2023 Dolphins: Greatest Show on Surf
- Thread starter sodenj5
- Start date
Season is over. Bradley Chubb screaming on the ground was the exclamation point to wrap this one up.
Miami hosts Buffalo next week for the division. I would expect them to no-show and get blown out by whoever they have to face in the wild card.
Defense with a shambolic performance, but this game was lost when Tyreek dropped that TD pass in the end zone. Miami never regained their footing and the Ravens capitalized on every single opportunity.
Miami hosts Buffalo next week for the division. I would expect them to no-show and get blown out by whoever they have to face in the wild card.
Defense with a shambolic performance, but this game was lost when Tyreek dropped that TD pass in the end zone. Miami never regained their footing and the Ravens capitalized on every single opportunity.
Why was Bradley Chubb on the field there?
This is going down as the most fun, critically acclaimed, first-round-playoff-exiting team in recent memory.
This is going down as the most fun, critically acclaimed, first-round-playoff-exiting team in recent memory.
Realistically, he shouldn’t have been for exactly what happened.
In terms of coaching, probably because the defense played so dog shit that they were out there getting reps trying to work on not being dog shit.
Dawg, I’ve seen this movie for the last 23 years. They’re losing next week and they’re getting mopped by whoever they play in the wild card round.
Next week is likely the Sunday night football game especially for the AFC East Championship Game.
It could possibly be a three match vs the Bills I think. I prefer that it isn’t as a neutral looking for viewing pleasure.
Cool. Back to back losses to the Bills to end the season. Back to back years ending the season with a playoff loss in Buffalo.
Miami will beat Buffalo in Miami and will beat them twice if they play them twice.
You must have missed the Pats Bills game. If we had a kicker and/or a QB that doesn't spot the opponent 14 points ....
Isn’t the AFC East winner locked into the #2 seed? The 3 vs 6 matchup would most likely be Kansas City.
I mean, you couldn't have seen it THAT many times. They've only been to the playoffs 3 times in the last 20 years.
I didnt know what happened if KC, BUF, Fish 11-6. If AFC E winner locked in @ 2, you are telling me something I was unaware of so thanks.
Chubb with a confirmed ACL tear.
The worst part of the tear now is not so much that they’re going to be missing Chubb and Phillips for the playoffs, it’s that they’re probably going to also be missing both of them for a large portion of 2024 as well.
Phillips may possibly be an early to mid season return, but Chubb is almost certainly out for most of the season.
We saw Von Miller tear his ACL and try and come back and clearly hasn’t been the same. He was a healthy scratch last week. Chubb has some more youth on his side, but time is time.
The worst part of the tear now is not so much that they’re going to be missing Chubb and Phillips for the playoffs, it’s that they’re probably going to also be missing both of them for a large portion of 2024 as well.
Phillips may possibly be an early to mid season return, but Chubb is almost certainly out for most of the season.
We saw Von Miller tear his ACL and try and come back and clearly hasn’t been the same. He was a healthy scratch last week. Chubb has some more youth on his side, but time is time.
Injuries were obviously a huge factor, but it's very disappointing to see this team falter over the last month. That loss to the Titans was catastrophic.
Single digit temps (Fahrenheit) currently expected in KC for the game
But lucky it’s Saturday not Sunday
But lucky it’s Saturday not Sunday
Out for the season: C. Williams, J. Phillips, B. Chubb, J. Baker, A. Van Ginkel, X. Howard, I. Wynn, E. Ezukanma
Out for many weeks: T. Armstead, J. Holland, J. Waddle, D. Achane, R. Hunt, R. Jones, R. Cracraft
Even a well-constructed roster has its limits. The injuries this season have been unreal ... and make for winning 11 games all the more impressive.
Out for many weeks: T. Armstead, J. Holland, J. Waddle, D. Achane, R. Hunt, R. Jones, R. Cracraft
Even a well-constructed roster has its limits. The injuries this season have been unreal ... and make for winning 11 games all the more impressive.
Didn't watch the game. I know it's touchy after a playoff loss, but any insight from the Fins fans?
I saw Tua had a bit of a tough game, and also noticed he's had a rough 3 game stretch to end the season. Is it on him? The offensive line? Playcalling?
I saw Tua had a bit of a tough game, and also noticed he's had a rough 3 game stretch to end the season. Is it on him? The offensive line? Playcalling?
