Seahawks and Dolphins battled until the end.
Seahawks came up with the last blow to knock Miami into a Week 1 loss.
It was a heart breaker of a loss to the Seattle Seahawks — their’s no doubt. A loss is a loss, and a loss is never good.
BUT, beyond the emotion of that loss, what did we see in the grand scheme for the Miami Dolphins?
Are they ‘same-old, same-old’? Are they rising or falling? Next week will reveal more, but as far as this week goes…
…Let’s be clear, Miami took the #1 power-ranked former champions to the limit on the road. And, they should have won it if not for a few miscues.
Yes, “should of” sticks in my craw like an ice-pick, just as it does yours.
But, let’s look at it all from birds-eyed vantage point.
Since it was a loss, let’s start with the negatives first:
The run game against the #2 run defense of 2015 was very limited. The caveat is most teams would have fared the same. Unfortunately, Miami needs more help here than what will likely come this season.
There was a long stretch where Miami just couldn’t find a passing game against the #2 passing defense of 2015. Again, the caveat is most have trouble, if not for a dropped pass the passing attack of both teams would have been comparable and Parker will help the passing attack tremendously — if he gets right.
Crucial mistakes in drops, one (possibly two) poor calls and a rookie mistake on Special Teams rounds out the rest of the most obvious. We’ll see as the weeks progress if their is a caveat to this.
We can only hope at this point because not even the best pay per head bookie software site can be certain.
It might be hard for some, but there were more positive than negatives against Seattle.
Okay, let’s look t the positives:
Tannehill made adjustments at the line, made all the deep throws but one, came up big in the clutch, played tough and had zero turnovers. The caveat here is he needs to find a way to make plays in tighter windows.
The defense dominated most of the game with only a few — but crucial — breakdowns. They contained the run, made turnovers, tackled and stopped the run, while fighting through the injuries of Mitchell and Mario Williams which tested their depth big time. The caveat here is Williams appears to be a crucial piece to the defense. This is both a good and disturbing revelation.
So, what does this mean?
Let’s remember, this is about installing a new regime, so 2016 this isn’t about a single game, or oddly enough, even about this season: one week or even a season doesn’t determine this process. It’s not what I or any desperate Fans want to heat, but it’s the truth.
Just for reference, the Seahawks went 7-9 their first two seasons under Pete Caroll.
Bottom line on what’s available, the Miami Dolphins showed they “can” get within striking distance of beating the best team in the NFL on the road, at least for this week. But, in order to be the team they want to be and a team that we fans want them to be, they must be more consistent all the way from units, to drives, to games and on through to seasons.
We won’t be able to gauge this better until more weeks unfold.
Week 2 will again put Miami behind the 8-Ball. How they respond will give a little more credence to whether this is the “Rise of the Dolphins” or the fall of another regime. Patience is hard, but it’s the only way to arrive at the truth. This week will test my patience to the limit. Go Fins!!!