Dolphins-Jets Takeways

[hordman]

Great to start off the season 2-0 and be in first place in the AFCE!!! Yes, I know, it's week 2 and a long, long way to go.  But at least we're about 1/2 away from our win total that all the football talking heads predicted for us at 4-12 

Things that looked good:
Running game - The 3-headed monster of Drake, Gore,........and Tannehill?!?!?!? Yes, all three people made some great contributions to the running game at MetLife.  135 total yds on the ground, with Drake having a nice 4.4 yd avg, Gore had some hard yards up the middle (though a few of them in the 2nd half were for no gain & hit at the line) and of course, Tannehill with some key QB keepers and of course the huge scamper to start the 1st series.

Passing game - Similar to last week, ALOT of passes to start the game are dinks and dunks. Rich Gannon said the WRs were not getting off their blocks from the LOS and that's why RT had no where to throw.  Kudos to the Jets if that's the case, but from the TV shots didn't allow for me to see this.

The 19 yd TD pass to Darby was great, RT had time in the pocket and he drilled it for the score.  The dump off to Gore on the key 3rd down and long was huge, but was more of an effort on Gore's part.

Pass Rush: Much better this week, got 3 sacks and forced some bad throw from Darnold, though he escaped some times to make throws down the field.

DEF running game - Awesome job. He;d the Jets ground attack in check with 42 total yds.  This is encouraging, especially after what we saw in the pre-season.

DEF turnovers - 2nd week in a row where the DEF forced multiple TO's This will be huge for the Dolphins this year if they can continue this or at least win the TO battle.  .

Special Teams: hats of to Matt Haack who had 6 punts inside the Jets' 20 yard line and keep them getting good field position to start drives.  This cannot be understated.

Things that looked not so good:
DEF passing  game : Same as last week, yes the 2 INTs against the rookie were great, especially the Howard pick in the EZ after MIA had turned the ball over just moments earlier.  But, that same rookie QB threw for over 300 yds and became the youngest person to ever throw for 300 yds.  Why are the Dolphins always on the losing ends of these NFL records???

I wish the Dolphins had 4 Minkah Fitzpatrick's playing the def. backfield. He is the REAL DEAL Never have seen a rookie come into this def and change it the way that he has.  Maybe when Zach and Jason played in the mid 90's.  Seriously, the guy is all over the field, making plays, calling out positions. 

Turnovers: Yes, the MIA Def forced 3 TO's, but they also gave up 2 with the RT sack and the miscue by Kilgore. 


OVERALL: This another great win for the Dolphins, especially on the road and against an AFCE opponent.  Final Grade: B+

Let's Go Phins! Beat the Raiders!!!!

[Dave Gray]

Tannehill with the occasional QB keeper is a game-changer.

[fyo]

Was this Tannehill's worst game in terms of actual passing?

That a ludicrous question if you didn't watch the game and just look at his stat line and 120+ passer rating, but this was a really bad game from him, IMHO.

I've been a huge believer in Tannehill, but this game was UGLY. Sure, you can't put the Kilgore fumble on him, but the two he did put on the ground were 100% on him. Usually (2016 and earlier) when he got sacked or fumbled, it was because the defender got through instantly, untouched and unseen. This time Tannehill (after what sure looks like missing an adjustment to get the rusher picked up) sees the defender, makes the horrible decision to hold on to the ball, and then botches the execution of actually holding on to it (or throwing it away on the second). The really poor pass to Gore for 19 yards at the end to convert that 3rd and 19 was just head-scratchingly bad. The overthrow to Wilson for a sure touchdown. The misses on otherwise easy out patterns...

I'm genuinely worried about Tannehill. He seems nervous in the pocket and isn't making the adjustments that need to be made at the line. His footwork is panicked and he doesn't get set before throwing. This looks like David Carr after his 76-sack season with the Texans. I'm really hoping this is just rust / nerves after having missed more than a season.

