The Wide World of Dirt

I am not thankful that the Miami Dolphins decided to get into another holiday-themed football contest with the Green Bay Packers.

Before diving into what upset me so much about yesterday’s game, let’s take a look back at how the Dolphins arrived at a 5-7 record on Thanksgiving night.

Cold Water to Our Playoff Chances

This game began with a beautiful three-and-out by our defense that looked improved during last week’s beatdown of the Patriots.

Sadly, Malik Washington let the ball slip through his grasp on the punt return, allowing Green Bay to pick up the muffed punt inside Miami’s 10-yard line.

Three plays later, Jordan Love found Jayden Reed on the right sideline where the wide receiver tiptoed into the end zone for a three-yard touchdown.

Two quick first downs to open up the next Miami drive pushed the Dolphins all the way up to midfield, but unnecessary penalties from Julian Hill and Jonnu Smith combined with a Lukas Van Ness sack resulted in a fourth-down punt.

Packers’ sophomore tight end Tucker Kraft took over on the next Packers’ drive as the South Dakota State product collected 26 yards on two catches, allowing Josh Jacobs to punch in a one-yard score with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.

Down 14-0, Tagovailoa initially led an eight-play drive that ended in a 47-yard field goal off the boot of Jason Sanders, but an offsides penalty gave the Dolphins better field position to go for it on fourth down.

Tua to Waddle popped up yet again as the former Crimson Tide compatriots linked up for a 16-yard gain that put Miami deep into Green Bay territory where the drive stalled out, leading to a 33-yarder from Sanders.

A punt from each team over the next two possessions put the ball in Jordan Love’s hands with three minutes left in the first half. Big plays by Chris Brooks and Christian Watson setup a 12-yard TD pass from Love to Reed to put the Packers up, 21-3.

Desperate for points, the Miami offense attempted to push the ball down the field only for those efforts to be squandered at the Green Bay 38 when two straight Tagovailoa incompletions ended a drive on downs.

Though Love had less than 30 seconds on the clock, the former Utah State signal caller threw two quick passes to Kraft that setup a Brandon McManus 46-yard field goal that the veteran kicker booted through the uprights, 24-3.

Opening up the second half with possession, Miami immediately squandered any opportunity to put themselves back into this game by going three-and-out.

Jordan Love uncorked a deep ball down the right side to Watson on a third down to put Green Bay on the Miami 28-yard line. From this point, the Dolphins’ defense locked in, holding the Packers to a 24-yard field goal from McManus.

Down 27-3, Tua completed two passes to Jonnu Smith that drove the Dolphins down the field, including a 16-yard gain on 4th & 1 from the Green Bay 46.

From there, a Jaylen Waddle catch gave Miami another shot in the red zone where De’Von Achane took a screen pass and slithered through the defense into the end zone for his sixth receiving TD of the year.

The offense tacked on a solid two-point conversion after Waddle made a tremendous catch in the end zone, bringing the score to 27-11.

Thanks to a strong defensive showing that blew up a short-yardage play to get Jacobs a first down, the Dolphins got the ball back after a punt and began marching down the field yet again.

A pair of big plays by Tyreek Hill saw the Dolphins get within spitting distance of the end zone before an Achane rush took the Dolphins down to the one-yard line for 2nd & goal.

From there, the Dolphins failed to gain yards with Achane on the next rush. Then, they opted for two-straight play-action passes that led to an incompletion and finally, a sack that turned the ball over on downs.

The Dolphins’ one great chance to re-enter the game was squandered by a lack of muscle in the backfield and on the offensive line, leading to cowardice.

Green Bay took the next drive all the way down into Miami territory where McManus completed his kicking trifecta, bumping the score up to an insurmountable 30-11 lead with five minutes remaining.

Over the next two minutes, Tua drove the ball down the field to log a garbage-time touchdown to Tyreek Hill after his 13-yard pass was deflected away from Jonnu Smith.

Tua Cannot Do It All Himself; Where is the Running Game?

