Miami Dolphins Full 2014 Midseason Report Card
In the NFL, four games make a big difference, one that you will see as we grade the Miami Dolphins in their midseason report card.
When I wrote the report card for the first quarter of the season, the Dolphins were 2-2, and we were still unsure of the potential that this team possessed. Sure, it had defeated the Patriots handily in Week 1 and blew out the Oakland Raiders in London in Week 4, but those two victories were sandwiched around blowout losses in Buffalo and at home against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Looking back, it's worth noting that the Bills and Chiefs are a combined 10-6. Add in the Dolphins' lone loss of this quarter to the Packers, and they have lost to teams with a combined record of 15-9.
Compare that to the teams they've beaten (New England, Oakland, Chicago, Jacksonville and San Diego). Those teams are a combined 15-19. Yes, Oakland and Jacksonville are the two worst teams in the NFL, and yes, the Chicago Bears seem to be a candidate for the imploding team with the most talent in the league. But New England currently has the best record in the AFC, and the Chargers are still relevant to the AFC playoff race and likely will remain so throughout the season.
In other words, you really can't scoff at whom the Dolphins have beaten, nor could you scoff at who's beaten them. They are a legitimate AFC contender as of the first half of the season, and in the next quarter of the season, we will see how much of a contender the team really is.
This report card will be similar to the one you see from me after every game and will operate like the report card for the first quarter of the season I published prior to the Dolphins' Week 5 bye week.
The grades will be partly based on their averages from the last four games and on other intangible factors such as resiliency, poise and improvement from week to week. I will also give you their grades for the half, which are their averages from all eight games plus the other factors I have mentioned.
Here's a look at Miami's grades for the first half.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Pictured here: resiliency.
Remember when Miami was 1-2 going into its London game, and Joe Philbin refused to name Ryan Tannehill the starter for that game?
Remember how the fans were calling for Philbin's head, with some people wanting Matt Moore to play against the Raiders instead of Tannehill?
No one is calling for Matt Moore now, nor should they for the rest of the season, with the exception of two circumstances.
The first scenario is the unmentionable one that we're not going to name—I'm sure you can figure it out. The Dolphins wouldn't have a choice but to name Moore the starter then.
The second circumstance is what we saw against both Oakland and San Diego: The Dolphins blow out their opponent, and Tannehill comes out like a pitcher who went eight innings and allowed three hits, one walk and no runs with his team up 7-0.
Yes, that includes the requisite standing ovation that pitcher would get.
The most fun part of this season has been the growth of Tannehill from an average passer to a good, almost great quarterback.
You win with quarterbacks who have a 90.9 passer rating. That's higher than Cam Newton, Joe Flacco, Matthew Stafford and Nick Foles. That's only 2.2 points lower than Russell Wilson, who is at 93.1.
Can Tannehill sustain this clip? He will have his most challenging four games of the season coming up, but I'm confident thanks to his last five games. His leadership in that time has been outstanding as well.
Second Quarter Grade: A
Midseason Grade: B+
Running Back
2 of 10
The Knowshon Moreno era in Miami was fun for the 90 minutes it lasted.
We wish him all the best in his recovery and would love to see him back in a Dolphins uniform for 2015.
With that being said, Lamar Miller, Daniel Thomas and Damien Williams have done a fine job picking up the slack for Miami's run game.
There has been a regression in terms of statistics. Their averages have gone down, but so have their carries.
The reason for this is the effectiveness of the passing game, which was set up by the run.
As long as Miami's run game can continue to supplement its pass offense and set it up to succeed, it's a money run game.
There should still be more carries for Miller, though, as he has 106 carries so far, an average of 13 per game. He should get at least 20 per game with his average of 4.9 yards per carry.
Second Quarter Grade: B+
Midseason Grade: A-
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
3 of 10
This has been Miami's second-most disappointing unit of the season.
Its grade for this quarter doesn't reflect that, but the midseason grade does.
There have been some bright flashes from Miami's tight ends and wide receivers this season. Mike Wallace has been productive, Jarvis Landry has made an impact, and Charles Clay is starting to pick it up (and likely will for the rest of the season).
