Game Thoughts: Week 9: Jets at Dolphins

The “Tank for Tua” campaign took a big hit today, as the Dolphins handed Adam Gase and the Jets a beatdown in Miami. The final score was 26-18, but it really wasn’t that close, as the Dolphins dominated all day.

The game began with a long Jets’ drive for a TD, with the Dolphins’ secondary getting continually torched. It looked like business as usual, but the Phins tied the game up on their second possession, featuring Preston Williams with a couple of nice catches and then a TD.

On the next drive, DeVante Parker made a great one-handed catch for his 4th TD of the season, to put Phins up 14-7. There was a big play by Gesicki on that drive.

The Dolphins scored again on their next drive. Gesicki caught a sideline pass for 34 yards, toasting Jets’ LB James Burgess. Williams followed with another TD, displaying excellent body placement as he shielded himself from the defender.

The Jets got a 76-yard return from Vincent Smith on the ensuing kickoff. The Jets got to 3rd and goal, and then Jomal Wiltz picked off a blindly thrown Darnold wounded duck at the goal line. On the play, Raekwon McMillan blitzed and destroyed Darnold, forcing the errant pass. Unfortunately, that gave the Phins the ball at the one yard line, and it led to a Jets’ safety after a fumbled snap, and then a Jets FG after the kickoff. The Dolphins led 21-12 at the half.

The OL played very well in the first half, with mostly good pass protection and opening some holes for Mark Walton and Kalen Ballage in the running game. The offensive playcalling was creative, keeping the Jets off balance. On a 3rd and 1 play, Ryan Fitzpatrick faked a pitch and the flipped the ball to Allen Hurns for the first down. Very nice design and execution.

The defense got pretty good pressure throughout the half, but just like last week usually didn’t get to the QB in time. Christian Wilkins recorded his first career sack. The run D was solid, holding Le’Veon Bell to just 35 yards and under 4 yards a carry.

Entering the game, the Dolphins had not scored a single point in the 3rd quarter this entire season. That trend seemed like it would continue, with Jason Sanders missing a 49-yard FG on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter. But the Phins later had an 11-play drive and scored their first 3rd quarter points with a FG at the end of the quarter. Gesicki had a key 13-yard reception on 3rd and 9 on the drive. The Phins’ D forced a 3 and out on the next Jets’ drive, which lasted just 44 seconds.

Charles Harris showed up again today, with a tackle for loss in the first quarter and a QB pressure in the 3rd quarter.

Parker had a sweet 28-yard catch and run negated by a bogus pass interference penalty. Coach Flores challenged, but the call was absurdly upheld. Horrible call.

Wilkins had a tackle for loss in the 4th quarter. On the next play Nik Needham blitzed off the edge and crushed Darnold for a sack.

After a nice punt by Matt Haack, the Jets started a drive deep in their own end. The center snapped the ball when Darnold wasn’t looking, and the ball went out of the endzone for a Miami safety. Taco Charlton had a chance to recover the ball for a TD, but wasn’t able to grab it.

Davon Godchaux had a sack late in the game. Vince Biegel was all over the place, constantly in the middle of the action. The secondary had some rough patches, but overall played a solid game.

The Jets kicked a FG in garbage time, and then it was all over (well, after Gase foolishly called a timeout with 7 seconds left as the Phins were taking a knee.) The Dolphins tasted victory for the first time in what felt like forever!

It was great to see the Dolphins hold on for a victory, as too often this season they have done the exact opposite, giving games away with mistake after mistake. Today was largely mistake-free, and the coaching staff’s aggressive playcalling on offense and defense really paid off.

I was very impressed with the offense today. I love the emphasis on getting the ball to Gesicki, Williams and Parker, and Fitz was deadly on third downs. The running game was almost non-existent in the second half, but Walton ran hard and the passing game was consistent all day.

The defense was in attack mode all game, and once we have a legit pass rushers the sacks are going to come in bunches. The continued development of Wiltz is very good to see, and Wilkins is starting to come on as well.

One major takeaway in this game is that the Dolphins are not the worst team in football. That honor goes to the Jets, who look completely lost under Gase. The Jets play sloppy, undisciplined football and have no identity whatsoever. Sam Darnold has horrifically poor mechanics and is getting worse each week under Gase. At this point, I’m worried that the Jets will take the #1 pick away from us.

