Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots: Full Report Card Grades for Miami
Joe Philbin started off his press conference by talking to the media and saying that the New England Patriots deserved to win the game, per James Walker of ESPN.com.
That's what we call burying the lede, which should be how the Miami Dolphins got embarrassed in Foxborough by the New England Patriots by the score of 41-13, including getting outscored, 27-0, in the second half.
Miami sure didn't deserve to win thanks to poor coaching, poorer effort by the players and an overall sense of doom and gloom that permeated the team from the time it got out of the locker room to start the second half.
Keep in mind, the Dolphins were down, 14-13, to start the second half on the road. They should've been excited to go out there and have a big season-saving half.
Instead, they had their second consecutive atrocious second half (in the last two games the Dolphins have been outscored, 48-3, in the third and fourth quarters), and it wound up being a season-killing half.
Now onto the grades, which should explain why the damage was so horrendous.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Ryan Tannehill had his first 300-plus-yard day on Sunday.
It's almost hard to believe that this is the first week he's thrown for that many yards, and it's unfortunate that it comes in his least efficient game of the season.
In addition to the 346 yards Tannehill threw for, he completed 61 percent of his passes and threw an incredible touchdown to end the first half, along with two interceptions.
Ryan Tannehill was not the problem on Sunday, even with those interceptions. His receivers and offensive line let him down, with the Dolphins dropping passes throughout the game in a repeat of last week's effort.
His offensive line wasn't much better, allowing four sacks.
Not a great Tannehill game, but unlike the rest of the team, it at least looked like he cared, and he was able to be productive, if not efficient.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
This wasn't a great game for Miami's running backs.
Lamar Miller had only 16 carries, which he used to run for 47 yards (an average of 2.9 yards per carry).
Despite those issues, I still think Miami abandoned the run far too early. What the run game was able to help out was on the long ball, where the Dolphins had plenty of success early in the game.
Outside of Miller, there were other problems, like Damien Williams dropping a perfectly thrown touchdown pass from Tannehill in the second quarter (leading to the Dolphins settling for a field goal) and Daniel Thomas only being able to gain five yards on two carries.
Not a banner day, but despite the issues, this aspect of Miami's offense is woefully underused.
Grade: C
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
3 of 10
Mike Wallace played his best game on Sunday and had a highlight-reel catch.
It's a shame that none of that bears any significance, as outside of Wallace and Jarvis Landry (who combined for 13 catches and 203 yards), this unit was pretty pedestrian.
Dropped passes and missed opportunities were the norm for Miami's receivers, who often found themselves confused while running routes (on one play, Wallace and Gibson were in the same exact spot) and just as confused when the ball was thrown to them.
It wasn't pretty, nor was the performance of Miami's pass-catchers.
Grade: D
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line
4 of 10
Name someone on this offensive line who played well.
Go ahead...try.
The answer is no one—not with so many bad penalties, not with so many missed blocks, not with so many matchups being dominated by New England's front four.
In the first game between these two teams, the Dolphins offensive line dominated, and it wasn't even a contest.
In the second game, it was New England's turn to dominate the trenches. And dominate they did, making good-looking rookies look bad, making Pro Bowlers look like chumps and making Dallas Thomas look like Dallas Thomas.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The story of the Dolphins' 2014 defensive line is playing out like a cliched Behind the Music.
Everything was going well this season, and then the bottom completely fell out.
We had a Cameron Wake no-show (third time in four games), a running game be able to gain yards at will and most concerning: no pressure on the quarterback.
The offensive line has the injury excuse for why it is so vastly different from Week 1. The defensive line has the same personnel and scheme that dominated the Patriots in Week 1 but was nowhere near as effective.
Grade: F
Linebackers
6 of 10
I can't say I have a gripe with Miami's linebackers.
Despite missing two-thirds of their unit thanks to injuries to Koa Misi and Jelani Jenkins, this unit still played alright despite failings from the defensive line and secondary.
Jason Trusnik recorded his first career interception, so he's got that going for him.
Grade: C
Secondary
7 of 10
There were a few nice moments from Miami's secondary.
Those nice moments ended once we got into the second half.
Tom Brady and New England's receivers torched the Dolphins secondary to the tune of 287 yards and a touchdown, with Rob Gronkowski (primarily covered by either Jimmy Wilson or Reshad Jones) catching only three passes—but for 96 yards and a touchdown.
Gronk made those three receptions look easy, and the rest of New England's receivers (Brandon LaFell, Julian Edelman) only made matters worse for the Dolphins secondary.
Grade: F
Special Teams
8 of 10
The good: Jarvis Landry had a 32-yard return that set up Miami's only touchdown of the game.
The bad: everything else about this unit.
Starting from the blocked field goal (which led to New England's first touchdown of the day), then onto Brandon Fields only punting for an average of 39 yards per punt, it was a poor effort on special teams.
Not even this unit could save the Dolphins; in fact, it was just as much of a hindrance as the rest of the team.
Grade: F
Coaching
9 of 10
Give credit to the Dolphins coaching staff: Early in the game they took risks.
Letting Ryan Tannehill air it out was a great risk to take, especially the way they started the game.
Then, the play-calling became chicken scratch, and mistakes were made that still boggle the mind.
Why abandon the run? Why not go big on 2nd-and-short?
Most importantly, where were those second-half adjustments? Throughout the year, that was the best part of the Dolphins, but now they can't seem to get anything going during the second half.
Also, why wasn't Miami prepared or playing with any fight for a must-win game?
Very bad performance from the coaches. Not as bad as many of the players, but bad enough that I'm unequivocally in favor of letting Joe Philbin go no matter what happens in these next two games.
Grade: F
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | C |
| Running Backs | C |
| Wide Receivers | D |
| Offensive Line | F |
| Defensive Line | F |
| Linebackers | C |
| Secondary | F |
| Special Teams | F |
| Coaching | F |
| Final Grade | F |
There is no grade lower than F, which is a shame because that's the grade I'd give this Dolphins team after today's poor effort.
I feel for Ryan Tannehill, whom on Twitter I described as not being the problem on the team. Unfortunately, he's not the solution either, at least he doesn't look to be the solution. Great quarterbacks can get their team out of ruts like this, which Tannehill hasn't been able to do.
On the list of Dolphins concerns, Ryan Tannehill is far down the list. Right now, I'm very concerned about the defense, a unit that earlier this season looked elite but now looks horrendous. Defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle's seat should be hot, even if Joe Philbin's isn't.
Then there's this: The Dolphins might have a lot less talent than we thought, and it's that simple. I can't blame general manager Dennis Hickey for that, who in one offseason brought plenty of upgrades, but it is concerning.
However, despite the lack of talent, no coaching staff seems to get less out of whatever talent they do have than Miami's coaching staff, and it was apparent again on Sunday afternoon.
Statistics provided by NFL.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