That was my biggest takeaway from the game.

Just to complete the things that worried me, I'm not crazy about our linebackers. McMillan made a huge, (touchdown-) costly mistake by over-pursuing the Jets RB on a 3rd and 9, basically running right past the RB a yard or two from the line of scrimmage, despite McMillan starting 7 yards deep. Easy completion up the middle in the hole vacated by McMillan. Just keep the guy in front of you. That's all you have to do. Sprinting up to the line after the snap to cover him is beyond stupid.

On to the good stuff:

Quinn has been a terrific pickup so far and the interior of the defensive line is doing really well. We're only two games in, but Suh hasn't really been missed.

Our corners and safeties, Minkah in particular, look very good. We're still going to get torched by a Gronk-type receiver / TE, but this is the best looking defensive backfield we've had in a long while.

Gore and Drake are doing a really good job at running back. The "thunder and lightning" aspect is really working and the threat of the QB keeper from Tanehill adds some spice to make it a lot less predictable.

The offensive line is doing surprisingly well, at least when assignment adjustments aren't messed up. Ted Larsen did respectably well subbing for Josh Sitton (out for season), really only looking very bad on a single play.

Awesome punting by Haack. Pinning a rookie quarterback deep is just sweet.

I'm still not sure what to think of our receiving corps. We still haven't found that big TE/WR target for Tannehill and that's going to be a problem going forward. Fortunately, our running backs have good hands and can take some of the pressure off, but there's just more yardage in a big TE.

[DaLittle B]

I agree 100% about our LB's

On the Tannehill...A few comments (that haters are going to say are excuses... )

I agree he didn't look great...(Passing wise)
The game plan didn't help him early on,IMO Ryan needs to get in some rhythm (feel comfortable),he was sacked 2 of his 1st 4 pass attempts (with 1 fumble).  1st down run,2nd down run,throw to pick up 1st down on 3rd down,Isn't a good rhythm.

2nd quarter we started run,run pass.It wasn't till the middle of the 2nd quarter did we stop the run,run,pass formula.

We ran so much early,including with Tannehill runs,that he really didn't feel comfortable.

It felt like he got hit a lot harder,and more often this game against the Jets,than the last game versus the Titans.

Last thing to remember,2nd game with J.Davis,Kilgore,1st game with Larson in front of him.IMO this line is a lot like our defense,very inconsistent.
 
My positive things...
I'm loving watching Fitzpatrick make tackles,It's something that has been lacking for awhile on this team.He wraps up,doesn't tray to go for the knock out...I love that...

I have to eat crow, on Albert Wilson..I like the versatility he's bringing to the offense...I hope he holds up...

Godchaux...I really like him...

[CF DolFan]

He isn't putting up 400 yards so people are going to be critical because it's easy to judge numbers. The game plan was for Tannehill to make quick short passes as we knew the O-line wasn't 100%. One of Tannehill's biggest critics, Omar Kelly, said that Tanny played really well regardless of how many yards he threw for. He also stated the WR really had a hard time getting open and that Ryan was obviously trying to wait as long as possible to make his throws (I made this same comment to my wife while watching the game as replays seemed to always show them covered) You can't have the rushing yards, QB rating, and general success and not have a great game. 

[Pappy13]

He isn't putting up 400 yards so people are going to be critical because it's easy to judge numbers. The game plan was for Tannehill to make quick short passes as we knew the O-line wasn't 100%. One of Tannehill's biggest critics, Omar Kelly, said that Tanny played really well regardless of how many yards he threw for. He also stated the WR really had a hard time getting open and that Ryan was obviously trying to wait as long as possible to make his throws (I made this same comment to my wife while watching the game as replays seemed to always show them covered) You can't have the rushing yards, QB rating, and general success and not have a great game. 

