surprisingly, I didn’t see him the rest of the game.

Early in the 2nd quarter, we saw a couple of nice plays. X broke up a pass intended for Smith-Schuster, on a bomb way downfield. X went step for step with the speedy wideout. On the next third down play, Jerome Baker, Vince Biegel and Taco Charlton met at the QB, getting a sack and forcing a fumble that was recovered by Pittsburgh.

The Phins ended up punting on the next drive, despite 10+ yard plays by Kalen Ballage (on a screen) and Williams. Punter Matt Haack expertly dropped the punt inside the 5, where it died and was downed by the exquisitely-named Taybor Pepper.

The Phins were driving later in the half, approaching midfield, when Fitz threw a perfect pass to TE Nick O’Leary – who let the ball bounce off his chest and into the air, where it was intercepted by former Dolphin Minkah Fitzpatrick.

At the end of the half, the Phins had the Steelers exactly where they wanted them: up 14-3, with a 3rd and 20, outside of FG range. Coach Flores called timeout, and on the play sent an all-out blitz. Unfortunately, the pressure didn’t get to Mason Rudolph and he completed a pass to receiver Diontae Johnson, who was all by himself in the middle of the field. Johnson jetted into the endzone for a 45-yard TD. Absolutely awful play call that let the Steeler back in the game, and the Steelers closed the gap to 14-10 heading to halftime.

Some final first half notes:
- Xavien Howard had the INT and a few pass break-ups. Looked great in his return to action.
- Vince Biegel had a couple of pressures and looked great.
- DT John Jenkins was a beast against both the run and pass.
- The Miami D lined up in an “amoeba” formation many times, with man coverage on the outside and a bunch of defenders moving around at the line trying to confuse the Steelers. The formation had mixed results, getting some pressure but too often not getting to the QB quickly enough. The all-out blitz on 3rd and 20 was out of the amoeba look. This is something else they brought over from New England, but unfortunately we don’t have the talent yet to effectively run it.
- I noticed the Miami wide receivers making a concerted effort to square their bodies to the QB, shielding the defender and giving Fitz an easy target. It worked, and that’s another sign of good coaching.
- It is interesting to see the Patriot schemes getting slowly introduced. We’re seeing a little more each week on both sides of the ball.

Second half

The Steelers got the ball first and had a nice drive going, but Wiltz knocked a pass down on 3rd and 7, leading to a missed Pittsburgh 54-yard FG attempt.

The Phins’ first drive ended with another Minkah INT on a bomb by Ryan Fitzpatrick. It was the second incomplete bomb on that drive. Minkah was tackled at the Steelers’ 3, so it was essentially a long punt.

The next drive was sort of a microcosm of the game. CB Nik Needham, in the game due to injuries to both X and Ken Webster, gave up a ~20 yard completion. Then Eric Rowe had a sweet pass breakup downfield against TE Vance McDonald. On the next play, Needham hit Rudolph on a corner blitz – but he got there too late and the QB was able to deliver a laser for a 21-yard completion. Then Sam Eguavoen had a sack on a play where Raekwon McMillan had great pressure. But on the very next play, Rudolph hit Smith-Schuster on a 26-yard TD down the left sideline, capping a 97-yard TD drive. Backup corner Chris Lammons had outstanding coverage on the play and actually got a hand on the ball, but Ju Ju simply made a great catch. It was that type of night for the Dolphins…some good, but too much bad.

On the Dolphins next drive, they started to move the ball and then faced a 4th and 1. On a great playcall, the Phins brought in FB Chandler Cox. He blocked inside while Fitz kept the ball and ran outside, diving for the first down marker. Unfortunately, O’Leary missed a block and despite initially being called a first down, the play was overturned on a Steelers challenge. That’s two plays tonight that O’Leary screwed up, leading to disaster. Coach Flores was absolutely livid on the sideline, ripping into the refs for several minutes after the overturned call.

The defensive coverage was a disaster after X left the game, and the Steelers took advantage. There was a totally bullshit pass interference call against CB Ryan Lewis that led to a James Connor TD, and with the score 24-14 at this point, the game was all but over.

