Thoughts on Dolphins/Ravens Game

"KeyFin wrote:

Wow guys, what a night! This was the defense that was advertised going into the season and it's amazing how good we look playing with a lead and shifting to the cover-0 on defense. Baker had a great night, Holland had a great night...the list is really too long to name everyone at 11:48PM.

Fantastic showing by the defense all night long and honestly, the only TD drive for the Ravens was based on a few questionable Miami penalties.

I also think the return of Tua was a great change of momentum for tonight's game and also the season. I've been saying that I expected Miami to find a little win-streak in this stretch and it's very nice to see things starting to come together. Tonight was purely about pride and it was a fantastic overall team effort.

It probably doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, of course, but I do think Flores is showing that he deserves to stay in the captain's chair.

I'm not even going to talk about the bad stuff like penalties on the offensive line...except for Robert Hunt. For those of you that didn't see his penalty in the 3rd quarter, all I can say is that you have to catch the SportsCenter replay...it was epic! Best penalty by a lineman ever!

Again, great win on a lousy season! The vibe is turning in Miami and for the record, you can expect me to talk trash all week for being only one of two people who picked the Fins in our weekly challenge (which I'm losing miserably!). A win like this though makes it totally worth it for me to pick them all 17 games this season.

Agreed. That was amazing!

"KeyFin wrote:

It probably doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, of course, but I do think Flores is showing that he deserves to stay in the captain's chair.

This was the most unexpected result. I had it penciled in as a loss. But with this win something has changed. We have 4 winnable games coming up: Jets, Panthers, Giants and Jets. Just imagine IF we win those and we're 7-7 and this team is playing hot with a mad race to the finish against 3 good teams: the Saints, Titans and NE.

For the first time in months we actually have a TINY but realistic chance here of picking up momentum against weaker teams and running the table, or close to it. Totally changes the excitement level for next week. Fantastic game!

"cbrad wrote:

This was the most unexpected result. I had it penciled in as a loss. But with this win something has changed. We have 4 winnable games coming up: Jets, Panthers, Giants and Jets. Just imagine IF we win those and we're 7-7 and this team is playing hot with a mad race to the finish against 3 good teams: the Saints, Titans and NE.

For the first time in months we actually have a TINY but realistic chance here of picking up momentum against weaker teams and running the table, or close to it. Totally changes the excitement level for next week. Fantastic game!

I agree- this absolutely, positively should have been a blowout loss. But it sure felt different than every other game this season...it felt like the 2020 team all over again. I'm pretty sure that playoffs are out of the question, even at 10-7 if we somehow ran the table, but it felt to me like Miami finally found their identity tonight.

I am super-pumped for the next few weeks to see if they've legit turned a corner.

"KeyFin wrote:

I'm pretty sure that playoffs are out of the question, even at 10-7 if we somehow ran the table

10-7 most likely gets us in. Many AFC teams are beating each other up because some divisions have many good teams while others have few. Holy cow. There's actually the slimmest of realistic paths. One game at a time but after today I'm not saying it's over yet.

"cbrad wrote:

10-7 most likely gets us in. Many AFC teams are beating each other up because some divisions have many good teams while others have few. Holy cow. There's actually the slimmest of realistic paths. One game at a time but after today I'm not saying it's over yet.

Yeah, same here...the season is not "dead". But even if we lose a few more, I feel like after tonight and that effort, it's pretty obvious that this team is not quitting and they're going to play their hearts out. That's all I really care about anyway.

Cloud nine at the moment! I despise the Baltimore Ravens, I don't think I have ever disliked a coach more than John Harbaugh. So that in itself is great. However, more importantly and less about why I'm happy, I have to say. The guys were having fun tonight. The game was fun and I think that was the key. This season has not been fun at all. We haven't seen them have fun until tonight. Playing football or any sport for that matter is supposed to be fun. It's never fun getting your ass kicked every week, but these boys came to play tonight. What the absolute HELL with our defense tonight? Who made the calls? Did Flores step in on that? Reminded me of the Patriots super bowl win over the Rams a few years ago. Against Lamar Jackson too! Mobile quarterbacks have been a nightmare for us. Mad props to the defense tonight. Hopefully this is here to stay for the rest of the season.
On offense, what can I say? It's a major work in progress, but things did perk up once Tua came in the game. Jacoby didn't play bad, but we lose this one if he would have stayed in. Tua shifted the momentum big time. I hope this game was or becomes a major stepping stone for him. Again, terrific defensive plan tonight and the offense did just enough to keep us ahead. Let's get another win next week!

"ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:

Cloud nine at the moment!

Same feelings here- I'm supposed to go to bed now and get up for work in 7 hours?!? I'm logging off the forums but I'll probably be up for awhile still...amazing night!

Oh one more thing: those people who said they were done watching the Dolphins this year missed something BIG TIME!

"cbrad wrote:

Oh one more thing: those people who said they were done watching the Dolphins this year missed something BIG TIME!

