The Miami Dolphins were 0-31 lifetime when being shut out entering the 4th quarter of road games     0-31 !

Thank God the defense only gave up 10 points, because Adam Gase’s offense decided to only play for about 5 minutes Sunday in Los Angeles.

It seemed that we were back in the Mike Sherman era for most of Sunday, with little originality to the play calling and even less toughness and grit.   (Speaking of grit, for example, can’t at least ONE of our 3 millionaire offensive linemen tough it out and go to work Sunday ?)

Gase continues to be frustrating by going back to plays that do not work.

But the good news is that we escaped with a win.

Let’s hear your thoughts…

 

35 Comments

  1. Yeah, the Dolphins pulled it out, even after Tannehill gave the gift of a fumble right back to the Rams when he threw that interception in the end zone.

  2. I didn’t get to see the game but after reading some other articles a couple of thoughts come to mind- OL needs to get healthy again. Tunsil got hurt in the second quarter, making 3 starters out. And, though this is debatable, but penalties need to be cleaned up. A win is a win but good fortune has a short shelf life the NFL.

  3. Consider this

    Giants beat the Bears

    Bucs beat the Chiefs

    Readskins beat the Packers (Redskins favored at home but by 20+ points?)

    Decent teams lose every week for a variety of reasons
    The Dolphins haven’t lost in 5 weeks for any reason and didn’t cave in yesterday!

    Here are some of my thoughts

    1 – Our defense which has few star names on it beyond the DL has obviously been very well coached and guys are really playing up to and beyond their potential. These guys run fast, hit hard, stay in their assignments and don’t quit!

    2 – The Rams OL like San Dieagos and New York’s and Buffalos and Pittsburgh’s and…….every other team we play was allowed to hold all day long. If you look at the Rams TD run and freeze the screen just as he hits the hole you will see three (3) holds (Fingers inside pads type holds!) and not one flag was tossed.

    3 – Drive salvaging penalties against us are getting very very very old! Phantom neutral zone infractions only called ten minutes after the incomplete pass on 3rd down and of course no replay by the networks. Or holding calls because a defender dared to stare to long at a receiver or that HORRIBLE pass interference call on Maxwell on 3rd down on the field goal drive. Our defense plays great (like Maxwell’s beautiful breakup of that 3rd down pass…… that was better executed then how they teach it!) and gets penalized over and over and over and over….. but they just keep playing and they beat the opponent and the refs. That is mental toughness that this team hasn’t had since Jimmy Johnson was here.

    4 – @Admin I’m sorry to single you out on this point but what is going to make you happy? Gase stuck to the run through 3.5 quarters of play and you can hardly fault him for that as it was raining for much of that span and at times heavily. Also on 3 of the 11 failed drives Tannehill got hit so hard he was having a hard time getting back to the huddle. Gase brought his rollouts and bootlegs even had a few designed QB runs that went for first downs. Keep in mind we had a ton of dropped passes which don’t help and the Rams Defense were playing as if they were possessed. Oh ya there were several pushes, holds, facemasks on our receivers that weren’t called as well mostly on 3rd down so that doesn’t help. Overall I think that Gase brought the playbook and used it despite his makeshift OL which to me is the real story here. Except for a few plays the OL was ok but on the finial two drives they seemed to come together and Gase gave them a little more help from the backs and TE and they kept Tanehill clean.

    5 – We have been waiting for RT to put this team on his shoulders and carry it to a win. In the last two drives I think he went 12 of 13 and threw some ridiculous passes like the low – away – outside pass in the end zone for a TD the like of which we haven’t seen since Marino was playing. RT had a first down throw to Landry that was a laser into triple coverage but more than that RT put our team on his back and finialy did what a franchise QB does – he won the game that we were going to lose and for a Dolphins Fan website NOT to be talking about that must give one pause to wonder what more you guys want?

    Overall I think that the circumstances aligned for a loss.

    Consider

    1 – The Dolphins had been away for home for a week and a half
    2 – They were playing a fired up Rams team at home with a good coach
    3 – It rained most of the game making it miserable for the QBs to toss the ball and the receivers to catch it
    4 – While we ran the ball in spots our OL never got the 2 – 3 yard push off the ball that our starting OL gets which is how the running lanes get opened up. Not being able to consistently get 3 – 4 yards allowed the Rams to stack the box and make us pass.
    5 – Again the Refs were out in force with the pregame agenda of making sure the Dolphins lose so that all week the NFL could talk about rookie first round pick Goff wining his first game and was the second coming of Christ….. what a ratings boom I bet Goodell thought he would have.