Miami mounted a bit of a drive, highlighted by Fitz doing a great job avoiding pressure to complete a 15-yard pass to Jakeem Grant on 3rd and 13, but it ended with a Mark Walton fumble. On the play, Fitz lobbed a short pass to Walton, who scampered for 10 yards and then promptly fumbled, recovered by Pittsburgh.

And there you have it: the Phins blew a 14-point lead, giving up 27 unanswered points to fall to 0-7. While it wasn’t a complete embarrassment, it was ugly and it hurt.

I will say this: when Miami was up 14-0, it was a helluva lot of fun and I was proud to be a Dolfan. The coaching was great, the players were executing, the Steeler fans were booing…and then it all fell apart with the Steelers’ TD before the end of the half.

The Dolphins at least went down fighting, with aggressive playcalling on both sides of the ball throughout the second half. The talent level just isn’t good enough at this point, but it’s great to see the coaches put these young, raw players in position to keep attacking.

Two final notes:
- A week after playing their best game of the season, the Miami OL put forth a very poor performance tonight. Fitz helped them out tremendously, avoiding many would-be sacks. Overall, it was not a good showing by the OL.
- Despite racking up 6 tackles for loss, the Miami run defense was pretty damn awful The Steelers rushed for over 150 yards and Connor averaged over 6 yards a carry. Ugly.


Hero of the Game: Xavien Howard, who had 1 INT and 3 passes defensed in the first half, before exiting the game with a knee injury. What a difference X made to this defense…the Steelers’ offense did nothing when he was in the game, and dominated when he was out.

Honorable mention to the old school Dolphins uniforms, which looked fantastic…and highlighted just how awful the current unis are.


Goat of the Game: Nick O’Leary – who dropped a pass in the first half that ended up being intercepted, and missed a block in the second half on a 4th down play. Just a horrific game by O’Leary.

And a big “FUCK YOU” to the ESPN pre-game crew for acting like we had zero chance of winning this game. Louis RiddPRICK predicted a 35-0 Steelers win! Up your ass, BSPN!!! (In fairness, Adam Schefter did give us some props…)


Beer of the Game: A bit of a change tonight. Instead of beer, I had a few rum and apple ciders, featuring Seacrets Spiced Rum from the Seacrets Distillery in Ocean City, Maryland. My favorite rum…I always make sure to bring a bottle home when I’m in OC. It’s got a strong molasses flavor, with a hint of cloves. Absolutely perfect mixed with fresh apple cider.


Tua Watch: On hold, as future Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa did not play. He should be back in time for a high-profile matchup against LSU on November 9.

i agree that being up 14-0 felt good. but something in the back of my mind kept telling me that it wouldn't last - and it didn't. i guess it was karma that Minkah got the 2 interceptions - even though they were garbage picks, they were still picks. O'Leary (yes he was the goat of the game) certainly gifted him the first one.

the 3rd and 20 TD give up was certainly a risky, if not borderline stupid, call, although its hard to argue with the aggressiveness. you know who runs that same call with perfection - NE. but it was executed horribly by Miami. that was Howard's man that caught and ran the ball for the TD. maybe he was already hurting by that point, but Howard showed absolutely no interest on that play. not only did he appear to be playing zone (he started a back pedal into the deep third at the snap) while everyone else was playing man, but he showed zero interest in a lazy pursuit once the catch was made and even threw a faux shoulder at the goal line. it was an unfortunate play that should probably have never been called, but it did mare an otherwise very good night by Howard. of course now he is hurt again - that's a lot of money not playing between him and Jones.

has anyone else noticed how both New England and Green Bay's defenses have improved over last year now that Flores and Graham are no longer with their respective teams? i know its something i'm not supposed to point out, but well, it is what it is.

and can i ask why, Calhoun started at OG and played the first half - you know, when the offense was somewhat performing - and then Reed was inserted for the second half and the offensive blocking went to shit. did he get hurt? was the split halves a plan from the get go? does the staff still not trust him? i've seen nothing on this.

and lastly, this team got ripped because they couldn't stop the run. they gave up 158 yards at a 5.8 per average. see my point above about the improvement of NE and GB.

mercury22nathan wrote:

the 3rd and 20 TD give up was certainly a risky, if not borderline stupid, call, although its hard to argue with the aggressiveness.  you know who runs that same call with perfection - NE.  but it was executed horribly by Miami.  

