For the second week in a row, Brian Flores was outcoached by a rookie head coach with a terrible team.
Right after X Howard’s interception, the Dolphins’ Offensive Coordinators (dunces) came out and called for a pass instead of ramming it down their throats with a run.
Gaskin and Ahmed played great Sunday, but for some reason, we tried a pass there. Granted, Tua threw a horrendous pass, but we shouldn’t be passing in the first place.
But the WORST part is that we went with the 5-WR set yet again. 5 guys running a route means only 5 guys in to block. IT NEVER WORKS FOR US.
Fine, if you’re determined to call a pass play, throw a screen to Gaskin. But don’t spread the field and leave your line vulnerable.
The second-worst play was the blocked field goal.  At first it looked like a great Falcon effort, but as Moose Johnston clearly showed, two different Dolphins literary bent over and did not block at all.  If one guy does it, then you chalk it up to a lazy play with poor technique.   But when TWO guys do it right next to each other?   That shows you it’s the coaching.  Poor coaches taught them both to do that.
Yet another reason why Flores needs to be fired.
And for good measure, 2nd-round bust Jevon Holland (you know, the guy who is supposed to make us forget all about 1st-round bust Noah Inactive) was returning punts instead of Waddle or Wilson or another WR.   Holland called for a fair catch while the nearest Falcon was 17 yard away.   It shows his inexperience, and he’s not qualified to return punts until his coaches get him ready.   Again, you can blame the player for being too gun-shy and chickening out, but I blame the coaches for (once again) not having him prepared.
Here’s the evidence.  He called a fair catch on this:
 Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Falcons blew this coverage, and it shoulda been a gigantic gain for the Dolphins, if not a TD.  The outside contain guy  (the closest Falcon to us above) should be way over to the bottom of the screen, instead of in the middle.  So if Holland catches the ball and sprints to his right, he would have a huge return.  Dolphins #27 is ready to block the Falcon as he chases Holland.  Just a terrible terrible play there.

18 Comments

  1. Yes one of the lowest if not the lowest rushing teams in the league actually was having success running the ball but couldn’t keep up a good thing. They don’t even have five decent healthy receivers so why run a spread offense? TE’s were killing it and could stay in to protect as well but nope had to call that Madden play. Now Tua should have got out of it or taken a sack but unfortunately he’s still a rookie. Why put him in that situation to begin with?

    I’m also sick of the Watson talk even if you get him what is the end game? You will have no money for FA and no picks to fix the lines. Fins will become Houston and we can see how that has went. Why don’t we also give them three more firsts for Tunsil like that would make a difference. ..

    1. Author

      Good points. It all comes down to who is advising Stephen Ross, and what they advise him to do about Grier and Flores. I don’t think that Ross has the knowledge (or the interest) in analyzing the pros and cons of Grier/Flores. So it comes down to who is whispering in his ear and what they are saying. For example, is someone telling Ross what a monumental mistake it was for Grier/Flores to trade All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick? Or are they saying, “Well, don’t blame Grier. These things happen.”
      Is someone pointing out that Kyle Pitts and Ja’Marr Chase are battling for rookie of the year honors, or are they still saying, “Jaylen Waddle was the best player.”
      Does someone point out the specifics of all Brian Flores’s mistakes (and his back-to-back losses to rookie head coaches with shitty teams)? I do NOT mean generalizations like “Flores has lost the locker room” or “Flores doesn’t prepare the players.” No, I mean the specifics, like analyzing individual play calls or wasting timeouts. Two weeks in a row our defense got a turnover for us, and then two weeks in a row Tua gave it back on the VERY NEXT PLAY. Those INTs were Tua’s fault, but his coaches put him in that position and didn’t learn their lesson. Does Ross see it that way? Or do his handlers tell him, “DeShaun Watson would not have thrown that interception.”

      1. Advise Ross? What does he need advice over that isn’t already apparent? I mean look how much draft capital they’ve had and look at the results. This is the problem. If he actually needs someone to tell him that our GM is a fraud and the coaching staff doesn’t have a clue, then we are sunk. Ross if you cant spot the moron in the room during team meeting, then you are the moron.

