There’s no good solution to salvage a season whenever 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 workforce 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 Evening Soccer towards the Payments. Since that time there’s a robust argument to be made that the Dolphins have turn into the worst workforce 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 exceptional about these groups compared to the Dolphins is that they have been all in a position to 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 sphere towards the Payments that it wasn’t going to work. McDaniel’s offense relies 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 stage of a passer with the ability to anticipate to hit a receiver in stride, ensuing within the yards after catch that are so important to make all the things work.
Thompson completed that Payments recreation 8-for-14 for 80 yards. This someway received even worse towards 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 area to permit him to select up YAC.
It’s honest to try to run the identical offense at the very least as soon as extra, particularly with a workforce 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.
In opposition to the Titans it was extra of the identical. McDaniel known as 22 go performs and 22 runs, whereas solely dialing up 4 go performs to his working backs out of the backfield. As soon as once more this was the very same recreation plan the workforce had in place with Tua working the present, however with out his accuracy all the things fell aside.
Certainly the Dolphins are altering issues for Week 5, proper? Nicely, 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 workforce and I’m not teaching in it, I get way more indignant when there’s failure than once I’m teaching and I can really problem-solve one thing. It’s to be anticipated. That is the massive leagues. To really feel entitled to blind help, that’s not my cup of tea. I believe it’s important to go to work, problem-solve and check out to sort things as greatest you possibly can, and I don’t assume we’re essentially owed something.”
As a lot as McDaniel’s new-school, laid again strategy to soccer is a breath of recent air, there are occasions a soccer coach needs to be mad. To say you’re not as indignant because the followers are when it’s your workforce 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 workforce is now twenty sixth in factors allowed, and lifeless final in offense.
THIS SHOULD MAKE HIM MAD! When a star participant goes down there needs to be an expectation that the workforce ought to rally. That everybody ought to step up and play their greatest soccer to fill the void, to show some extent, to have some delight after they step on the sphere. Proper now the Dolphins are taking part in 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 workforce the Dolphins ought to have the ability to beat, even with out Tua. In the event that they lose and fall to 1-4 the season is completely 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 very best 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 workforce that may’t beat the likes of the Titans and Patriots.
There’s little doubt that the Dolphins received dealt a foul hand in all this, however McDaniel is teaching like somebody who’s folding. That has to vary.
