The (not real) Pittsburgh game thoughts...

...as only JMP can provide those!

The Dolphins offense came out hot and looked poised for a big night moving the ball on the first three possessions, but didn’t produce many points with two of the drives bogging down with FGs as the result. And while they did move the ball, Tua wasn’t quite as accurate as he could’ve been. The placement of several of his passes were wide, high or behind. And even though some of those were caught, the yards that could’ve been seemed to suffer – and some of them indeed could not be wrangled in by otherwise open receivers. Thankfully, the Pittsburgh DBs had similar issues hanging onto the ball with about 5 easy interceptions falling harmlessly to the ground. The defense did its usual bending to the max with not quite breaking – although at times (including Pittsburgh’s final drive) it came close. Its hard to sort out how much credit to give the defense and how much to blame to the Steelers blah (especially Pickett) offense. Still though, the D did what they needed to do. However, with all the apparent offensive fireworks (without much bang), I can’t give the Phins’ offense a pass. Anytime a team leads the turnover margin by 3, but only wins by 6 can’t be consider very good.

Curious observations… McDaniel should’ve kicked a FG on the first drive of the second half. I get that he was tired of settling for FGs and aggressively trying to put the game away, but at the point a 2-score lead from the resulting FG would’ve outweighed any benefit the Phins got from a 2-score lead resulting from the TD. And if you’re gonna go for it, I’m not sure the shotgun draw to Edmunds (who lost a yard on the previous play) was the way to go. Maybe with Mostert, but certainly not Edmunds. McDaniel is lucky this decision didn’t come back to bite him in the ass – although it came close.

Edmunds really needs to do something about his hands. While not perfect passes, at least one dropped ball was pretty catchable. I’m not convinced he’s giving Miami anything more that Gaskins or Ahmed could do.

Waddle had some very nice plays in the first half but was basically invisible in the second half. It almost felt like Tua needed to force feed Hill and Gesicki to the exclusion of Waddle.

The incomplete pass to Mostert in the redzone on the second drive was a difference maker. It would’ve given Miami a first and goal making a TD much more likely than FG. It wasn’t anyone on Miami’s fault as the hard hit separated Mostert from the ball, but I swear Fitzpatrick used the crown of his helmet against Mostert’s chin. I could’ve sworn that should’ve been a flag. I loved how the TV coverage played up the Fitzpatrick trade as a subplot (one of many) in him wanting to “prove” Miami was wrong, yet failed to mention that it’s that now LB coach for Pittsburgh that was the guy who wanted Fitz gone!

And while Iggy sealed the deal on the final interception (on an awful pass from Pickett), I don’t see this as any ”turn of the corner” for him as he’s also the guy who gave up the TD and was regularly beat all night long.

Hollands almost game sealing interception was very nice, but the offense has got to do more with the ball to put the game away. And on the previous drive, Miami suffered a similar woeful inability to convert a short 3rd down despite a the drives promising beginning. That long incomplete pass from Tua to Hill was awfully weak and should’ve been picked. I have no problem with being aggressive in that situation, but the execution was poor.

The pass rush was again spotty with 2 nice sacks against a weak o-line, but not a whole lot more. It didn’t appear to be much affected by the absence of Ogbah. The 16 yard scramble by Pickett on 3rd and 12 was maddening.

I’m trying to think of more positives, but can’t think of any. I’m sure JMP will have some. The most positive thing I got is that Miami held on to win a game they almost always lose (and almost did). A win is a win and its better than the alternative. Hopefully Miami (Tua) sees this game as a step and finds a way to sharpen the offense moving forward.

mercury22nathan wrote:

Curious observations…  McDaniel should’ve kicked a FG on the first drive of the second half.  I get that he was tired of settling for FGs and aggressively trying to put the game away, but at the point a 2-score lead from the resulting FG would’ve outweighed any benefit the Phins got from a 2-score lead resulting from the TD.  And if you’re gonna go for it, I’m not sure the shotgun draw to Edmunds (who lost a yard on the previous play) was the way to go.  Maybe with Mostert, but certainly not Edmunds.  McDaniel is lucky this decision didn’t come back to bite him in the ass – although it came close.

