Game thoughts: week 10 Ravens at Dolphins

Thursday Night Football, Ravens at Dolphins.  An ugly matchup for Miami, with everything stacked against them, and literally the entire world picking against them.  This game was sure to be a Ravens’ blowout, with the Dolphins embarrassing themselves on national TV.  Right?
 
Wrong.
 
The Miami Dolphins showed tremendous heart, desire and pride tonight, ignoring the press and their terrible 2-7 record to shock the world with a decisive 22-10 victory.
 
This win was vintage Brian Flores, as the much-maligned coach designed a stifling defensive gameplan that completely confused Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.  This wasn’t a good defensive effort from Miami – it was a DOMINANT championship-caliber effort.  There will be no championships this season, but for one night it felt like this defense could not be beat.  The amorphous amoeba formations the Dolphins used over and over left the Ravens with no idea of what to do on nearly every down.  The Dolphins were relentless, bringing pressure from anywhere and everywhere, without rhyme or reason, pounding Jackson over and over and all but stealing his soul.  The Ravens just could not do anything against the Dolphins’ onslaught.
 
It’s hard to highlight just one or two players on defense, but this game was broken wide open by an Xavien Howard forced fumble and 49-yard TD return.  Rookie Jevon Holland played like a man possessed, making plays all over the field and blitzing like a madman.  I could keep going…Zach Seiler with a big tackle for loss, Christian Wilkins crushing skulls, Jerome Baker resembling a tackling machine, Justin Coleman ending the game with an INT, Duke Riley bodyslamming Ravens, Jae Phillips seemingly everywhere at once, Elandon Roberts, Brandon Jones and Eric Rowe bringing the pain, Byron Jones with 16 total tackles, Howard shutting down receivers, Raekown Davis doing his impersonation of an immovable object in the middle, and on and on.  This was a defensive effort for the ages, and I can’t say enough about what a dominant performance it was.
 
The offensive side of the ball was, well, yeah, not so impressive.  The game began with Jacoby Brissett at QB, despite Tua Tagovailoa reportedly throwing well in warmups and healthy enough to be the backup.  Anyway, Brissett did not play well at all, but led the offense to 2 FGs.  Brissett got banged up (thanks to the OL) and had to leave the game, opening the door for Tua to come in.  Tua was shaky most of his night, but in the 4^th quarter he found Albert Wilson wide open for a 64-yard gain that essentially ended the game and set Miami up for their only TD of the night.  Despite Tua’s up and down performance, he did inject life into the offense and was able to score on a QB sneak to seal the game.  Wilson was a revelation tonight – he looked like a speed demon and made a couple of key catches.  WR Isaiah Ford also had some key catches, including a 52 yard catch.  Jaylen Waddle had a 35 yard catch earlier, giving the Phins 3 plays of 35+ yards for the first time in forever.
 
On the negative side, the OL was absolutely dreadful – horrific run blocking and pass protection, penalties, and just all-around garbage play.  Brissett and Tua were both under pressure on almost every dropback and both took beatings.
But, an offensive lineman did make the play of the night – even if it didn’t count.  Late in the game, as the Dolphins offense stumbled their way through an embarrassingly-bad goal-to-go situation, Tua got pressured instantly and threw the ball into the line - where Robert Hunt caught it and rumbled, stumbled and went airborne – landing on his head – for one of the most improbable TDs ever.  So improbable, in fact, that it didn’t count and resulted in a penalty for illegal touching – because, of course, Hunt was not an eligible receiver.  Still, it was the most fun moment in a night that was filled with fun moments for the Dolphins.
 
One note on Tua.  Clearly, he was healthy enough to start.  Just as clearly, Flores has an agenda, and it involves doing everything he can to make Tua look bad.  In a postgame interview with NFLN, it was blatantly obvious that Tua was not happy with the situation, and all this anti-Tua propaganda that is seemingly coming from Flores and Grier is absolutely getting to him.  It’s the first time I’ve seen cracks appear in him, and to his credit most people would have shown it weeks/months ago.  But Tua is a consummate professional, and tonight he put the team first and played a role in the impossible victory.  Say what you will about this kid, but he’s a baller and he’s got no quit in him.
 
