The Dolphins ended the first preseason game with a loss on the stat sheet, however, there was a lot of encouraging signs from the game. The new offense, which was the biggest mystery going into the season, provided a positive surprise glimpse of what Phins fans have been hoping for.
Ryan Tannehill only played on the first drive of the game, but that was all he needed to show football betting softwarefans that he looks poised to take a nice jump in production in his all-important third season. He started the game with a methodical 10 play drive that ended in a 6-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Brandon Gibson in the end-zone. Tannehill went 6 for 6 on the drive for 62 yards, looking very comfortable leading Bill Lazor’s new offense. He also did this without the help of his 3 best pass catchers in Wallace, Hartline, and Clay. Another positive sign from the offense was the lineman, who looked solid in the first half picking up blitzing linebackers, and Samson Satele was mistake-free with his snaps. The Dolphins also had some solid play from young draftees, such as Landry, who showed off his potential to be a dynamic returner, and Will Davis, who was able to get his hands on some balls and deflect 3 passes.
As sharp as the first-team offense looked, the first team defense who was supposed to be the bedrock and dependable unit of the team, looked rusty and in need of some form tackling drills at the next practice. The defense had problems tackling the entire game and had problems getting off the field on third down. The linebacking unit which was an Achilles heel of the defense last year looks to be unfortunately unimproved, even with the position change of Misi and Ellerbe. To add to the Phins defensive issues, they will be without Reshad Jones for the first 4 games of the season because he failed a PED test. The tackling issue could be forgiven this time since it was the first preseason game, but their play on third down needs to improve if the Dolphins want to seriously be playoff contenders.
Again we can’t get too high on the offense or too low on the defense, since this is only the first preseason game, and this is the time when mistakes are more prevalent. The key though is for the coaches and players to improve on their weaknesses that were exhibited in this first game, and to continue to show consistency on things that they did well at in the first game.
I watched this game twice to see if I could see any improvement. I thought the offense is a great deal better this year. I think the talent level has improved also because of the use of a couple of talented rookies from last year. what we need now is the patience to let this team start working as a team. The defense as you stated needs a few drills to mesh a little better. BUT we are going in the right direction, I don’t think the Falcons are going to be the same team as last year, I also think we would have beaten them if it were a real game with number 1’s
I watched this game twice to see if I could see any improvement. I thought the offense is a great deal better this year. I think the talent level has improved also because of the use of a couple of talented rookies from last year. what we need now is the patience to let this team start working as a team. The defense as you stated needs a few drills to mesh a little better. BUT we are going in the right direction, I don’t think the Falcons are going to be the same team as last year, I also think we would have beaten them if it were a real game with number 1’s