And while Iggy sealed the deal on the final interception (on an awful pass from Pickett), I don’t see this as any ”turn of the corner” for him as he’s also the guy who gave up the TD and was regularly beat all night long.

pretty much my two biggest thoughts, right here and word for word how I would have written them.

mercury22nathan wrote:...as only JMP can provide those!

You did a much better job of filling in for Jmp than Bridgewater and Skylar did replacing Tua, that's for sure   BTW I saw the replay. Yup, the whole thing, from 2:30-5 AM.  

The Dolphins offense came out hot and looked poised for a big night moving the ball on the first three possessions, but didn’t produce many points with two of the drives bogging down with FGs as the result.

The trend that seems to be taking over the NFL now is scripted first drives that work really well, but then the script runs out and suddenly those same offenses go cold.   

And while they did move the ball, Tua wasn’t quite as accurate as he could’ve been.  The placement of several of his passes were wide, high or behind.  And even though some of those were caught, the yards that could’ve been seemed to suffer – and some of them indeed could not be wrangled in by otherwise open receivers.

Tua's accuracy increasingly decreasing as the game went on was EXTREMELY concerning to me and continues the trend of him not looking right since the start of the Bengals game  

Thankfully, the Pittsburgh DBs had similar issues hanging onto the ball with about 5 easy interceptions falling harmlessly to the ground.

I read somewhere that they had the most dropped INTs in a single game by any team this season. But to me that just evens out all the picks the Fins dropped the first 6 games.  

The defense did its usual bending to the max with not quite breaking – although at times (including Pittsburgh’s final drive) it came close.  Its hard to sort out how much credit to give the defense and how much to blame to the Steelers blah (especially Pickett) offense.  Still though, the D did what they needed to do.  However, with all the apparent offensive fireworks (without much bang), I can’t give the Phins’ offense a pass.  Anytime a team leads the turnover margin by 3, but only wins by 6 can’t be consider very good.

Even already knowing the outcome, I found myself still panicking when Pickett began looking like prime Brady on those last 2 drives      

Curious observations…  McDaniel should’ve kicked a FG on the first drive of the second half.  I get that he was tired of settling for FGs and aggressively trying to put the game away, but at the point a 2-score lead from the resulting FG would’ve outweighed any benefit the Phins got from a 2-score lead resulting from the TD.  And if you’re gonna go for it, I’m not sure the shotgun draw to Edmunds (who lost a yard on the previous play) was the way to go.  Maybe with Mostert, but certainly not Edmunds.  McDaniel is lucky this decision didn’t come back to bite him in the ass – although it came close.

I liked the decision. It was the play call that sucked. Literally anything else would've been better than THAT   What, he couldn't have given it to Mostert, the one RB who was actually doing something? SMH.

Edmunds really needs to do something about his hands.  While not perfect passes, at least one dropped ball was pretty catchable.  I’m not convinced he’s giving Miami anything more that Gaskins or Ahmed could do.

I never did like that signing, and couldn;t undersand why everybody else got so excited about it. The average DolFan wouldn't even know who Edmunds is if he hadn't signed with them.

Waddle had some very nice plays in the first half but was basically invisible in the second half.  It almost felt like Tua needed to force feed Hill and Gesicki to the exclusion of Waddle.

Must've been those mysterious "adjustments" I kept being told by Collinsworth the Steelers made that for some odd reason he never actually revealed the details of, which would've been nice seeing as that's kinda sorta his JOB.

The incomplete pass to Mostert in the redzone on the second drive was a difference maker.  It would’ve given Miami a first and goal making a TD much more likely than FG.  It wasn’t anyone on Miami’s fault as the hard hit separated Mostert from the ball, but I swear Fitzpatrick used the crown of his helmet against Mostert’s chin.  I could’ve sworn that should’ve been a flag.  I loved how the TV coverage played up the Fitzpatrick trade as a subplot (one of many) in him wanting to “prove” Miami was wrong, yet failed to mention that it’s that now LB coach for Pittsburgh that was the guy who wanted Fitz gone!

As usual, you're absolutely right! And if it was any other player on any other team it would've not only been flagged but Minkah would've been ejected AND fined. But since it's the Fins it's perfectly okay because the NFL isn't even trying to hide that there's a different set of rules for his team. That hit BTW absolutely horrified me...that the spotter was going to yank Mostert. I'm still amazed it didn't happen, just because he was playing "too" well up to that point and lord knows the NFL can't have the Fins winning or anything crazy like that  

And while Iggy sealed the deal on the final interception (on an awful pass from Pickett), I don’t see this as any ”turn of the corner” for him as he’s also the guy who gave up the TD and was regularly beat all night long.

