A Few Thoughts About the Dolphins Game, in no particular order

[Virgil]

© Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

 

Well, if you're going to post angry, go big or go home. If you are on team "we were injured," feel free to stop reading now. This game was embarrassing in all aspects of the game and, even beyond, to the NFL. 
 

1 - Everyone else

This whole week has been about the players we don't have on the field, yet it was the guys who stayed healthy that made some of the most significant impacts on the game. In a game of "what if's," there were countless plays you could point to that could have sent this game in a different direction. Milano with an inexcusable dropped pick 6, Josh with at least four passes that should have been easily intercepted, multiple plays with lost yardage, plays due to bad snaps, Brown getting just abused at RT until he also leaves the game sick, Bass, with a short FG miss that could have been the game-winner, and again Allen missing a wide open McKenzie for a touchdown. 
 

2 - Inevitable

If there were one thing that kept me up at night going into this game, it was fear of miscommunication and gap integrity between the safeties and corners. In a game where the Bills did a great job of limiting Tua, Waddle, and Hill, they folded when it counted the most, giving up an inexcusable 3rd and 22 to the Bills' goal line. Without that play, of all of them, the Dolphins' stat line is pedestrian, and they pull off a miracle defensive performance.

 

© Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

3 - Safety

I don't know enough about all of the medical protocols or options for teams in a game like this, but you really have to question the NFL after this game. How Tua was able to clear concussion protocol so quickly makes absolutely no sense. I haven't seen a QB stagger off the field like that since Joe Montana with the Chiefs against the Bills in the playoffs. I don't care how well he passed tests in the locker room; there's no way he should have been allowed to play. To be clear, this has nothing to do with the Bills losing, and I don't think Tua beat us on any level. Between that, the number of play stoppages for dehydration, cramping, and the number of players who left the game early, something needs to be done differently.
 

4

Come and take a walk on the wild side
Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain
You like your girls insane ("Louder!", "Alright")
So choose your last words, this is the last time
'Cause you and I—we were born to die
 

5 - Allen

You are either a stat person, or you aren't, and for this game, I don't care about Josh's stats. He lost this game for us on offense, and I think he would tell you the same thing. Josh's accuracy on crossing routes was poor, throwing multiple passes behind the receivers. He threw at least four passes that easily should have been picked off, plus the miss to a wide-open McKenzie last goal line drive. While he overcame it, the PF call to lose 15 yards was inexcusable. Josh was clearly rattled in the second half and started to press too much. Maybe it was the heat, frustration of some terrible snaps, or playing with only three active receivers at times, but Josh needs to be better than this.
 

© Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

6 - Play calling

I have to hand it to the Dolphins as they had a very good game plan for our offense and did enough to keep the Bills' offense at bay. Again, you can look at stats all you want, but Diggs was relatively shut down in this game after the first quarter. Howard left the game for a while, and Diggs still couldn't do anything. Davis was also quiet as we heard Gilly's name more than his. As for the Bills, they continue to collapse on short-yardage plays, can't run to save their life, and flirted with turnovers a lot. Nothing ever felt fluid for the Bills on offense or defense in a game that's almost impossible to describe to someone who didn't watch it.
 

7 - Motor

I understand that Moss had a big run in this game. But beyond that, Motor was the only back doing anything on the field, and it's been this way through three games. Additionally, the running plays on the RPO or out of the shotgun were some of the slowest developing plays I've ever seen. You would think the offense was running in quicksand and showed no push or burst up front. And before you point to the loss of the entire right side of our line, this was before those injuries and were runs to the left side. I know we are a passing team, but this is inexcusable.
 

8 - McKenzie

If there were one shining light on offense, it might have been that we finally saw a McKenzie jet sweep in this game. McKenzie used his speed on quite a few plays to pick up nice chunks of yards, to the point that makes you wonder why he hasn't been used more up until now. His 20+ yard catch was a beautiful touch pass by Josh, but an equally great catch by McK. I also want to know why McK wasn't returned the free kick after the safety. Was that because it was still a punt, in theory?
 

© Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

9 - Special teams

Between the Bass missed FG, being pinned inside our 20 a few times, and Crowder not even getting back to the 25 after the safety, the special teams were another group who found a way not to show up in this game. Absolutely horrendous job by the unit that was healthy coming into the game.
 

10 - Bye Week

I'll be honest, I don't know what to expect through the next three weeks. You can find some solace in how the defense held Waddle and Hill down, but I'm not one willing to crown the Dolphins as a top-tier team yet. Going into Baltimore next week is going to be brutal, and then we still have the Chiefs after that. I know it's early, and thankfully we get to play the Dolphins again. But we may very well need the tiebreakers for the Ravens and Chiefs, so it sucks to have these games coming up when we aren't even 50% healthy. Out of everything, I just hate having a season be defined by injuries, and that's exactly what this season is shaping up to be.
 