Anyway, it’s awesome to get a win, and even sweeter to do it against the Jets. Despite being outmanned, the Dolphins continue to progress and play hard, and it is a testament to Coach Flores and his staff. Flores received a well-earned Gatorade bath at game’s end.

Hero of the Game: Though I didn’t mention him much, Ryan Fitzpatrick again earns hero honors. Fitz was awesome today, throwing for 3 TDs and almost 300 yards. He was deadly accurate all game, shredding the Jets’ defense. Fitz is fun to watch, and he has this offense believing in itself.
--Honorable mention to Mike Gesicki, who had the best game of his career with 6 catches for almost 100 yards. Gesicki made a bunch of key catches today, and he is absolutely ascending.
--Another honorable mention to the receiving duo of DeVante Parker and Preston Williams, who combined for 9 catches, 129 yards and 3 TDs. These guys are getting better and better, and they are going to be major parts of this offense moving forward.

Goat of the Game: I honestly can’t think of anyone to criticize today. This victory was a team effort, and everyone contributed.

Beer of the Game: Founders All-Day IPA

The thing that pissed me off was Gase calling a time out with 15 second left on the clock like he was gonna have enough time to get the ball back. Gase is crazy and need to have a mental evaluation done on him.

rightchea wrote:The thing that pissed me off was Gase calling a time out with 15 second left on the clock like he was gonna have enough time to get the ball back. Gase is crazy and need to have a mental evaluation done on him.

Mental evaluation??? I think Gase has ALREADY been lobotomized

Fuck draft position, I did NOT want 0-16 and anyone on here who says they did is a liar. Losing three games to the Jets and Bengals would've been the ultimate disgrace.

And first round QBs are overrated anyway. Remember that heralded QB class of '18? Darnold is now 0-3 against the lousy Fins, with just 2 TD passes and 7 INTs now. Rosen's already on his second team and been benched for excessive suckiness. Mayfield's proving to be a slightly upgraded version of Manziel. Even the Bills are winning pretty much in spite of Josh Allen and haven't beaten anybody worth a damn yet. I'm thinking the Bengals just might save Miami from taking Tua and they can get the real top QB Joe Burrow instead

Oh, and I DAMN well better start seeing ESPN accuse the Bengals and Jets of tanking now the way they did when the Fins were losing.

Where's the absinthe when I need it?

JMP wrote:One major takeaway in this game is that the Dolphins are not the worst team in football.  That honor goes to the Jets, who look completely lost under Gase.  The Jets play sloppy, undisciplined football and have no identity whatsoever.  Sam Darnold has horrifically poor mechanics and is getting worse each week under Gase.  At this point, I’m worried that the Jets will take the #1 pick away from us.

You're worrying about the wrong team. It'll be the Bengals who go 0-16 and get the top pick. And unlike the Jets they'll be taking a QB. Although it would be hilarious to see the Jets get the top pick and throw Darnold under the bus I'm now hoping this team DOES get the 3rd overall pick just to make all the "they're tanking and a lottery needs to happen RIGHT NOW!!!" people look like the fools they always were.

Anyway, it’s awesome to get a win, and even sweeter to do it against the Jets.  Despite being outmanned, the Dolphins continue to progress and play hard, and it is a testament to Coach Flores and his staff.  Flores received a well-earned Gatorade bath at game’s end.

I admit you had me fooled, I really did think you were openly rooting for 0-16 and would be pissed if this team won a game. I sincerely apologize and am embarrassed

Oh BTW I'm sure anybody who wants can dig up old posts by me saying Darnold and Rosen would be busts before/shortly after they were drafted.

DolFan 316 wrote:

I admit you had me fooled, I really did think you were openly rooting for 0-16 and would be pissed if this team won a game. I sincerely apologize and am embarrassed

I would never root for the team to go 0-16, but looking at the roster and the way they kept getting slammed in the second half every week I just assumed that a winless season was highly likely. Really, I just want to come out of this with Tua at QB. And that's still a possibility, even if we pick 2 or 3. The Bengals could take Burrow, and the Jets could take Young.

I am convinced BTW that if this team played the Browns next week they would win. Maybe tanking for picks isn't the right way to go after all, hmmm...

Also, believe it or not, the only two QBs taken #1 overall to win a Super Bowl since 1990 are the Manning brothers. There have been 16 other QBs taken #1 in that period, and 10 of them were drafted after Eli in '04, and they've ALL failed.

