Miami Dolphins Week 10 Instant Takeaways: Dolphins Should Kick Themselves for Missed Opportunity

In this season where wins have to hard to come by for the Miami Dolphins, they really let one slip away against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10.

We might even suggest they should be kicking themselves for not being able to beat a reeling Colts team that's not only bad but was down their top three cornerbacks in the second half.

Kicking themselves ... get it?

If you're among those who believe the Dolphins are tanking, organically or ethically or otherwise, then what happened at Lucas Oil Stadium was perfect because Zane Gonzalez really doesn't fit into the team's long-term plans, so him missing three kicks isn't damaging for the future of the organization.

If the Dolphins are trying to win games as part of establishing a foundation and some belief, then we'll repeat what we said last week, that the Dolphins absolutely need to move on from him.

Period. Point blank.

Like, enough is enough.

That's the biggest and most obvious takeaway from this game, which was all about quarterback Kyle McCord and his NFL debut.

As expected, it was an uneven performance by McCord, with some good and some bad.

The good included his touchdown run on a QB keeper and a couple of nice throws, but he also didn't do anything to suggest that Malik Willis is the one who's been the problem on offense.

The biggest negative, of course, was the sack he took that turned into a Colts touchdown when he fumbled. McCord very clearly saw the free blitzer early in the play and wasn't anywhere near quick enough to get away from the pocket and put himself in position to throw the ball away. And at worst, he should have been able to protect the ball even if he needed to take the sack, and that was a clear rookie mistake that showed a lack of awareness.

The bottom line is his performance should have been good enough to help the Dolphins win against a very bad Indy team.

Instead, the Dolphins dropped to 1-8 on the season as they continue to look like a team headed for a top 3 picks at worst and maybe with a shot at the first overall pick.

OTHER QUICK OBSERVATIONS

-- As an indication of how depleted the Colts are, former Dolphins WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and promptly let the first third-down pass go right through his hands. Later in the game, he was flagged for offensive pass interference and he finished with zero catches.

-- Pretty amazing (and not in a good way) that barely after the CBS analyst says the Dolphins need to avoid pre-snap penalties that Greg Dulcich gets flagged for a false start. Oy. Outside of that, though, the Dolphins played a relatively clean game with three penalties for 30 yards. Indy, on the other hand, was flagged 13 times for 83 yards, including a defensive holding that nullified a pick-six that might have sealed the outcome early in the fourth quarter instead of the Dolphins have a shot at the end.

-- Of course, it would have been nice had the Dolphins bothered to block linebacker C.J. Allen instead of letting him run free on a blitz between Kadyn Proctor and Patrick Paul, though we don't know for sure who's to blame there.

-- One thing that stood out with McCord is he sure got quite a few passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, including the final failed fourth-down attempt. Though it looked like intended receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. was surrounded at the 35-yard line when he needed to get to the Colts 32.

-- McCord banging his thumb on a helmet following through early in the game was the last thing you wanted to see happen. But that is going to happen with all the penetration the Dolphins offensive line usually allows.

-- This may come as a surprise to some fans, but Dolphins receivers in the first half weren't getting any more open with McCord at QB than they did with Malik Willis.

-- In addition to continuing his strong run as a pass rusher, including a sack with a nice bull rush, Chop Robinson had maybe the best run stop we've ever seen from him against Jonathan Taylor.

-- Already missing Zach Sieler, the Dolphins really didn't need to have Zeek Biggers leave the game with a knee injury. That the run defense struggled probably was not a coincidence. And then to make matters worse, Jordan Phillips suffered an arm injury. Ugh.

-- Big performance by Malik Washington doing a little bit of everything, including his TD pass to Jalen Tolbert off a double pass. First Dolphins TD pass by a non-quarterback since, yes again, Mountaineer Shot, the Matt Haack throw to Jason Sanders against the Eagles in 2019. Great call, nice throw by Washington.

-- Great catch by Michael Taaffe on his third pick of the season, though someone could point out he cost the Dolphins 6 yards because this was going to be a fourth-down incompletion. It's not very significant in terms of lost yardage, but we hope the Dolphins don't do the same thing if we're talking about 20 or 30 yards.

-- DJ Herman has made a couple of really nice lead blocks already in this game. Also was the recipient of Kyle McCord's first NFL completion.

-- Truly amazing that every time Jaylen Wright gets a carry, there is major penetration from the defensive line and he almost invariably gets hit in the backfield. At this point, it's almost laughable.

-- Zero issue with the Dolphins going for it on fourth-and-2 in the first half ... regardless of the result. It's an evaluation season. Shame a good drive ended without points, but the point remains.

-- Don't know what was better, Chris Johnson's pick-six or the touchdown celebration. And, of course, Gonzalez misses the PAT. Doesn't matter actually because Johnson is going to be a good player for a while and Gonzalez might be gone this week (maybe).

-- Not to take anything away from a great Dolphins defensive series in the fourth quarter, but it’s pretty easy to see why the Colts are 2-7 (2-14 over their last 16).

-- I'm going to go ahead and say it, Dolphins receivers made more good catches for Kyle McCord in this game than they have for Malik Willis all season.

-- Jordyn Brooks was really, really good and it's time to acknowledge that for all the accolades Jacob Rodriguez has been getting for his strong rookie season, he's the best linebacker on the team and probably the best player overall.

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