Anyway, for one night, I felt proud to be a Dolfan.  This team is heading nowhere, but tonight they beat the crap out of a team that has owned them for years, and I couldn’t be happier.  It was fun seeing Tua, Wilkins, Davis (and even the awkward Seiler!) dancing on the field and enjoying themselves – bringing to mind memories of a primetime game years ago when Sam Madison and his teammates danced throughout a blowout win over the Titans.   Who knows what the future holds, but tonight I go to bed happy to be a fan of the Miami Dolphins.
 
 
Hero of the Game: Honorable mention to Albert “No Longer Invisible” Wilson, but tonight was all about the defense.  Simply an amazing performance across the board by the defense.  They stunned the Ravens and made play after play after play.
 
Goat of the Game: My God, this offensive line sucks.  I’ve never seen a worse line ever.  As bad as they are in pass protection, they are even worse at run blocking.  Somehow, they just never show any improvement.

JMP wrote:One note on Tua.  Clearly, he was healthy enough to start.  Just as clearly, Flores has an agenda, and it involves doing everything he can to make Tua look bad.  In a postgame interview with NFLN, it was blatantly obvious that Tua was not happy with the situation, and all this anti-Tua propaganda that is seemingly coming from Flores and Grier is absolutely getting to him.  It’s the first time I’ve seen cracks appear in him, and to his credit most people would have shown it weeks/months ago.  But Tua is a consummate professional, and tonight he put the team first and played a role in the impossible victory.  Say what you will about this kid, but he’s a baller and he’s got no quit in him.

If Tua doesn't start the next game, the conspiracy will be obvious. And remember who called it first. Me, that's who Even the players know. I never root for anyone to get hurt (not even Brady) but let's be real here, if Brissett doesn't injure his knee we never see Tua in this or any other game the rest of the season. Now Flores has to pretend he's not pissed at what just happened.

Do I think it's a coincidence this team went from looking guaranteed to lose out to winning 2 straight after the trade deadline passed and the Watson thing was finally put to bed? HELL no!

I should be sleeping, but looking at the box score and this win was indeed a miracle: Iggy was credited with a tackle!!! I assume it was on STs, but still!  Will the wonders of this win never cease????

JMP wrote:I should be sleeping, but looking at the box score and this win was indeed a miracle: Iggy was credited with a tackle!!! I assume it was on STs, but still!  Will the wonders of this win never cease????

OMG that really IS the biggest miracle of them all!!!

BTW I won't be sleeping until probably 4 AM, maybe a lot later. It's not happening. Not tonight, not after a magnificently marvelous, monumental moment like this!

Game balls go to Jevon Holland, Tua Tagovailoa, and Albert Wilson. Honorable mention to Isaiah Ford.

The running game continues to go nowhere. They try running over Jackson almost every running play. The running back is usually met in the backfield. Eichenberg jumped on a Tia fumble, credit Eichenberg with blown protection on that play and since he was already looking at the rushers number he was able to see the ball get knocked loose.

The officials did all they could to keep Lamar in the game. Giving bogus call after bogus call to Baltimore. It was so bad even the announcers chimed in on the roughing the passer by Holland.

WELL...now that I actually watched the replay, here are my disjointed and sleep deprived thoughts...

You guys were absolutely right about the whole 'only running to the left and never the right" thing, and it baffles, befuddles and bewilders me. Unless it's some crazy 5D chess strategy from Flores to trick the Jets into thinking this team always runs to one side only to catch them off guard by doing the opposite, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

When Harbaugh bemoaned his team's lack of preparation and blamed himself, I believe him. Time after time after time the Fins D lined up the exact same way--loading up the box and all but yelling to the Ravens, "WE'RE BLITZING YOU AGAIN!!!" and leaving a ginormous hole in the middle of the field, and yet so-called MVP Lamar Jackson and the rest of their offense acted completely confused and confounded by this, and if it was some exotic strategy never before used by any NFL team

Sadly, the penalties were legit until the Ravens TD drive, when the officials were clearly--CLEARLY--rigging things to let them score and keep viewers watching for ratings purposes. As CC said, you know it's bad when even the announcers can see it and are pointing it out in that passive-aggressive "we know what's happening but aren't allowed to come out and say it" way. Also, I didn't even realize that stupid "body weight landing on the QB" rule was still around, I could've sworn the league did away with it, since they haven't actually enforced it in 3 years or so. The did weakly try to "make up" for that by actually calling the Ravens for a penalty once on the ensuing drive, and then once the game was deemed out of reach suddenly the Fins' defensive penalties disappeared, go figure.  

