Highs:  There aren’t too many, but we’ll single out a few things.

Miami Dolphins Head Coach Joe Philbin
Does this look like a confident, championship coach, or a confused old man who cannot beat a winless team.
  • Lamar Miller had his best game in memory.  He might have had more yards at some point in another game, but today he looked sharp.  He held the ball tight when he was about to get hit, and he seemed to be running with purpose.  Well done.
  • Daniel Thomas.  He came back to the team just a few days ago and had some impactful plays on Sunday.
  • Mike Wallace.  For the second week in a row, Wallace’s effort really shows.  He’s a hard worker, and I don’t think anyone can attribute his lack of production to Wallace himself.   We all know why he isn’t producing more.
  • Defense line.  5 (yes, FIVE) sacks and a safety and a recovered fumble.  They did all they could to get the Dolphins back in the game, but when they are on the field way too much, there’s only so much they can do.

The Lows.  Where to start?

  • Joe Philbin.  Even before halftime, we knew this was yet another one of those Joe Philbin games.  And, boy, were we unfortunately correct.   His lack of leadership is more apparent than ever.  When was the last time you saw a coaching staff penalized for tripping a referee?  Where is the sideline leadership?
  • The fans.   Look at all the empty seats at game time:
Wow.  There is more orange here than in a factory that makes prison jumpsuits.
Wow. There is more orange here than in a factory that makes prison jumpsuits.

And then again right before the second half:

Twice as many empty seats.  Where are the Dolfans?
Twice as many empty seats. Where are the Dolfans?
  • Brian Hartline.  Wow, talk about a momentum-killing boneheaded penalty that cost his team 15 valuable yards and enabled the Chiefs to begin their ensuing drive with excellent field position.  Brian, it was a ONE-YARD dump pass.  You were losing the game before you caught it.  You were losing the game afterwards.  What exactly are you celebrating?  Has Joe Philbin taught you guys to celebrate losing? And even if you choose to celebrate, why do so in an extravagant manner?   We are very curious about the Philbin-Hartline exchange that occurred right after that.  Philbin was unhappy, but it looked like Hartline was jawing back at him, instead of apologizing with his head down in shame.  We’ll try to find out what was said.
  • Ryan Tannehill.   I HATE when T-hill haters say he has zero pocket presence, but after 3 years, I am forced to agree with my anti-Tannehill readers.  The sacks he endures are not blindside hits out of nowhere.  They are not safeties blitzing through a hidden gap.   They are, instead, coverage sacks.  The pocket collapses, and Tannehill is the last one to see it.  Or feel  it.  Or even notice it.  By the time he begins his escape, it is far too late.   Dolphins Truth will no longer fight back when all you guys tell us that T-hill has no pocket awareness.  You win.
  • Bill Lazor.  You cannot fathom how much it saddens us when we have to admit we miss Mike Sherman.  Third and inches.  Fourth and inches.  Lazor calls for T-hill to fade back 8 yards.  Attempted passes every single time on third/fourth and inches.  Why?
    But then on third-and-20 and 1st-and-20, he calls for runs.  Ridiculous.  Shame on the Dolphins media for telling the fans that Lazor’s offense would be innovative.  Or fast.  Or good.
  • Joe Philbin.  Did we mention this unqualified guy yet?  Read this.  The long field goal attempt during a 0-0 game was the play of the game.  The Chiefs seized the momentum, the lead, and the ball game.  Thanks, Joe.
Tannehill is tackled with 8 seconds left.   Dolphins do not take a timeout until 2 seconds left.  Should Stephen Ross fire Philbin for this, or just suspend him?
Tannehill is tackled with 8 seconds left. Dolphins do not take a timeout until 2 seconds left. Should Stephen Ross fire Philbin for this, or just suspend him?
  • The defense.  Yeah, we gave them a high vote earlier, but how can they give up touchdowns to 3rd and 4th string RBs such as Knile Davis and Cyrus Gray.  WHO??

Look at this screen capture.   Three Dolphins are bearing down on some 2nd or 3rd string Chief.   All 3 Dolphins miss.  Same old story.

3 Dolphins move in for an easy tackle for a loss.  Right?  Right?
3 Dolphins move in for an easy tackle for a loss. Right? Right?
  • Joe Philbin.   Last week, Philbin spent hours defending his incorrect decision to run out the clock at the end of the 2nd quarter.  This week, he used his timeouts.  We lost both games.  If he was so damned confident last week and kept defending the notion of “Don’t call timeouts when you’re deep in your own territory,” then why did he do it this week?
  • Bill Lazor.   Lining up Ja’wuan James as a Wide Receiver actually gained us some yards on that play.  But none of your basic offensive plays did much.   Offense scored 13 points against a winless team.
  • The NFL and Stephen Ross.   Why did we have to start this game at 4:30?   Why not 1:00 like all the other AFC East teams?  Oh, that’s right.  Mr. Ross asked for this.  Why play the game with a heat advantage and time-zone advantage when you can level the playing field for Kansas City?
  • Personnel decisions.  If Daniel Thomas was good enough to earn more playing time today than Williams and Darqua, then why wasn’t he good enough a few weeks ago when he got cut?
  • Ryan Tannehill.   Remember that play when Mike Wallace ran out of bounds on a long pass?   Regardless of what Wallace did, T-hill still threw a terrible ball on that one.   Just brutally terrible.That same play was a 2nd-and-1, and Tannehill rolled out.  He had all the room in the world in front of him to run, but instead he wasted a long pass.  Terrible decision.

