The Good

Ryan Tannehill had a solid game, completing 63% of his passes for 268 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. The INT was a very good defensive call by the Chargers that confused Tannehill. There was one Mike Wallace underthrow, but later on a Mike Wallace overthrow. I guess that is progress. Overall, Tannehill played well, chipping in 21 rushing yards. He looked better in the pocket and ran out of the pocket more often. He just has to complete those deep balls to Wallace.

Daniel Thomas turned his 10 carries into 57 yards and 1 TD. He ran decisively and with power.

Charles Clay had an excellent game. He had a 39 yard touchdown that was a thing of beauty, catching a short passes and running through and around the Chargers defense on the way to the score. This offense needs more of those explosive plays.

Brent Grimes had a nice game, with 1 interception and 2 passes defensed, including a late pass in which he had to outjump a receiver that was 7 inches taller than him.

Considering that the offensive line was missing Mike Pouncey on top of Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, and was made up of back-ups and one practice squad player, they played relatively well, opening running lanes for Daniel Thomas and at times offering decent protection for Tannehill. They did allow 4 sacks, although one was Tannehill running out of bounds on a rollout.

The Bad

It is concerning that a defense that used to be known for stopping the run can no longer do so. The Dolphins allowed 154 rushing yards on 26 carries (5.9 ypc), including a 51 yard run by Ryan Mathews. This run defense has been shaky since the Dolphins switched to a 4-3 defense last season (they allowed 132 ypg on the ground in the last 8 games of the season). Unfortunately, coaches are more prone to forcing players to fit a system rather than making the system work for the players. If the Dolphins were running a 3-4, you could have Odrick, Starks and Soliai all on the field at the same time and use Jordan at OLB, where he is a better fit, opposite Wake. You could then shift Misi inside with Ellerbe. But, we have what we have and it isn't going to get fixed anytime soon.

The Ugly

It's sad to think that if the Dolphins would have won games they should have won (Buffalo, Tampa Bay), they would be 7-3 rather than 5-5 right now and in control of the final wild card spot. Thrown in games in which they had leads late against New England and Baltimore and they'd be 9-1. Instead, they are on the outside looking in right now and need to get hot to finish the season in order to make the playoffs

Overall

Still a lot of concerns on this team from offensive line to the defense's ability to stop the run. With the talent on this team, they should be performing better, especially on defense, but they are not. The coaching staff is still a puzzle. They seem so dettached from what is going on. I know the Dolphins won today, but when looking at the big picture, there are big concerns with this team that need to be addressed. Next week, a tough game against an explosive Carolina Panthers team with a terrific defense.

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Biggest concern for me is the offense only scored 20 pts off of one of the worst defenses in the league. Imagine Carolina next Sunday, oh boy. I'll be watching them against NE this Monday night real close.

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The Chargers are 12th in the league in points allowed and give up 22.4 ppg.

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I know that's the most important stat, but their pass defense is one of the worst in the league.

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The Run D sucks because the linebackers suck. Ellberbe and Wheeler are a huge downgrade in that department.

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Rich brings up a very good point about the 3-4 D...........I'd also like to see us play more press coverage.............zone coverage is predicated on getting pressure on the QB. Blitz and go man to man.

I live in Charlotte and watch a lot of Panther football............their D is great. Cam and the Offense typically doesn't do a lot to help them out. Cam will make a lot of silly throws and their receivers are average........Ted Ginn is the 3rd receiver.

Luke Kuechly is the next coming of Zach Thomas..........he's in on practically every play. This is the best D we'll play this year...........a step up from the Bengals. The Phins D has to fine a way to stop the run and keep it close.

Often overlooked when he does well. He had some attitude and finished runs today.

Until this team starts exploiting the deep half of the field, safeties will continue to sit on the short stuff. I love how after underthrowing Wallace again on a deep patter, again they never went back to it. We're 10 games into the season and Wallace and RT have zero chemistry. Something tells me they could pull a UPS driver off the street and RT would hit him in stride 8 out of 10 times. They're still a pretender until they give DC's more field to worry about. Right now, they defense the 0-25 and let the rest go.

Excellent job, Rich. Thanks for writing it and putting it on the forums. We'll try to get the main site up soon.



Hey, with a patched up offensive line, I am very happy with 20 points ... as long as it was more than what an explosive San Diego offense had.




I'm ready to ditch the "Big 3" in Mike Sherman, Kevin Coyle, and Joe Philben. They are poor at matching skills with their schemes.

You'd think that with a patched up offensive line that the Dolphins would run a little more, but they passed 35 times and ran it 19 times. If the running game were playing as poorly as they did facing Tampa Bay last week, I would understand, but they averaged over 4 yards a carry overall.