IMO Brissett actually looked like a competent NFL QB on his two FG drives, and it's not his fault Smythe and the O-line decided to celebrate LGBT-ness by grabbing and groping Ravens defenders in the red zone. The playcalling on each of the three FG drives after reaching the red zone was also...suspect. He did miss seeing an open Shaheen in the end zone, which was particularly inexcusable since he'd just connected with him the play before.

Also IMO the game wasn't even as close as the final score. If this team actually knew how to score TDs once they reached the red zone they could've won by at least 20, which *really* blows my mind       If this offense can somehow improve to even below average, I see no reason why this team can't win out, I really don't. Both Bills games are out of the way, and the Ravens were the best team left on the schedule now that the Titans are Henry-less. I maintain the D was playing like hot garbage burning in a dumpster fire not due to lack of talent, but to being distracted by the Watson rumors, and it seems to me that most of the players on that side of the ball were backing Tua all along over Flores. There also was clearly a Players Only Meeting held by the D at some point 3 weeks ago.

I haven't personally seen a defensive effort like this since a Sunday night smothering of the Bills back in '03. At that time I thought it was one of the best Dolphins defensive performances ever, and the stats back me up. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200309210mia.htm

I won't put this game on that level, but it's about as close as any Fins D over the last 15 years has come to it. Giving up a 99-yard TD drive (even if it was ref-aided) knocks it down a peg, but only a peg   You know your D is getting the job done when they can make Lamar Jackson look like Brissett and have him pouting on the sidelines like yet another millennial who hasn't gotten things to go 100% their way. Seeing that display from Jackson convinces me he'll never win a title, and maybe not even 3 more playoff games the rest of his career. It reminded me of Cam Newton's Super Bowl sulking, and his career was all downhill after that. He's certainly not MVP material, that's for sure.

Also, I realize I was watching an edited replay but even in that context I was shocked at the lack of "wokeness" and the announcers/network deciding to actually concentrate on the actual game happening in front of them I kept waiting for a 'woke" moment and...it just never came, although I made sure to mute every ad break.

On the other hand, this sudden metaphorical military fellatio first confused, then genuinely offended me. Oh, NOW you like the military??? NOW you think they're great, Troy Aikman??? Oh, really??? After spending YEARS bashing and trashing them in a concerted effort to destroy America and all it stands for suddenly you love people fighting for your freedom??? Where was all this last year, or even earlier this year when Biden was handing Afghanistan over to terrorists on a silver platter, hmmm??? I suspect a lot of people have been "instructed" to have a more favorable opinion of the military now that they'll likely be used to enforce certain tyrannical edicts, but maybe that's just me. It's a good thing I was already in a good mood, let's put it that way.

In the heat of the moment, I can't believe I didn't mention Ogbah in my game thoughts. I definitely should have, because he was a beast. The box score shows that he was only credited with 2 tackles, but make no mistake - he played a huge role in the defensive dominance. All night long he took away Jackson's running lanes and blocked his passing lanes. The Ravens OL had no answers for him. Excellent effort by Ogbah.

Don't look now, but this D has allowed its two lowest point AND yardage totals in the last two games. I believe that's what the cool kids call "trending upwards".

More weird, wild, wacky stuff: coming into this game the Fins had just six plays of 30 yards or more all season. They had three last night, including the only two 50-plus yard plays of the season so far

https://stathead.com/football/play_finder.cgi?request=1&match=all&sb=0&order_by_asc=0&order_by=yards&year_min=2021&year_max=2021&game_type=R&team_id=mia&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&week_num_min=0&week_num_max=99&minutes_max=15&seconds_max=0&minutes_min=0&seconds_min=0&yards_min=30&yards_max=99&field_pos_min_field=team&field_pos_max_field=team&end_field_pos_min_field=team&end_field_pos_max_field=team&no_play=N

Yeah, as I said in the game thread, last night was like "opposite day". It was really strange, and as I saw how things played out in the first half I had to fight down the feeling that we might actually win because I didn't want to be disappointed. But every time I thought the defense would fold, they just kept getting stronger. And I think the offense had at least 6 plays of over 20 yards...that's insanity! It was a really strange game for sure.

And you're right - in retrospect, Brissett wasn't that bad - but the OL sure did it's best to try to get him killed.