I agree- oh my gosh. I don't remember a win that satisfying in a very long time. Maybe the Miracle in Miami? We completely shut down our biggest nemesis for the past 20 years, and this year's #1 offense. You can't make this stuff up...just a magical night.

I'd love to be in that locker room right now- the players have to be going berserk!

I just hope we can continue to ride this momentum. Caught a tough break against Vegas, Jacksonville and then Atlanta. We'd be 6-4 if we had taken those games. It's all good though. I want to see a win streak. I want to see our young guys continue to get better. I want to see Austin Jackson block better. I know it's asking a lot, but this is what I meant when I kept saying "be patient"

I have never seen a play like this before

Great game. I literally had no expectations of a win but I'm on Cloud 9 right now. The only thing I'll mention tonight about the game is how much the offensive players' body language shifted when Tua got into the game. Remarkably, the blocking got better and the routes became cleaner. No dis at all to Brissett, but it seemed like the team played with better expectations once #1 got into the game. I would love Love LOVE it if we can put a good run together, playoffs or nah. And if the defense can play like this more often, I believe we have it in us. I'm almost embarrassed for how good I felt at the end of that game.

Everyone, go to Will Manso's Twitter.

I was chanting nanana hey hey hey good bye to all the ravens fans leaving the stadium lol.

I felt like the team had a little more juice with Tua at quarterback. Again he gets the ball out quicker, had better anticipation of where his receiver is going to be and the RPO changed the way the defense played. I honestly don't think Brissett hits Wilson in stride on that big play like Tua did.

Speaking of Albert Wilson it was nice to see him used properly and get him the ball in open space.

Defense was lights out.

How in the hell did this happen!?! I know it’s a meaningless win but didn’t see this one coming.

It being a night-time football game I didn't get to see it. It was a 2:20am start for me and I needed to work today. I'm going to have to see if I can catch a replay somewhere. Typical... :D

"Galant wrote:

It being a night-time football game I didn't get to see it. It was a 2:20am start for me and I needed to work today. I'm going to have to see if I can catch a replay somewhere. Typical... :D

Same here, just got to watch the replay from yesterday, that’s what we expected the beginning of the season. D was on all game and on O you got some help from players who normally don’t do much like Wilson for instance, must have been his biggest game in a Dolphins jersey.

Definitely the most fun ive had in the stadium this year. My main take aways from this game are we finally committed to playing our defensive style from last season and flores clearly doesn’t want tua long term. Its as clear as day at this point and i dont see how anyone can see it differently. I cant envision a scenario where both flores and tua are back next season.

"Galant wrote:

No doubt, Miami's use of its defensive backs defined this game:

- 24 DB blitzes (most any QB has faced since '15)
- 2+ DBs blitzing 12 times (most since '10)
- 3+ DBs blitzing 5 times (most in last 15 seasons)
- DB blitz on 11/13 3rd down dropbacks (BAL gained 19 yds & one 1D) https://t.co/ZovTKSqryk

— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) November 12, 2021

basically, the Dolphins every time Lamar Jackson dropped back https://t.co/gYSXT1erBz pic.twitter.com/Hnk4unI9XS

— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) November 12, 2021

It wasn’t JUST the blitzes…it was how they were executed. The defense didn’t let Jackson get outside do the pocket on those blitzes…he was forced to step up into a collapsing pocket. Great lights out performance by Miami’s defense.

Although the offense seemed to perk up once Tua came in, I still have lots of concerns about our line and the lack of an effective running game. We all saw how well Tagovailoa can place the ball when he has the time needed in the pocket…and I’m talking about time enough for him to go to the fridge, grab a drink and then throw the ball, but a good clean 4 seconds in the pocket. That’s the typical amount of time all great quarterbacks have…it’s always talked about…that internal clock in quarterbacks heads…4 seconds. When Tua had that time he was more than effective. The OLine needs to be addressed next season.

Mike Gaskins is NOT the answer. The lack of an effective running game made running out the clock on Baltimore virtually Impossible. Need a SERIOUS upgrade.

There’s no doubt who won this game night. Defense dominated the game

"Rouk wrote:

Definitely the most fun ive had in the stadium this year. My main take aways from this game are we finally committed to playing our defensive style from last season and flores clearly doesn’t want tua long term. Its as clear as day at this point and i dont see how anyone can see it differently. I cant envision a scenario where both flores and tua are back next season.

Really? I sort of saw the opposite in Flores/Tua. The kid was a precautionary scratch, super eager to get in there, and although Brissett said his knee was fine we let Tua take the field anyway. Brissett seemed shocked by that...we were all shocked by that...but personally, at that moment, I knew deep down that we were going to win the football game. It was like the entire offense changed, even though Tua's first few passes were way off (for him anyway).

My gut reaction was that Flores was told to bench Tua, he didn't like it, and jumped at the chance to get him on the field. What about everyone else though? Do you guys agree more with me or with Rouk? Maybe I completely misread the situation.

Even the crowd in Miami seemed pumped, It’s been a long time since I could tell the crowd was at the game!