Smoked in Carolina
Newton, Panthers deliver lights-out performance against porous Dolphins defense.
The Miami Dolphins
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — allowed more than 500 yards in a 45-21 loss to the Carolina Panthers on a chilly Monday night.
The Dolphins (4-5)lost their third straight game. They’ve lost all four games they’ve played on national television this season, including blowout losses to New Orleans, Baltimore and, now, Carolina (7-3).
Miami has been dealt extraordinary pre-
season and regular-season adversity, everything from injuries, to a hurricane, to an
assistant coach’s resignation.
But this is humiliating. This is unacceptable. Miami’s roster is far from perfect, but it shouldn’t be this bad.
Here are our five takeaways from the game:
1. At times, Adam Gase must stop Jay
Cutler from Jay Cutler. There is no way that Miami should not have sat on the football with less than a minute to play in the
first half and trailing 10-7. There is no way that Cutler should have dropped back and tried to throw for Julius Thomas. For the
most part, Gase has held Cutler back from making the type of Cutler-esque mistakes that ruin games and change momentum when things seem to be going just fine.
Instead, Cutler was intercepted by linebacker Luke Kuechly, a short field led to a touchdown just before the half and the entire complexion of the game changed.
That turnaround was completely demoralizing. The play there needed to be to sit on the ball and go to the locker room down by three. And if Gase’s plan was to be very aggressive in that spot, that’s a mistake, too. A mistake almost as bad as Cutler’s. Going for a first down with an inside run on a 4th-and-1 at midfield on Miami’s first drive of the second half also seemed desperate and showed a lack of confidence in Gase’s defense.
2. Miami’s front seven is not living up to its reputation, by talent or pay. The Dolphins needed to create havoc against Carolina’s offensive line. Cam Wake, Ndamukong Suh, Charles Harris and Andre Branch needed to sack Cam Newton and force a fumble or two and tip a ball or two to force an interception. It did not happen. Wake hadn’t had a sack in his previous two games and didn’t make an impact on Monday night. Branch hasn’t made the impact Miami has hoped after a big free-agent deal.
Miami’s linebackers, particularly Kiko Alonso, really struggled. Carolina rookie running back Christian McCaffrey juked Alonso out of his uniform twice, including once on a touchdown run. Through three quarters, the Dolphins’ defense was gashed for 214 rushing yards, a stunning average of 8.6 yards per attempt. Miami has significantly regressed in this area the last three games. Newton’s 69-yard quarterback draw was way too easy.
3. Miami’s defense makes opposing third-down completions way too easy. If the Panthers hadn’t had a series of critical drops, the numbers would be even worse for Miami’s pass defense. Xavien Howard is a second-round pick, and he had a terrible night. Cordrea Tankersley is a third-round pick. Reshad Jones is a Pro Bowler. T.J. McDonald got a big deal before he even played a game for Miami. The secondary must be better. In particular, the defensive backs can’t be so soft. In particular, they can’t make it so easy for opposing quarterbacks. Too much space. Too much time. Too many completions.
Through three quarters, the Panthers were a remarkable 9-for-14 on third downs. Allowing four touchdowns on the first four drives of the second half was humiliating to the Miami defense and coordinator Matt Burke, whose unit has regressed.
4. Cutler showed some regression. Cutler threw off his back foot. Cutler was off target. Cutler seemed skittish. As noted, Cutler made the terrible decision to throw for Thomas at the end of the first half. Earlier, Cutler overthrew an open Jarvis Landry on a third down where it appeared he also could have run for a first down.
Later in the first half, Cutler under-threw Thomas deep down the left sideline, even though Thomas ran out of bounds and had a chance to catch the ball. Cutler needs to trust his offensive line, as tough as that can be. To be fair, there were offensive line failings in this game. Cutler just needs to be more consistent overall.
5. The entire Dolphins roster must be re-assessed. There will be some discussion about not overreacting. There will be some talk about how the playoffs are still not out of the question. And how one loss (OK, actually three) can’t be allowed to become a second loss (OK, actually four).
But things are spiraling in the wrong direction. And the schedule isn’t getting any easier. It is clear that this roster, as presently constructed, is not good enough on paper.
The Dolphins have been trashed on national television in three consecutive games. Miami must re-evaluate its short-, mid- and longterm plans, because there’s something off about the roster.