The whole played poorly, but the Offense was awful!
When Tua and the offense played poorly against the 49ers, the most fans chalked it up to the fact that the 49ers have one of the best defenses in the league, Terron Armstead out of the game, and Tua being over pumped. However, Tua and the Offense just faced a Chargers defense that was decimated by injuries and were downright man handled by a bunch of second stringers in the secondary.
So, what the heck happened?
How could the Miami Dolphins fail so big in a critical game on a prime-time stage?
Dolphins Offense has sputtered for 2 weeks
The Chargers had a plan that worked to perfection. They bullied the Dolphins receivers at the line and played terrific coverage all night. If it was not for a fluky fumble recovery touchdown by Hill and one long bomb where the defender’s legs got tangled up, the Phins could have very well have been shut out of the endzone. If I remember correctly Tua threw for 25 yards in the first half and if it was not for the 60-yard play to Hill, he wouldn’t even have cracked the 100-yard passing mark for the game.
Tua ended the night 10 for 28 for 145 yards 1 touchdown, sacked twice, and had a 65.3% rating, which was arguably his worst game of the season. The concern now is that it is now two bad games in a row for Tua and this offense. What’s worse, Miami looked totally out of synch with Tua missing badly on quite a few throws.
Has the rest of the league now found a blueprint to stop the Dolphins offense?
McDaniel needs to be more than a one-trick pony
Tua and the offense have feasted over the middle of the field against opposing defenses. However, the last two games, both the Chargers and 49ers have clogged up the middle of the field and taken that off the table for this Dolphin offense. In addition, the Dolphins running attack has not done them any favors. Now, with Jeff Wilson with a hip injury, this lack of running attack might get even worse as the season wears on. Miami has shown zero interest in running the ball, which will definitely be a problem in cold weather games. And if they can even make the playoffs, this will not get any better against top quality teams.
You can bet with the best pay per head that Tua and the offense must find a way to get in sync… and fast! Bad news is the schedule only gets more difficult in this upcoming game up in Buffalo. There is already a 40% chance of snow for that Saturday night game, which is not a good forecast for a passing offense that has looked completely out of rhythm. A loss in Buffalo will quickly get them to 8-6 with a three-game losing streak and plenty of ground given up in the wild card race.
The Dolphins may have all but kissed goodbye their chance to win the division, and losses to the Bengals and Chargers might cost them even a wildcard spot it they don’t heat up soon.
Can this team regroup and get back on track and still make the playoffs?
I really don’t know.