The best thing to come out of this season is that I think we finally have a legit coaching staff. Players are clearly buying in and they are working hard. And even though they don't always succeed due to the poor talent on the roster, you can see the coaching philosophies and schemes coming together and taking shape. I'm really feeling good about the future...just have to hope Grier hits a couple of home runs this offseason...

I'm going to stick with the Dolphins being capable of pulling off 2 or 3 more victories this year. I'm actually quite impressed what the coaching staff has done with this roster.

Degarmo wrote:I'm going to stick with the Dolphins being capable of pulling off 2 or 3 more victories this year.  I'm actually quite impressed what the coaching staff has done with this roster.

I can totally see them beating the Bengals and Jets again. That's 3 wins. If Flores can get 4 or even 5 wins out of this collection of bumblers, busts and bums he should be hands down the Coach Of The Year. Yes, I'm serious. I'll even go so far as to say that snubbing a 4-5 win Flores for anyone else would be a heinous crime against humanity. Still being serious.

I have to agree, Miami has the ability to win against the Bengals and Jets again. The idea that Miami could got 4-12 would be incredible.

Just saw this tweet posted on Phins.com.

Brett Brecheisen @bbrech

.@VinceBiegel had three more QB hits yesterday. He's now T-21st in the NFL with 10 QBHs on the fewest number of snaps for any player with 10+ QBHs.

Biegel averages a QBH every 23.9 snaps, the 5th-best mark in the NFL (min. 7 QBHs).

What a great acquisition Biegel turned out to be. The coaches have done an outstanding job with him.

--Honorable mention to Mike Gesicki, who had the best game of his career with 6 catches for almost 100 yards. Gesicki made a bunch of key catches today, and he is absolutely ascending.
--Another honorable mention to the receiving duo of DeVante Parker and Preston Williams, who combined for 9 catches, 129 yards and 3 TDs. These guys are getting better and better, and they are going to be major parts of this offense moving forward.

The development of these young talents is one of the most obvious signs of an effective coaching staff. Biegel being another. Don't forget the improvement we are seeing from Godchaux, McMillan, and Wilkins also.

Going back to my original point:

Gesicki looked like a straight bust last year and further a TE that couldn't block. Now he's looking like the second coming of Aaron Hernandez (but without the you know, murder and all).

Parker was teetering on "bust" status also. Now, he makes a clutch TD catch with one hand cradling the ball into his body, followed by a stare down of the hapless Jets CB trying to cover him (I also saw on Twitter that pose is installed as a pic on the elevator door in the main building, I guess they change it weekly).

Preston Williams just an UDFA who was turning into one of our best playmakers on offense. Looks like he may have a knee injury but no matter - this season not all that important at all, the upshot is that he's a keeper next year and well into the future assuming he keeps it clean off the field.


Beyond that, as soon as I read about the negative stigma 0-16 carries, and the fact it will literally follow all those involved the rest of their career, I wanted no part of it. It's too important to instill a viable, credible winning culture. If we want a QB we will damn well have to trade up and get him, worse case. Or, roll with Fitz/Rosen, build the other pieces we need and trade up for a QB in 2021. There are a dozen ways to get a QB, and let's all recall the failure of the last regime was sticking with Tannehill for 7 years. This year we made wholesale QB changes and our offense has been improving steadily every week.

I really don't care which QB we draft, if we draft one, if we find one in free agency, or whatever. As long as we keep looking for the right guy, eventually we will get one. Yes I would love to see Tua here. Is he a lead pipe lock? He has injury concerns. Herbert has leadership concerns. Burrow has the risk of being a one-year wonder. NO ONE is a totally safe pick, and none of them are can't-miss Andrew Luck. IMO you don't trade the farm just to have the chance to select one. I'd rather have 3 options that our scouts (especially Marvin Allen) believe in, take one of them and try to use the least draft capital possible to get in position for him.

The Chiefs did excellent work in getting Mahomes, and the Eagles did just as well to grab Wentz. The Fins need to rise to that level, albeit likely having the advantage of a top-5 draft slot to aid them. Throwing every game to go 0-16 was a fallacy, and anyone watching Flores against Pittsburgh absolutely lose his mind for ten minutes after that 4th and 1 was overturned knows all he wants to do is win, and he doesn't care who's lining up where as long as they do their job.

Excellent post, white.

I actually agree on the QB. Even though I obviously want Tua, the goal is to get the right QB...and toward that end, I really don't care who it is as long as we get it right.