I have to disagree, Miami should have played it safer than that. I understand that coaching staff trust in the team but when you want to win and keep the crowd booing you make sure they don't score. I feel like that was a huge shift in the game.

Miami made some mistakes that left a lot of fan wanting more but all and all Miami did well. I hope O'Leary hit the wall for the first hour of practice tomorrow or today depending on how the coaches are feeling.

mercury22nathan wrote:the 3rd and 20 TD give up was certainly a risky, if not borderline stupid, call, although its hard to argue with the aggressiveness.  you know who runs that same call with perfection - NE.  but it was executed horribly by Miami.  that was Howard's man that caught and ran the ball for the TD.  maybe he was already hurting by that point, but Howard showed absolutely no interest on that play.  not only did he appear to be playing zone (he started a back pedal into the deep third at the snap) while everyone else was playing man, but he showed zero interest in a lazy pursuit once the catch was made and even threw a faux shoulder at the goal line.  it was an unfortunate play that should probably have never been called, but it did mare an otherwise very good night by Howard.  of course now he is hurt again - that's a lot of money not playing between him and Jones.

I can't fault the playcall - yeah, it was clearly the wrong call, but I'm not going to complain about an 0-6 team being overly aggressive. I'd rather see them go for the throat than lay down and die. If the pressure had gotten to the QB a fraction of a second sooner, it's a sack for sure...but we just don't have defenders that can get to the QB quickly enough.

Watching the replay, it looks like X and Needham were doubling Smith-Schuster, and no one covered Johnson. I'm not sure if that was the playcall, or if X screwed up and was supposed to shadow Johnson...but regardless it was just an awful play. You can't leave the middle of the field wide open with an all-out blitz.

mercury22nathan wrote:has anyone else noticed how both New England and Green Bay's defenses have improved over last year now that Flores and Graham are no longer with their respective teams?  i know its something i'm not supposed to point out, but well, it is what it is.

New England is playing out of their minds right now. It will be interesting to see how that D handles the Ravens' rushing attack, but right now they look absolutely unbeatable. The return of Jamie Collins has made a huge difference on the D, and they're getting perfect coverage on the backend. That D was 5th in the NFL in scoring last season and held the Rams to 3 points in the Super Bowl, so I can't say anything bad about Flores' job there - but yes, right now the Flores-less Patriots are playing some of the best defense this league has ever seen.

As for Green Bay, the free agent additions of Preston Smith, Za'Darius Smith and Adrian Amos, and the switch to a full-time 3-4, have made a big difference. Graham was the LB coach last season and while the Packers are clearly much better this season, their defense gave up fewer yards per play in 2018 (5.6) than they are this season (6.0). But yes, again, the Packers have been better without Graham.

It's not really a fair comparison, because the Dolphins have a bottom-of-the-barrel roster on defense, but yes the coaches and players have to do better than they have been so far.

mercury22nathan wrote:and can i ask why, Calhoun started at OG and played the first half - you know, when the offense was somewhat performing - and then Reed was inserted for the second half and the offensive blocking went to shit.  did he get hurt?  was the split halves a plan from the get go?  does the staff still not trust him?  i've seen nothing on this.

The same thing happened last week, and Calhoun supposedly left the game with an illness. I'm not sure what happened last night...haven't heard anything. Calhoun actually played halfway decent early on. Reed has been a colossal disappointment. I thought he'd win a starting job in camp, but he's been absolutely awful.

Great write up as usual.

Echoing others, yes I loved being up 14-0, the live looks at dejected Steelers fans was priceless.

That O'Leary turnover was horrific, and it marked the beginning of the end because even I could feel the momentum shift. Can't imagine what it was like in the stadium, a deflating turnover to say the least. Changed the whole game.