    In the end we won

    WE WON GUYS

    5 in a row

    The Dolphins sit 1 spot out of the Playoffs

    Ryan Tanehill won this game

    The Dolphins never quite

    This is a win on so many levels that it’s painful to log into “Dolphins Truth” and see this statement

    “It seemed that we were back in the Mike Sherman era for most of Sunday, with little originality to the play calling and even less toughness and grit.”

    No toughness or grit?

    @Admin did you go for a beer and then not watch replays of Landry and the whole OL’s TD? No toughness or grit?

    @Admin did you see any of the times Tanehill was absolutely leveled yet was standing there for the last 2 drives making passes like he was Arron Rodgers? No toughness or grit?

    @Admin did you not see our defense get called for phantom penalties 3 times on 3rd down to keep drives alive for the rams yet hold together and stop them AGAIN? No toughness or grit?

    I could go on and on but hopefully you see the point…….

    This was a good win, an ugly game but a good win…..IMHO

    1. Author

      Brian, great post. The only toughness I was questioning was Pouncey, Albert, and Tunsil. I want one of those guys to grab their helmet and run into the field and tell the coaches “no way am I missing this game.” Those are the only 3 I meant. I am a big supporter of Urbick and Steen, and Sam Young has earned my respect as well. They all filled in great.
      As for Gase, I think he sticks to what he wants to try too long. When it doesn’t work, then try plan B. Our offense didn’t score a touchdown between the very beginning of Q2 last week until Q4 yesterday. That is nearly 6 full quarters (a game and a half) without an offensive TD. Just because we won doesn’t mean we can’t be concerned about that kinda inconsistency. But it feels good, doesn’t it !

      1. @Admin

        Ok I can see that. I too thought the same thing this week as one by one we were treated to the news that these guys would not be playing. However Gase has been feeding disinformation all season about player eligibility and injuries all year. I actually like it because no one really knows much. Belich has done it his whole career and I think it’s smart to not tip your hat to much but I guess I didn’t view it the same way because these guys MIGHT actually be hurt.

        One thing I am starting to have confidence in is Gases foresight and willingness to purge them if your right and they should have been able to get out there.

        I will say this we need to give the OL coaches a ton of credit because in half of a year they have been able to do what no one has in a long long time and that is coach up and scheme the OL.

        We all know that Pouncey and Albert tenuous at best as NFL players at this point in their careers so we have a little depth now and I would assume (hope) we get more depth/replacements this offseason.

      2. You don’t think our starting OL is tough?? Albert not only dislocated his wrist but tore ligaments in his hand too and still wanted top play this week but wasn’t cleared by docs. He already said he wants to play next week.

        This season Pouncy has been playing with a hurt hip. Apparently the injury was so bad it might shorten his career and he was still playing.

        Idk about Tunsil but those two guys are pretty tough

    2. Wow! Brian M. You put into words exactly how I feel! Great post!

  4. Brian you beat me to it. I was shouting this is the first time tannehill ever put the team on his back and won. And the landry pile touchdown was awe inspiring. And while i didnt appreciate the fights early on they do tend to bring team mates closer together. It was ugly at times and i was resigned we would loose this one. But damn if they didnt just keep battling. The players believe in tannehill and dug deep to pull off those drives and stops. Im still in shock.

    1. I was so pissed off just before I wrote that because I had just gone over to ESPN and had to scroll almost to the bottom of the NFL page to find ANY Dolphins news from the game and this is what the I saw!!!!!

      (Scroll way way down to get to Dolphins actually they don’t mention Dolphins just the rams section)

      http://www.espn.com/nfl/

      ESPN Caption #1 “Ram’s defensive collapse spoils debut of rookie QB Jared Goff”

      and more spectacularly

      ESPN Caption #2 “Fisher on Goff’s debut: You could see the light”

      and even more fun

      ESPN Caption #3 ” No. 1 pick Jared Goff unspectacular in debut as Rams fall”

      No let’s talk about disrespect for a moment. The Dolphins who were supposed to be 1-3987 right now have won 5 straight games

      BUT

      “Jared goff unspectacular” NOT “Miami Defense kicked the Crap out of Jared goff”

      or

      “You could see the light” NOT “Miami’s defense kept us from making the plays we needed to make to win and their offense came alive and won it for them” (He actually said this in his presser)

      or

      “Ram’s defensive collapse spoiles debut of rookie QB Goff” NOT “Dolphins Defense keeps Rams in check as Tannehill becomes a franchise QB” (which Jimmy Johnson declared after the game)

      The Medias hatred and refusal to cover the Miami Dolphins is almost as putrid as the refs calling games against the Dolphins has become!