But then there's Brian Hartline—no longer the security blanket or a player you game-plan for. He has not had a good 2014 and has seen his status as blanket and No. 2 receiver get usurped by Landry.
Brandon Gibson has had some injury issues and has been benched a few times, while Rishard Matthews has barely seen any action.
We expected better from this unit, and that has come. But they are still inconsistent, they still drop passes they have no business dropping, and they have continued to show a tendency of being Tannehill's worst enemy.
Second Quarter Grade: B+
Midseason Grade: B-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Has Miami's offensive line made strides in 2014? The answer is a definitive "yes" across the board.
The offensive line is also better in terms of talent than it has been in years, and from the looks of it, each of their starters are healthy.
The only reason the line has a lower grade in this quarter than in the last one is it did have a rough adjustment period. Getting back Mike Pouncey will be great for the team long-term, but him having to adjust to playing guard and to game speed sets the Dolphins back a little bit, especially in their first three games.
Against San Diego, we saw what this line was capable of and what we hope to see from it all season long. Four tough challenges await (Detroit, Buffalo, Denver and the New York Jets), but you should feel nothing but confident about the offensive line's chances of keeping Tannehill clean and creating holes for Miller or Thomas to run through.
Second Quarter Grade: B-
Midseason Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Your honor students of the 2014 season.
These are the guys who mess up the curve for everyone else with their consistently dominating performance. Their lowest grade all season came against the Buffalo Bills, which is an aberration.
In the second quarter of the season, their worst game was against the Jaguars. They were productive against Jacksonville's pass attack—however, the run game tore them apart.
They righted the ship there against San Diego in a dominant performance that they spearheaded.
In its last four games, Miami's defensive line produced 11 sacks and cleared the way for three more from the linebackers and secondary.
The defensive line (specifically, Cameron Wake) makes Miami's defense tick. Defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers should be a hot commodity this offseason for teams looking for a defensive coordinator.
Hopefully, he'll stay if such opportunities open up for him.
Second Quarter Grade: A
Midseason Grade: A
Linebackers
6 of 10
Miami's linebackers have been the most pleasant surprise of the 2014 NFL season.
They started off slow, going with a ragtag group consisting of a special teams ace (Jason Trusnik), a second-year player who saw limited snaps his rookie year (Jelani Jenkins) and a high-priced free agent who looked like a bust (Dannell Ellerbe in Week 1, Philip Wheeler in Week 2).
Despite all of that, they graded out with a C+ in the first quarter of the season—and then Koa Misi came back.
What a change this has been.
Wheeler is having a fine season for Miami on the strong side, with Pro Football Focus (subscription required) grading out him at 6.0.
If you remember last season, Wheeler graded out as the worst outside linebacker in the NFL, with a grade of minus-19.5. His play on the field looked a lot worse than his grade indicated.
Meanwhile, on the weak side, Jenkins is Miami's most improved player and is graded out at 9.3 this season.
Then there's Misi. When you look at Miami's worst-graded games this season, you'll notice that they're the five games Misi has missed. When he plays, the linebackers average a grade from me of A-minus.
Overall, this unit has been Miami's most improved as a whole, and that has made the defense as a whole better—as an elite defensive line and great secondary finally have a team of linebackers worthy of them.
It's a big reason why Miami is ranked third in the NFL in points and yards allowed.
Second Quarter Grade: A-
Midseason Grade: B+
Secondary
7 of 10
Speaking of units who have improved since an important player returned, how about Miami's secondary?
In its last four games, it has allowed an average of 187.3 yards per game in the air while intercepting at least one pass a game.
It has forced fumbles and locked down elite receivers and quarterbacks. This is a very strong unit.
Cortland Finnegan has been a great pickup, while Brent Grimes is not only back in the Pro Bowl form he displayed in 2013—he's even better this season.
Louis Delmas has been another great pickup with his playmaking abilities.
But the man who has made it all tick has been Reshad Jones, who since coming back has one sack, two interceptions and a fumble recovery while producing 27 tackles.
That's in four games, not eight.
