Thoughts on game 2 - Phins at Jags

Beer: Molson Golden

Players of the Day: Reshad Jones, Jarvis Landry, Rishard Matthews

Goats of the Day: the entire coaching staff, the entire OL, the entire DL

What a disgustingly weak effort from the Dolphins yesterday. Throw all the stats away for a moment: the bottom line is that the Jaguars dominated every phase of the game, from coaching on down.

But if you do want some stats, have a look at these:
- In all 15 career games prior to yesterday, Jags’ QB Blake Bortles was sacked at least one time. In 10 of those games, Bortles was sacked 4 – 8 times.
- The Jaguars had a record of 0 – 11 in their previous 11 September games.

Now, let’s update those stats after yesterday’s game:
- In 15 of 16 career games, Bortles has been sacked at least once…that’s right, the Dolphins are the only team that didn’t sack Bortles.
- The Jaguars have a record of 1 – 11 in their last 12 September games…that’s right, the Dolphins are the only team to lose to the Jags in that stretch.

So what went wrong? I could talk about how the Miami defense allowed 275 yards in the first half, or how the one-dimensional Dolphin offense looked completely out of sync. I could talk about how Tannehill looked great at times, but laid an egg on the final 6 Dolphin drives as his OL steadily got worse as the game went on. I could talk about how Suh got manhandled one-on-one against both the Jaguars’ unheralded center and right guard. I could talk about how our LBs routinely didn’t appear until the ball was 5 yards downfield, or how 5’9” Brice McCain couldn’t handle a big receiver (while the Dolphins’ own big receiver continued to ride the bench), or how Walt Aikens was totally useless, or how Greg Jennings and Kenny Stills were non-factors, or how the OL played at a putrid level even for them. Yeah, I could talk about a lot of things.

But I won’t get into the gory details of yesterday’s game, because, really, this isn’t about what happened yesterday. It’s about what’s been happening since the day Joe Philbin became the Dolphins head coach.

The problems with this team are pretty clear: the roster is very top-heavy (a few good players and a whole lot of mediocre/bad players), and is guided by a clueless coaching staff that is completely directionless and is outmatched in every game. The team has no identity whatsoever on either side of the ball, the coaches don’t trust the players, the players don’t trust the coaches…it’s a complete disaster. Add in an incompetent GM that has not improved the roster in any meaningful way, and you get the 2015 Miami Dolphins.

Whether it’s Philbin making idiotic time management decisions, or Lazor completely abandoning what’s working, or Coyle failing to make any adjustments till halftime, it is clear that this coaching staff is in over their heads. The culture of this team is weak, soft and lacking in accountability from top to bottom. It all stems from Stephen Ross, who defines the word “incompetence” when it comes to owning an NFL team.

But hell, we’re only two games into the season…plenty of time to right the ship and get back on course.

Yeah…sure. I suppose that’s possible, but it’s not something I’d count on.

Next week may be only the third game, but it is a game that may very well define the season. Beat the Bills in impressive fashion, and maybe there’s the slightest glimmer of hope. But lose this game the way I think it’ll go down – with a massive beatdown by the rough, tough Bills on the weak, meek Dolphins – and this could be the beginning of the end (finally!) for Philbin and his lame staff. Stay tuned…

Totally agree.

My prediction, as you can probably guess, is Rex Ryan - smarting from his big loss to the Pats - will come in with attitude and totally destroy our listless squad.

Beginning of the end for the Philbin era, and yet another wasted season. Yay 2015 Dolphins! What fun!

So is this going to be a regular thing from Jmp? If so, I officially approve

Bills by at least 20 and Tannehill gets injured. Book it, Danno.

DolFan 316 wrote:So is this going to be a regular thing from Jmp? If so, I officially approve

Thanks! I am planning on doing this for each game, but we'll see how long I can stomach it....

Excellent

I felt much of the same, but the beer was Canadian Club whisky.

Even if they do beat the Bills in impressive fashion, I'd still say this is a nowhere train. Face it, beating the Bills at home is what we should do. Every time.

I do feel sorry for Tannehill, who could reach another level next year under a new coach and with a better line in front of him.

Miami beat the Bills then there is hope but the fact that Miami couldn't beat the Jags then I have to say no.