Week 5 Game Thoughts: Giants at Dolphins

One week after getting embarrassed in Buffalo, the Dolphins came home and played a sloppy, mistake-filled game against the pathetic Giants – and still walked away with a 31-16 victory.

Despite turning the ball over 3 times, the Miami offense racked up 524 yards and averaged almost 10 yards per play. Tua was efficient, completing 73% of his passes for over 300 yards and 2 TDs. But Tua also threw 2 TDs, one a really ugly pick 6 on a third down goal-to-go play, and one I put on Jaylen Waddle for running a ridiculously lazy route. But even with the mistakes, the Dolphin offense made a boatload of big plays, including two 60+ yard catch-and-runs by Tyreek Hill and a 76-yard run by rookie phenom De’Von Achane. Achane was amazing once again, gaining 151 yards on the ground at an absurd 13.7 yards per carry. Tyreek, not to be outdone, finished the day with 181 yards receiving. For those keeping track at home, the 7 fastest runs this season all belong to Dolphins (divided among Hill, Achane and Raheem Mostert). Surprisingly, Cedric Wilson was the #2 receiver on the day, catching all 4 of his targets for 52 yards and making some key catches. The story of the day for me, though, was the play of the offensive line. They were amazing today, allowing just one sack and paving the way for 222 rushing yards. Having Conner Williams back at center really made a big difference. Isaiah Wynn had a strong game at LG but left with a late injury. Overall, despite some sloppy play and a lackluster 4th quarter, it’s really hard to complain about an offense that had over 500 yards and 31 points.

To put the 2023 Dolphins offense in perspective, no team in NFL history has ever had more yards from scrimmage after the first 5 games of a season. After watching the Dolphins offense struggle to gain even a yard at a time for the better part of two decades, this Mike McDaniel offense is a godsend. Earlier this week Hill said that no one can stop this offense except themselves – and he’s right. The combination of speed (and more speed), stellar QB play and next-level playcalling is just amazing to watch.

On the other side, it's funny - I thought the defense played very poorly, giving up completion after completion to wide open receivers. But sometimes reality looks better than perception. The bottom line is, the Dolphins allowed under 300 total yards and just 9 points, and racked up 8 sacks. Now, a team not quite as offensively-challenged as the Giants may have been able to do some damage against the D, but the results speak for themselves. The combo of Zach Seiler and Christian Wilkins was outstanding today, and Andrew Van Ginkel had a monster game rushing off the edge. Jerome Baker and Emmanuel Ogbah were in on a couple of sacks each, and Bradley Chubb made some savvy veteran moves and got lots of pressure and tackles. The 2023 Giants literally never attempt a pass longer than 10 yards for some reason, but the Miami secondary did their job today. There was trouble covering TE Darren Waller, who had 8 catches, but in the end he really didn’t make much of an impact. The Dolphins knocked out the Giants starting QB, Daniel Jones, late in the game. Jones finished the day with 0 TD passes – the 4th time he has put up a goose-egg this season.

Overall, this didn’t feel like a 2 TD win – but it was. And thanks to a Bills’ loss is London and a Ravens’ loss at Pittsburgh, the Dolphins and Chiefs are now the only 1-loss teams in the AFC (and the Chiefs game today isn’t over yet). The Dolphins sit alone atop the AFC East and are in excellent position at 4-1 with a winless Panthers team coming to Miami next week. After all the misery Dolfans felt last week, this team is now sitting high in the saddle once again.


Hero of the Day: I’m going to give it to the entire OL. They stepped up today against a strong Giants’ front, and did a stellar job in both pass pro and run blocking. Honorable mention to AVG and Seiler/Wilkins on D, and Hill and Achane on O.

Goat of the Day: I honestly can’t think of anyone deserving of this dishonor today – and that’s a good thing.

JMP wrote:The story of the day for me, though, was the play of the offensive line.  They were amazing today, allowing just one sack and paving the way for 222 rushing yards.  Having Conner Williams back at center really made a big difference.  Isaiah Wynn had a strong game at LG but left with a late injury.  Overall, despite some sloppy play and a lackluster 4th quarter, it’s really hard to complain about an offense that had over 500 yards and 31 points.

Remember what I said about Armstead not being needed? I'm doubling down on that. Now, that might change if Lamm's hurt (knock on wood) but I'm telling you, if the Fins can get out from under Armstead's deal in the offseason without too much of a hit they definitely should.

To put the 2023 Dolphins offense in perspective, no team in NFL history has ever had more yards from scrimmage after the first 5 games of a season.  After watching the Dolphins offense struggle to gain even a yard at a time for the better part of two decades, this Mike McDaniel offense is a godsend.  Earlier this week Hill said that no one can stop this offense except themselves – and he’s right.  The combination of speed (and more speed), stellar QB play and next-level playcalling is just amazing to watch.

