Miami Dolphins Week 3 Report Card
As one would expect, the grades are a lot better for the Miami Dolphins following their 31-13 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday.
Quarterback
What we can say about Ryan Fitzpatrick's performance that hasn't already been said or written? He was outstanding. Sure, he threw only six passes in the second half, but let's not forget he completed all six (including one to himself). Grade: A
Running backs
It again was the Myles Gaskin show at running back, but for all the respect he deserves for having worked his way up to the top spot for the Dolphins, we can't forget that he averaged only 3.0 yards per carry on his 22 attempts against Jacksonville. Gaskin did have five receptions, adding to his performance. Matt Breida and Jordan Howard weren't factors in the running game as they combined for only 4 yards on six carries. Obviously, the offensive line plays a role in that, but still that's not good. The Dolphins finished with a respectable 138 rushing yards against Jacksonville, but 67 came from either Fitzpatrick (38 yards) or Jakeem Grant (29), leaving only 71 for the running backs on 28 carries (2.5 average). Not great. Grade: C
Wide receivers
It's hard to complain about anything here considering Fitzpatrick had only two incompletions, and both on throws to tight end Mike Gesicki. Grant had the one tough catch in the game, though I'm not sure it was quite as difficult as he made it out to be. DeVante Parker had a solid performance with five catches and also drew a pass interference penalty. This wasn't a spectacular performance, but the wide receivers did what they needed to do. Grade: B+
Tight ends
Another game, another touchdown for Gesicki. That came on his only catch of the game. One of the two incompletions when he was the target was a pass he easily could have caught. Durham Smythe started at tight end alongside Gesicki and had his first reception of the seven. The tight ends have to share some of the blame for the running backs averaging such a low average. Grade: C
Offensive line
It was more of the same for the Dolphins offensive line, which again did a very good job in pass protection but could have done better in the run game. Fitzpatrick was sacked only once, and that was on him because he was outside the pocket and easily could have thrown the ball away instead of trying to duck under oncoming pass rusher Josh Allen. The O-line was called for two penalties, a holding against Solomon Kindley and a roughness penalty against Austin Jackson, though it should be pointed out that Jacksonville linebacker Myles Jack had pulled him by the facemask. But there's no getting around the run blocking. Grade: C
Defensive line
Easily the best performance of the season by this group. Zach Sieler got his most extension action so far and clearly made a difference. Emmanuel Ogbah also was a big factor. He and Shaq Lawson each had two quarterback hits. And the D-line played a big role in holding the Jacksonville running backs to a 3.6-yard average. Grade: B+
Linebackers
As with the defense, easily the best performance of the season for this group. Kyle Van Noy was the huge play in the second half with the sack-strip-fumble recovery to set up the final touchdown, Kamu Grugier-Hill had the big fourth-down sack late in the first half, Andrew Van Ginkel had a late sack. There were some missed tackles here and there, but this overall was strong work. Grade: A-
Secondary
This was a good bounce-back effort by the defensive backs, though they admittedly had a lot of help from the pass rush. Then again, they didn't get any help from the pass rush against Buffalo and that contributed to the problems. So obviously those two areas work hand in hand. Xavien Howard had the team's first interception of the season, though it came shortly after he gave up a completion and then made an emphatic "incomplete" signal because he lost sight of the ball. Noah Igbinoghene also had a solid outing, though he did get beat badly near the line of scrimmage by Chris Conley on what should have been a touchdown if not for Gardner Minshew II badly overthrowing the pass. Jamal Perry had some visible tackling issues and he dropped what looked like an easy interception off a carom. Eric Rowe had a solid game at safety, though he was flagged once for DPI, as did Tae Hayes. Grade: B+
Special teams
The Dolphins kickers continued their outstanding season. Jason Sanders made his only field goal attempt. Punter Matt Haack averaged a season-low 41 yards per kick but he placed two inside the Jacksonville 20-yard line, including one at the 3. There were no big returns on either side. Grade: B