The job this coaching staff is doing is really amazing considering everything that's happened. I agree with 316...if it keeps up, Flores should win coach of the year. Of course he won't actually win it, but to get anything at all out of this roster of misfits is nothing short of miraculous.

white1 wrote:Beyond that, as soon as I read about the negative stigma 0-16 carries, and the fact it will literally follow all those involved the rest of their career, I wanted no part of it.  It's too important to instill a viable, credible winning culture.  If we want a QB we will damn well have to trade up and get him, worse case.  Or, roll with Fitz/Rosen, build the other pieces we need and trade up for a QB in 2021.  There are a dozen ways to get a QB, and let's all recall the failure of the last regime was sticking with Tannehill for 7 years.  This year we made wholesale QB changes and our offense has been improving steadily every week.

THANK YOU!!! I KNEW I couldn't be the only one who wondered why it was so necessary for a team to go 0-16 to get the first pick and then think that keeping the coach and GM responsible for that was a great idea. NONE of that EVER made ANY sense to me. Ask the Browns how easy it is to recover from 0-16--three years later and they're still bad!

I really don't care which QB we draft, if we draft one, if we find one in free agency, or whatever.  As long as we keep looking for the right guy, eventually we will get one.  Yes I would love to see Tua here.  Is he a lead pipe lock? He has injury concerns.  Herbert has leadership concerns.  Burrow has the risk of being a one-year wonder.  NO ONE is a totally safe pick, and none of them are can't-miss Andrew Luck.  IMO you don't trade the farm just to have the chance to select one.  I'd rather have 3 options that our scouts (especially Marvin Allen) believe in, take one of them and try to use the least draft capital possible to get in position for him.

The Chiefs did excellent work in getting Mahomes, and the Eagles did just as well to grab Wentz.  The Fins need to rise to that level, albeit likely having the advantage of a top-5 draft slot to aid them.  Throwing every game to go 0-16 was a fallacy, and anyone watching Flores against Pittsburgh absolutely lose his mind for ten minutes after that 4th and 1 was overturned knows all he wants to do is win, and he doesn't care who's lining up where as long as they do their job.

Here's a list of every first round QB since 2012 (the Luck/Tanny draft). If this doesn't scare you, then you have far more courage than I. I would argue that so far Wilson is better than all these guys except maybe mahomes, and even Dak Prescott is clearly better than half of them. Take note of the much heralded, ballyhooed Class of '18. Jackson seems to be the best of the bunch--and he was taken 32nd overall! The rest seem to be busts, even Allen who the Bills are winning in spite of. Also, Ross wanted Jackson to be drafted. Seriously, no joke.

http://pfref.com/tiny/yBBPc

DolFan 316 wrote:
And first round QBs are overrated anyway. Remember that heralded QB class of '18? Darnold is now 0-3 against the lousy Fins, with just 2 TD passes and 7 INTs now. Rosen's already on his second team and been benched for excessive suckiness. Mayfield's proving to be a slightly upgraded version of Manziel. Even the Bills are winning pretty much in spite of Josh Allen and haven't beaten anybody worth a damn yet. I'm thinking the Bengals just might save Miami from taking Tua and they can get the real top QB Joe Burrow instead

This is why I posted a short list of QB that could be coming out in the upcoming draft. Technically Miami doesn't have to use any of their first round picks to get a QB. Drafting a QB in the first round that are going to be great is less of a chance than a FCS player getting drafted now a days. I say Miami goes after the best players in the draft position and find a QB within the first three rounds. If Miami is able to get a great QB in the second or third why not. Doesn't have to be a house hold name to lead your team to the superbowl. Think about all the teams that are doing good right now. none of their starting QB are first round picks. Jimmy Garoppolo was a 2nd round late pick, Dak Prescott was a 4th round pick, Russell Wilson was a 3rd round pick, Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson were both late first rounders. So the Idea of having to get a QB as a first pick is not realistic anymore, especially with the QB prospects being stacked this year.

"" wrote:Oh, and I DAMN well better start seeing ESPN accuse the Bengals and Jets of tanking now the way they did when the Fins were losing.

Where's the absinthe when I need it?

Not happening. Miami will end the season as the team that "tank for Tua" even if Miami won two more games.

Tua is clearly the best of the bunch, and while no one is a sure thing, he's the closest thing in this draft.

Fromm looks like he can be a winning NFL quarterback IMO.  

Hurts would be an excellent chance to take from the late first round on, unless he plays his way into Kyler Murray territory on draft day.