      I swear if the Dolphins make it to the Superbowl the NFL and ESPN will cancel all coverage of it.

      1. Brian i love you when you get pissed brother. Stay that way the fight in your words reminds me of the jarvis landry touchdown on sunday. Miami Dolphins vs The World.

      2. I am usually last to believe in conspiracy theories, especially about refereeing, but the last two weeks makes it hard not to think that something is up and it is not going in Miami’s favor.

  5. Dam Brian might as well publish that into a short story. Nah lol jk you pretty much covered everything, including admins disdain of gase’s play calling. Look admin I hear ya the offense sucked most of the game, but we were down 3 linemen, playing in the rain against a great defense. Without the oline being intact it didn’t seem like any play calls worked. That endzone interception that Tanny threw was on a roll out so nothing was really working.

    1. @Zach

      Ya I actually loved the cross the field 40 yard throw to the end zone after the turnover. I know he got picked but that’s the attitude that I love……

      Boys I think we’re done “FALLING FORWARD”

  6. And fuck the Rams. Jesus I’ve never hated a team so much from watching one game. Bunch of shit talking thugs who get way to hype after every tackle, was glad to see Miami fight back then get that win

  7. Thank goodness for the D.

    The offense will continue to stink until we get a real QB.

    1. @Jay

      Are you still wearing your Jets jersey from this weekend?

    2. The offense will stink until we get a real qb? “Cocaine is a helluva drug!”

      1. The Fins with TannePuke rank 29th in pass yds/game. He is the weakest link.

        1. Your mom is the weakest link! He he!

        2. @Jay

          You always twist the stats to suit your agenda. Heres a stat for you

          Tannehills QB rating is 91.1 which is 19th in the league…… how does that make him the weakest link?

          ….. I’m sure you will come up with something that makes almost no sense

  8. And that interception Tannehill through would have been a touchdown if Parker would have not stopped running and jumped too soon! The defender would have been boxed out and Parker could have just reached up for the ball!

    1. Defender also pushed Parker in the back, if I am not mistaken.

  9. I think the thing that made me like Gase more than anything else thus far is when he threw that challenge flag. I knew he wouldn’t get the call reversed but it was so refreshing to see this team with a coach with balls and had no fear about losing a ruling (even though I still think that pass didn’t hit the turf).

    Philbin used to give me fits by being so wimpy and scared when it came to challenging a play.

    1. My conspiracy theory of the week with the challenge. Gase parlayed the challenge into a possible overturn and a timeout to rest the offense. He maximized the value knowing it was a small but real chance of that play being overturned. If he really cared about if the challenge would go his way, he could have just asked parker. He didnt and thats why i kind of feel he was being sneaky that way.

    2. Yeah, sometimes a challenge is a good way to take a long time out. Just like in basketball when u need to regroup

  10. We just need a healthy OL and we will be ok

  11. Oline, linebacker, and secondary depth are all still concerns. With the injury to jones it’s crazy the defense has been playing as good as it has.

    1. @Zach

      I think at some point we need to look at the coaches and start clapping because these guys are doing a great job. Not to disrespect our secondary but I think our coaches are getting pretty close to 100% of the talent out of these guys and they are scheming things up to play into their strengths.

      1. Oh yea from day 1 I said gase was a great hire. Miami finally hired a coach the rest of the league was actually interested in. Unlike Cam Cameron, Tony Sporano, and Joe Philbin. No one even really knew who they were before they got hired.

  12. Any news on the oline injuries?

    Also what about Jordan isn’t he back yet? They could use a boost right about now if he can be the player they thought they drafted.

    Otherwise great comments guys. Jay not sure how you can’t see the obvious correlation between starting oline compared to injured oline and the offences success. If they can draft a few more good oline this will not be as big of a deal but even still losing three starters kills most offences in this league…to be honest the back ups have been doing OK under the circumstances.

  13. Ya I was thinking if Jordan would play this year, if he could be any help???? Not sure why he is still on the team unless the coaches think he is that good.

  14. Hilarious day after I mentioned him he’s practiced twice now. They may as well turn over every stone otherwise the patsies will pick him up and torture us for years. You just never know maybe he’s smart enough to straighten out… I hope!

    Also hopefully Tunsil starts doesn’t look good for the others….

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