Thoughts on game 11: Dolphins at Jets

Beer: Heineken

Hero of the Day: Jarvis Landry

Goats of the Day: Ryan Tannehill, Brent Grimes

In a game that was much more one-sided than the final score would indicate, the Dolphins were completely manhandled by the Jets, losing 38-20 and essentially ending any miniscule playoff dreams the team may have had.

On this day, Ryan Tannehill showed the world why he’s nothing more than a compiler, and certainly is not a winner. If you didn’t see the game, you might think, “Wow! 3 TDs and 351 yards…Tannehill must have had an amazing game!” But the sad truth is that Tannehill played like a scrub the majority of the game, particularly in a first half that saw him looking completely inept. It wasn’t till the game was out of hand and the Jets called off the dogs a bit that Tannehill started making some plays. It was another case of too little too late, which has become Tannehill’s calling card: he does nothing when the game is in the balance, and then wakes up when the game is already lost. Don’t let the stats fool you – when this game was still in reach for the Dolphins, Tannehill threw inaccurate pass after inaccurate pass, including a horrific red zone INT. He also lost a fumble. The sad truth is, when the Dolphins need a win, particularly against a division opponent, Tannehill fails to deliver every time. It’s been more than 3.5 years…I think it’s safe to say that he is what he is, and that’s mediocre at best.

In fairness, Tannehill’s job was made more difficult by Jamil Douglas, who played center for most of the game after Pouncey went out with a foot injury. Douglas was absolutely awful at shotgun snaps, with nearly every snap barely getting off the ground. He played like a guy that has never snapped the ball before, and it was ugly to watch. To make matters worse, he consistently got pushed into the backfield in pass protection. As expected, the rest of the OL also sucked – but we’re all used to that by now.

Jarvis Landry had a great second half when the game was already decided, after doing nothing in the first half. It was great to see Landry still giving his all and breaking tackles, while most of his teammates played like dogs. DeVante Parker finally got a chance to play, and responded with a few nice catches and a great 33-yard TD. He still looks very raw on his routes, and there were a couple of times when he wasn’t nearly physical enough going after the ball, but overall he looked good and hopefully he continues to get involved.

Bill Lazor again ignored the running game, allowing the Jets to set a team record by allowing just 12 yards on 9 carries. If Miller or Ajayi don’t get a long run early, you can pretty much guarantee that Lazor will get scared and stop calling run plays. Tannehill threw 58 passes yesterday, which is completely absurd and a sure sign that Lazor is clueless. Consider this: the Dolphins ran the ball ONE TIME in the entire second half, and that was a short gain by WR Jarvis Landry. The Dolphin running backs had ZERO carries in the second half. Unacceptable.

The one good thing to come out of the game is that Bill Lazor lost his job, even though it was 7 games too late. Lazor was the worst offensive coordinator in Dolphins history as far as I’m concerned, and that says a lot. Good riddance.

Back to the Jets game, the defense actually played pretty decent for much of the game, particularly against the run, despite a seemingly unending stretch of injuries. It seemed like almost every DT on the team was injured at some point, and LB Jelani Jenkins was in and out of the game with injuries as well. The Phins played very tough against the run for about three quarters, with Suh and Sheppard being the standout players. But eventually, the D just wore down and the Jets’ RBs Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell were able to do some damage late (including a 31-yard Ivory TD that saw the Phins – led by Koa “Garbage” Misi – miss about 5 tackles). The passing D didn’t fare nearly as well, with Jets’ star WR Brandon Marshall completely dominating Brent Grimes. Grimes looked small and weak against the huge, physical Marshall…it was like a little kid trying to cover a giant. Ugly. Fellow CB Jamar Taylor continued his abysmal play, getting beat time after time by Eric Decker. Jets’ QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 4 TDs as the Jets set a season high for points scored. Just terrible.

So that’s it. The Dolphins continue to be the joke of the AFC East, and there’s no end in sight.

Yet again, I've honestly been looking forward to this So keep it up, okay? You at least have a regular audience of one

JMP wrote:On this day, Ryan Tannehill showed the world why he’s nothing more than a compiler, and certainly is not a winner.  If you didn’t see the game, you might think, “Wow!  3 TDs and 351 yards…Tannehill must have had an amazing game!”  But the sad truth is that Tannehill played like a scrub the majority of the game, particularly in a first half that saw him looking completely inept.  It wasn’t till the game was out of hand and the Jets called off the dogs a bit that Tannehill started making some plays.  It was another case of too little too late, which has become Tannehill’s calling card: he does nothing when the game is in the balance, and then wakes up when the game is already lost.  Don’t let the stats fool you – when this game was still in reach for the Dolphins, Tannehill threw inaccurate pass after inaccurate pass, including a horrific red zone INT.  He also lost a fumble.  The sad truth is, when the Dolphins need a win, particularly against a division opponent, Tannehill fails to deliver every time.  It’s been more than 3.5 years…I think it’s safe to say that he is what he is, and that’s mediocre at best.

