What We Learned About the Dolphins in Week 1
We're now a couple of days removed from the Miami Dolphins' victory at New England and we still have a few things on our mind we need to share.
First off, let's stop haggling about how the Dolphins or even thinking about the idea of an "ugly victory."
Not saying any of that is untrue, but are we really going to start worrying about style point now? In a game at New England?
Really?
Look, this isn't the best the Dolphins are going to play this season ... if it is, it's going to be a long season. And, news flash, New England is going to get better as well.
There's no underestimating how big a win this was for the Dolphins, regardless of how it was achieved.
DEFENSE SAME AS IT EVER WAS?
Yes, the defense had its lapses in this game, to the point where many analysts were praising the work of Pats QB Mac Jones (whose best asset was his poise in the face of the Dolphins blitz).
But the defense was very good situationally, particularly in the red zone and in terms of forcing turnovers.
And isn't that what we saw last season from this defense?
Let's remember that as good as the Dolphins defense was in 2020, it wasn't the 1985 Bears who suffocated opposing offenses. No, the Dolphins ranked only 20th in yards allowed last season but was fifth in points allowed because of takeaways and third-down defense.
The third-down defense wasn't good against the Pats on Sunday, but it was very good in the red zone, holding New England to one touchdown in four trips inside the 20.
And then there were the two turnovers, both fumble recoveries, including the late one by Xavien Howard.
PASS RUSH WAS FINE
When it comes to the pass rush, we shouldn't get bogged too much by the sack statistic, because even though the Dolphins got only one, because did get pressure on Jones.
The Dolphins were credited with nine quarterback hits in the game, more than twice as many as the Patriots had on Tua Tagovailoa.
As was the case last year, the pressure was generated mostly through blitzes. The best example of a perfectly executed blitz came on the very first drive courtesy of Byron Jones, who rattled Jones enough that he ended up dumping the ball backward in the hopes of merely throwing it away for an incompletion (it became a lateral instead and that's the play where the Dolphins were credited for a sack).
Sack or no sack, Emmanuel Ogbah was dominant for a stretch there in the second half.
ROOKIE REFLECTIONS
As predicted here before (after the end of training camp in fairness), it might be an idea not to go crazy with expectations for Jaelan Phillips when it comes to the pass rush.
It sure appears as though the Dolphins are putting a lot of his plate in terms of assignments, as opposed to just letting him get after the quarterback, and even then, there was one play against New England when he was one of three sent after Mac Jones on a passing down and ended up being double-teamed.
The Dolphins sure appear set with their starting foursome in the secondary with Howard, Jones, Rowe and McCourty, but Jevon Holland showed again Sunday why he needs to get a lot of snaps. The rookie from Oregon just has a knack from making things happen, and his piece of evidence against New England was a hit that forced a fumble.
TUA THOUGHTS
OK, let's talk offense, and of course it has to start with Tua Tagovailoa.
On the plus side, his long sideline completions to Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker looked like throws he would have been hesitant to make last season, so that was a great sign of progress.
Along with that, he was on target on those quick slants to the point where one wonders sometimes why the Dolphins just don't keep calling those until they're stopped (obviously we understand it's not that simple). But let's not kid ourselves, this is what Tua does best, the quick thrown down the middle.
On the flip side, we saw some of the signs from last year when things aren't on schedule and Tua is forced to hang on to the ball a bit. He tried to force things a couple of times against New England and it produced a costly interception and an almost interception on another play.
What we didn't see from Tua against New England was him taking off from the pocket quickly if he couldn't find a receiver. This needs to be part of his arsenal.
EICHENBERG WAS OK, IF NOT MORE
Important point to make about Liam Eichenberg's performance against New England, which statistically didn't look good considering he gave up a sack and committed two penalties. We'll start with the sack, where he accidentally was tripped by teammate Solomon Kindley as both were backpedalling, which made it impossible for him to hold his ground against Josh Uche. And, as we've mentioned a few times, his first of two holding calls was brutal — the call, not the penalty. So he's really to blame for one holding penalty. Truth is, it actually was a pretty solid performance for a rookie making his first NFL start.
WIDE RECEIVER WATCH
For all the talk about the Dolphins' wide receiver depth, it certainly was interesting to see Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker be the only two players at the position with a catch against New England. There was the one shot to the end zone attempted for Albert Wilson, but the pass looked a bit late and behind Wilson. It also didn't help that the Dolphins didn't have the ball very much. Truth is, it's not a big deal if the focus is on Waddle and Parker — as long as they both stay healthy.
