Bad Dolphins undisciplined
Season continues to get uglier with fifth straight loss.
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — The Dolphins were crushed 35-17 by the New England Patriots on Sunday and have lost five consecutive games to drop to 4-7.
At this point, there may be more interest in what position Miami ends up with in the 2018 NFL draft than what happens in the final five games, including games against the Patriots, Chiefs, Bills (twice) and Broncos.
No easy sledding.
Is this season an aberration? Coach Adam Gase, after a 10-6 start to his Miami tenure, has gone 4-8, including a playoff loss at Pittsburgh last season.
That means Miami is 14-14 in games coached by Gase. Are the Dolphins right back where they started?
Here are five takeaways from yet another Miami loss:
1. The Dolphins would like the NFL to eliminate the tight end position.
It never stops. It never ends. The Dolphins have been tortured through the air for most of the season. In particular, the Dolphins have been humiliated by tight ends most of the season. How did we think
Rob Gronkowski would do against this Dolphins defense? He had his way against cornerbacks, linebackers and safeties. The Dolphins need to figure out a way, perhaps this offseason, to cover tight ends. They’re constantly open. They run behind linebackers. They run in front of corners. They run into huge gaps of open space. Gronkowski had a touchdown in the first quarter and a touchdown in the third quarter. Miami had no answer.
2. Lack of discipline continues to plague the Dolphins.
Dolphins cornerback Bobby McCain had an interception of Tom Brady in the first half, but was ejected after an incident in the third quarter. The officials announced that McCain had thrown a punch, although it appeared it may have been more of an elbow. In the first half, the Dolphins had only three penalties, but they were critical. Jarvis Landry committed an illegal block after a 12-yard catch by Damien Williams in the first quarter. In the second quarter, reserve defensive back Alterraun Verner had a holding on a third-down incompletion by Brady to keep the drive alive. Later in that drive, Chase Allen was called for holding on another incompletion. It’s one thing to be bad. It’s another thing to be bad and undisciplined. Right now, Miami is both. In the third quarter, Cam Wake was called for a 5-yard neutral zone infraction on a thirdand-5. Yes, that’s another Patriots first down!
3. Matt Moore may not get another chance to prove he can be a valid starter.
We’ve been all aboard the Matt Moore train. We’re all about the enthusiasm, the energy and the moxie. But we have to be fair and look at the results. Moore’s last four starts as a Dolphin have been in tough spots. At New England. At Baltimore. At Pittsburgh. New England. But Moore is 0-4 as a starter in those games, including an embarrassing 40-0 loss at Baltimore on national television this year and an unimpressive start at New England on Sunday in which he tossed a hurtful interception near the end of the first half. We thought Moore was capable of providing a spark with Miami in a 4-6 hole, but at 4-7, we really don’t care who starts the rest of the way — Moore or Jay Cutler.
4. The idea that only postseason tweaking would be needed is a bit misguided.
The Dolphins are nowhere near the Patriots at this point. We knew that. But Miami certainly expected to contend for a playoff position this season and that, it turns out, was unrealistic. There will be a school of thought that the return of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and linebacker Raekwon McMillan would put the Dolphins in a position where they can simply re-tool at some spots and make a 2016like run in 2018. But it doesn’t seem that simple. It appears the Dolphins’ positions of need may include: guard, tackle, tight end, linebacker and cornerback. There will be a school of thought that everything that went wrong this season can’t possibly go wrong again in 2018. And that’s true. But the pressure is on GaseMike Tannenbaum-Chris Grier to strike and strike big with offseason moves.
5. Gase needs to decide what he wants Miami’s offense to be.
What is the identity of the Dolphins offense and what does Gase want it to be? Miami posted six points at the Jets, zero points against the Saints in London, zero points at the Ravens (and all three of those games were with Jay Ajayi) and three points through three quarters at New England. Miami’s offense is worse than Gase could ever possibly have imagined. He decided Ajayi and the power running game that carried the team in 2016 was not how he wanted the offense to look. So he dumped Ajayi. And they’ve gone 0-4 since. Gase came to Miami and wanted to go uptempo, no-huddle, but hasn’t had the personnel to do it. Is DeVante Parker a part of Miami’s longterm answer? Is Landry? Is Ja’Wuan James? Is Mike Pouncey? Gase needs to conclude what he wants Miami’s offense to be. And it would seem to be in his best interest to stick with what he decides.