Game thoughts: week 12 Panthers at Dolphins

The Carolina Panthers came to Miami today boasting the NFL’s #1 pass defense, and #6 scoring defense.  They leave Miami a beaten and battered team, after the Dolphins thoroughly trounced them in every way possible en route to a 33-10 victory.
 
Against that #1 pass D, Tua Tagovailoa completed 87% of his 31 passes for 230 yards and a TD.  Tua put forth one of the most accurate QB performances I’ve ever seen, with nearly every single pass landing right on the money.  Against a relentless Carolina pass rush, Tua got the ball out quickly and found open receivers seemingly with ease.  He was in a zone all day, and despite not putting up gaudy numbers he was absolutely brilliant.
 
Rookie sensation Jaylen Waddle was the beneficiary of many of those perfect passes, racking up 9 catches for 137 yards and a TD.  On the opening drive, on a 3^rd and 11, Tua hit Waddle on a slant for 25 yards – a great route by Waddle and perfect timing and ball placement by Tua.  Unfortunately, that drive ended with a sack/fumble that took the team out of FG range. Austin Reiter and Jesse Davis got destroyed on the play.
 
On the Panthers opening drive, they started deep in their own end and the Miami D forced a 3 and out. The ensuing punt was blocked by Duke Riley and recovered by Justin Coleman for a TD to give the Phins and early 7-0 lead.
 
The lead didn’t last long, however, as on the Panthers’ second drive Cam Newton burned the Miami amoeba defense with a 64 yard catch and run to a wide open DJ Moore.  That led to a Newton TD run to tie the game.
 
Miami couldn’t do anything with the ball on the ensuing drive, ending in a sack that again saw the Miami OL get abused.
 
Fortunately, the defense followed that up with an Xavien Howard INT, setting the offense up with a 1^st and goal and leading to a Tua TD to Waddle.
 
After another 3 and out by the Panthers, the Phins broke the game open midway through the second quarter.  On that drive, Tua slid away from pressure and delivered a perfect strike to Waddle for a 57 yard catch and run.  Gaskin provided a TD on a wildcat play, with great blocks by Preston Williams and Robert Hunt.
 
The game was 21-7 at that point, and would have been even more one-sided as the Dolphins got into FG range on their next drive.  Unfortunately,  Reiter had a horrible snap that Tua couldn’t handle.  The Panthers recovered and had a big return, setting up a FG to get within 11 at the half.
 
After that, the game was all Dolphins, as a stifling defense, efficient offense and brilliant special teams completely shut down the Panthers. 
 
I can’t say enough about the defense.  Howard, Jevon Holland and Nik Needham all had INTs, and the team totaled 5 sacks – including 3 by rookie Jae Phillips.  Phillips was like an animal today – absolutely relentless.  Riley, Van Ginkle, Jerome Baker and Elandon Roberts made key plays at LB, the DL was absolutely dominant with standout performances from Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, Zack Sieler and Adam Butler, the secondary was lights out with Holland, Howard, Needham, Eric Rowe, Javaris Davis and Byron Jones all shutting down the Carolina QBs…I could go on and on, as nearly every Dolphin defender contributed today.    
 
I saved Emmanuel Ogbah for his own paragraph.  The D notched 4 or 5 batted passes today.  Ogbah had one, which marks his 7^th consecutive game with a batted pass.  That is the longest streak in the NFL in the last 20 years!  Ogbah is the straw that stirs this defensive drink.  He is having a simply outstanding season.
 
I have to give credit to the coaching staff.  Aside from another horrible challenge by Flores on the Panthers’ opening drive on a pass that was clearly incomplete, the game plans in all phases were brilliant.  The defense gave the Panthers different looks on nearly every down, resulting in
Cam Newton completing just 5 of 21 passes, for just 92 yards and 2 INTs and a rating of 5.8.  The offensive coaches did a great job of manufacturing a running game, especially late, by using different formations to help the team control the clock and roll up 111 yards on the ground.
 
The most impressive play on offense was this:
A direct snap to Gaskin for a TD late in the 3^rd quarter put the Phins up 27-10 (Sanders missed the extra point).  On that play the offense used an absolutely insane formation, with 8 linemen: 4 linemen on the left side (from left to right – Smythe, Davis, Eichenberg, Jackson) and 3 linemen on the right (from right to left – Gesicki, Long, Hunt) with Reiter at center.  The play featured excellent blocks by everyone, including a pancake by Long.
 
Some other notes:
--Punter Michael Palardy played out of his mind, downing all 4 of his punts inside the 20.
-- Great lunchpail effort out of Durham Smythe today, as he was solid in pass pro and served as a key safety valve for Tua with 5 catches. Smythe even ran for 2 first downs on a 3^rd and short and again on a 2^nd and short, both on direct snaps, late in the game.
--Other than Reiter, the OL had a decent enough game.  They still allowed lots of pressure and couldn’t run block, but they were not disastrous.
--A good example of complementary football: late in the 3^rd, Phillips (with help from Wilkins) had a sack, made possible by a Duke Riley blitz.  That put the Panthers inside their own 1 yard line, leading to a nice punt return by Holland to set the Phins up with excellent field position to get a FG. Absolutely perfect.
--Very impressive tough running by Phillip Lindsay, who just joined the Dolphins on Wednesday.  He showed good speed and the ability to make people miss.
 