You know I love bashing and trashing Iggy as much as anybody here, but I fail to see how any CB in the league could've prevented that TD catch. Howard would've been beaten the same way--and has often this season. Sometimes the other players are just better, they get paid too ya know. I say let Iggy have his moment and be glad he DID have a moment.

I’m trying to think of more positives, but can’t think of any.  I’m sure JMP will have some.  The most positive thing I got is that Miami held on to win a game they almost always lose (and almost did).  A win is a win and its better than the alternative.  Hopefully Miami (Tua) sees this game as a step and finds a way to sharpen the offense moving forward.

DolFans either don't remember or don't want to admit that there were many many MANY wins going back to the Shula Era in which they immediately jumped out to a 2-3 score lead and the offense would take the second half off, barely making a first down let alone scoring, and the Fins would end up barely hanging on. There's a game against the Cowboys from '78 on Youtube in which Shula's bunch goes on top 17-0 in the first quarter...and win by 6 with the Cowboys having the ball at midfield throwing it into the end zone. There's another game from '01 two days before 9/11 that I remember very well...because the Fins had all of TWO first downs in the second half and hung on to beat the Titans by 8 in a game they seemed to lead by 3 scores almost the entire way. That's just off the top of my head, I'm sure I can think of at least 10 other games if I try even a little. So yeah, I'm concerned that this awesome offense I keep being told the Fins are supposed to have can't actually score TDs but otherwise I just enjoy wins when they happen because losing when they outgain the opponent by over 200 yards for just the second time in team history is a whole lot worse.

Nice Write up, On Defense Phillips Played Great 1.5 Sacks and Strong against the Run, Sanders Looked Strong on his Kicks Last Night and were Nice and Straight without the Hook from the Game Before. Back-up Secondary did pretty good after Jones Left the Game. Tua took the blame for the bad offense when they interviewed Him after the Game which is what the Leader should do. Praying that the Int for IGGY will turn the Light on for Him and give him confidence to make more Plays.

DolFan 316 wrote:I liked the decision. It was the play call that sucked. Literally anything else would've been better than THAT   What, he couldn't have given it to Mostert, the one RB who was actually doing something? SMH.

I’ve got to disagree here. Aggressiveness, I like, but knowing when to be aggressive is even better. With the Phins clinging to a 6 point lead (thanks to the FG at the end of the first half otherwise it would’ve only been 3 despite Miami moving the ball relatively well) and the Steelers having scored on their last 2 drives before the half, a FG extends the lead to 9 making it a 2 possession game. A TD extends the lead to at most 14 (with a 2 point conversion) also within 2 possessions. The failure left the Phins potentially losing to a single TD drive. If the Phins secure the what would’ve been a 31-yarder then I would’ve been fine with more aggression later with a 2 score lead. But again, we both agree the play call was an even more egregious mistake.

DolFan 316 wrote:Must've been those mysterious "adjustments" I kept being told by Collinsworth the Steelers made that for some odd reason he never actually revealed the details of, which would've been nice seeing as that's kinda sorta his JOB.

I hope its not that easy to make “adjustments” to shut down Miami’s offense. And why didn’t Miami’s offense adjust to Pittsburgh’s adjustments (supposedly dropping a LB/S into middle of the field coverage).

DolFan 316 wrote:That hit BTW absolutely horrified me...that the spotter was going to yank Mostert. I'm still amazed it didn't happen, just because he was playing "too" well up to that point and lord knows the NFL can't have the Fins winning or anything crazy like that  

I absolutely thought that too. I thought Mostert was gonna get yanked for an head injury resulting from a flagrant head shot that wasn’t flagged. Especially when there was that one camera shot shortly thereafter that showed Mostert sitting on the bench staring off into space – I thought, here it comes, he’s done.

DolFan 316 wrote:You know I love bashing and trashing Iggy as much as anybody here, but I fail to see how any CB in the league could've prevented that TD catch. Howard would've been beaten the same way--and has often this season. Sometimes the other players are just better, they get paid too ya know. I say let Iggy have his moment and be glad he DID have a moment.