It’s the injuries combined with the fact that Miami had zero chance in that type of weather. The Dolphins haven’t won a cold weather playoff game since the early 1970’s.
My read was that the weather was a huge factor, as mentioned. They looked uncomfortable from the start. These teams need to bring me in as a former ski racer to be a cold weather clothing consultant. The hoods, etc. It's all dumb. When every muscle twitch matters you need to be comfortable in your get up. Tua definitely was not.
I would be interested to know from those who watch film whether McDaniels' play calling was awful, Tua didn't see his opportunities, or if KC took things away. My hunch is that film caught up to the Dolphin's offense. Injuries and a hostile environment certainly did not help.
I would be interested to know from those who watch film whether McDaniels' play calling was awful, Tua didn't see his opportunities, or if KC took things away. My hunch is that film caught up to the Dolphin's offense. Injuries and a hostile environment certainly did not help.
$43m over the cap going into next year as well. I’m sure they can get down but no room to really improve.
Well, OK. But Tuas had some tough numbers for the last 3 weeks. Variance? Opponents? Can certainly lean on the weather for this game, but that doesn't entirely explain the last 3 weeks.
0 wins, 3 losses. 13 points per game.
4 TDs, 6 INTs, 56% completion % (would be last in NFL), 5.8 Y/A (last), 66 rating (last)...I mean, it's uncharacteristically bad.
Yes, it seems like this might have been their year and next year could be problematic. Some important guys like Wilkins and Baker are free agents. Others like Phillips and Chubb have injuries that seem likely to linger into next season. Important players like Hill, Howard, Mostert and Ramsey are on the wrong side of 30 or about to get there. And there's the Tua conundrum.
It will be interesting to see where they go from here.
Me too. The sideways passes were inexplicable to me; were those called plays or just Tua looking for easiest way to dump off ball? They looked called in my very unprofessional eyes and if so that’s some bad bizarre play calling.
Mostert is interesting because he's old for a RB (31) but he's got no miles on him. He's like a 2017 car with 20,000 miles vs most 31 year old RB that have 150,000 miles on them.
As long as the Dolphins are willing to push money into the future, which I assume they will be, they should be OK. They have enough guys making big salaries they can just convert to bonuses that can clear up a ton of room.
The Bills, on the other hand, are in real rough shape. They already shoved their money into the future and the future is going to shove back next season. This year is their last, best shot for a title.
I'm just not sure where the Dolphins go from here. They have a dominant offense that's built for good weather but plays in the AFC East and will need to get the #1 seed or hope to get road dome games. There was no chance they were winning yesterday.
Tua's very limited and entering his 5th year. They're back at a Daniel Jones type situation. Overpay Tua, who was bad, or start over. It's a tough place to be. A better spot by far where the Pats are but they're at a difficult spot.
I agree, but it's not a cap issue for Miami. They can easily work around that.
It's going to be a decision on if they can win with the way they play.
And as you said, they could just look at the circumstances too and think, we were so close to the 2 seed and getting to play two home games to get to the AFC Championship game. Why not keep going this direction?
Is the Dolphins offense actually “dominant” though? It was incredible at times, but the second half of the season and against decent defenses it looked mediocre to good. They racked up a ton of points and yards against against garbage teams or teams which were garbage at the time they played them
league average points per game this year was 21.8. The Dolphins scored 22+ against LA Chargers (36), Denver (70), Patriots x2 (24, 31), Giants (31), Carolina (42), Jets x2 (34,30), Washington (45)nd Dallas (22)
Their best performances if we consider quality of defense there was the Pats and Jets and neither of those teams could stay on the field on offense.
I get that the schedule is what it is, you can only play the teams on your schedule and all that, but when I think of the best offenses in recent history, I think of teams that can put up points against good teams.
Hill is obviously incredible, and Waddle/Mostert are very good. But Tua, a lack of secondary receiving options and a shaky OL hold them back from being elite IMO.
league average points per game this year was 21.8. The Dolphins scored 22+ against LA Chargers (36), Denver (70), Patriots x2 (24, 31), Giants (31), Carolina (42), Jets x2 (34,30), Washington (45)nd Dallas (22)
Their best performances if we consider quality of defense there was the Pats and Jets and neither of those teams could stay on the field on offense.
