Okay, we all feel good now and have a lot more pride than when the Raven game first began. We’re officially on a winning streak for the first time all year, and with some doormats coming up, a 6-win season seems possible. Last month, we didn’t think we’d even get to 3 wins.
I’ll give Brian Flores credit for making some good decisions last night. By “making good decisions,” I mean that he made the basic, strategic choices that he was supposed to make, like punting when we should have and maintaining successful defensive calls all night long. Avoiding unnecessarily risky decisions is the right decision. The Dolphins are typically plagued by an attitude of “If something is working well, let’s adjust it and make it work even better.” But not last night. The steady blitzes were working, and Flores kept it up. Well done.
The defense was obviously impressive, but the offense tried some new wrinkles that will serve them well moving forward. Mostly…not every single pass was to Gesicki and Waddle like it’s been for the first 9 games this year. Getting Wilson and Ford into the game, and even a fun flea-flicker to Myles Gaskin, resulted in big plays. The Ravens took Gesicki out of the game, and so we answered back with an adjustment. Good job there.
Despite the feel-good nature of Friday morning, this game was closer than it appeared. The Ravens gifted us two separate gigantic gains due to busted coverages. Obviously a communications breakdown, the Dolphins took advantage. Remarkably, in both cases, both Albert Wilson and Isaiah Ford got open-field tackled by the one guy they had to beat. It was a head scratcher that 2 of our faster receivers with tons and tons of wide-open green space couldn’t avoid a tackle. Oh, well. They’ll get teased in the locker room. At least they each caught the ball, because earlier I the season it was all muffs.
But the point is that if Baltimore didn’t have that miscommunication, we probably lose. It wasn’t like the Dolphins fooled them into that busted coverage.
The Robert Hunt play was cute and made all the news. But it was dangerously close to turning the game into a Baltimore victory. He fumbled the ball at the end, and Baltimore recovered. The Ravens could have declined the illegal touch penalty and then they’d have the ball. Luckily…VERY lucky, they rule him down by contact when his head hit just before fumbling. (The NFL Network had an interview with him post-game, and he was a good sport. They awarded him with a new guitar signed by Guns-n-Roses’s Slash as the player of the game for his non-touchdown.) He needs better discipline to simply bat the ball down. Still a penalty, but not as risky as carrying the ball.
The offensive line is still really bad.
The red zone offense was horrible again. We had about 20 plays in goal-to-goal situations and only got one touchdown. I don’t mind Christian Wilkins as a fullback, but if that play doesn’t work, line him up again and try again. The “variety” that the Dolphins try in goal-to-goal offense doesn’t work. A handoff up the middle. Then a crossing pass into traffic. Then a fade route. It’s predictable and it’s ineffective. Tua made the 1-yard TD sneak look easy, so you have to wonder why we didn’t try that at least once on our other 1st-and-goal situations.
So although we still have tons of work to do and although Lady Luck certainly helped us. let’s just enjoy the win!
On the “Play” of the game, what would have been the ruling – a fumble or a TD, because the ball did cross the plane of the goal line before Hunt fumbled. I forgot the rule…
Yeah, on super slo-mo, he crossed. But you never know with these refs lately!!
Some may disagree, but I was disappointed that we went for a two point conversion. Sure we would’ve been up by 14 if it worked, but I’d rather be up 13 then 12 with that much time left.
The only reason I thought it was Okay is that it came after a HUGE defensive touchdown for us. Our offense was excited as hell to get out there and try for 2, while the Ravens’ D must have been stunned and exhausted. I think Flores wanted to catch their d off guard, but it backfired of course.
Admin, I agree we still have big problems on offense and Flores (finally) made the correct captain-obvious decisions , but I disagree with you in calling this a lucky win (or given luck a big credit). Many pass plays are busted coverage plays. The better QB’s exploit those moments. Even the Ravens touchdown was a busted play. This was a deserved win and it feels good.
Yes, what the hell was Eric Rowe doing on the Ravens TD? The media said he “heard a whistle” but no other Dolphin did apparently?
All you can say about this game is good job with the adjustments and what took you so long? You are right, however, we got lucky as there is still no sustainable offense present. Brissett should never see the field again. Holland and Phillips played great and have tremendous potential. The bottom line is can this continue? If it does, we should win the next 3-4 games and this season was not a total waste.
I Agree, i have had enough of Brissett. I hope Tua stays healthy. he’s got 10 days to heal that fracture
6-11 is a horrible record, but it would show some resiliency and guts after beginning 1-7. A 7-10 season or even 8-9 would make me feel like “the 1-7 start was just a bizarre anamoly. Certainly the rebuild took a step backward, but Flores righted the ship and has us moving forward again.”
The real test will come in the off-season. A strong second half will have us feeling good going into next season, but who knows what Flores and Grier will try. Same exact feeling as last year, when we ended 10-6, and were sooo close to the playoffs. Instead of making minor adjustments, Grier and Flores gutted the defense.
They both like to tamper with success, so it won’t be out of the question for them to cut Jerome Baker and trade Xavien Howard, for example. It’s what we do. 🙁
I am also greedy. The next four games are winnable, lets do this!
I re-watched the full game, and we got lucky on many plays. That luck was not with us during the 7-game losing streak for sure. On one of our first-and-goals, Tua threw a pass that should have been intercepted. Brissett and Tua both fumbled, and luckily Eichenberg was there both times. The Robert Hunt play was millimeters away from being a fumble. Lamar Jackson slipped on 2 of the sacks we got. Justin Tucker’s rare missed field goal gave the Dolphins some spark early on. There was also a play that the refs ruled a Raven catch and first down, but Flores challenged and got the call our way. Incomplete, I still don’t see how that was incomplete, but we’ll take it!
Not to mention the 2 gigantic blown coverages that gave us 50+ yards twice.
I also have to say, I have been impressed with S Holland! I know you have been critical of him Admin, but he is a natural blitzer from the corner and he seems to be around the ball a lot! I’m curious to see his development.
So far this guy is like Z. Thomas, always around the ball. Huge upside with this guy. Of course he still needs to develop to avoid being average. Hope Miami doesn’t blow it with him.