The Phinsider
The Dolphins continue to look inept without Tua Tagovailoa.
The hits just keep on coming for the Miami Dolphins. With their latest loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football, it’s the third straight week the Dolphins look entirely dependent on starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
While most of the other good-to-great teams seem to be able to win games and put points on the board with a backup quarterback, the Dolphins can’t even fathom that at this point.
The Dolphins had a golden opportunity to get back on track against one of the worst teams in the league, who also lost their quarterback during the game and still looked outmatched. Not on both sides, just one. Enough so that the other side eventually got worn out and looked bad in a cascading effect.
I usually embrace the “team loss” philosophy because football is a team sport and no one play can lose you the game, but when the offense can’t get it going until right before time expires, the defense has no chance.
The Dolphins went 2-for-12 on third down (16.7%) and 1-for-3 on fourth down (33.3%). That’s all you need to know about this game. The offense couldn’t convert, and the defense finally gave out.
In total, the Dolphins generated thirteen first downs, 184 yards of total offense, and managed to score a touchdown with 3:36 left in the game. At that point, the Titans defense was letting them burn the clock out and kept everything in front of them. The offense was the same sinking ship it was under Skylar Thompson the week before.
The question now is, who’s to blame?
If we look at the game at a micro level, I’m sure we could point out everyone’s mistakes on both sides of the ball, more so on offense. Is that fair? Were they set up for success through gameplan or roster build? My answer to both is no.
Looking at the Dolphins gameplan, and roster from a macro level, I can’t find anyone who deserves more blame for this loss than the guys at the top, meaning general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel.
Speaking toward the roster build, there were glaring holes due to players exported through free agency. The first was the whole interior of the offensive line. Grier, to his credit filled one of those spots with Aaron Brewer, who’s been solid but did nothing for either guard position.
The Dolphins could’ve addressed this issue with one or two of their first two picks, but they instead went with a “future” franchise left tackle, and a pass rusher, fourth on the depth chart with everyone healthy who has yet to make an impact.
The Dolphins are now 24th (97.8) in rushing yards per game, fee falling from 6th (135.8) in 2023. They’re a worse pass-blocking unit so the ground game isn’t something the offense can lean on when they go to a backup quarterback. 3.7 yards...
