Phins rise to the occasion and win a Prime Time game!
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away the Miami Dolphins regularly won Prime Times games. For Phins fans, it seems like forever since those golden days of yore. But, the Dolphins managed a rare, clutch win in surprising fashion on Prime Time last night. Even more amazing than the win itself, Miami opened up on fire on the first drive and never looked back for their 31-13 victory. For me, watching the Dolphins manhandle an opponent was even more surprising than the victory.
With such a commanding Prime Time win, I’m wondering are we not in Kansas anymore?
Have the Miami Dolphins finally turned the corner from dysfunctional into at least a competent franchise?
Strike the song somewhere Over the Rainbow, please…
What did we see in the win?
Both OC Chan Gailey and DC Josh Boyer schemed, adjusted, and called plays well enough to dominate. Phins fans can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief on this issue.
Young guns shined: Myles Gaskin, Mike Gesicki, Preston Williams, Andrew Van Ginkel, Christian Wilkins, Isaiah Ford continued to show improvement.
Veterans Jakeem Grant, DeVante Parker, Kyle Van Noy, Shaq Lawson, and Xavien Howard are proving their worth.
My live viewing of the game didn’t have me too impressed with Howard, but going through a second time is changing my mind pretty quickly. It looks like he is healing up and nearing his old self.
Miami committed more penalties than usual but had less than their opposition. They also won the turnover battle and sack battle.
The improvement of the defensive line was a major factor in the Phins success
My quick take is the increased role of Zach Seiler was a key factor in the Phins improved run defense. Seiler went from 16 snaps last week to 31 snaps this week. And the telling stat is that last week he was in on only 6 rushing defense snaps compared to 23 this week. Amazingly, Seiler is grading slightly better than veteran Davon Godchaux. This confirms what my gut has been telling for a while that Seiler is just a better fit for a mostly 2-Gap scheme. This isn’t a knock on Godchaux but he is better served in a 1-Gap. I’ve been high on Seiler since the day he was acquired… and I think he will be around in 2021 and not Godchaux.
Also, I saw rookie Raekwon Davis playing less 3-Tech than in the first two games. It appeared he played more 2 and 2i-tech with a dab if 1-tech. The more I see of his play, the deeper inside on the line I can see him playing going forward. This will be an interesting study when All-22 is available to watch.
And last, Van Ginkel continues to shine and prove to be an important piece on the defense. He is still a role player, but he continues to be an impact player even with limited opportunities.
The bottom line is James Robinson is a good back who ran effectively against quality defenses the prior two weeks. Considering what we saw in the first two games of the season, limiting Robinson was an impressive performance that surprised even the Best Pay Per Head Reviews.
Past Phins team would have come out flat and flopped
It’s just a single game against a decent team, but it does feel like more than that. Miami still has a lot to prove, but the staff, player talent, and quality of team play are much better than what we have seen from recent regimes in Year 2. Again, we need to see a lot more of this type of play before we crown them…
… Still, the year-over-year evaluation from 2019 to 2020 is looking pretty good for this young team. There’s is a ton to talk about over these next ten days before the Dolphins Week 4 matchup with the Seahawks.
How nice was it to see the Dolphins dominate in Prime Time? Man, do I love me some Ryan Fitzpatrick! Go Phins!!!
Another observation, during the Jags game, our offense did a lot of high % passes. We took what the defense gave us and did not attempt to “push the ball” down field. Perhaps this was because our two starting wide-outs, Williams and Parker both are not 100%. Both are recovering from leg injuries. To ask them to run 30-40 yards down field in full out sprints, might cause setbacks to their progress, not to mention that they physically, are not quite there yet. Hence the determination to use high % passing and clock management vs. explosive “chuck” yardage passing plays. Just my thoughts
A nice win, however, we will need to string some wins together to have a shot at even 500 this season. My hope is that players like Howard, Parker, Williams, etc., are healing up and the 10 days of extra prep and rest will be a big factor vs. Seattle. Getting Byron Jones back will be an understatement. I hope that the longest plane ride across 3 time zones will have an impact. Not to mention temperatures in the upper 80’s or 90 degrees with South Florida humidity, hopefully this will take the starch out of Seattle. This of course is predicated on our offense being able to move the football, as well as, being able to control the clock and field position too. We have a lot of new players, young players, all playing in new systems both on offense and defense. The defense is a complex defense. Lots of different fronts, looks, and disguises. Maybe with 3 games under the belt, things are coming together. This talk of Tua playing has got to be put on the shelf! Fitzpatrick is the QB until an injury or the team nose-dives. The coaches may have also found their grove too. Seattle can be beaten for sure, The Seahawks are not a very good road team, and they don’t play well on the east coast. Let’s hope we can even the score at 2-2 and get some real momentum going!
