There’s no good strategy to salvage a season once you lose your beginning quarterback, not to mention a Professional Bowl participant like Tua Tagovailoa, completely suited to run the Mike McDaniel offense. Nevertheless, what’s uncommon is to see a crew with the potential and targets of the Dolphins aimlessly limp alongside with out solutions. That’s simply what’s taking place in Miami proper now, and it’s unclear if anybody contained in the constructing has an answer to cease the free fall.
It’s been precisely three weeks since Tagovailoa suffered his fourth concussion on Thursday Night time Soccer in opposition to the Payments. Since that time there’s a powerful argument to be made that the Dolphins have turn into the worst crew in soccer. They’ve misplaced their final two video games with a mixed rating of 55-to-15, together with a fully shameless 19 level loss to the hapless Tennessee Titans.
Inside this tumble two issues have turn into current: The Dolphins had no actual plan if Tagovailoa went down, and offensively they’re unable to scheme round his absence.
There have been extra quarterback accidents at this level of the season than common. The Steelers began with out Russell Westbrook, the Packers needed to adapt to the lack of Jordan Love for 2 video games, and the Colts needed to flip to Joe Flacco amid an harm to Anthony Richardson. What’s outstanding about these groups compared to the Dolphins is that they have been all capable of adapt and overcome, win despite the harm — however in Miami the established order is continuous to disastrous outcomes.
It was clear from the second Skylar Thompson took the sector in opposition to the Payments that it wasn’t going to work. McDaniel’s offense is based on correct passing. That’s the whole secret sauce of what makes this tick. This accuracy isn’t simply within the type of full and incomplete passes, however all the way down to the micro degree of a passer having the ability to anticipate to hit a receiver in stride, ensuing within the yards after catch that are so crucial to make all the pieces work.
Thompson completed that Payments recreation 8-for-14 for 80 yards. This in some way received even worse in opposition to the Seahawks, when Thompson and Tim Boyle mixed for 186 yards passing on 32 makes an attempt — largely as a result of they couldn’t discover Tyreek Hill in house to permit him to select up YAC.
It’s truthful to try to run the identical offense at the very least as soon as extra, particularly with a crew like Seattle that you simply really feel such as you’re on expertise parity with. Nevertheless, the results of that recreation made it abundantly clear that one thing needed to change. The one choices for Miami have been to try to make a panic commerce for an interim QB, or modify their offense right into a run-focused assault that took strain off the below-average passers they’d entry to.
The Dolphins didn’t do both.
Towards the Titans it was extra of the identical. McDaniel referred to as 22 cross performs and 22 runs, whereas solely dialing up 4 cross performs to his operating backs out of the backfield. As soon as once more this was the very same recreation plan the crew had in place with Tua operating the present, however with out his accuracy all the pieces fell aside.
Certainly the Dolphins are altering issues for Week 5, proper? Effectively, no.
As an alternative of providing options and solutions for the free fall, McDaniel was as an alternative empathizing with booing followers, saying he doesn’t blame them for being upset.
“I do know sporting occasions the place I’m rooting for a crew and I’m not teaching in it, I get way more indignant when there’s failure than once I’m teaching and I can truly problem-solve one thing. It’s to be anticipated. That is the large leagues. To really feel entitled to blind help, that’s not my cup of tea. I feel it’s a must to go to work, problem-solve and check out to make things better as finest you possibly can, and I don’t suppose we’re essentially owed something.”
As a lot as McDaniel’s new-school, laid again method to soccer is a breath of contemporary air, there are occasions a soccer coach must be mad. To say you’re not as indignant because the followers are when it’s your crew that’s underperforming is fairly wild. Is it good that he needs to concentrate on drawback fixing? Completely. The difficulty is that there’s seemingly no work taking place to resolve the issues.
Line play on either side of the ball have been a nightmare for Miami this season, which works far past the lack of Tagovailoa. Final season the Dolphins have been twenty second within the league in factors allowed, which was okay with a high-powered offense that ranked 2nd in factors scored. In 2024 the crew is now twenty sixth in factors allowed, and useless final in offense.
THIS SHOULD MAKE HIM MAD! When a star participant goes down there must be an expectation that the crew ought to rally. That everybody ought to step up and play their finest soccer to fill the void, to show a degree, to have some pleasure after they step on the sector. Proper now the Dolphins are enjoying like an unmotivated mess that’s missing effort, and that’s squarely on the shoulders of Mike McDaniel.
This week could be their final probability to show this round. The Patriots are a constructing crew the Dolphins ought to be capable to beat, even with out Tua. In the event that they lose and fall to 1-4 the season is totally over. It’s simply that easy. There’s no good time for an harm to a beginning QB, however a 3 recreation stretch of Seattle, Tennessee, and New England was the perfect place for it to occur. After Week 5 the Dolphins face the Colts, Cardinals, Payments, and Rams. If Tagovailoa remains to be out for these video games they are going to be 4 losses for a crew that may’t beat the likes of the Titans and Patriots.
There’s little question that the Dolphins received dealt a nasty hand in all this, however McDaniel is teaching like somebody who’s folding. That has to vary.