Yes, the TD catch was probably uncoverable, but my favorite Iggy highlight was him responsible for the deep right yet somehow deciding to drift to the middle leaving an uncovered WR streaking down the sideline for a deep catch.

And while they did move the ball, Tua wasn’t quite as accurate as he could’ve been. The placement of several of his passes were wide, high or behind. And even though some of those were caught, the yards that could’ve been seemed to suffer – and some of them indeed could not be wrangled in by otherwise open receivers.

Second red zone drive, Tua hit Gesicki in the facemask in the end zone. Gesicki was getting his right arm held and couldn't get his hand up to make the catch. Had that play converted (or the officials actually see it and we get a 1st down from the 2 due to pass interference in the end zone) the Fins go up 14-0.

Some missed opportunities and misfires for sure. I'm sure Tom Brady would have taken that in Carolina instead of the horrible loss they suffered yesterday.

We have to remember, this is a work in progress, we've had more than our share of injuries to water down both the secondary and the offensive line, and we're still at 4-3 and positioned well for a playoff run. I'll take the positives and hope for continued improvement. Mostert running the ball, that was looking really good and I was happy to see him reeling off 8-10 yard runs and looking fast and explosive. Armstead at LT makes a world of difference, he is a great run blocker.

Man if this team could DRAFT some linemen just like him, and in the interior spots we'd really have something! Hey I can dream!

Mostert running the ball = good.

Anyone else running the ball = bad.

I would say I've never seen a dichotomy like this, except that it happened just last season with Duke Johnson VS everyone else.

Too bad Mostert's yet another Grier Special (injury prone) so he'll likely be on the shelf after another game or two. He may have actually had a concussion last night

Great stuff, everyone.

Copying this from another thread so that it's in the right spot:


I am swamped at work but I will write down some thoughts:
--The stadium is absolutely incredible. Just awesome all around
--Tons of Steelers fans at the game, but the Dolfans were jacked up and incredibly loud. It was a real party atmosphere in the first half and at the end of the game. All the Tua chants when his name was announced gave me chills.
--The defense was outstanding, pitching a shutout in the second half and forcing a few turnovers. It was a total team effort, with stellar games from Jae Phillips, Duke Riley, AVG, X, Holland, Justin Bethel, Seiler/Wilkins/Davis on the DL, and on and on.
--Watching Phillips from snap to snap, he's like the Energizer Bunny. Dude is just relentless. He's starting to come on and seems to be getting better each game.
--The offense was great in the first half. Obviously you want to see more TDs than FGs, but Tua came up big on several occasions early on and made some passes that electrified the crowd. Waddle was fantastic - nice bounce-back game from last week. Pass protection was excellent, and Brandon Shell looks like he's secured the RT spot. Two penalties on Eich, but he seemed to play better overall. Raheem Mostert is fun to watch...he's just an exciting player. Chase Edmonds...not so much. He continues to kill drives with drops and poor running.
--McDaniel was getting absolutely destroyed in Miami for his decisions to go for it on 4th and 3 in FG range with the Dolphins nursing a 6 point lead. I would have preferred to kick the 3 there and make it a two-score game, but I don't have a problem going for it. I do have a problem with the actual play - a run up the middle by Edmonds for a loss. We ran a similar play on 3rd down that also went nowhere. Edmonds should not have been the ball-carrier on that play, and a quick pass would have made more sense. In the end it didn't matter, but hopefully McDaniel learns from that decision.
--Tua was rusty and missed some throws, but still played well overall. It was great to see him run the ball and lower his shoulder a couple of times - although that's another thing the Miami fans and media aren't happy about. Personally, I love the fact that Tua is a warrior and wants to compete. I have no problem at all with that. Anyway, this is a very different team with Tua than without him.
--Credit to the Steelers D. They played an excellent game and you can tell they had something to prove. We led from start to finish, but that Pittsburgh D was stingy and hard to go up against.
--Last but not least, I am so happy for Iggy that he was able to make the game-winning play. What an amazingly athletic play! I really hope he uses that to continue to improve.

Great, hard-fought win against a desperate team.

Hero of the Game: The entire D earned it, but Iggy gets it for that phenomenal INT!

Goat of the Game: Chase Edmonds. He needs some help...seems like it's all mental and each negative play is making things worse for him.