Jets vs. Dolphins: Miami Grades, Notes and Quotes
It was considered a "must-win" game for the Miami Dolphins, but despite the distinction, they didn't win; instead they fell 27-14 to the rival New York Jets.
Miami didn't play this game like it was a "must-win" game, as it managed to gain only 226 yards as a team, with 140 of those coming through the air. On defense, the Dolphins allowed the Jets to gain 425 yards.
It's a miracle that Miami was able to score 14 points, and an even bigger miracle that the Jets were held to "only" 27 points. The blame for that would be the Jets and their 14 penalties for 163 yards.
Aside from Jarvis Landry, there was not a single positive for the Dolphins. The only reason they had a chance at the end of the game was due to New York's mistakes.
So what's the total damage? Let's take a look at the grades, as well as the notables and quotes for a game that makes me want to apologize to our allies in Great Britain.
Positional Grades for the Dolphins
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| Position | Grade |
| Quarterback | F |
| Running Backs | F |
| Wide Receivers | F |
| Tight Ends | F |
| Offensive Line | F |
| Defensive Line | F |
| Linebackers | F |
| Defensive Backs | F |
| Special Teams | F |
| Coaching | F |
I feel like Oprah giving out these grades.
"You get an F!", Ryan Tannehill, and it's a well-deserved F, too. Did he have time to throw? Not at all, but this performance goes beyond that. The only positive he had was he was able to draw penalties on three long throws. This led to a touchdown for the Dolphins on his best throw of the game, a beautiful pass to tight end Jake Stoneburner.
"You get an F!", running backs, although in fairness it's not like they were utilized by the coaching staff. Miami ran the ball 11 times for 59 yards. More on that later.
"You get an F!", wide receivers and tight ends, although in fairness, the best players were a wide receiver (Landry) and a tight end (Stoneburner). They scored Miami's only two touchdowns.
"And you get an F!", offensive line. No protection, no push, and it's no mystery that the Jets were able to tee off on the Dolphins on every single play.
"And you get an F!", defensive line. The play was atrocious outside of Ndamukong Suh, who again saw double- and triple-teams for absolutely nothing thanks to the absence of Olivier Vernon and Cameron Wake.
"And you get an F!", linebackers, who again found themselves out of position on just about every play.
"Defensive backs, you get an F too!" Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker both had their way with a Dolphins secondary that seemed to fix nothing.
"Special teams, you get a C!" Yes, Landry did muff a kickoff (but recovered), but at least they hit their extra points, plus Landry had a few great punt returns toward the end of the game that almost single-handedly kept Miami in the game.
"And you get an F!", coaching staff. You'd think a staff coaching for their lives would not repeat the failed game plan of the first three games of the season, yet here it was. Lack of running game? That was there. No playing time for DeVante Parker or Zach Vigil? That was there, too!
It was atrocious to watch, and considering the commonly understood definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results), I'd suggest leaving this coaching staff at Bethlehem Royal Hospital (one of the most notorious mental hospitals not just in England, but in history, which gave us the term "bedlam") instead of having them board a plane to Miami.
Now if only someone had drawn up the game plan Miami was supposed to run.
Brent Grimes Injured
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Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker may have had a field day with Miami's secondary, but there's a good reason why.
Brent Grimes injured his right knee in the second series of the game, per Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel.
Grimes was kept out of the rest of the game, and Kelly reports that Grimes was walking fine after the game but will have an MRI when he returns to Miami.
The injury to Grimes elevated Zack Bowman into the cornerback rotation, where he recorded an interception. Unfortunately, the rest of the secondary didn't do much, and the only reason Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't rack up more passing yards was because of his own inaccuracy.
Losing Grimes is a huge blow for a defense that is already in big trouble, one that would make an already bad secondary the absolute worst defensive back unit in the NFL.
Not only would Bowman get more playing time, but it would mean that both Brice McCain and Jamar Taylor would have to take over as the boundary corners. Not good times at all for Miami, so hope that Grimes is all right.