“Fitzpatrick is the QB until an injury or the team nose-dive.” Honestly, if they have a nice run of some sort, I wouldn’t bet against him coming back for one more year. Not saying he will, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Everyone on this team love Fitz and if he has some success… 9-7 + they might be hard-pressed to let him go. I don’t see them winning against Seattle, but a very nice showing and wins against Broncs and niners with have them 3-3… and that would be a nice situation. I could see them finding their way to 9-7 and being near a PO spot… that last game against the Bills though will likely be too tough to overcome. They have a brutal Dec with Pats, Raiders, Cheifs and Bills. Yeah, they need this to be more than a one off…
I honestly can’t remember the last time the Dolphins kicked someone’s ass that handily. I mean, there have been your occasional fluke games like when (formerly) San Diego used to come to town and get demolished, but it seems more like we have been on the receiving end of those the last decade or so.
Maybe I just feel like a shell shocked fan, but I remember nothing but a decade if not two, of winning almost exclusively in one possession nail biters, where at the end of the season I was ok with not going to the playoffs because I felt emotionally drained with this team. Great wins followed by abismal stinkers, rinse and repeat.
Watching the Dolphins come out of the gate and impose their will on another team, showing run and getting first downs, was almost weird. I don’t know if my expectations are just so dampened after last few regimes, but it will take me a while until I let myself believe that we might actually be on our way to being a good team. Ive told my wife too many times, “this is the year we are gonna be good.” I realized last night, somewhere through the Gase era that feeling stopped poking its head in late august and I’d really like to have it back.
“because I felt emotionally drained with this team” That nails how I feel! It has become stressful to watch them… and then having to form opinions and write about them amplifies it to ridiculous levels. I played football of some sort from 7-39. The game is in my blood. It hurts to no end to not play at all now and the Dolphins have been at the start of this passion… now, getting joy from watching them play is the only form of football I have and can enjoy… It’s like a cord at the very heart of my being is not being strung… I really pray to enjoy the game of football again…
Another observation, during the Jags game, our offense did a lot of high % passes. We took what the defense gave us and did not attempt to “push the ball” down field. Perhaps this was because our two starting wide-outs, Williams and Parker both are not 100%. Both are recovering from leg injuries. To ask them to run 30-40 yards down field in full out sprints, might cause setbacks to their progress, not to mention that they physically, are not quite there yet. Hence the determination to use high % passing and clock management vs. explosive “chuck” yardage passing plays. Just my thoughts
I’m going to go back and watch it today… and I’ll keep an eye on that. I was focused on the OL, QB, RB… waiting for that All 22 to see what is what…
A nice win, however, we will need to string some wins together to have a shot at even 500 this season. My hope is that players like Howard, Parker, Williams, etc., are healing up and the 10 days of extra prep and rest will be a big factor vs. Seattle. Getting Byron Jones back will be an understatement. I hope that the longest plane ride across 3 time zones will have an impact. Not to mention temperatures in the upper 80’s or 90 degrees with South Florida humidity, hopefully this will take the starch out of Seattle. This of course is predicated on our offense being able to move the football, as well as, being able to control the clock and field position too. We have a lot of new players, young players, all playing in new systems both on offense and defense. The defense is a complex defense. Lots of different fronts, looks, and disguises. Maybe with 3 games under the belt, things are coming together. This talk of Tua playing has got to be put on the shelf! Fitzpatrick is the QB until an injury or the team nose-dives. The coaches may have also found their grove too. Seattle can be beaten for sure, The Seahawks are not a very good road team, and they don’t play well on the east coast. Let’s hope we can even the score at 2-2 and get some real momentum going!
“Fitzpatrick is the QB until an injury or the team nose-dive.”
Honestly, if they have a nice run of some sort, I wouldn’t bet against him coming back for one more year. Not saying he will, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Everyone on this team love Fitz and if he has some success… 9-7 + they might be hard-pressed to let him go.
I don’t see them winning against Seattle, but a very nice showing and wins against Broncs and niners with have them 3-3… and that would be a nice situation. I could see them finding their way to 9-7 and being near a PO spot… that last game against the Bills though will likely be too tough to overcome. They have a brutal Dec with Pats, Raiders, Cheifs and Bills. Yeah, they need this to be more than a one off…
I honestly can’t remember the last time the Dolphins kicked someone’s ass that handily. I mean, there have been your occasional fluke games like when (formerly) San Diego used to come to town and get demolished, but it seems more like we have been on the receiving end of those the last decade or so.
Maybe I just feel like a shell shocked fan, but I remember nothing but a decade if not two, of winning almost exclusively in one possession nail biters, where at the end of the season I was ok with not going to the playoffs because I felt emotionally drained with this team.
Great wins followed by abismal stinkers, rinse and repeat.
Watching the Dolphins come out of the gate and impose their will on another team, showing run and getting first downs, was almost weird. I don’t know if my expectations are just so dampened after last few regimes, but it will take me a while until I let myself believe that we might actually be on our way to being a good team. Ive told my wife too many times, “this is the year we are gonna be good.” I realized last night, somewhere through the Gase era that feeling stopped poking its head in late august and I’d really like to have it back.
“because I felt emotionally drained with this team” That nails how I feel! It has become stressful to watch them… and then having to form opinions and write about them amplifies it to ridiculous levels. I played football of some sort from 7-39. The game is in my blood. It hurts to no end to not play at all now and the Dolphins have been at the start of this passion… now, getting joy from watching them play is the only form of football I have and can enjoy… It’s like a cord at the very heart of my being is not being strung… I really pray to enjoy the game of football again…