HEY!!! I'M the one who's supposed to post stuff like that around here!!!    But I suppose I'll allow it just this once

On the other side, it's funny - I thought the defense played very poorly, giving up completion after completion to wide open receivers.  But sometimes reality looks better than perception.  The bottom line is, the Dolphins allowed under 300 total yards and just 9 points, and racked up 8 sacks.  Now, a team not quite as offensively-challenged as the Giants may have been able to do some damage against the D, but the results speak for themselves.  The combo of Zach Seiler and Christian Wilkins was outstanding today, and Andrew Van Ginkel had a monster game rushing off the edge.  Jerome Baker and Emmanuel Ogbah were in on a couple of sacks each, and Bradley Chubb made some savvy veteran moves and got lots of pressure and tackles.  The 2023 Giants literally never attempt a pass longer than 10 yards for some reason, but the Miami secondary did their job today.  There was trouble covering TE Darren Waller, who had 8 catches, but in the end he really didn’t make much of an impact.  The Dolphins knocked out the Giants starting QB, Daniel Jones, late in the game.  Jones finished the day with 0 TD passes – the 4th time he has put up a goose-egg this season.

Playing well against bad offenses is a good sign, at least. If they'd been shredded by everybody so far then I'd be a lot more worried. I'm still going to rag on Wilkins and Chubb though. If they can't get sacks against THAT team then they're hopeless. I'm guessing the reason the Giants never throw longer passes is that they literally don't have the time. Hate to see Jones get hurt though   Between this and the Milano injury nobody here needs to be complaining about this team's problems in that area. EVERYBODY'S going down like a lead balloon this season, I've never seen anything like it. Also, GIVE AVG AN EXTENSION, GRIER!!! WTF ARE YOU WAITING FOR, DAMMIT???

Overall, this didn’t feel like a 2 TD win – but it was.  And thanks to a Bills’ loss is London and a Ravens’ loss at Pittsburgh, the Dolphins and Chiefs are now the only 1-loss teams in the AFC (and the Chiefs game today isn’t over yet).  The Dolphins sit alone atop the AFC East and are in excellent position at 4-1 with a winless Panthers team coming to Miami next week.  After all the misery Dolfans felt last week, this team is now sitting high in the saddle once again.

Maybe the Bills got a little too full of themselves, eh?   Naturally, espn.com is tripping all over themselves making the good old "jet lagged" excuse for them because God knows their precious Bills can't just lose because the other team played better, oh no  

Bills likely lost Matt Milano for the season. I hate injuries, but karma's a bitch, Matt.

Yes, AVG has earned an extension. Make it so!

JMP wrote:Bills likely lost Matt Milano for the season.  I hate injuries, but karma's a bitch, Matt.

I'm starting to rethink my stance that they were predestined to win it all this season. But only just a little. If Allen stays healthy they're at least still making the playoffs since every other AFC team seems to be having problems just as bad or worse.

BTW this is the first Fins victory with a turnover margin of -3 or worse in 14 years, and just the second since 1990

https://stathead.com/tiny/2fB23

Jmp thought he could match my stat-nerdiness and he gave it a nice try but I'm still the king, baby!

Sloppy but they took care of business. Should have been over at halftime, awful INT pick six kept the Giants around a lot longer than they needed to be.

Meanwhile Buffalo's utter inability to stop the run really on display against the Jags. It will keep them from winning the division too as long as we can keep the Fins reasonably healthy.

HalCHorn wrote:Sloppy but they took care of business.  Should have been over at halftime, awful INT pick six kept the Giants around a lot longer than they needed to be.

Meanwhile Buffalo's utter inability to stop the run really on display against the Jags.  It will keep them from winning the division too as long as we can keep the Fins reasonably healthy.

I really didn't think that would matter. Now that Milano's out...it's going to matter a lot. BTW no team has ever won a Super Bowl allowing as much as 5.8 yards a carry. The '09 Colts are the only team who did while giving up more than 5, and the Bills are a half yard per carry worse than THAT  

https://stathead.com/tiny/DiOyL

Remember when everybody was freaking out because Fangio (who apparently was out on the field himself somehow) harked up 233 rushing yards VS the Chargers? Good times. The Fins have give up 104, 88, 85 and 69 rushing yards since. All of a sudden NOBODY'S talking about the run D. Barring injuries I think it'll be just fine

Also, only one team since 1970 (for some odd reason PFR keeps defaulting to that year instead of letting me go any further back) has allowed more sacks through 5 games than the current Giants. That would be the infamous '02 Texans who gave David Carr PTSD by giving up the 3rd most sacks in NFL history. Imagine an O-line consisting of five Eichenbergs

https://stathead.com/tiny/2ujuX

Let's hope Tua can get back to Bama-Tua status.

Wynn looks to be out for a while I am reading?

