The Phinsider
Dolphins down themselves with self-inflicted wounds ahead of potential Tua Tagovailoa return.
The Miami Dolphins have looked like a house of horrors on offense since Tua Tagovailoa’s latest concussion against the Buffalo Bills in week two. Sunday’s game was no different, as the team was only able to put 10 points on the board en route to a 16-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on the road.
At times in the first half, it felt like despite the team’s passing struggles, the Dolphins were in control of the game due to the defense’s dominance. They took a 10-3 lead into halftime even after giving up a late field goal.
The second half was a completely different story, however, as two third-quarter fumbles breathed new life into the Colts and their young quarterback, Anthony Richardson. More on those later.
The flaws on this team run deep. Deep enough, that a Tagovailoa return in week eight may not be enough to drag the South Florida franchise out of the deep hole they’ve dug for themselves.
If you’re the type of person who can find the silver-lining in every situation, first, I envy you. Second, you may be happy to know that the Dolphins’ rushing attack continued to get the job done (minus two VERY costly fumbles) against the Colts on Sunday.
The team rushed the ball 40 times for 188 yards — good for a 4.7 yards per carry average.
Second year back, De’Von Achane, led the attack — carrying the ball 15 times for 77 yards (5.1 yards per carry). Veteran Raheem Mostert added 11 carries for 50 yards (4.5 yards per carry) and rookie Jaylen Wright tacked on 5 totes for 33 yards (6.6 yards per carry).
If Miami can get things sorted through the air when Tagovailoa returns on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals while maintaining their dominance on the ground, the offensive woes may be put in the rear-view mirror in short order.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Dolphins lost another quarterback to injury on Sunday — this time as Tyler Huntley left the contest with a throwing shoulder ailment.
While Huntley wasn’t lighting the world on fire while he was on the field on Sunday — 7 completions on 13 attempts for 87 passing yards and a touchdown — he did throw one touchdown to tight end Jonnu Smith while earning a 100.5 passer rating. More importantly, he took most of the first team reps in the practices leading up to the game, so when backup quarterback (who is really the team’s fourth string signal-caller) Tim Boyle entered the contest, anything the Dolphins had gotten going on offense up until that point was rendered completely useless as the Colts realized Boyle had little-to-no familiarity with his teammates.
Boyle’s lack of skill — and embarrassing lack of situational awareness — reared its ugly head...
