Phins 8-3! But Terron Injury Creates Concern!

The Phins have their most promising start since 1992

The Miami Dolphins now have an 8-3 record and are 1st place in the AFC East and 2nd in the conference with 6 games left to play! True success is within a fingertips distance aways. But these last 6 games will be a true gauntlet to cross to secure the 3 games needed to secure the post season. While Miami needs to win just half the games remaining, the loss of elite offensive tackle Terron Armstead for an undetermined number of games sure does make things a whole lot harder.

Terron makes the Phins world go around

After crushing the Texans 27-0 heading into the half with Tua passing for over 200 yards, the game looked like a real laugher and bye week light. But the loss of Armstead flipped the script and the whole team stuttered with Miami winning 30-15 after fighting off a legitimate comeback.

When you look at the production on the O-line it’s clear why:

Phins Oline pressures allowed

• Armstead: 0 pressures
• Jones: 3 pressures
• Brandon Shell: 5 pressures
• Jackson: 6 pressures

Combined, the Phins OL not named Terron gave up 3 sacks, 14 hurries (17 total pressures) and forced Tua to be pulled for the sake of his health. The Oline also couldn’t generate any type of run game, even with Terron, and this was against the worst defense in the league.

Now the Phins must travel to San Franciso to face the 9th best pass rushing team without Armstead. The key this week with Shell or Little or Jackson at tackle is for Tua to make it out of the game safely almost more than winning.

The goal is playoffs!

Phins are knocking on the door to the post season!

A win the 49ers at home and Bills at home were longshot with the best pay per head services, Armstead or not. Miami needs to obviously try and wins those games, but the best odds to get those three wins are in Chargers (away), Packers (home), and Jets (home). The game up in Foxborough is critical, but given the likely poor weather, the Patriots defense and run game, this will be a tough one to nab. Terron playing though makes this one a lot easier to get the win.

If Terron can make it back by the Chargers game, the hit will be minimal. We can take that one with him steadying the offensive line. Even if he can’t, Miami can notch those three wins to close out the season by beating the Packers, Patriots, and Jets. That New England game though could be a tough one, so I’d much rather Terron back and beat the Chargers to give Miami a little cushion.

This week coming up is going to be a tough one. But win or lose this, the first order of business for Miami must be to protect Tua. Let’s hope Terron is back soon, and this offense can once again keep Tua clean so he can rip teams apart and lead the Phins to the postseason and beyond! Go Phins!!!