Are they really gonna put Leakin's Eichenberg back in at LG? Egad!!!

Good to see the D-line turn in a good performance. About time.

Funny, Cedric Wilson turns in a good performance right around the time the Phins trade for Claypool. Odd that, isn't it?

Beat the teams they should beat and beat a few of those that are as good as them is the recipe. Let's hope the Phins can continue their winning ways when they are playing some better teams.

JMP wrote:One week after getting embarrassed in Buffalo, the Dolphins came home and played a sloppy, mistake-filled game against the pathetic Giants – and still walked away with a 31-16 victory.

Despite turning the ball over 3 times, the Miami offense racked up 524 yards and averaged almost 10 yards per play.  Tua was efficient, completing 73% of his passes for over 300 yards and 2 TDs.  But Tua also threw 2 TDs, one a really ugly pick 6 on a third down goal-to-go play, and one I put on Jaylen Waddle for running a ridiculously lazy route.  But even with the mistakes, the Dolphin offense made a boatload of big plays, including two 60+ yard catch-and-runs by Tyreek Hill and a 76-yard run by rookie phenom De’Von Achane.  Achane was amazing once again, gaining 151 yards on the ground at an absurd 13.7 yards per carry.  Tyreek, not to be outdone, finished the day with 181 yards receiving.  For those keeping track at home, the 7 fastest runs this season all belong to Dolphins (divided among Hill, Achane and Raheem Mostert).  Surprisingly, Cedric Wilson was the #2 receiver on the day, catching all 4 of his targets for 52 yards and making some key catches.  The story of the day for me, though, was the play of the offensive line.  They were amazing today, allowing just one sack and paving the way for 222 rushing yards.  Having Conner Williams back at center really made a big difference.  Isaiah Wynn had a strong game at LG but left with a late injury.  Overall, despite some sloppy play and a lackluster 4th quarter, it’s really hard to complain about an offense that had over 500 yards and 31 points.

To put the 2023 Dolphins offense in perspective, no team in NFL history has ever had more yards from scrimmage after the first 5 games of a season.  After watching the Dolphins offense struggle to gain even a yard at a time for the better part of two decades, this Mike McDaniel offense is a godsend.  Earlier this week Hill said that no one can stop this offense except themselves – and he’s right.  The combination of speed (and more speed), stellar QB play and next-level playcalling is just amazing to watch.

On the other side, it's funny - I thought the defense played very poorly, giving up completion after completion to wide open receivers.  But sometimes reality looks better than perception.  The bottom line is, the Dolphins allowed under 300 total yards and just 9 points, and racked up 8 sacks.  Now, a team not quite as offensively-challenged as the Giants may have been able to do some damage against the D, but the results speak for themselves.  The combo of Zach Seiler and Christian Wilkins was outstanding today, and Andrew Van Ginkel had a monster game rushing off the edge.  Jerome Baker and Emmanuel Ogbah were in on a couple of sacks each, and Bradley Chubb made some savvy veteran moves and got lots of pressure and tackles.  The 2023 Giants literally never attempt a pass longer than 10 yards for some reason, but the Miami secondary did their job today.  There was trouble covering TE Darren Waller, who had 8 catches, but in the end he really didn’t make much of an impact.  The Dolphins knocked out the Giants starting QB, Daniel Jones, late in the game.  Jones finished the day with 0 TD passes – the 4th time he has put up a goose-egg this season.

Overall, this didn’t feel like a 2 TD win – but it was.  And thanks to a Bills’ loss is London and a Ravens’ loss at Pittsburgh, the Dolphins and Chiefs are now the only 1-loss teams in the AFC (and the Chiefs game today isn’t over yet).  The Dolphins sit alone atop the AFC East and are in excellent position at 4-1 with a winless Panthers team coming to Miami next week.  After all the misery Dolfans felt last week, this team is now sitting high in the saddle once again.


Hero of the Day: I’m going to give it to the entire OL.  They stepped up today against a strong Giants’ front, and did a stellar job in both pass pro and run blocking.  Honorable mention to AVG and Seiler/Wilkins on D, and Hill and Achane on O.

Goat of the Day: I honestly can’t think of anyone deserving of this dishonor today – and that’s a good thing.

I think the most important thing about this game as a fan is to not demoralize the Giants in anyway because we won. There was a time not so long ago where our offensive line was just as bad as the Giants or worse. Be thankful that we have a great motivated coach, a humble and great human being at QB, and a ton of talented guys on offense. Be grateful, because we were bad for years.

Turns out that on the INT where I criticized Waddle, Tua's hand hit Williams's helmet - causing the pass to be off target. My apologies, Mr. Waddle.

finfanatic wrote:
Wynn looks to be out for a while I am reading?

I haven't heard anything about his injury yet.