IMO we got totally jobbed on that 4th and 1 reversal. No camera angle was good enough to second guess the spot of that ball. Bullshit. Flores reaction was awesome, he just wouldn't let it go.

The Walton fumble - ugh. He ran hard and had some nice plays and that was looking like another one. He needs to hold that ball high and tight. It was down around his waist when the ball got knocked out.

All in all, turnovers spelled our doom. Can't blame Fitz because he hit OLeary in the chest, and the bomb that was picked off resulted in essentially a really good punt.

I was disappointed because this was looking like a total "shock the world" game. Instead, we got a moral victory, of sorts. Hell at least we showed up and played hard. That's something pleasant to see on prime time.

white1 wrote:

IMO we got totally jobbed on that 4th and 1 reversal.  No camera angle was good enough to second guess the spot of that ball.  Bullshit.  Flores reaction was awesome, he just wouldn't let it go.  

That was a really hard call to reverse. Looking at all the replays, you could certainly assume that Fitz's knee was down before the ball crossed the line - but you can't reverse the call on an assumption. You never actually get a good look at the ball on any of the replays, so the call should have been upheld. And to top it off, they completely screwed up the spot and the yard markers, resulting in having to re-set the ball and measure AFTER the replay decision. Just a total clusterfuck.

I have learned to let these things go, though. The refs make bad calls in every game. Sometimes your team gets screwed, and sometimes they catch a break - it all evens out over the course of the season, more or less. Totally sucks, but it is what it is.

But watching Flores's reaction made one thing clear: say whatever you want about the guy, but he is loaded with passion and he is coaching to win.

BTW - anyone else impressed with DB Jomal Wiltz? I feel like he's getting better every game. He typically stays with the receiver and has a knack for getting his hands on the ball. He looks like a keeper to me.

I was liking the way he played yesterday as well. Wiltz definitely can be a starter if not a nickel for Miami

rightchea wrote:

mercury22nathan wrote:

the 3rd and 20 TD give up was certainly a risky, if not borderline stupid, call, although its hard to argue with the aggressiveness.  you know who runs that same call with perfection - NE.  but it was executed horribly by Miami.  

I have to disagree, Miami should have played it safer than that. I understand that coaching staff trust in the team but when you want to win and keep the crowd booing you make sure they don't score. I feel like that was a huge shift in the game.

Yeah, protecting the first down marker and rushing only 3 or 4 is definitely the smart call there. But again, we were 0-6...I'm OK with Flores putting the game on his team's shoulders and being aggressive. He was trying to give his team confidence and it totally blew up in his face. That was the turning point of the game for sure.

Definitely understand that but he should have relied on at least one LB in the middle. every fourth down is a confident builder especially for a team that get scored on almost every down before the Redskins game

rightchea wrote:Definitely understand that but he should have relied on at least one LB in the middle. every fourth down is a confident builder especially for a team that get scored on almost every down before the Redskins game

There were other times in the game where they used that amoeba look but dropped Biegel or Baker into coverage. They should have done something like that on that play.

mercury22nathan wrote:

Flores again defended his decision to rush eight — and have only three players in coverage — on Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph’s 45-yard touchdown pass to rookie receiver Diontae Johnson late in the second quarter of Monday’s loss to the Steelers.

“If you want to win games in this league, you have to be aggressive,” Flores said. “We blitzed them, they made a play, it happens. If you want to win in this league, you have to be aggressive, period. We blitzed them, they ran a crossing route. We didn’t tackle the guy. We’re going to be aggressive. That’s the way the team is going to play. We are going to go down swinging.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article236623973.html

Love the attitude, and it will pay off when we actually have the ability to get to the QB. Again, I don't necessarily have a problem with the call, even though it ended up being disastrous. I've always said: if you are terrible in coverage anyway, why not blitz the hell out of the QB? The way this team covers receivers, the same thing may have happened even with 7 guys in coverage! I'd rather be aggressive, especially as an 0-6 team facing a young inexperienced QB.

I know "almost" doesn't count, but the pressure almost got to the QB...and if it had, everyone would be praising Flores for the aggressive call. That's how football works: they call you a genius when the play works, and a fool when it doesn't.