Defensively, I just don't know what to think about our run defense. I don't like the scheme at all and I never liked Cincinatti's defense, so, why did we have to change what was working.

I like Philben, but he is letting his coordinators run the team and they're doing poorly in my opinion. I'm happy with the win, but grow a pair buddy.

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As I posted before, this run defense was giving up 132 yards a game on the ground during the last 8 games of the season in 2012. The same tackles were playing in front of the linebackers and yet teams were gouging us on the ground with Dansby and Burnett in there. That's really the only thing that has changed on the defense and the results are pretty much the same.

I also see a lot of the big runs go to Olivier Vernon's side. He is very inconsistent at setting the edge and is a liability against the run, which makes me wonder why Dion Jordan isn't starting because he is supposedly weak against the run. What's the difference?

That says to me the problem is schematic/coaching.

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Grimes is exciting to watch. He reminds me of Madison and Surtain in their prime.

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Lock up Grimes now! Our patch work line looked OK yesterday, BUT they were playing a weak from 7.

Brent Grimes is easily this teams MVP... would be amazingly foolish not to lock him up.

Do it now!

If you were Grimes would you want to re-sign? Its an organization on the verge of being blown up and doesn't strike anyone as a contender in the near future. I'm not sure who else is available this offseason but he'll certainly command some big money from a team. There are some contenders who need CB help.

Yeah...........we need to enjoy Brent while we can.

They can slap the franchise tag on him, which I've seen suggested by some of the beat writers. The hit for next year is 10.8 million, but he might be worth it until we find out whether Taylor and Davis are capable of contributing.

If Ireland and Philbin are fired I get the feeling several players will be going with them, even if it leads to contract hits. Grimes should be a guy that any coach would want to sign so I hope they attempt to lock him up.

Grimes went to a division II college 90 minutes from where I live. Unreal.

I think there was a comment about Grimes loving playing football in the South. If thats true, it may be easier to lock him up. Tampa with Revis, Jax, Atlanta, and Carolina, and New Orleans..... Got a feeling he isnt going back to atlanta, he's probably too old to go to Carolina, Jax isnt ideal for a high priced free agent. And we are still a better proposition than Tampa.. We may have to compete with new Orleans in the off season.... Could be plain speculation here, I think Grimes is liking Miami. And it looks like he plays better on grass than in the dome, my own assessment

This will be Grimes last legitimate chance for a Big Payday. If Ireland is still here, it's not his MO to pay heavy for an aging Vet.

He paid Wake.... Wake is on the opposite side of 30!

He'll probably pay one of the two Soliai and Starks, both are right around that age

Paid for Clabo....

He paid Porter (maybe that was Parcells) but didnt he get a year or two extension under Ireland

Ricky Williams (but that was all Parcells)

Not the greatest of examples, but it's been done. If they were an impact player, regardless of age the Ireland/Parcells regime paid them appropriately. I would expect they give Grimes a 3 year 20 million offer..... that sounds fair

I agree. The team has some serious holes in some areas. It would be good to keep your best corner on the team for a few years. Say good-bye to Patterson. He's a playmaker, too, but how often is he healthy?

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I agree he could give Grimes a 3 year deal based on his performance and play making ability.

As for the examples, the only guy who got paid was Wake. I think locking up both Grimes and Soliai would be money very well spent.

I wouldn't base anything on Ireland. I believe he's a goner unless the investigation turns up nothing and Miami win 5 of the next 6 games.

That is such a sick picture Dave!...

What a pickup he is for the Fins an athletic freak with unbelievable ball skills

Couldn't agree more. I wish Patterson would stay healthy because he is a ball hawk too. It has been awhile since we had some corners actually jumping routes, and going after the ball. I hope Dion Jordan starts making more strides because WE NEED more pressure on the QB. I hope Cam Newton doesn't pull that run off like he did tonight or like Gio Bernard did against us. That is demoralizing. Media counting us out, but who really cares...if we win I can only imagine what they have to say.

Dan, welcome to phinfever! Let me know if you need help with anything.



Unfortunately our defensive coordinator told us last week to get used to seeing in a part time role ... but then doubled his snaps this weekend. I'd like to see Coyle bounced out of here for being short-sighted.

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Thanks, will do. Yeah I heard about the limited role due to him not playing well against the run..maybe he would do better as a OLB. He has nothin but time to learn the system, though, and he has made good plays that show he can get after the QB. I wonder why there are so many plays that Wake is on the sideline. On another note, our offense could be really scary if Tannehill had some time to throw. The receivers tend to get open eventually, and that's why we run the deep ball twice..the blind side is just too risky and Tannehill has issues fumbling.