Game 10 thoughts: Bucs at Phins

The Dolphins spotted the Bucs a 20-7 lead courtesy of 4 first half turnovers, and despite a comeback the Phins still couldn't walk away with a win.

The Dolphins had almost as many penalties (17) as they did first downs (18) today.  The OL was particularly brutal, with at least 7 penalties.  The OL did pretty good in pass pro, but was awful in run blocking.  There was some great run blocking on an early 69-yard run from Damien Williams, but the Phins' RBs managed just 23 yards after that play.  The run game could be summed up on one series where the Phins were driving, but failed to gain a yard on 3 consecutive plays (including a 4th down).  And why Gase called a run up the middle on 4th and 1, I'll never know - just plain stupid.

Jay Cutler started the game and threw three first half INTs, the last one coming on a really bad drop by DeVante Parker.  Cutler left the game with a concussion.  Matt Moore came off the bench and gave the team a definite energy lift, leading the team on 3 scoring drives.  Kenny Stills and Jarvis Landry were excellent, combining for 13 catches, 275 yards and 2 TDs.  Landry did lose a fumble, though.  There wasn't much offense other than that, as the rest of the team combined for just 10 catches and 90 yards.    

Matt Moore was excellent on 3rd down, converting a bunch of third and longs for big gains.  It's pretty clear that he should be starting over Cutler at this stage.

The defense played well at times, but the bottom line is they lost this game on the last drive.  With the game tied at 20 with 3 minutes left, the D allowed the Bucs to march down the field and kick the winning FG.  It's just too easy to complete passes against this defense, as receivers are wide open on nearly every play and the pass rush is almost non-existent.

The game ended on a ridiculously-bad multiple-lateral play by the Phins on the final kickoff, that resulted in a fumble recovered by the Bucs in the endzone to give Tampa Bay the 30-20 victory.  

I don't even know what to say at this point.  The Phins are now 4-6 and it's difficult to find more than one or two wins - maybe - on the schedule.  Offensive guru Adam Gase's offense continues to struggle, as the OL is horrendously bad and the running game doesn't exist.  The team is playing sloppy and undisciplined football, and they just make mistake after mistake.  That's a reflection on the coaching staff, and Gase has no answers.

Hero of the Game: Kenny Stills

Goat of the Game: The defense, for choking on the final drive and handing the Bucs the victory.

Gotta love how the coaches called out Parker this week, and he responded with 4 catches for 26 yards and an INT on a drop (and he also fell on one of the other INTs). No heart.

Once again, gase outsmarts himself with multiple pass plays called on 2nd and 1, only to backfire. Pound the fuckin ball. If you can not pick up a TD on 1st and goal at the other team's one, then you do not deserve to win. Really, Matt Moore on a bootleg run? Where are the reverses? Where is the TE? Well, OUR TE that is. The opponents TE is ALWAYS zeroing in on kiko alonso and destroying him.

Oh yeah, clock management . Why not call a time out when the Bucs had the last drive after first down? Why let at least 20 seconds run off the clock while the Bucs run 2nd down play? They would have had 30 seconds to try and get into field goal range. Am I the only one to see this?

Just boneheaded coaching in every phase.

On playcalling - passes to Williams and Drake have worked great the past couple of games, but we called just 1 or 2 today (including a 24 yarder to Williams). Why would Gase go away from that???

Do we ever run a sweep? Seems like just about every run is designed to go right up the gut (behind our all world C) or maybe off tackle. No creativity at all in the run plays.

Also, amazing what happens when you test the defense downfield. You actually have a chance to pick up more than 2-3 yards.

Why is it he does not let his boy cutler go downfield?

Listen!!!!! It took me about two hours to stop laughing at this loss. Just wanted to put this out there....How come the offense looks more uptempo when Matt Moore's the QB then Cutler.?

I paid particular attention today to the running game. I noticed that the running game isn't solely on the OL. As much as i have hate to talk about Gase in any kind of positive way, the running backs did their absolute best trying to hit a home run on every play. We need a RB who will straight run downhill. I really would like to see us draft LJ Scott out of Michigan State.

scotgif wrote:Do we ever run a sweep? Seems like just about every run is designed to go right up the gut (behind our all world C) or maybe off tackle. No creativity at all in the run plays.

I agree with you, but I also believe that this shitty offensive line can't perform a sweep. You need very good guards to run good sweeps. Lombardi himself would be considering just straight-ahead plays with these guards. The only thing they pull well is an undeserved paycheck.

Jay Cutler needs to retire before he dies.

If Gase doesn't want to start Moore, then start Fales.

More really sketchy play calling today, and to be honest, it was in situations where only fools make the decisions he was making. Just run on 2nd and 1 in that particular game situation.

At this point Jmp continuing to put up the game thoughts is an act of heroism equal to cops, firefighters and the military. I really believe that.

DolFan 316 wrote:At this point Jmp continuing to put up the game thoughts is an act of heroism equal to cops, firefighters and the military. I really believe that.

LOL I almost didn't do one today, but I figured what the hell. You can probably tell that I wasn't feeling it - it's definitely not by best work. It's just hard to find ways to talk about how bad this team is.

turnovers and penalties doomed the Phins. but so what. yea, they should've, could've beat the Bucs, but again - so what. the Phins are a bad, very bad team right now and the remainder of the season, with or without the results of this game, is meaningless.

Moore should be the starter the rest of the way...except we've already seen how he looks starting a game after playing well off the bench. is there a way Cutler can start for one play and then hand the reigns to Moore? but seriously, i think Gase keeps starting Cutler out of stubborn pride. i think the best way out and to massage everyone's ego is to put Cutler on IR and blame the concussion.

its time for a total re-build this off-season. the sooner the Phins get started, the better.

Last years 10-6 was an aberration and I should know not to buy into it. Similar to the wildcat. We won games in a very lucky manner.