I know there’s no moral victory but yesterday afternoon could be the hardest pill to swallow when it comes to winning or losing a game. As a longtime fan, I had different take on what took place in the last 4 minutes of the game in SunLife stadium.
First thing first, first half offensive woes need to be addressed! Seems to be the same thing with the last 5 games where Dolphins start off slow and need to play catchup. Here are 5 things I took from the game;
- Offense
In the beginning of the game Tannehill looked like a lot of us fans expected he would be in a highly contested game. No ball movement in the first half, series stalled and left points on the field with the goal line stop. Tannehill was destined to have those games with two INTs but settled in after the half. Kudos to whomever made adjustments in the half, three consecutive 70+ yards drives that ended in scores. This looks promising as that validates the offense is not broken. Running game got some help with Moreno coming back providing sparks here and there.
- Defense
Defense held their own till the last drive of the game. Held Aaron Rodgers and the crew to just 10 points in one half is a victory in itself (again no such thing as moral victories). Can’t quite explain why all the coverbacks where slipping and sliding all over the field giving Rodgers that small window to make amazing throws. Which brings me to the last drive…… Why didn’t we play a different coverage and filter the ball in field not towards the sidelines? Again it’s a bitter sweet since we had the game and should of won but no need to have Phillip Wheeler of all people on an island man to man with their number one TE.
- Special Teams
Can’t say much but great wasted effort in the first half with great returns and blocked punt to produce 3 points. This needs to be a weekly thing to assist with the slow offense in the first half.
- Coaching
Overall if you take account the body of work one can say the game plan was there but last 4 minutes really hurt the team. Should have run the ball more on the last offensive drive to run the clock more and stick to what worked through the second half. Green Bay was on an all-out blitz and that should have created some mismatch with two of their starting DB out. Again playing the result game coaches should have attacked. The time out with Green Bay on a 4-10 is understandable playing what coaches called a “Kodak” moment where they see what formation and personal is out and then they adjust.
- Overall
My inner fan is screaming of disappointment but given the fact Dolphins played one heck of a game and was able to come back take the lead gives some slight hope of where we stack against the good teams. Now it’s a matter of building from what went right yesterday and learn from the mistakes and finish in what was a great second half effort. Things are in the up and up and just glad to see all the players back in form and should be an interesting week for Chicago game.
GO PHINS!
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