Dolphins Week 2 — The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The Miami Dolphins obviously did some good things in putting themselves in position to pull off a victory against the Buffalo Bills in their opener, but there too many problems to overcome and the result was a 31-28 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.
So here's a quick look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the Dolphins' Week 2 performance:
THE GOOD
-- You pretty have to start with tight end Mike Gesicki, who had eight catches for 130 yards. But forget about the stats, it's just the catches that Gesicki made. It was some kind of impressive to watch.
-- DeVante Parker also looked good after being a game-time decision because of his hamstring problem. There was nothing spectacular about Parker's performance, but it was just solid.
-- The offensive again had a solid outing. The running backs averaged a solid 4.5 yards per carry and there were no penalties on the big guys up front. The protection wasn't as good as it was in the game against New England, but Buffalo has a better pass rush.
-- Preston Williams had a nice play in the first quarter when he beat Tre'Davious White with a quick outside move and then took advantage of White losing the ball to catch a 24-yard pass.
-- Ryan Fitzpatrick passed for 328 yards with a 100.3 passer rating and made a couple of brilliant throws under pressure. The best came in the third quarter when Fitzpatrick threw a strike to Parker for a 20-yard gain with a blitzer right in his face.
-- The defense didn't have many great moments, but they held Buffalo to one first down in two third-quarter possessions.
THE BAD
-- The pass defense simply wasn't good enough. Josh Allen always has done well against the Dolphins defense, but not 417 yards and four touchdowns like he had on this day.
-- The run defense was slightly better than against New England, but it started the game by allowing a 14-yard run by Devin Singletary on the first snap of the game.
-- Losing cornerback Byron Jones in the first quarter against a team with a wide receiver tandem like Stefon Diggs and John Brown is not a winning proposition.
-- Rookie Noah Igbinoghene was pressed into extended action because of Jones' injury, and was picked on quite a bit.
-- Fellow cornerback Nik Needham was flagged twice for defensive penalties. Needham needs to get out of his habit of being handsy.
-- The Dolphins weren't able to answer after Buffalo regained the lead in the fourth quarter, and a sack by safety Jordan Poyer on first down pretty much killed the drive.
-- The Bills' final touchdown was disappointing not just because John Brown easily got behind Xavien Howard, but because it came on third-and-9 and a stop would have given the Dolphins the ball with a chance to take the lead.
-- Running back Jordan Howard scored a touchdown for a second consecutive game, but his rushing numbers again looked ugly. After rushing eight times for 7 yards against New England, Howard gained 4 yards on five attempts against Buffalo.
THE UGLY
-- Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver should have been flagged for tripping on a Dolphins running play. It's actually kind of a cheap play.
-- The Dolphins' failure to get points after having a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line was painful. CBS analyst Adam Archuleta suggested the Dolphins should have used Jordan Howard on more than one attempt considering they got him to be their short-yardage specialist, and there's certainly validity in that argument. A fade to the tall Mike Gesicki certainly has merit, but Fitzpatrick has to throw the ball where only his teammate can catch it and he was lucky that wasn't picked off.
-- And then of course there was the fourth-down drop by Preston Williams. It was not a great throw by Fitzpatrick because it was a little behind Williams and it's fair to wonder whether Williams actually would have scored because he appeared to be just outside the goal line when the ball hit him, but he still has to make that catch. It was part of a tough day for Williams, who had only one catch on five targets.
-- Watching kickoffs is just nothing short of sleep-inducing. Other than the Dolphins kick at the end of the half where they just looked to kill off the final two seconds, every other one resulted in a touchback. Zzz.
