If we would have won yesterday it would have been a miracle, especially when Armstead was out and we were down to our 3rd string QB. With our 2 starting corners out the D is not anything comparable to last season, our front seven is not that good sadly. Skylar was decent for the circumstances he was put in and Mostard had a good game. That's it for yesterday. Our O-line is improved, let's see how much after Armstead is out. With that toe injury don't know if he's coming back and he always missed games in his career, not sure if he was a good signing, when he's healthy for sure but that's not a given with him. Edmonds looks like a bad signing same for Cedric Wilson. Tua is good if he can stay on the field, which is still his biggest question mark. Jaelen Phillips ain't doing anything and has to show that he's deserving of where we picked him. Holland has to pick it up as well. Tyreek has been a great pick up. Griers drafts look like they are average not bad but nothing special not sure if that's enough. Our front seven is quite disappointing with a few exceptions (Ingram, Wilkins, Sieler, maybe Davis) Let's see if things turn around when our Corners and Tua come back, which is likely but our roster still has some holes and Grier is the one in charge. At least McDaniel looks like he's a coach that could be here for quite some time if we give him some talent on this roster.
If Tua comes back I still think we can make the playoffs. The end result looks bad but it was a close game until the 4th while we had every conceivable thing go against us. If Sanders makes that FG things would have went different. I'm still not convinced that was a safety at the start of the game either, that was a pretty bad call. Something similar happened in the Bills game where Allen's pass didn't even make it past the LOS yet it wasn't called. The OL was horrific yesterday. I knew it was bad while watching but I didn't realise how bad. According to PFF Skylar was pressured on 17 of 35 drop backs, no QB can be successful under those conditions. Brandon Shell allowed 7 pressures on 33 pass snaps while Little allowed 5. This is the kind of thing that I was willing to give Tua a pass for, the same needs to be applied to Skylar. We really need X and Byron back. Needham is just a bad footballer player and Iggy was a complete waste of a pick. Once the top 2 CB's come back and the defence still looks terrible then questions need to be asked of Boyer.
If Jones isn’t going to be back anytime soon, I’d see if Joe Haden would consider unretiring. This lousy coverage can’t continue with this defense structured the way it is. At this point, I’d rather see Madison or Surtain out there than Iggy - he’s a waste of a roster spot after getting chance after chance to show improvement.
That safety call was complete BS. His arm was hit while throwing the ball AND it landed near an eligible receiver. First of all, he is throwing it to Mostert. Second of all, it lands near Smyth:
If it had been a quarterback named Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Allen, that call wouldn’t have been made. It would have been an incomplete pass. Hell, Brady even got a roughing the passer call and he was scrambling out of the pocket…not even attempting a pass…nor was he violently tackled. No guys, certain quarterbacks get preferential treatment. No quarterback in aqua and corral get that treatment…not since the days of Marino…and he had his *** whipped on the field plenty!
Very disappointed in yesterday's game. No excuse for the defense to collapse like that, and that's against the Jets, not even an average team. Season is still OK because we won some games we weren't supposed to win and lost one we should have won. Season is going to come down to Tua really. We have elite WRs nothing else elite. If Tua can somehow show he's a true franchise QB this will be a successful season and we'll make the playoffs. If not, we're back to mediocrity. Wait and see I guess.
Boyer is a project he had zero experience and his team played above average last season. I honestly believe Flores and him worked together on the defense and now he's in over his head and it's showing. We can not run a defense where our complete system is dependent on 1 or two players period. You will never win like that. We need a system where you can plug pieces in and they perform like NE did for years. We can't be a 1:1 team and expect to win all the time. Boyer should have been replaced and may likely be gone after this season IMHO.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see roster limits increased this offseason. With removing two teams from 1st round playoff byes, an additional regular season game and the new concussion protocols established this past week, rosters will be getting thin like ours.
I don’t think Boyer knows how to drive the car that Flo built, hopefully I’m wrong - and we get most pieces back healthy and she drops in gear:
I’m starting to wonder if Miami needs to start thinking about moving on from Jones/Howard. They’ve both had some health issues and tie up a lot of cap. We either need to get better at pass rushing or draft/sign someone who can stay healthy so we can run the cover 0 to confuse QB’s and get more pressure. I think the overall issue with Miami’s defense outside of stating 2 back up corners, is we don’t have a dominant pass rush. If you can get pressure with 4, dropping 7 in coverage, it changes the game.
This defense needs Pro Bowl corners for it to work. Without either of them, our below average front seven are being exposed. With both of them, the third and fourth corners are good enough to cover the other team’s wr3 and wr4 and the pass rush has that extra second to get to the qb. Without them, the front seven needs an overall upgrade. Other than Wilkins, I wouldn’t hesitate to move on from any of them, especially the LBs and DEs.
Outside of Howard, who are these pro bowl players you speak of? Clearly you’d like to have a few of them if you want to win at a high level.
That is my point. A good coach works with what they have. Boyers defense only works if you have great players across the board.
Why are we not attacking and stacking the line like we did the second half of last year? Looking more and more like Flores was the engine on that.
After Armstead was out, let's see how it looks without him the Jets game might be an indication of that. But nonetheless it's better then last year, the question is how much...
Sunday's game was actually worse than any game the last 3 years. If Armstead is out, this line is equally terribad as 2021.
Depending on one injury prone player in Armstead was a mistake, and the line needed more upgrades than just Armstead. Basically it all comes down to Grier's terrible record of drafting linemen. Both Jackson and Liam are still looking like complete busts. You cannot swing and miss in the draft as many times as Grier has and expect to be a real contender. Super bowl teams are mostly built through the draft, not through flashy trades. Until we get a GM in Miami who is a good evaluator and can draft with the best of them, we will continue to suck.
Let’s see how the season plays out but in regards to Grier you might be right. I’m a little underwhelmed from his drafts so far as well.
so you think the better solution is to let the QB have all they time they need to find an open receiver against average defensive backs? You think Dolphins head coach and OC would not be thrilled if the other team decided to only rush 3 or 4 most of the game?
One could try it but then you've got a high probability that we get burnt for chunk yardage. Best thing would be that we would be able to generate pressure with our front 4 and Ogbah and Phillips got to step up, they've been a disappointment so far this season...
You can stack the line when your corners don’t need safety help. Without Jones and X both in the lineup we can’t put our other corners on an island because other teams would LOVE that.
Have not been able to get pressure with front 4 for a couple years. Not sure why it would start now. The only time this defense has been good is when they have shown aggressive fronts.
We have a good team but it's paper thin. Starters go out and we are in trouble as we see right now. On that note we really need Byron Jones back. This D is best when we can bring pressure from all angles and leave the corners on an island. Without Jones we just cant get away with that.