The Phinsider
Well, well, well. Look how the turn tables.
From worst to first. 32nd to 1st, baby. Superbowl incoming.
Or, at least, not a defeated season.
So.
That’s nice.
While not exactly a reignition of 2023’s fiery glory, Monday night’s version of the Fins’ offense was balanced, methodical, and actually scored some points.
Tua played with a steady hand, completing 17/25 (68%) for 177 yds, 2 TDs, and, most critically, no turnovers. He did have one wayward receipt of a snap in the shotgun, but it was recovered quickly by Miami. Meanwhile, he whipped out a bunch of flashy no-look Harlem Globetrotters ball handling nonsense and pulled that off without a hitch. I like that Tua. Let’s all have that Tua for a while.
Both his passing touchdowns went to newly active tight end Darren Waller, whose debut gives the Fin Faithful some hope that the tight end room will average more than 1 catch per week on the year.
While the passing game netted 177 yards, the ground game picked up 123 more, bringing balance to the force and keeping Mike McDaniel’s midi-chlorians humming along for another week. De’Von Achane finished 1 yard shy of 100 on the day and found the endzone once. Ollie Gordon was present.
I realize that it was against an 0-3 Jets team at home in shiny new uniforms. But a win is a win is a win. At least if the offense plays like this, even with stiffer competition, they have an outside shot. And that’s a lot more than I thought I could say just a few weeks ago.
With Jason Sanders sidelined, Riley Patterson was signed to placehold the placekicking role. He hasn’t been asked to put the world on his shoulders, but he’s currently 4/4 on field goals and 9/9 on extra points.
I don’t really have analysis or a joke or even a passing attempt at anything of value.
Just, like. Good job, guy.
Thanks for making all your kicks.
As much as I hate the phrase and the concept, Miami’s defense has started to look like their past ‘bend, don’t break’ iterations.
Of course, that’s far superior to the patent pending ‘Break into a maelstrom of glass and blood the second an opposing offensive player catches your eyeline’ defense they deployed to start the season, but it’s still not great.
Against the Jets, the defense surrendered 197 rush yards for an overall average of 7 YPC. They gave up 226 yards passing (a chunk of which was toward the very end and can be at least partially understood), but held Garrett Wilson under 100 yds. They also let Mason Taylor put up 65 yards, but that could have just been so that Jason Taylor had an enjoyable evening.
They also forced 3 turnovers, which was the main difference in the game. That’s great on paper since every analyst on Earth loves...