For those looking for more about the game, my apologies. I'm not going to cool down from this game for a long time. I can handle a loss and was expecting one. But to lose like this is just pathetic to me. The Dolphins were better prepared, had more energy, and played harder. Lose, but don't get beat in those three phases. That's on McD. in those three phases.  That's on McD.

 

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[Ann]

 

As always, a great write up, @Virgil.

 

You know, I really didn’t consider it, but you are right; the special teams was horrible today.

[Nouseforaname]

Great write up.

 

 

One comment though, had someone not seen the game or the score, they’d have been under the impression that the bills got hammered… but they only lost by two points.

 

If this is our worst game of the season…

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

Quote

 

If you are on team "we were injured," feel free to stop reading now. 

 

 

Except it matters.  And more so than just the quality of players, it's the on-field communication and understanding between players that matters most.  Having Hyde and Poyer out impacts how the entire defensive backfield plays together, for their lack of direction.  Having so many linemen go down that you have to reach all the way down to Mancz - a player who was on the practice the day before the game - your coordination on the offensive line is going to be cattywampus.

 

It's truly remarkable the defensive backfield did as well as they did - holding Miami to 21 should have been enough to win.  As the game went on and the offensive line basically fell apart...it's not entirely surprising the offense ultimately couldn't score.

[Ninety-4]

I was actually pleased to see Dorsey melt down in the booth at end of game.  Glad to see some emotion after a tough loss and the less than great execution.  

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

3 minutes ago, Ninety-4 said:

I was actually pleased to see Dorsey melt down in the booth at end of game.  Glad to see some emotion after a tough loss and the less than great execution.  

 

It's almost as though some people would prefer Dick Jauron.  

[Fansince88]

35 minutes ago, Crap Throwing Clavin said:

 

Except it matters.  And more so than just the quality of players, it's the on-field communication and understanding between players that matters most.  Having Hyde and Poyer out impacts how the entire defensive backfield plays together, for their lack of direction.  Having so many linemen go down that you have to reach all the way down to Mancz - a player who was on the practice the day before the game - your coordination on the offensive line is going to be cattywampus.

 

It's truly remarkable the defensive backfield did as well as they did - holding Miami to 21 should have been enough to win.  As the game went on and the offensive line basically fell apart...it's not entirely surprising the offense ultimately couldn't score.

Matters a lot. I dont think this covers it at all

https://www.espn.com/nfl/team/injuries/_/name/buf/buffalo-bills

[IDBillzFan]

1 hour ago, Crap Throwing Clavin said:

 

Except it matters.  And more so than just the quality of players, it's the on-field communication and understanding between players that matters most.  Having Hyde and Poyer out impacts how the entire defensive backfield plays together, for their lack of direction.  Having so many linemen go down that you have to reach all the way down to Mancz - a player who was on the practice the day before the game - your coordination on the offensive line is going to be cattywampus.

 

It's truly remarkable the defensive backfield did as well as they did - holding Miami to 21 should have been enough to win.  As the game went on and the offensive line basically fell apart...it's not entirely surprising the offense ultimately couldn't score.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

I get the disappointment, Virg, and there is no question this team left some plays on the field. But we were one injury away from putting Billy Buffalo under center. It's difficult for me to get worked up over this loss, especially because, as someone said, this was the Fish's SB. 

 

And did you see what happened to a healthy KC today? Good teams have bad games.

[Arm of Harm]

1 hour ago, Crap Throwing Clavin said:

 

Except it matters.  And more so than just the quality of players, it's the on-field communication and understanding between players that matters most.  Having Hyde and Poyer out impacts how the entire defensive backfield plays together, for their lack of direction.  Having so many linemen go down that you have to reach all the way down to Mancz - a player who was on the practice the day before the game - your coordination on the offensive line is going to be cattywampus.

 

It's truly remarkable the defensive backfield did as well as they did - holding Miami to 21 should have been enough to win.  As the game went on and the offensive line basically fell apart...it's not entirely surprising the offense ultimately couldn't score.

 

You are 100% correct.

 

I'd divide bad stuff into two categories.

1) Bad stuff which can be blamed on injuries.

2) Bad stuff which cannot be blamed on injuries.

 

Virgil focused more on category 2) stuff in the OP. And he was right to do so. This game was very winnable, even with all the injuries. Had the category 2) stuff not occurred, this would have been a solid Bills win.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

1 hour ago, Arm of Harm said:

 

You are 100% correct.

 

 

So I'm 96.5% wrong.

[Core Four]

7 hours ago, Virgil said:

7 - Motor

 

There are Bills fans that are in the Motor camp, and Bills fans that are in the Moss camp.  I'm not sure either are good enough to establish any sort of dominant run game.  Have to hope that Cook develops into the guy because Moss and Singletary don't seem to be it.

[Fansince88]

4 hours ago, Core Four said:

 

There are Bills fans that are in the Motor camp, and Bills fans that are in the Moss camp.  I'm not sure either are good enough to establish any sort of dominant run game.  Have to hope that Cook develops into the guy because Moss and Singletary don't seem to be it.

