3 Reasons Miami Dolphins Fans Shouldn't Worry Anymore About Mike Wallace

Last week, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace was the goat. This week, Wallace played more like the G.O.A.T. (popular acronym for "Greatest of All Time"). What a difference a week can make.

The Dolphins had to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions this entire week after their $60 million free-agent purchase put up a pedestrian one-catch, 15-yard performance against the Cleveland Browns.

Mike Wallace himself inspired the clamor in the immediate aftermath of the game, as he wore his emotions on his sleeve with the press. He ducked their questions. He told them to ask the coaches about their game plan. He was visibly upset.

Never mind the fact the Dolphins won the game by two touchdowns. Mike Wallace's disappointing performance was all anyone wanted to talk about.

I penned an expansive breakdown of wide receiver Brian Hartline's dominant performance against the Cleveland Browns, yet when I talked about the piece on Twitter, most fan responses pivoted the topic immediately to Mike Wallace's performance. Fans wanted to know if the Miami Dolphins could fix him, and it had only been one game.

Let's explore some reasons Mike Wallace is going to be just fine in Miami.

Reason No. 1: Patience Is a Virtue

Any conclusions drawn about receiver Mike Wallace's tenure with the Miami Dolphins based on just his first game with his new team were premature in the extreme.

The Miami Dolphins signed Wallace to a five-year, $60 million contract. By the end of Week 1 of the 2013 NFL season, Wallace had played approximately 1.2 percent of the regular-season games for which he had been signed to play.

Therefore, the top reason Miami Dolphins fans should not worry "anymore," as the title of this piece suggests, is because they should not have been worried in the first place. At least, they had very little reason to be any more or less worried about Mike Wallace's value as a free-agent signing than they had on the day he signed his contract.

Simply put, patience is a virtue. Those who panicked in the wake of last week's performance did so at the cost of their rationality.

Reason No. 2: Winning Heals All Wounds

So the psychological term goes, "time heals all wounds." The NFL modification of this phrase says, "winning heals all wounds."

The Miami Dolphins won the football game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1. Part of the reaction to Wallace's performance was specifically directed at the fact that Wallace seemed upset about his statistics even though the team won. He broke the unspoken understanding that nothing matters so long as you are winning games.

That was only destined to last so long. Mike Wallace was never going to keep pouting as the Miami Dolphins racked up win after win. Nor were Miami Dolphins fans particularly likely to keep caring if their beloved team kept notching up the wins column week after week.

This week, the Miami Dolphins tallied another win in the win column and now sit tied with the New England Patriots at the top of the AFC East division.

With six games yet to be resolved in Week 2, the Miami Dolphins sit as one of only five teams in the entire NFL that boast an undefeated record. By the end of the day, there will be a minimum of six 2-0 teams and a maximum of nine, barring a tie between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks.

With yet another win in the books, all parties are destined to care that much less about the statistics of the team's top receiver.

Reason No. 3: 9 Catches for 115 Yards with a Touchdown

The Miami Dolphins played a football game today. Wide receiver Mike Wallace dominated that football game by catching nine passes for 115 yards, with a touchdown.

Wallace was targeted 11 times during the game. His yardage-per-attempt was very high at an average of well over 10 yards. He ran routes underneath the coverage as well as other routes that took the top off the coverage.

The key to a true impact performance for a wide receiver is not just the pure production. The coaches and quarterback can give a receiver pure production by planning to make him a focal point of the offense.

The Dolphins clearly did that with Mike Wallace in the wake of all the questions the team faced this week. However, what made Wallace's productive day a true impact performance was the fact that he took more than the defense wanted to give him by being a complete threat.

Mike Wallace converted a 3rd-and-3 into a first. He shortened the distance to the first-down marker when his number was called on short, high-percentage plays on first and second down.

He produced an 18-yard touchdown off a simple wide receiver screen call with his pure speed running after the catch. He produced a 34-yard gain off a double-move, taking advantage of his underneath success by running an out-and-up against Indianapolis corner Greg Toler.

He hurt the Indianapolis defense on short passes and long ones, and he also hurt the defense with the football in his hands by running well after the catch. This was a complete performance.