I'm hoping Robert Jones can get up to speed soon and take the LG job if Wynn misses time. No more Eich!!!

First and foremost, thank the football gods they won – and in convincing fashion despite not playing a clean performance. Truth is, the Giants are horrible and where never really in this game. But the biggest take away from seeing this game is just how fast both Hill and Achane are in person. The long Hill TD was just silly in how the Giants tried to single cover him (either by design or the safety coming over 3 days late). The real highlight on that play was how Tua dropped it right in the basket for Hill. And I’ve since read that wasn’t even the play call – Tua changed it up in the huddle.

The Achane TD run was just ridiculous. It looked like every Giants DB had the angle and then all of sudden you could see right through their helmet as if to say, “Oh shit!” as De’Von effortlessly turned the corner and left them in the dust.

Oline kept Tua mostly clean all day and the holes were there in the running game.

Mostert fumbled again, but it luckily bounced harmlessly out of bounds. Achane fumbled, but later atoned for it with the long TD run. Tua’s 2 interceptions looked pretty bad. It was hard to tell, but did his arm get hit or the ball batted on the first one? The ball came out looking awkward. Yet despite turning it over in deep in their own territory, it only amounted to 3 points. The 102 yard TD interception was ugly, but from where I was sitting, it should have never happened. On the play prior it really looked like Waddle was interfered with in the endzone and the crowd was letting the refs have it.

The bad on the defense was they gave up a 72% completion rate and still couldn’t get a turnover despite getting 7 sacks and harassing both Jones and Taylor in the pocket. But on the plus side they only allowed 9 points and 3 of those was on a very short field. Other than the final drive which ended in downs, they didn’t give up a single drive of more than 50 yards and forced 4 punts. While I would like to see some turnovers – especially from a team like the Giants who are turnover machines – it’s hard to argue with the final results.

The Dolphins dominated this game, but could have pulverized them had it not been for- self-inflicted mistakes. Thankfully this game was against a lost, injured Giants team – as I fear any halfway decent team may have made Miami pay for their mistakes. In the end, it was a win – a big win!!!

Great post, merc!

merc wrote:The long Hill TD was just silly in how the Giants tried to single cover him (either by design or the safety coming over 3 days late). The real highlight on that play was how Tua dropped it right in the basket for Hill. And I’ve since read that wasn’t even the play call – Tua changed it up in the huddle.

Supposedly McD almost called timeout because they were lined up wrong, but he let it go - Hill and Tua apparently communicated by some Jedi mind trick when they saw the coverage. That type of stuff - both the QB-WR communication and the head coach's trust in his QB - are hallmarks of all great offenses.

merc wrote:Tua’s 2 interceptions looked pretty bad. It was hard to tell, but did his arm get hit or the ball batted on the first one? The ball came out looking awkward.

I read that Tua's hand hit Williams's helmet, causing the awkward pass.

I never saw achane get hurt. Im thinking this is a ploy to get Wilson and Wilson outta here. I think that by the deadline we will have Patrick Queen on this team.

Umix10 wrote:I never saw achane get hurt.  Im thinking this is a ploy to get Wilson and Wilson outta here.  I think that by the deadline we will have Patrick Queen on this team.

Achane got injured late in the game. It didn't look serious, but that's how knee injuries often are - you don't know the severity till it gets checked out by the doctors. My guess is he ends up on IR. It's absolutely not a fake injury - the Dolphins wouldn't play games like that just to try to trade backups for 6th round picks.

I'm not sure why the Ravens would trade a starter while they're trying to win a Super Bowl - really wouldn't make sense to me.

JMP wrote:

Umix10 wrote:I never saw achane get hurt.  Im thinking this is a ploy to get Wilson and Wilson outta here.  I think that by the deadline we will have Patrick Queen on this team.

Achane got injured late in the game.  It didn't look serious, but that's how knee injuries often are - you don't know the severity till it gets checked out by the doctors.  My guess is he ends up on IR.  It's absolutely not a fake injury - the Dolphins wouldn't play games like that just to try to trade backups for 6th round picks.

I'm not sure why the Ravens would trade a starter while they're trying to win a Super Bowl - really wouldn't make sense to me.

Claypool didn't make sense either.

Claypool makes perfect sense for the Dolphins, considering that we lost two receivers - one probably for the season. Claypool is an ideal fit for this offsense, from a skills standpoint. And he was acquired at no cost.

Now, we'll have to see if he is committed to playing football...but on paper, Claypool is a massive upgrade over Chosen and Ced Wilson.

Wilson had his best game with the Fins , 4 for 52 Yards. Tua's Pick 6 was a Terrible Throw where it looked like a Predetermined throw even though waddle wasn't open. Defense was Crazy all day. they would get a Sack and then give up a 12-15 yard completion. Karma got the Bills Twice on Sunday with the Loss and Milano getting Hurt.