They have 1 or two big runs a game that keep us thinking wow. Perhaps it is here. 

Moss had 4 carries and it looks like 11.5 yds average. But if you remove the 1 big carry it was 3 carries for 3 yards.

Singletary had 1 6yd run. Besides that he had 8 carries for 7 yds. 

Cook had 1 carry for 3 yards. 

One of these guys have to separate themselves from the other 3. 

While much of that is an attest to the Fins game plan  and work at the line I think we we still don't have a good running game. Was hoping they would address this. Perhaps they still will.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Fansince88

[Big Gun]

Anybody who watched that game and came away from it as the Dolphins being the better team doesn't know football. That said McDs continuous trend of enormous gaffs in close games is very concerning, someone being a football newbie may not have been able to discern between who was the veteren coach and who was the rookie coach. 3rd - 22 anybody, apparently 13 seconds taught the coaches nothing last year, that is a problem, coaching is becoming the elephant in the room!

Edited September 26, 2022 by Big Gun

[Foxx]

56 minutes ago, Big Gun said:

Anybody who watched that game and came away from it as the Dolphins being the better team doesn't know football. That said McDs continuous trend of enormous gaffs in close games is very concerning, someone being a football newbie may not have been able to discern between who was the veteren coach and who was the rookie coach. 3rd - 22 anybody, apparently 13 seconds taught the coaches nothing last year, that is a problem, coaching is becoming the elephant in the room!

0-8 in the last one score games..

 

[Alaska Darin]

8 hours ago, Core Four said:

 

There are Bills fans that are in the Motor camp, and Bills fans that are in the Moss camp.  I'm not sure either are good enough to establish any sort of dominant run game.  Have to hope that Cook develops into the guy because Moss and Singletary don't seem to be it.

I would like to see the statistics on early season running games versus late.  It seems to me that most NFL running teams do better later in the year as the weather gets colder, teams get worn down, and injuries are more of a factor.

 

I would bet a lot of money that the BILLS run the ball more effectively in the second half of the season.

[Taro T]

17 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

I would like to see the statistics on early season running games versus late.  It seems to me that most NFL running teams do better later in the year as the weather gets colder, teams get worn down, and injuries are more of a factor.

 

I would bet a lot of money that the BILLS run the ball more effectively in the second half of the season.

 

That was definitely the case last season.

[IDBillzFan]

1 hour ago, Alaska Darin said:

I would like to see the statistics on early season running games versus late.  It seems to me that most NFL running teams do better later in the year as the weather gets colder, teams get worn down, and injuries are more of a factor.

 

I would bet a lot of money that the BILLS run the ball more effectively in the second half of the season.

 

And they'll do it more effectively when the line isn't built with Elmer's glue. You really saw how much the run game missed Morse today. And every time I turned around, another lineman was on the ground looking for an IV and an umbrella drink.

 

Also, it may just be me, but for the time we'd had Moss, the one word that never came to mind with him was speed, and yet that sonofabitch turned on jets on that one run that I never expected to see from him.

[Alaska Darin]

Just now, IDBillzFan said:

 

And they'll do it more effectively when the line isn't built with Elmer's glue. You really saw how much the run game missed Morse today. And every time I turned around, another lineman was on the ground looking for an IV and an umbrella drink.

 

Also, it may just be me, but for the time we'd had Moss, the one word that never came to mind with him was speed, and yet that sonofabitch turned on jets on that one run that I never expected to see from him.

Moss is underrated by the fanbase because he wasn't used a ton as a rookie until later in the season, then got hurt just as he was starting to get it going.   Last season he was clearly still coming back from injury and was missing some of the explosion that made him a tackle-breaking machine in college. 

 

People act like running backs start games just blowing through defenses but most of the better runs happen later in games when the front 7 is worn out and the OLine starts imposing their will.

[whatdrought]

I don’t disagree that the bills should have won this game, regardless of the injuries… that being said, injuries shrink margin. 
 

Give me Morse and Poyer and I think our margin for victory is much higher and we overcome the self-inflicted wounds easier.

 

It’s disappointing either way, but It doesn’t cause long term worry for me.

[IDBillzFan]

2 hours ago, whatdrought said:

I don’t disagree that the bills should have won this game, regardless of the injuries… that being said, injuries shrink margin. 
 

Give me Morse and Poyer and I think our margin for victory is much higher and we overcome the self-inflicted wounds easier.

 

It’s disappointing either way, but It doesn’t cause long term worry for me.

 

There were a ton of issues yesterday, but the turning point was letting Tua hit Waddle on a 3rd and 22. 

 

Never should have happened, and I'd go so far as to affirm it NEVER would have happened if Hyde and Poyer were playing.

 

What few people are discussing? How did Tyreek do vs. Elam? Four targets. Two catches. 37 yards.

 

Can't wait for the rematch.