Miami's secondary had its doubts going into the season due to its players' sizes, but any and all doubts should be erased by now. In its first eight games, it has shut down the likes of Tom Brady, Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers at quarterback.
The secondary's road through good to great quarterbacks will continue in the next three weeks as it gets Matthew Stafford this week. Then in two weeks, it has a meeting with Peyton Manning—a tough test, but this secondary has the skill and swag to pass it.
Second Quarter Grade: A-
Midseason Grade: B+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Now for this unit, one that we don't really want to discuss.
Caleb Sturgis had the one negative play all day last Sunday, a missed field goal at the end of the first half. Luckily for him, Miami got better in the second half, but I would've felt much more comfortable at 23-0 instead of 20-0.
It's nitpicky, but you can't have a shaky kicker in the NFL. Sturgis is the definition of shaky, hitting 80 percent of his kicks, which includes a paltry 4-of-7 from field goals beyond 40 yards.
At one point this season, he may have to make a 40-plus-yard field goal to win or tie the game. It could be the difference between Miami getting a playoff spot or going home.
It could even be the difference between Philbin spending 2015 as Miami's head coach or as Green Bay's offensive coordinator.
If Sturgis isn't shaky enough for you, Brandon Fields has had a subpar season as well.
He's improved of late, however, he's still averaging a poor 44.9 yards per punt.
The best special teams player has been Jarvis Landry, who hasn't contributed a touchdown on special teams yet, but he has set up Miami in good field position.
As good as Landry has been, though, Sturgis and Fields have been too disappointing to give this unit anything other than a disappointing grade.
Second Quarter Grade: C-
Midseason Grade: C-
Coaching
9 of 10
As recently as two weeks ago, I was not sold on Miami's coaching staff.
From what it looked like, the bad decisions, the stubbornness and a pseudo-toxic aura seemed to surround it.
It felt like the staff caused more trouble than it really had to, and the players were turning against them.
What has changed in two weeks?
I've always complimented the play-calling this season, and it remains outstanding and is only getting better by the game. Bill Lazor is finding a groove and seems to know the right buttons to press at the right time.
Kevin Coyle, who I've probably criticized as much as Joe Philbin, is showing me that he's more than just a glorified special teams coach. The guy has imagination, and he's finally able to use it this season.
Having a better-than-competent linebacking team helps in that aspect.
Then there's Philbin himself, a man who turned in his best coaching game during what had to be a painful time for him. The week before, he and his staff had actually done a great job (the players didn't execute the way they should've against Jacksonville), but against San Diego, they were on fire with every call and every challenge.
Am I fully convinced that this coaching staff has what it takes? With Lazor, definitely; with Coyle, I am a bit convinced; and with Philbin, well, I'm starting to warm up to him a bit.
Second Quarter Grade: B-
Midseason Grade: C+
Final Grades
10 of 10| Position Unit | First Quarter | Second Quarter | Midseason Cumulative Grade |
| Quarterback | B- | A | B+ |
| Running Back | A- | B+ | A- |
| Wide Receivers/Tight Ends | C | B+ | B- |
| Offensive Line | A | B- | B |
| Defensive Line | A- | A | A |
| Linebackers | C+ | A- | B+ |
| Secondary | C+ | A- | B+ |
| Special Teams | C- | C- | C- |
| Coaching | C- | B- | C+ |
| Final Grades | B- | B+ | B+ |
Shaping up to be a good year, no?
Based off of the grades, you can see the improvement across the board from the team. A lot of that improvement stems from getting back three important players—however, you'll notice marked improvement from Ryan Tannehill and his wide receivers.
The schedule will get tougher, though, and the next four games will be very telling. If the Dolphins can come out at least 2-2 in their next four, they will be ready for a December that is just a tad softer but still has two contenders on the schedule.
Of course, 3-1 or 4-0 would be better, and if the Dolphins can pull that off, start buying your divisional round tickets now.
Is it time to break out the pots and pans like our friends above did in 1972? No, but we should at least keep them clean.
Statistics courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com or NFL.com unless otherwise noted.
Follow @thomasgalicia.
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