Miami Dolphins vs. Chicago Bears: Full Report Card Grades for Miami
You have to love a team that can pick itself up from a devastating loss the way the Miami Dolphins did Sunday afternoon. They came away with a 27-14 victory over the Chicago Bears that wasn't as close as the final score indicates.
This game could have been worse but wasn't due to some bad decisions down the stretch and a few bad penalties in the second half. I was actually scared until cornerback Cortland Finnegan's final knockdown of a pass to Brandon Marshall in the fourth quarter.
Finnegan was one of many stars for the Dolphins, who as a team executed well for most of the game. Were the mistakes bothersome? Of course, but as a whole, the performance of the team and the execution in most of the game were enough to give you hope that Miami can string together a good run down the stretch.
Here's a look at the final grades for Sunday's matchup with the Bears, on a day when the Dolphins were great but could have been a lot better.
Quarterback: A+
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Ryan Tannehill responded in a big way to last week, turning in one of his finest performances ever.
He used every one of his assets. With his arm he gained 277 yards and scored two touchdowns while completing 25 of 32 passes. His final quarterback rating was 123.6.
Tannehill did some major damage with his legs as well, running six times for 48 yards, including a 30-yard run on 4th-and-1 that helped set up Miami's third-quarter touchdown that effectively put the game away.
Did he take a few bad sacks? Yes, and he threw the ball away to the wrong spot in the fourth quarter on his intentional grounding penalty, which forced Miami back 10 yards and resulted in a missed Caleb Sturgis field goal.
Other than those flaws, Tannehill was excellent, which is why he gets a perfect grade despite the flaws.
Grade: A+
Running Backs: A-
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Lamar Miller came back down to earth this afternoon, only running for 61 yards and a touchdown on 18 attempts for an average of 3.4 yards per carry.
He also had a dropped pass in the fourth quarter that could have helped seal the game.
Despite those facts, Miller performed well. Chicago was dedicated to stopping the run, and yet he kept running and fighting for yards.
Miller was also better in pass protection than usual.
But his main impact came on the final drive, where he only ran for 16 yards but kept pushing forward.
It's just a shame that two bad holding penalties on Charles Clay and Brian Hartline nullified a Miller touchdown run, which would have upped his rushing average.
A very good performance by Miller, along with a decent effort from Daniel Thomas, earned this high grade. Sometimes the game goes beyond stats, and this was one of those times.
Grade: A-
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: B-
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One might think that an excellent performance by Ryan Tannehill meant an excellent performance by Miami's wide receivers and tight ends.
Far from it, as the only receivers whose performance I'd rank as excellent would be Mike Wallace, Jarvis Landry and Charles Clay, and even with Clay I point to a bad holding penalty that negated a touchdown.
Dion Sims only had two receptions, but they were both very good receptions. He's spared too.
As for Brian Hartline, I'm disappointed in him and his performance against Chicago. Despite a concerted effort to get him the ball, he wound up with only three catches for 35 yards. On each catch, he couldn't get any yards after contact and was taken down swiftly.
He also had two huge penalties that prevented the Dolphins from scoring. On the first one, Miami recovered and got into the end zone a few plays later. On the second one, Miami had to settle for a field goal.
I feel like I'm picking on Hartline, but it is well-deserved. He makes far too much money to be this bad; he's really going to have to improve this season to give the offense a boost.
Hartline's performance was a big reason for this relatively low grade.
Grade: B-
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Offensive Line: B+
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You'll look at the offensive line on Sunday and think they weren't that great.
Allowing four sacks (and allowing enough pressure to get an intentional grounding penalty) doesn't look too good.
However, the O-line did protect Tannehill well considering how good the Bears are at getting to the quarterback, and they opened up holes for the run game (despite Miller's anemic-looking numbers) to do well against a team that can stop the run.
Tannehill's 30-yard scamper on 4th-and-1 in the third quarter was a thing of beauty set up by great blocking up front. For the most part, this unit did very well; the only real issue was the sacks.
Grade: B+
Defensive Line: A
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If you can get to Jay Cutler and force him to make mistakes, you have a great shot at beating the Bears.
Miami's defensive line did just that, sacking Cutler three times while also hitting him often in the backfield, altering the course of many of his throws.
I credit the defensive line for both of Cutler's turnovers. The obvious one was Cameron Wake with the sack and strip, but less obvious was how much pressure was on Cutler when he threw the interception to Reshad Jones.
He was hit as he threw that pass, which caused it to flatten out before landing safely in Jones' arms.
As for Matt Forte, the Dolphins contained him well, allowing him to run for only 49 yards.
The Bears as a team only ran for 52 yards but were forced to pass for the majority of the game. This wasn't a problem for the defensive linemen, who pinned their ears back and went to town.
Grade: A
Linebackers: B+
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I expected Matt Forte to carve through the Dolphins linebackers like a hot knife through butter, and I'm glad I was wrong.
Yes, he had six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown, but when he didn't catch the ball, he was covered well.