Of Miami’s 21 total first downs earned over the game’s 60 minutes, 20 of those came off of the arm of Tagovailoa.

The Dolphins ran 65 total plays with only 14 of those coming on the ground, resulting in just a paltry 39 yards gained on the ground for the entire game.

Tua dropped back to pass 51 times, but the offensive line didn’t block very well as the Green Bay pass rush got to the injury-riddled QB five times Thursday night.

When Tagovailoa could pass, he completed 37 of 46 passes, throwing for 365 yards and 2 TDs, his highest marks of the season in pass attempts and yards.

If you’re the Miami coaching staff, you can’t expect Tagovailoa to be any better than that over the course of 60 minutes. Over 80% completion percentage without giving the other team the ball.

The man needs support from the run game.

De’Von Achane provides a unique threat with his game-breaking speed. The young back carried the ball 7 times for 14 yards while adding 8 catches for 56 yards and a score through the air.

Raheem Mostert was practically nonexistent after a random 12-yard gain, and this running back room is starting to really concern me as an onlooker.

Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier have spent tireless hours finding the fastest players at each position in free agency and the draft. For that, you have to give it up to them because this team is rather quick at a plethora of positions.

Bear with me for a second as I spin you a yarn.

When constructing a football team, it is important to create a brand for your team that allows you to bring in the best possible talent to fit your schemes.

McDaniel and Grier like speed, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

However, mail carriers don’t drive Ferraris to fulfill shipments and deliver letters.

In these cold-weather games, Miami lacks a big back that can give the offense an edge in short-yardage situations. Jeff Wilson was never going to be the answer to this ongoing issue.

This team was on the one-yard line. They had three (3) opportunities to move the ball three more feet to bring them back into the game.

After getting stifled on second down, the team threw two consecutive play-action passes from the one-yard line and failed to score, even losing yards on a fourth-down sack.

This is unacceptable moving forward.

Miami had the opportunity to pull themselves back into the game and tossed it away trying to be cute because they couldn’t be practical.

The Miami Dolphins need a smash-mouth running back that can always get them three yards whenever they need them.

Going into this offseason, Chris Grier needs to find the fastest back that weighs in over 240lbs, so McDaniel can shove it into the back’s torso as they get inside the 10-yard line.

I would get onto the team more for their poor start, but the Packers had answers for the Dolphins’ running game from the first whistle onward.

This became a winnable game, and they let it get away from them.

M-E-S-S, MESS, MESS, MESS

The downtrodden New York Jets fly into Miami next Sunday for their first 2024 matchup with the Dolphins.

Led by Aaron Rodgers, this team has floundered epically in a multitude of ways on both sides of the ball, resulting in the firing of fourth-year head coach Robert Saleh and the demotion of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

New York’s little brother haven’t been able to get out of their own way, bringing home just one victory since Saleh’s release. That game took place on Halloween.

Their week 13 game against the Seahawks ended in yet another disappointing loss for a team that had aspirations (delusions?) of making a Super Bowl run.

Something that should concern Miami’s offense is the Jets’ stout pass defense which currently ranks second in the league after allowing an average of 175 yards per game.

That said, the quarterbacks they held back the most were: rookie Bo Nix (60 yards), rookie Drake Maye and Jacoby Brissett in week 2 (120 combined yards) and week 8 (155 combined yards), and CJ Stroud (191 yards).

Let’s contextualize that: Bo Nix was playing in his fourth career game, the New England offense is anemic to scoring points, and CJ Stroud was playing without his top-2 receivers, limiting his viable passing options.

Brock Purdy, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Anthony Richardson, and Geno Smith have all found success against this secondary, so the Jets’ passing defense stats might be a tad misleading.

Where Miami might be able to bounce back the most, though, is through their much-maligned rushing game as they face off against the 20th-best unit in all of professional football.

Underneath those South Beach skies, the Dolphins should be able to continue their march to the postseason with a big divisional win against the Jets.

(Top Photo Credit: Tork Mason/USA TODAY Sports/Imagn Images)