And terrible loss.

20 Comments

  1. I came here to gloat about our win, but your site already does a good enough job of beating up the Dolphins. And you don’t really pick on the Chiefs. Funny site.
    And you are right about the golf putt penalty. It really did give us tremendous field position

    1. Go gloat someplace else, you are still a 1-2 team and a big loser!

  2. T-Hill made stupid pass attempts several times when he had clear room to run all day. The guy has shown in the pass he can run with the ball. He really needs to do it more often.

    1. Yes, on several,of those rollouts, he had sooooooo much room. Why did he pass it?

  3. The Defense is pathetic too. All those times that backs were bouncing off the Dolphins like it was a pinball game, on the way to a touchdown, is just piss-poor performance. I honestly wanted to throw up on the TV.

  4. I agree with the vast majority of your observations; but when it comes to Lazor – what is the possibility that Philbin is overruling much of his play calling? Overall, the offensive schemes this year seem way more Philbin-like than what Lazor called last year with the Eagles…coincidence??

    1. Author

      @GoFish66 brings up a very good point that we’ve heard before. It makes you wonder. That Philly offense last year was so so innovative, and then this year, we’re back to not even picking up a first down when we have 2nd and inches, then 3rd and inches. That is the type of offense Joe Philbin believes in, and it simply does not work.
      There’s a lot of odd formations we’re trying, and it really does seem to confuse the defense before the snap. But then once the play begins, Tannehill usually makes a poor decision. That tells me that Lazor generally knows what he’s doing, but the execution isn’t there.

      1. …and when we showed “up tempo” in the Pats game, and even the few times in Buffalo, it worked and we moved the ball.
        I believe our overcautious coach – his always looking not to lose rather than playing to win, has become infectious and contagious on the sidelines, and I believe it’s time he’s put into quarantine for good!

        1. Author

          Yes, the up-tempo definitely seems to work, and it’s hard to analyze why they stop doing it. It’s almost as if Philbin says, “Well, the no-huddle worked for us last time and we got 7 points. So now let’s trick them and go back to regular speed.”
          You know the old saying about “Don’t tamper with success?” Philbin loves to tamper with success.

          1. Yes, exactly. Miller was running the ball great, so don’t tamper with that right? Wrong, we kept passing on first down. It’s as if Philbin does not recognize what is working. He has no comprehension of momentum whatsoever. After the safety we got the ball back in excellent field position, and we had all the momentum in the world. But then a weak three-and-out. You simply cannot hand the momentum back to KC.

        2. Ross doesn’t have to throw a tamper and fire him. He can take Philbin aside and fire him quietly. The bottom line is Philbin has to go. Too many analysts are concerned about “it’s onlt been three GAMES so far” No….it’s been three YEARS.

  5. I ve always been a thill supporter. not anymore. I won’t watch another game until he is benched. Ive had enough. i wanted moore to be the starter 4 years ago to start the season. moore has fire, he throws a great deep ball, and he plays the game like an athlete, even though he’s not the most athletic guy in the world. We will be a much better offense with him. I can’t watch thill fumble around like an idiot anymore. Sit his ass down!

  6. I had doubts about Tannehill from the beginning. I wanted the Dolphins to draft Russell Wilson because I had seen him play for Wisconsin, and he was great, but nobody listened to my comments. They all said “he is too short to make it in the NFL”. Now the best move is to sit Thill for a game or two and give Matt Moore the starting job. Moore seems to be much better at long passes. We need to utilize Wallace more, and Thill can’t hit him. When he does, Wallace can’t hold onto it. Moore to Wallace, give it a shot. Go Dolphins!

  7. We need to start Matt Moore to know exactly where we stand with this team, a little better play from the QB would have won this game, the drives kept stalling by poor decisions by Tanny and drops from receivers, but mostly Tanny.

    Not saying Matt Moore is the answer but at this point we don’t have a lot to loose, to continue this way is unacceptable.

    1. I am always leery of anonymous sources who repeat rumors heard outside of a locker room, but in this case it could be true. i just dont think that Kevin Coyle can be blamed when his defene was on the hot field all day long. They play they hearts out, and then have to watch the Offense squander it.

      1. The only TD came from a great play from the defense, and they did pressure Smith so although the tackling could’ve been a 1000 times better, our main problem is our pathetic offense which IMO is not lacking in talent but greatly misdirected.

  8. Forget Matt Moore. I would consider starting Nat Moore over Tannehill.

    1. What about Michael Moore even

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