This may be the best summary/assessment of Tannehill I have ever read. Seriously.

In fairness, Tannehill’s job was made more difficult by Jamil Douglas, who played center for most of the game after Pouncey went out with a foot injury.  Douglas was absolutely awful at shotgun snaps, with nearly every snap barely getting off the ground.  He played like a guy that has never snapped the ball before, and it was ugly to watch.  To make matters worse, he consistently got pushed into the backfield in pass protection.  As expected, the rest of the OL also sucked – but we’re all used to that by now.

The sad part is, it's extremely likely that Douglas really hadn't snapped a ball before he was rushed into this game. But absurd lack of preparation is the Dolphins Way.

Jarvis Landry had a great second half when the game was already decided, after doing nothing in the first half.  It was great to see Landry still giving his all and breaking tackles, while most of his teammates played like dogs.

If I'm Landry's agent I'm demanding a trade after the season. Seriously. He doesn't deserve this team and organization.

The one good thing to come out of the game is that Bill Lazor lost his job, even though it was 7 games too late.  Lazor was the worst offensive coordinator in Dolphins history as far as I’m concerned, and that says a lot.  Good riddance.

I have absolutely no idea why he wasn't just fired along with Coyle. There was literally no point in keeping him on.

Great writeup JMP keep up the good work.

Screw Bill Lazor. With a pitchfork. This crap offense is failing in Philadelphia, so no surprise it is not working here either. The league has caught up with this gimmick, too short, slant YAC bullshit all the time. It does not pass the "sound effective offense" test that other schemes have proven over time.

It doesn't pass the common sense test either. Even a 5-year old knows a football offense is supposed to go forwards, towards the other team's end zone, not sideways or backwards. Seriously, who the hell came up with THAT offensive design?

Every successful offense I've ever seen is based on the premise of "beat your opponent." In contrast, the Lazor offense is based on the premise of "trick your opponent." That may work against crap teams, but NFL players and coaches these days are too smart to fall for gimmick plays on every down. Line up and beat your man - that's football. There's a time and a place for deception, but an offense based entirely on deception is a joke. And an offense based entirely on moving horizontally and backward is just plain asinine.

One thing I forgot to add in my thoughts: Kenny Stills sucks. Yeah, he's fast and can get open deep with relative ease, but man, it seems like he drops at least one pass every game and he just looks really lazy out there. Another draft pick thrown away.

JMP wrote:One thing I forgot to add in my thoughts: Kenny Stills sucks.  Yeah, he's fast and can get open deep with relative ease, but man, it seems like he drops at least one pass every game and he just looks really lazy out there.  Another draft pick thrown away.

At least the CB the Saints took with that pick was injured for the season apparently before it started. And we all know the Fins would've just screwed up the pick anyway.

Matthews got hurt because of the Terrible throw by Tannehill, I didn't see the Parker Touchdown I has actually switched to a entertaining game, Because watching the Fins play isn't. I did see the Parker td later and he did a Great job getting to the end zone and I see more playing time coming finally. I can't remember the Last time i seen 5 Starters lost to injury in a game like yesterday. Than You know it is Bad when Dan Fouts can point out why douglas can't get his snaps up in the Air and someone from the sidelines can't see that his ASS was to low.

The Players say they want Campbell to be there Coach but they don't play like they want him to stay, Too many talkers on this team instead of Producers, My Wife who doesn't watch much football says to me why does #14 play so hard and the rest of them don't, I didn't have a Good answer for that question.

There are definitely too many talkers, and too many players who think they are better than they are.

But, I do have to give credit to Kelvin Sheppard. He made the idiotic statement last week that the Phins would finish 10-6. Probably one of the dumbest things ever said by anyone, but at least Sheppard has backed up his words with his play. He has been absolutely terrible for most of the season, but last week and even moreso yesterday he played really good and for a change was not part of the problem. He has taken responsibility and upped his game. Too bad most of his teammates haven't followed suit.

I got a name for you....KIPPY BROWN!!!

UuuuugggghhhH!!

I get shivers even thinking about it.

Nice write up. JMP.

As I have posted elsewhere, Lazor's playcalling seemed to be borderline retarded. Either he wanted to get fired, or something else that I cannot determine at the moment??

In any event, we can thank Ross for yet another in a long line of lost seasons. Instead of doing what needed to be done last season, the freaking moron YET AGAIN....screwed the pooch...or rather the moldering remains of the pooch that has been screwed to death by Ross.

I predict we can expect to see Ross desecrating the remains of said pooch one more time this off season. At least.