DolFan 316 wrote:
You guys were absolutely right about the whole 'only running to the left and never the right" thing, and it baffles, befuddles and bewilders me.

And the other thing with the running game is, there's almost never a blocker anywhere near the running back. It is literally Gaskin all by himself trying to smash through 3-4 defenders, every carry. Forget about second-level blocking...there isn't even any first-level blocking! I've never seen anything like it, at least not on such a consistent basis.

One thing I'm wondering is if a FB would make a difference. We do have Cethan Carter on the roster, who can play FB/H-back. He's active every game for special teams (where he is damn good), so why not give him a couple of snaps a game as a lead blocker? And not just in short yardage. Something has to be done to get this run game started, and what the coaches are doing so far just isn't working.

Jevon Fuckin' Holland!!!!!

Such a strange play...and it somehow worked!

JMP wrote:And the other thing with the running game is, there's almost never a blocker anywhere near the running back.  It is literally Gaskin all by himself trying to smash through 3-4 defenders, every carry.  Forget about second-level blocking...there isn't even any first-level blocking!  I've never seen anything like it, at least not on such a consistent basis.

I still say the '97 running "attack" was worse, and that goes for '19 as well. But this year might end up a strong 3rd. At least Gaskin can get past the LOS most of the time, even if barely. In '97 I saw so many runs not even make it that far.

Ok, yes this was an amazing effort by the defense. But so what? What good is a crushing defense if doesn’t decide to start crushing until after 7 losses are already in the books? It’s a wasted effort. Oh boy, yes the team is developing and getting better – what so they can end the season with a mediocre record and momentum into next year? Great, so they can start off slow again in ’22 and perfect finishing with an 8 win season? Has this been coaching all along? Was this defense capable of this effort all year long (last year would indicate yes), but the coaches somehow can’t maximize talent and ability until half way through a losing season? Yay, perpetual middling status!!

Thankfully the Ravens’ defensive backs were so concerned with shutting out Gesicki (of which they did an excellent job) they forgot to cover Ford and Wilson – and who could blame them considering both have been an afterthoughts this year. Those two plays and Howard’s fumble return (and the resultant points) were the difference.

And so yes, the Tua broken finger he’s-not-good-enough-to-start charade is exposed. Tua himself said he took no snaps with the starters all week. So he’s healthy enough to take backup snaps, but just not with the starters. All this talk of “we’ll see how he feels before deciding” is a load of crap. Flores had no intention of playing Tua and decided that 2 weeks ago leading up to the Houston game. But why? Is this some consorted effort to diminish Tua in hopes of convincing Ross to approve an offseason Watson trade? Is it because Flores knows the o-line is so bad he’s trying to protect Tua? There is no reasonable answer for it for a team that is supposedly trying to win.

Hurrah! Great win! So what? Who cares? Sorry Dolphins, you’ve already lost me for this season. The only point left to this season is hoping San Francisco drops in the standing as that is Miami’s first round pick.

The '70 Bengals made the playoffs after a 1-6 start...playing a 14-game schedule

Who's to say this team can't do the same thing after a 1-7 start considering they have four more games to work with?

Sorry Merc, I just don't feel like being a pessimist today.

I will say that anything less than 6 wins *has* to be the end of Grier and Flores. Finishing with just as many or fewer wins than two years ago with arguably the least talented Fins roster since before the merger when the supposed rebuild was just starting would and should be absolutely unacceptable by any measure.

mercury22nathan wrote:And so yes, the Tua broken finger he’s-not-good-enough-to-start charade is exposed.  Tua himself said he took no snaps with the starters all week.  So he’s healthy enough to take backup snaps, but just not with the starters.  All this talk of “we’ll see how he feels before deciding” is a load of crap.  Flores had no intention of playing Tua and decided that 2 weeks ago leading up to the Houston game.  But why?  Is this some consorted effort to diminish Tua in hopes of convincing Ross to approve an offseason Watson trade?

It absolutely was. And yes, I'm using the past tense because Flores is now in a situation where he *has* to play Tua barring further severe injury. He absolutely cannot trot Brissett out there again when everyone saw him injure his knee last night. And it's also obvious the new 3rd stringer is nowhere near ready to play and likely won't be this season. It's bad enough they botched the Sinnett situation by waiving him for literally no reason, but this ridiculous "we'll get the Texans to take Tua by never playing him again!" conspiracy was the epitome of a clown show. Reminds me so much of pretty much every other so-called 'leader" in today's world. Let's make something better--by totally destroying it!