        1. Author

          Look at it this way. I see a lot of potential in Tua, but some of you want him gone. I think Flores has caused two Dolphin losses with uneducated decision-making, but others blame the players. I think Chris Grier is a horrible drafter, but others praise him for obtaining the treasure trove of #1 picks. We’re all diehard Dolphin fans, but we sometimes see things in a different way. Ross may see it one way, but then people close to him convince him otherwise. Based on things he says, I feel Ross will have a difficult time firing two black men who happen to be the #1 and #2 most important men in his organization.
          Grier and Flores are probably telling Ross “That punt hit the dude’s pinkie. The refs cost us the game. Not my fault, boss.” And ross listens to that nonsense, instead of trusting his gut and observing the lack of leadership and lack of results,

          1. “I feel Ross will have a difficult time firing two black men who happen to be the #1 and #2 most important men in his organization”

            Like I said before, let a person talk long enough and the racism will soon come out of them. ADMIN, the Dolphins were 10 and 6 last year. With a record like that, it’s highly likely you’re in the playoffs. But by some fucked up luck, the Dolphins didn’t make it. Now, last year, the Dolphins had veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and Chan Gailey was the offensive coordinator. Both are gone this season. If you don’t look at that as a factor to overcome, then you really don’t know much about football. Interceptions by Tua Tagolailoa without a doubt cost the Dolphins the last two games. You don’t throw dumbass interceptions in the end zone and give the ball right back to your opponent the very next play after your defense played their asses off to get a turn over. But I’m willing to live with the mistakes because Flores didn’t take the job as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. The Dolphins are going to take more time to straighten out than most of us realize. Do I think the Dolphins could’ve done better in the 2021 draft.. yesss… Did I hope to see a one or two game better record than last year.. yesss… Am I fustrated.. yesss… But I don’t over look the obvious, and that is the Dolphins could’ve probably won four games this season and the quarterback fucked up at least two of those games. No matter how pissed off some of us are, we can’t deny that the Dolphins had a winning season in only Flores second year at the helm. Tua has one helluva arm.. I can’t deny that. But his decision making is sometimes head scratching. Like Tannehill finally did, I think he’ll work that out. So until then, smarmy or smarty-pants insults ain’t gonna do anything for this team.

            1. Author

              First of all, you’re not wrong when you say, “Both are gone this season” in reference to Gailey and Fitzpatrick. But it’s more accurate to say that FLORES GOT RID OF THEM.
              It’s like saying All-Pros Minkah Fitzpatrick and Laremy Tunsil “are gone.” Uhh, WHY are they gone? WHO made them be gone?
              The defense is a lot worse this year because Kyle Van Not and Shaq Lawson “are gone.” You are avoiding the reason why they are gone. It’s Flores. He made his own team weaker by jettisoning talent.
              I do not argue that Tua’s INTs were brutal and game-changing. Tua gets no free pass from me. But the play calling and the constant “score-immediately after a turnover” mentality has destroyed several drives this year. Flores watches his coordinators do this game after game, loss after loss, and he does not step in to correct it.

              1. ADMIN, Flores is the one who got Chan Gailey to come out retirement! And the Dolphins were 4-3 with Fitzpatrick playing quarterback! Fitzpatrick is getting old and has been on so many teams. If he was so good, then why did the Buccaneers let him go? And Minkah Fitzpatrick wanted to be traded because he didn’t like what Flores was doing. And weren’t you one of the people scoffing when the Dolphins drafted Laremy Tunsil and made jokes about him smoking marijuana? So all of a sudden they’re big loses to you? I’m not avoiding why they’re gone. Hell, I see people on this site crying about getting rid of Tannehill. People and players come and go. Professional football players are paid to spot errors. If your offensive line let somebody block a field goal try, that’s not bad coaching like you think.. that’s your blockers not recognizing a fault. And nobody made Tua throw that pass right after the Dolphins defense got that interception. He did some bone headed shit that I know the coaches didn’t tell him to do. The interceptions he threw in the game against the Falcons cost the Dolphins… period!

                1. Author

                  When Tunsil was drafted, I did indeed question everything about him, and he quickly shut me up. He learned his craft as a guard, and then when he moved over to tackle, he was a beast. A man who could anchor our line for years to come. Grier then gave him away for what amounts to Noah Inactive and Jaylen Waddle. As far as Minkah Fitzpatrick goes, he asked to be traded. You’re right. So did X Howard. It doesn’t mean the coach has to cave in. Flores caved. Flores was stubborn about making Minkah play cornerback and should have caved into Minkah’s request to play safety. But when it came to the trade request, suddenly Flores wasn’t stubborn. Wrong decision after wrong decision.

