Offensive struggles will continue unless protection issues are fixed
MIAMI GARDENS — There is only so much a quarterback can endure.
Tua Tagovailoa apparently reached his limit on the second drive of the 35-0 shellacking the Buffalo Bills gave Miami on Sunday when Jesse Davis
— a team captain and the unit’s most veteran offensive lineman — whiffed on a block of A.J. Epenesa, and a physical hit in the backfield crushed the Dolphins’ starting quarterbacks rib cage.
Tagovailoa limped off the field, and the bruised ribs he suffered on that early play prevented him from returning.
His replacement, Jacoby Brissett, didn’t fair much better against the Bills’ aggressive defensive front, which applied constant pressure before finishing the game with six sacks.
Miami’s offensive line struggles continued to the point where early in the fourth quarter Brissett looked like he reached his limit on back-to-back hits where Bills defenders were in the backfield so quick Brissett’s back foot didn’t hit the Hard Rock Stadium field grass before he was ducking and dodging for safety.
At that moment I asked myself who would finish the game if the Bills hurt Brissett too?
Dolphins coach Brian Flores ducked that question after the game better than his quarterbacks avoided sacks on Sunday.
But the way Miami’s offensive line has been playing, whether or not the Dolphins have enough quarterbacks on the roster has become a legitimate question.
“It was a rough day for us. Everyone saw that,” Dolphins right guard Robert Hunt said. “We know that we need to be better. We know we have some issues.”
Honesty is the best policy on matters like this, and Hunt was as straight forward as it got about the Dolphins’ seemingly forever rebuilding offensive line — which apparently needs to be rebuilt again — despite all the time, energy, resources, money, and draft picks put into the unit over the past three years.
“We’re a young line,” Hunt said, referring to the starting unit, which features four other secondyear starters in Austin Jackson, Solomon Kindley and Michael Deiter. “We’re trying to get better. That is not an excuse. We can’t keep saying that [expletive].”
As everyone on offense pointed out, the Bills didn’t do anything Miami didn’t prepare for. Buffalo’s defense is aggressive, so the corner and safety blitzes they employed early were expected.
Problem is, Miami’s execution wasn’t sharp. The tight ends and tailbacks didn’t help with protection, which is their responsibility when the Bills bring more than five rushers. And more importantly, the receivers seemingly weren’t running hot routes, giving the quarterbacks quick and easy targets to counter the pressure.
“Did we expect seven and eight-man fronts? Yes we did,” Jackson said. “But there is a lot of variations.
“The thing about the NFL is there are a lot of disguises. They definitely did some different things than they showed on him.”
And those variations seemingly short-circuited Miami’s offense, which finished the game with 216 net yards, despite converting 8-of-18 third downs.
The Dolphins were 0-3 in red-zone opportunities because of numerous miscues.
Brissett was picked off by Bills cornerback Levi Wallace on Buffalo’s 15-yard line on a pass intended for Mike Gesicki in the first quarter.
On Miami’s next possession, Jakeem Grant caught a short pass one yard shy of a first down on third-and-6 from the 11-yard line and turned it over on a fumble, costing the Dolphins at least 3 points.
Miami got the ball back quickly, inside scoring territory courtesy of Xavien Howard’s second-quarter interception, but Malcolm Brown came up 1-yard shy of converting a fourth-and-2 from Buffalo’s 16-yard line to end that possession.
A few minutes later the Dolphins reached Buffalo’s 31-yard line, which put Miami within Jason Sanders’ range for a field goal. But pressure forced Brissett to throw an ill-advised pass to the ground instead of taking a sack, and Miami was called for intentional grounding, a penalty which cost them 10 yards and the down. The Dolphins would punt two plays later with 1:21 left in the first half.
That’s four scoring opportunities squandered in the first half with the Dolphins trailing, 14-0, and if we’re going to be honest it wasn’t just the offensive line serving as the offense’s anchor on Sunday.
Everyone played a part in Miami’s unraveling.
But the pressure that Miami’s quarterbacks were under served as the breaking point, and until Miami can find a release valve they better expect every team — the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts the Sunday after, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct 10 — to bring the heat until the Dolphins offensive line proves it won’t wilt.
“It’s not just on [the offensive line]. It’s on me. It’s on the receivers. It’s on the running backs,” Brissett said about Miami’s protection issues. “It’s not just one person. It’s all [to] help to correct the situation.”