This was pre-Ravens but the points made about the Fins (and specifically the passing performances of Tua VS those of Brissett) look even stronger now.

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-analysis/2021/after-tonight-dolphins-schedule-gets-much-easier

After tonight's showdown with the Ravens, Miami gets the easiest schedule in the league over the final eight weeks of the season.

I know I know, they already lost to the likes of the Jags, 0-3 Colts, Falcons, etc. but right now the Bills are the only AFC team that's clearly superior to a Fins team with Tua starting and the D suddenly playing like we figured they would all along.

I mean, it's not as if this team hasn't won out after starting 3-7 before or anything...

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/2005.htm

mercury22nathan wrote:
Hurrah!  Great win!  So what?  Who cares?  Sorry Dolphins, you’ve already lost me for this season.  The only point left to this season is hoping San Francisco drops in the standing as that is Miami’s first round pick.

I care. I just want to see this team win, and as crazy as it sounds, this season is not over. Plus, the Ravens have curbstomped us over and over again, and last night we FINALLY gave it back. The Miami D kicked their ass up and down the field, exposing Lamar Jackson and wiping the smug look off Harbaugh's face. This game could be an anomaly in a lost season - or it could be a springboard to get back in the hunt. Time will tell. But either way, that was a satisfying victory, and even if the feeling doesn't last long, today I can say I am proud to be a Dolfan.

mercury22nathan wrote:And so yes, the Tua broken finger he’s-not-good-enough-to-start charade is exposed. Tua himself said he took no snaps with the starters all week. So he’s healthy enough to take backup snaps, but just not with the starters. All this talk of “we’ll see how he feels before deciding” is a load of crap. Flores had no intention of playing Tua and decided that 2 weeks ago leading up to the Houston game. But why? Is this some consorted effort to diminish Tua in hopes of convincing Ross to approve an offseason Watson trade? Is it because Flores knows the o-line is so bad he’s trying to protect Tua? There is no reasonable answer for it for a team that is supposedly trying to win.

Can't argue with any of that. The way this team has handled Tua is absolutely insane.

The main difference between midseason wins this year after a horrible start and midseason wins any other season after horrible starts is that this time tanking does the Fins no good and actually makes things worse because another team has their first round pick. In that context, why not root for the Fins to win as much as possible? There's also the incentive to finish with a better record than the 49ers as well since by doing so their draft position improves. Plus it's starting to look like they're going to win in spite of themselves anyway so why not enjoy it for a change?

i get what you guys are saying and believe me, i was rooting for the Phins to win - and happy when they did so. but in the big picture context, this season has already been unnecessarily wasted because these inept coaches can't seem to figure it out (and still haven't completely got it right - or come even close on offense) until halfway through a losing season. sorry, i'm not buying in now so i can watch this team get hot just in time to be mediocre.

i believe the Who said it best...Won't Get Fooled Again! ...meet the new boss, same as the old boss... same ol' Dolphins.

mercury22nathan wrote:i get what you guys are saying and believe me, i was rooting for the Phins to win - and happy when they did so.  but in the big picture context, this season has already been unnecessarily wasted because these inept coaches can't seem to figure it out (and still haven't completely got it right - or come even close on offense) until halfway through a losing season.  sorry, i'm not buying in now so i can watch this team get hot just in time to be mediocre.

i believe the Who said it best...Won't Get Fooled Again!  ...meet the new boss, same as the old boss...  same ol' Dolphins.

I hear you loud and clear, and I'm not getting sucked in again either. I'm just going to take it one game at a time and see where it goes. But I'm going to enjoy the hell out of a game like this!

And, I do have two wishes for the remainder of the season:
1. Sweep the Jets
2. Sweep the Patriots

Just want to say I Love the Win especially beating the Ravens, Plus Hunt has Better Hands Than Williams does. Interested in Where this Will Lead in the End , But at Least it has Me Excited for Now.

The Ravens D, especially the secondary, looked confused as heck. They were prepared for dump offs and underneath stuff, but the deep passes and mis-direction stuff gave them fits.

Why the heck they didn't keep throwing to TE Andrews over and over...?

Anyway, it was good to see the Phins D play like that, but I don't know if it will work against a team that is EXPECTING to get a blitz 60-70% of the time.

We shall see.