                  1. I’d like to chime in that on Tua’s second int a commentator mentioned that Jackson let his block go instantly putting pressure up the middle. Turnstile traffic cone whatever you want to call it. At the same time Tua has to learn to just take the sack when that happens but personally I think he was trying so hard to win this game on his own and these kinds of things happen. Hopefully lesson learned take the sack and live to fight another play. Heaven forbid that they could have called a run play instead though…

                2. Author

                  And make no mistake, when it comes to blaming Grier vs. Flores. There is no way that the GM sneaks out at 3 am and makes these deals without the head coach knowing. You can’t fully blame Grier by himself for the terrible draft choices because Flores was there every step of the way. With the Dolphins desperate for linebackers, do you think Flores was begging Grier to draft Micah Parsons (as he should have been)? And Grier simply ignored Flores and picked an undersized slot receiver instead? Of course not. Flores is too ignorant to see how terrible his LB corps is, and he proved his ignorance by cutting Kyle Van Noy and replacing him with, well, nobody. Mistake after mistake after team-killing mistake.

                  1. I think they will both live or die together as they are joined at the hip. Grier wouldn’t pick players that Flo doesn’t like and vice-versa. I agree with that. I also believe that they overestimated the growth of the young players otherwise they wouldn’t have traded back up to get Waddle. They would have stayed and taken the OT Slater or Parsons if he fell. Kept their pick this year and kept adding talent. I guess easy in hindsight but it would have been the safer play.

      2. Ross has filled the entire building with losers. Who isn’t? Ok maybe there one or two I don’t know about but for the most part all losers. (I’m not referring to players I’m referring to coaches and management) so we now know of two things that Ross excels at. Real estate and finding losers. Well you have to credit him with turning the Dolphins Stadium into a beautiful piece of real estate and damm he sure hired the heck out of a bunch of losers to man the building. Point is I don’t think it matters who he’s listing to because none of them are winners for a reason!

        1. Author

          Quick…when was the last time any team in the league was interested in hiring any Dolphin coach? I think Vance Joseph worked for Gase, got a head coaching job somehow, and then was fired after going 11-21 with Denver.

  2. ADMIN, the Dolphins cut Jay Ajai and he got a Superbowl ring that next season. The Dolphins released Ndamukong suh and he went to a new team and got a Superbowl ring. Heck, Todd Bowles wanted to be the next coach of the Dolphins when Philbin was fired but Ross decided to go with Gase and Bowles became the head coach for the Jets. When Gase got fired by the Dolphins, he became the head coach of the Jets after they fired Todd Bowles who got picked up by the Buccaneers and became their Defensive coordinator and won a Superbowl ring. Like coaches, players from successful NFL teams are highly desirable. Kyle Van Noy is no exception.. but he isn’t panning out for the $51 million that the dolphins is paying him. And the the Bills drafted Shaq Lawson and then traded him.. but that’s business. You can moan an groan all you want but coaching is not an exact science like you think it ought to be.

  3. Author

    On a lesser note, and I don’t know if players see or hear news conferences…but after a while, the Dolphin players must get tired of hearing their HEAD COACH say “I have to get better. I have to learn from this, etc.”
    Flores is right. He must learn learn. But he can’t publicly convey that to your team. You have to lead by example.

    1. And NFL players must take it upon themselves to know that how they play can either help or hurt the team. Getting stupid penalties, missing blocking assignments, throwing interceptions, and missing easy extra point kicks can hurt your team. Coaches can only show and say so much but they are not on the field playing the game.

      1. Author

        Phil, on that blocked field goal, there were 2 obvious missed blocking assignments. But did you notice they both did the exact same mistake at the exact same time in the same exact position? There is no way on earth that two guys simultaneously decided to just squat over at the same exact angle. No, that was coaching. They were taught to just bend over so the opponent cannot get through them. The Falcons obviously saw this on tape and took advantage.

        1. Look ADMIN, you don’t see a wreck in front of you and just keep driving into it because because you were taught to drive straight on.. no! I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. NFL players are paid not only to play, but to spot flaws also. I’ve seen many plays get blown up because someone missed a blocking assignment and it had nothing to do with coaching. When a running back misses a blocking assignment, he knows the play called is designed for him to block. When the opposing team’s defense do a helluva job stopping a play, you give them credit because that is what they get paid to do. But don’t kill your team by making bone headed mistakes and getting ridiculous penalties. I’ve seen many stupid plays offensive coordinators called that makes no sense to me. But that has nothing to do with costly penalties and throwing head scratching interceptions like we’ve seen Dolphins player commit and do far too much .

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