Offense shows high-scoring potential
Who expected the Miami Dolphins to put up a season-high 541 yards with a backup quarterback against what was considered the best defense in the NFL?
Coach Adam Gase did — seriously. That’s the level of confidence Gase has in this offense.
Beating Chicago 31-28 in overtime by rallying back from a 21-10 deficit late in the third quarter with an injury-depleted team shows that Miami’s offense has the potential to put up points and yards if its rebuilt offensive line can continue to perform the way it did against the Bears.
Here is the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s report card, evaluating how the Dolphins (4-2) performed in Sunday’s win over the Bears:
Passing Game: B
Brock Osweiler’s career day (380 yards and three TDs) featured plenty of easy throws, and run-after-catch yardage from Miami’s playmakers. But Osweiler did make two big throws, the first of which converted a third-and-5 on a scoring drive, and the second produced the 2-point conversion that tied the game in the fourth quarter. But Osweiler had his share of bad throws too, including two interceptions that cost Miami points, and that needs to be fixed if he’s going to remain the starter while Ryan Tannehill’s throwing shoulder heals.
Running Game: A
Frank Gore delivered his first 100-yard performance as a Dolphins player, and the 46th of his accomplished 14-year NFL career, gaining 101 rushing yards on 15 carries against the Bears. Kenyan Drake added 57 rushing yards on 13 carries as the Dolphins put up 161 total rushing yards against a Chicago team that led the league defending the run. The offensive line deserves plenty of credit for Miami’s offensive success on Sunday because they were opening running lanes and allowed Osweiler to leave Hard Rock Stadium with a clean jersey.
Defending the pass: C
Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky produced a 122.5 passer rating against the Dolphins courtesy of his 316 yards and three touchdowns. The most troubling thing is, the Bears could have gotten plenty more but didn’t because of some poor throws, and the interception safety T.J. McDonald pulled down in the end zone. Tarik Cohen’s seven receptions for 90 yards exposed the fact Miami still has issues covering quick and athletic tailbacks because of the zone concept they use.
Defending the run: C
The Dolphins injury-decimated defensive line — which played the second half with three defensive ends because of the concussion Jonathan Woodard suffered — allowed the Bears to gain 164 rushing yards. Miami’s defenders were clearly running on fumes in the second half and overtime period. The Dolphins need to get back to rotating in more defensive ends and tackles to remain stout on the front line because edge setting is becoming an issue.
Special teams: B
Rookie Jason Sanders kicked his first 50-yard field goal, and his first game winner against the Bears. He is 6 for 6 on the season courtesy of the three field goals he made on Sunday. Punter Matt Haack put two of his four punts inside the 20-yard line. The Dolphins didn’t have a single kickoff or punt returned.
Coaching: A
The Dolphins have done an admirable job overcoming adversity all season, so Sunday’s performance, which ended the team’s two-game slide, shouldn’t be that surprising. Gase ran an offense that was custom-made for Brock Osweiler and it helped Miami convert 8-of-17 third-down opportunities. And defensive coordinator Matt Burke ran schemes that kept Chicago’s offense off-balanced, and forced Trubisky to guess wrong a lot.
Stock Up: Right tackle Ja’Wuan James
James has been a solid starting right tackle for the past four seasons, but Sunday’s performance against Khalil Mack indicates that he might possess the talent to become elite. James not only locked down Mack, the best pass rusher in the NFL, but he also opened up some important running lanes for Gore pulling to his left. That’s right, the Dolphins starting right tackle can actually pull and get to the second level.
Stock down: Cornerback Torry McTyer
The Bears feasted on McTyer (one penalty committed, allowed one TD and gave up two long receptions) until he got pulled in the fourth quarter and replaced with Cordrea Tankersley. The Dolphins shouldn’t go back to McTyer as the starting boundary Cornerback opposite Xavien Howard, even if Bobby McCain doesn’t return from a knee injury N'Kosi Perry made the first road start of his career at Virginia and struggled, prompting Hurricanes coach Mark Richt to remove him.
has completed 56 percent of his passes for 666 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Now, with the Coastal Division in flux and the Hurricanes about to play three of their next four games on the road, Richt needs to find a way to spark his offense, and that could mean another change at quarterback.
When pressed during his radio appearance about that, the coach declined to answer, saying he had yet to meet with his players and his intention was to speak to them before announcing a move like that.
He then added it may not be possible to make many changes outside the quarterback position because of injuries and depth issues.
“At some positions, there’s not a lot of change you can make. I think we’ll keep Navaughn [Donaldson] as a guard. I think DJ Scaife did enough good things outside as a tackle, I think that’s the best combination on the right side,” Richt said. “Left side, it’ll be pretty much status quo. We’ll have Jahair [Jones] and depending on … we’ll see how much Venzell [Boulware] can unseat him as a starter, but that’s pretty much how it’s going to look there. At the receiver position, we’ve got to play a number of guys. All of those guys are going to play. We only have two tight ends on scholarship right now. They’re going to play. Those top two running backs are going to be the guys carrying the load. There’s not going to be a lot of change there. There just has to be overall execution.”