The Dolphins have now won 4 games in a row, and are one of the hottest teams in the NFL at the moment.  If they can continue to play as a team, as they did today, the end of the season could be very exciting.  But right now the Phins need to take a “one game at a time” approach, and next up are the Giants, who just beat an Eagles team that had been very hot themselves.  The ride continues!
 

Hero of the Game: I was going to give it to the entire defense, but instead I am giving it to 3 rookies: Jaylen Waddle, Jae Phillips and Jevon Holland.  The 3 J’s were simply outstanding today, and all 3 are getting better and better each week.  With these three and the continued development of Tua, the Dolphins’ future is starting to look very bright.
 
Goat of the Game: Center Austin Reiter had 3 bad snaps in the first half, leading to two fumbles – one recovered by Miami but knocking them out of FG range and the second recovered by Carolina and leading to a FG at the end of the half, again when the Phins had been in FG range.  He also gave up a few big pressures.  Just brutal.

YESSS!!! LONG HAVE I WAITED FOR THIS!!!

Okay, so it was only a few hours but it sure did feel like an eternity

BTW how did Iggy do? Was he actually allowed to play D or just on special teams?

I think Iggy only played on STs.

FYI I edited some stats that I had incorrect.

I predicted this team would win out after the Ravens game BTW. You can look it up

Recent events have only made me even more certain of it.

This Game made Me Feel so Good since Being Sick with Covid since Thanksgiving, Love the Throw and Pattern on the 57 Yard Play, Defense is just on a Roll with everything Working Right Now. Now on to the Giants and Jones Shaking in His Cleats when he puts the Film on.

Damn, Kev - prayers for a speedy recovery!

Yes, this was a feel-good game for sure!  And I can't wait to see the Phins feast on Daniel Jones! 

Should have pointed out the outstanding run D, holding Christian McCaffrey to just 35 yards on 10 carries.  Amazing.  There is not a better run-stopping tandem in the league than Wilkins and Seiler.

JMP wrote:Should have pointed out the outstanding run D, holding Christian McCaffrey to just 35 yards on 10 carries.  Amazing.  There is not a better run-stopping tandem in the league than Wilkins and Seiler.

As much praise as Tua should get, this team is still going to be driven primarily by how well the D performs.

The offense had two games this season over 400 yards...and lost both. Coming into this game their previous season high for points was 28 (twice)...and they lost both those games too.

On the other hand, the D's three lowest yardage totals allowed have come in the last 4 games, all wins. They are also 5-0 when allowing less than 20 points, which they've now done in the last 4 games. (Stats won't be updated until tomorrow morning but you'll see it then.)

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/2021.htm

My hope is that Tua really catches fire and this kind of point production and offensive performance becomes the norm, with the Fins blowing out opponents from now on

finskev wrote:This Game made Me Feel so Good since Being Sick with Covid since Thanksgiving, Love the Throw and Pattern on the 57 Yard Play, Defense is just on a Roll with everything Working Right Now. Now on to the Giants and Jones Shaking in His Cleats when he puts the Film on.

Hopefully you feel better soon.

CarsonChris wrote:

finskev wrote:This Game made Me Feel so Good since Being Sick with Covid since Thanksgiving, Love the Throw and Pattern on the 57 Yard Play, Defense is just on a Roll with everything Working Right Now. Now on to the Giants and Jones Shaking in His Cleats when he puts the Film on.

Hopefully you feel better soon.

I didn't mean to ignore this but if he's posting then clearly that means he's not feeling *that* horribly which is good

JMP wrote:

Hussam Patel
@HussamPatel
· 6h
Tua Tagovailoa against the #1 ranked pass defense: 27/31 230 yards 1 TD.
The same #1 pass defense that held Dak Prescott to 188 yards. Mac Jones to 133. Matt Ryan to 146. Jalen Hurts to 198

and Tua did it without what were supposed to be his starting WR tandem of Parker and Fuller. is Miami and better team without the oft injured Parker?

mercury22nathan wrote:is Miami and better team without the oft injured Parker?

It's an interesting thought, but I'd definitely say no.  Teams have discovered that they can neutralize Gesicki, and that leaves Waddle as the only legit receiver for Tua to throw to.  Sure, Smythe and Wilson will make some catches - but those guys don't scare anyone. Having Parker on the field gives us another receiver that defenses MUST account for.  That will open things up for both Waddle and Gesicki, and we've also seen that Parker is great at contested catches.  Basically having Parker gives Tua another legit weapon - and that's something he desperately needs.  And the thing is, when healthy Parker is really, really good...maybe not great, but he makes plays.  If we can somehow get both him and Fuller back, that would be HUGE for Tua and the entire offense.

But I will say this - I thing with Parker out, the coaches have been forced to get more creative with the passing game, and that has definitely helped with playcalling.

Check out this video. The defensive coach tells Zach Sieler to go in and replace Wilkins. Zach says no, because Wilkins only got one play. So on the very next play - the play Sieler was supposed to be in for but declined - Wilkins gets a sack. Watch how excited Sieler and Davis are!

This, my friends, is called team chemistry. It's a beautiful thing!

JMP wrote:Check out this video. The defensive coach tells Zach Sieler to go in and replace Wilkins. Zach says no, because Wilkins only got one play. So on the very next play - the play Sieler was supposed to be in for but declined - Wilkins gets a sack. Watch how excited Sieler and Davis are!

This, my friends, is called team chemistry. It's a beautiful thing!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1465123753780781060

Makes me wonder about the team coaching. More proof the coaches are inept. Maybe the players have had enough?