The Wide World of Dirt

I typed out last week’s Miami Minutes, and for one reason or another, it did not get published. So, if you were looking forward to my musings last week on this football team, I extend my sincerest apologies.

With the return of starting signal caller Tua Tagovailoa, I felt the Dolphins were in a great position to turn their recent fortunes around against the Cardinals.

What I failed to factor in is a defense incapable of tackling anyone with the ball in their hands.

Despite holding James Connor and Kyler Murray under 4 yards per carry on 24 combined attempts, Arizona gashed Miami with their passing game.

Kyler Murray went 26/36 for 307 passing yards and 2 passing TDs while routinely smoking the Dolphins’ secondary on third down with the Cards going 7-13.

This included infamous whiffs on 3rd & Goal from the 6-yard line where Murray’s heroics led to a Michael Wilson touchdown early in the second quarter and a late fourth-quarter, 17-yard completion to Trey McBride on 3rd & 1.

On the Wilson touchdown, Jaylen Ramsey shot through on a blitz, but Kyler Murray deftly avoided the high-paid corner and made the play anyway.

There was also the safety, which was rather embarrassing. Those two points decided the game, two points that never should’ve made it to the scoreboard if not for a painfully poor mistake made by Aaron Brewer and Tagovailoa.

As for the offense, it looked a lot better with our quarterback back in the lineup, even going an impressive 11-15 on third down. Tua pulled the ball down on a 3rd & 10 and ran for 13 yards to setup an Achane touchdown on the next series.

Speaking of Achane, Tagovailoa’s return allowed the Cincinnati product to get more running room, rushing for 97 yards on 10 attempts and tacking on another 50 yards on 6 catches.

Raheem Mostert punched in two short touchdowns but couldn’t find much running room otherwise, gaining just 19 yards on 9 carries while rookie Jaylen Wright received just 2 touches for 18 yards.

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are slowly returning to form with both receivers hauling in at least four passes for the first time since they faced New England in week 5, though neither capped off a drive with a touchdown.

Before I end this portion of Miami Minutes to talk about next week’s game, I want to spotlight Julian Hill.

Not to knock this man’s immense work to make it to the NFL, but this man causes issues every time he is on the field.

If he’s not getting penalized for something, he’s putting the ball on the ground on the off-chance it comes his way. If the ball isn’t going to him, he’s in the way.

The Dolphins are light on talent at the tight end position, but this level of play for a team serious about winning is unacceptable. The answer isn’t to keep giving him chances to throw away good situations for the team.

Hello darkness, my old friend…

Oh great, the Buffalo Bills are next on our calendar.

On the one hand, I’ll be glad that both of our matchups are done before we dive into the season’s second half. On the other hand, dipping down to 2-6 is looking more and more likely.

Miami is lucky to be playing in upstate New York in early November rather than December (or God forbid, January), so hopefully, the offense can continue getting up to speed against a Buffalo team eager to extend their division lead.

Miami can compete with Buffalo if they limit mistakes, and last week, the only turnover came when an errant snap went out the back of the end zone.

Josh Allen is not insurmountable. Sean McDermott is not insurmountable. Miami has beaten them before; let’s do it again.

(Top Photo Credit: Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)