As usual the QB gets WAY too much CREDIT/BLAME for the success/failure on plays. The success or failure of a play is largely a factor of the entire offense. All 11 guys doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing exactly the way the play is designed and based on what the defense is doing. Without knowing enough of the details it can often look like 1 guy made the mistake when it very well may have be someone else. That's why they study the film the next day and they make it very clear who did it right and who did it wrong and Tannehill by and large has been defended greatly by Gase saying that he's the one most likely doing it right and someone else doing it wrong. I think in the first game they said that Tannehill made like 3 errors. I don't think I've heard about this game yet, I'd be interested to see how many errors they think he made in this game.

[CF DolFan]

From PFF ...

▪ Tannehill stands eighth in the NFL in passer rating at 104.9 and PFF says he “was stellar once again when facing no pressure, completing 14-18 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 135.0.

“Tannehill ranks sixth among all quarterbacks in time to throw through the first two weeks of the season, averaging just 2.38 seconds per passing play.”

[DaLittle B]

I'm not calling for Ryan to throw 320 and 5td every game at all.I'm just feel he wasn't near as sharp,and gave the reason why I felt that way.....We won,he ran well,made plays that helped us win the GAME! <--- a I went a little little Herm Edwards there...

[fyo]

From PFF ...

▪ Tannehill stands eighth in the NFL in passer rating at 104.9 and PFF says he “was stellar once again when facing no pressure, completing 14-18 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 135.0.

“Tannehill ranks sixth among all quarterbacks in time to throw through the first two weeks of the season, averaging just 2.38 seconds per passing play.”

I'll agree with the "stellar when facing no pressure" bit, but how often is that likely to be the case with our offensive line? I believe Tannehill was playing some very, very good and promising ball before he got injured (and his PFF stats back then backed it up, even when QBR, passer rating and DVOA did not), but that doesn't mean he's guaranteed to just pick up where he left off after back-to-back season-ending injuries.

My worry is that when he did see pressure, he looked nervous, didn't set his feet, hesitated, and pretty much just played poor football. Is this what we can expect from Tannehill going forward? Good to great play when not pressured, shitty play when pressured? Or will he shake off the rust and improve under pressure?

[Pappy13]

I'll agree with the "stellar when facing no pressure" bit, but how often is that likely to be the case with our offensive line? I believe Tannehill was playing some very, very good and promising ball before he got injured (and his PFF stats back then backed it up, even when QBR, passer rating and DVOA did not), but that doesn't mean he's guaranteed to just pick up where he left off after back-to-back season-ending injuries.

My worry is that when he did see pressure, he looked nervous, didn't set his feet, hesitated, and pretty much just played poor football. Is this what we can expect from Tannehill going forward? Good to great play when not pressured, shitty play when pressured? Or will he shake off the rust and improve under pressure?

I think it had more to do with the fact that the Jets have a very good pass defense. If was just a week earlier that Matthew Stafford went 27-46 with 4 INT's for a 47.9 QB rating against the same Jets D. Before you chalk that up to Stafford realize that he went 34-53 with 3 TD's and 0 INT's for a QB rating of 101.7 against SF this week. Typically when our QB doesn't look great we think the QB had an off day. The funny thing is that if it's the opponent's QB that is not doing so well we have no problem reasoning that the Miami defense is playing well. Let's give the Jets D a little credit and quit focusing so much on our QB.

I read yesterday that Tannehill made 5 errors in the game against the Jets. Now I know that just not making errors is not the ultimate goal but what I'm saying is that I think people are being overly harsh in judging him. The Jets did well to disrupt the passing attack and Tannehill did well to fight through it and still find a way to get some first downs and avoid turnovers. We have to learn that it's not going to look great every week, there's 21 guys out there besides the QB and 11 of them are trying their best to make him look bad.

[DZA]

I was concerned As the Fins put up 20 pts in the !st half, but seems to hit a snag 2nd half. Pretty much the defense held it it down to win. Yeah Tanny put up a good drive to seal the game but the offense was anemic after getting off to a hot start