I get that the schedule is what it is, you can only play the teams on your schedule and all that, but when I think of the best offenses in recent history, I think of teams that can put up points against good teams.
Hill is obviously incredible, and Waddle/Mostert are very good. But Tua, a lack of secondary receiving options and a shaky OL hold them back from being elite IMO.
I wasn't trying to put the screws to Tua. The guy had a fantastic year. He was a legit MVP candidate for a good stretch of the year. But he definitely didn't finish the season strong.
Miami is like Dallas. They beat up on the crappy teams. But they were 2nd in the NFL in points. That is dominant, yes.
Both Tua and Miami offense finished 2nd in DVOA (behind Purdy/SF). I've watched every game they've played this year and that doesn't feel unreasonable to me.
I mean, if you take out their 9 best scoring games out of 17, the offense was actually kind of terrible.
In order for this team to take the next step, the offensive line has to get better, particularly up the middle.
The offense is built around speed and getting the ball out fast because they have the personnel to do that, but also because the line is absolute hog wash and cannot hold up in protection.
The offense went in the tank at the same time that Connor Williams and Robert Hunt went down. That isn’t coincidence. The drop off from Williams to Eichenberg is galactic. Williams was lost for the season eventually and Hunt barely played down the stretch.
I would prioritize center and guard very highly this offseason, even above LT if they move on from Armstead. I’m lukewarm on Williams coming back. I think they got excellent value from him and it’s probably time to move on, coming off a significant injury, looking to cash in, and still having snapping issues.
Guys that are likely gone:
Terron Armstead
Xavien Howard
Emmanuel Ogbah
Christian Wilkins
Cedric Wilson
Jeff Wilson Jr.
Guys that should be back:
Robert Hunt
Andrew Van Ginkle
DeShon Elliott
FWIW, cutting the above players post 6/1 and restructuring Hill and Ramsey gives Miami roughly 38 million in cap space. So they aren’t in the quagmire that it seems like. They can probably tag Wilkins if they want to, and there’s still some holes to close on the roster, but I think they have wiggle room to reconfigure and make another go at it next season.
The offense is built around speed and getting the ball out fast because they have the personnel to do that, but also because the line is absolute hog wash and cannot hold up in protection.
The offense went in the tank at the same time that Connor Williams and Robert Hunt went down. That isn’t coincidence. The drop off from Williams to Eichenberg is galactic. Williams was lost for the season eventually and Hunt barely played down the stretch.
I would prioritize center and guard very highly this offseason, even above LT if they move on from Armstead. I’m lukewarm on Williams coming back. I think they got excellent value from him and it’s probably time to move on, coming off a significant injury, looking to cash in, and still having snapping issues.
Guys that are likely gone:
Terron Armstead
Xavien Howard
Emmanuel Ogbah
Christian Wilkins
Cedric Wilson
Jeff Wilson Jr.
Guys that should be back:
Robert Hunt
Andrew Van Ginkle
DeShon Elliott
FWIW, cutting the above players post 6/1 and restructuring Hill and Ramsey gives Miami roughly 38 million in cap space. So they aren’t in the quagmire that it seems like. They can probably tag Wilkins if they want to, and there’s still some holes to close on the roster, but I think they have wiggle room to reconfigure and make another go at it next season.
Florio is reporting that McDaniel is open to giving up offensive playcalling? Is that a good idea?
I just watched the media availability with Grier and McDaniel, and McDaniel essentially said that he’s open to anything that would improve the team, and playcalling is within that umbrella.
I think it’s easy to forget, but this is McDaniel’s 2nd season as a playcaller, and he’s been one of the most innovative offensive minds in football the last two years while having the second best scoring offense in football, having his QB lead the league in passing, having a 1,000 yard rusher and two 1,000 yard receivers.
I would imagine he keeps playcalling duties. He’s isn’t perfect at it, but he’s gotten better at it year over year. I think the pre snap operation was significantly better this season. I’m sure they’ll come away with actionable items from this season and work hard on improving them for next year.
Thanks. I agree, the offense seems pretty terrific in most cases. It seems to me that the issue is less “Is Mike McDaniel, a good signal caller?” than “As HC, is playcalling preventing McDaniel from being involved elsewhere where help is needed?”