Joe Philbin to Keep Kevin Coyle as Defensive Coordinator
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There were rumors swirling throughout the media that if the Dolphins lost to the Jets, changes would be made.
The Dolphins lost to the Jets, but so far (as of the publishing of this article), there hasn't been a change, and in fact, there won't be one.
Per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, Joe Philbin plans on keeping Kevin Coyle at defensive coordinator.
I'd say this was a mistake, but the mistake was that Philbin didn't address this last season. It was Coyle's defense that wilted down the stretch in 2014, and that has carried on into the start of the 2015 season.
Coyle and Philbin are in power for now, but I can't see that lasting for too much longer. If they're not fired within the next week, I could see them getting fired after the Thursday night game in New England on Oct. 29, barring a miracle run by the Dolphins post-bye week.
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Where Was DeVante Parker?
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Miami's offense was anemic, as Landry was the only real playmaker (with help from the Jets secondary and their three pass interference penalties).
It's a shame Miami doesn't have a big wide receiver it can throw to.
No wait, that's wrong, for I specifically remember the Dolphins drafting one, and I remember praising them for drafting one.
That receiver is DeVante Parker, one of the few positive things from last week's embarrassing loss to Buffalo, relegated to setting picks (with a penalty called on it that was bogus) and sitting on the bench.
Parker had zero targets on Sunday, and I don't know if that mistake was on Bill Lazor's poor play-calling or Ryan Tannehill's bad decision-making.
Either way, that's an issue, along with the running game, that Miami has to rectify going forward.
Why have a Ferrari if you're not going to take it out for a spin every once in a while?
"We're Just Not Getting It Done"
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Tannehill didn't have a good game, but he did have a couple of good quotes, albeit they were of the robo-quarterback kind.
Per Jeff Darlington of NFL.com, Tannehill pointed out postgame: "It's ridiculous. We have playmakers. We have opportunities. We're just not getting it done."
A lot of that falls on Tannehill himself. He seemed like he couldn't find the playmakers to get it done, and he was awful throwing the ball on Sunday.
Yet the play calls were maddening. It seemed like the only playmaker on the team was Landry, and everyone else was there as a decoy. No targets for Parker, and only 11 rushing attempts.
The 11 rushing attempts are key when you consider how many times the Dolphins attempted play-action passes. How can you run a play action if teams know you're not going to run the ball?
A competent offensive line would help, too, but that's something for which Dolphins fans have been praying for the past five years and can't really change until next season.
"We're Up Against the Wall Right Now and We Need to Fight Our Way Out"
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One of Tannehill's other quotes, per ABC affiliate WPLG Local 10 in Miami: "We're up against the wall right now and we need to fight our way out."
This has been the situation for the Dolphins since losing to Jacksonville in Week 2, although you could also say it was the situation after escaping with what now looks like a fluke win in Week 1.
The rumors will continue to fly around this team throughout the bye week, as the Dolphins will have to go 9-3 just to get to a 10-6 record.
The good news is that there are some winnable games on the schedule. The bad news is it will be difficult to figure out what those games are based off of how Miami has played.
One wonders if now is the time for the Dolphins to panic.
"We Still Can't Panic"
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Joe Philbin's quote, per Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post, does not sound like a quote from a man about to be fired. Take this however you'd like.
"We still can't panic. It all seems like the walls are closing in on you. I mean everybody -- we all realize that."
Philbin might realize that, but the team doesn't play like one whose walls are closing in, and the coaching staff isn't coaching like it, either.
The same tired ideas see the field, the same schemes, and that has led to the same uninspired play that has made fans angry.
Philbin met with Stephen Ross after the game, per James Walker of ESPN.com, and after said meeting, Philbin isn't worried about his job security.
This is likely by default, only because there aren't any better options available in house. It's a sad state of affairs in Miami, the saddest that I have seen in years of watching the Dolphins.
This includes the 1-15 Dolphins of 2007, who never looked this uninspired on Sundays and never really allowed themselves to get embarrassed like this.
Statistics courtesy of NFL.com
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