Chicago's run game didn't do well, but neither did the pass game. Martellus Bennett seemed like he would have a big game at first, but he was contained as well, mainly by Chris McCain.
It was a great effort by the linebacking unit, which continues to improve from week to week.
Grade: B+
Secondary: A+
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Let me bring this up again, since it's been brought up all week: Miami's cornerbacks average 5'10".
Brandon Marshall is 6'4", 230 pounds. Alshon Jeffery is 6'3", 216 pounds.
Advantage Bears, right? At least I thought so, as did almost everyone else.
Then the game began, and Marshall and Jeffery were non-factors for the Bears. Combined they caught eight passes for 57 yards.
Their longest reception was a 15-yarder from Marshall. The only other big play was a very dubious pass interference penalty, which helped set up Chicago's second touchdown of the day.
This was the secondary's finest game, especially Cortland Finnegan and Reshad Jones.
Finnegan did a masterful job on Marshall, especially during Chicago's final drive. He not only stopped Marshall but got into his head.
He made Marshall look like the Marshall we saw in Miami when Chad Henne was passing him the ball. He forced Marshall to react to him as well, as Marshall shoved Finnegan after the failed fourth-down conversion attempt that Finnegan broke up.
Let's also not forget Finnegan forced a fumble by Dante Rosario that was recovered by Randy Starks.
Jones had an interception in the first half that killed Chicago's momentum. Prior to the pick, the Bears were rolling down the field.
For the first time this season, the secondary earned the high grade they're getting without any debate.
Grade: A+
Special Teams: F
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Can you get an F in a victory?
You can if you're the Dolphins special teams.
Once again they allowed a big kickoff return and then made it worse with an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty.
This set up Chicago with great field position on what would be its final drive of the game. Thanks to great play by the secondary, Miami came out unscathed, but considering how a good punt return set up Green Bay's comeback last week, it was horrible to see that nothing was learned.
Brandon Fields only punted the ball twice, but it came off the side of his foot for 34 yards and set up great field position for the Bears in the first half.
Once again, despite the mistake on special teams, Miami's defense bailed them out. It shouldn't have to be that way, though.
Then there's Caleb Sturgis, who missed a field goal and had one blocked. That's six points he left on the board, and thankfully, Miami didn't need them.
Had the game been closer, these mistakes would have severely hurt the Dolphins, and I'm basing my grade on that. Something has to be done about special teams, as they've hurt the team a lot more than they've helped it.
Grade: F
Coaching: D
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How bad does the coaching have to be to earn a D when the team won by two scores?
Check out the special teams slide for one part of that answer.
Another reason was some dumb decision-making. On Sturgis' first miss of the game, he kicked it from 52 yards. While it wasn't your typical Chicago windy day, it was still fairly blustery, and in Soldier Field the winds circle around the field.
I probably would have gone with either a pooch punt or a full punt on that possession.
Then you have the fourth quarter, where the play-calling was generally good (it was the whole game and isn't my complaint), but I questioned a few choices.
One of them was with the Dolphins facing 4th-and-goal at the Chicago 2-yard line on the final real offensive drive of the game. I would have taken the gamble and gone for the touchdown. In the best-case scenario, you go up three scores and seal the game.
In the worst-case scenario, the Bears would still be down two possessions with two minutes left but have to travel at least 98 yards on the first one to get a touchdown.
Those odds tell me to go for it, but the staff went for the field goal instead, despite the poor day Sturgis was having.
The field goal was good, and the Dolphins prevented the score, but why set yourself up for more mistakes?
Miami's personnel outplayed some of the bad decisions made by the coaches, who at times seemed to be trying to give Chicago the victory.
I won't reward a coaching staff for dodged bullets. The play-calling was good, but the discipline (the holding penalties that prevented scores by the players and the whole special teams play) and some decision-making were severely lacking.
Grade: D
Final Grades
10 of 10| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | A+ |
| Running Backs | A- |
| Wide Receivers | B- |
| Offensive line | B+ |
| Defensive Line | A |
| Linebackers | B+ |
| Secondary | A+ |
| Special Teams | F |
| Coaching | D |
| Final Grade | B |
This coaching staff and the special teams really have to get it together because they're messing up the Dolphins' grades.
This should have been an A-plus performance. The scoreboard and statistics indicate as much; overall, it was an enjoyable game for Dolphins fans from start to finish and a tremendously important and much-needed victory.
However, the glaring mistakes would have normally cost the Dolphins a win. They can't afford to keep making them. The bad penalties and poor special teams play have to stop. They have cost the Dolphins before and will cost them again if they're not cleaned up.
Miami left at least 10 points on the board due to its poor play in coaching and special teams and gave Chicago seven more points than it should have scored. That's a 17-point swing against Miami when you add it up, and those mistakes are responsible for it.
It better be cleaned up against the Jacksonville Jaguars—Miami's next opponent and a team that despite only having one victory all season has a habit of staying in games.
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