Cowboys vs. Dolphins: Miami Grades, Notes and Quotes
It has felt inevitable since the middle of September, but with their 24-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins, now at 4-6, are all but eliminated from playoff contention.
They're still mathematically alive, and if the teams ahead of them all collapse there's a distant shot, but that's all there is. Realistically speaking, it's time to turn the page on 2015 thanks to a game that was indicative of Miami's entire season.
This loss showed what many already knew but didn't want to believe. The Dolphins are a team with a lot of holes talent-wise that need to be urgently addressed. It doesn't help when the coaching is horrendously bad and conservative when it can't afford to be, nor does it help when quarterback Ryan Tannehill (a man who is not the main problem) can't make up for those lapses the way that elite quarterbacks can either.
But by far, the issue is how shallow the team is at many key positions, and that lack of depth was exploited by the Cowboys often.
Miami did have a chance to win, and were tied up at 14 in the second half. A 10-0 Cowboys run after a special teams miscue and a bad Jason Fox holding penalty knocked out a Tannehill run for a first down.
Here's a look at today's game and how the Dolphins managed to be the same old Dolphins they have been for the last decade.
Position Grades for the Dolphins
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Positional Grades
Quarterback: D
Ryan Tannehill had some nice moments on the field, but it wasn't enough to get his grade above a D.
He had three tremendous throws, with two of them going for touchdowns (and the other setting up the first touchdown). Other than that he was off, especially at the start of the game where he completed one pass in his first nine attempts.
His pick-six thrown to Rolando McClain ranks up there among the worst passes he has thrown in his NFL career. He locked eyes with his receiver despite having zero pressure in the pocket, and McClain read it with ease.
It didn't help him out much that the coaching staff called some horrifically bad pass plays in the worst situation possible. With that said, it's not like his offensive line (aside from Jason Fox and Dallas Thomas) was bad, and his running backs, when used, were productive.
Bad day for Tannehill, despite the good moments.
Running Backs: A
How can I grade a unit that only had 15 touches (and only 11 rushing attempts)?
The Dolphins running backs, Jay Ajayi and Lamar Miller, combined for 11 rushing attempts for 57 yards. That's an average of 5.2 yards per carry.
In my game plan piece I said they would need to combine for 30 carries for the Dolphins to be able to win the game. The fact that they couldn't even get to 15 carries is downright negligent of the coaching staff.
Wide Receiver: C-
I won't let the wide receivers off the hook for this horrendous passing performance.
There were plenty of plays that weren't made due to drops. Some of those drops were on the wet weather early, but explain how they fell apart late once the sun started shining?
The biggest drop came from Jarvis Landry in the first quarter on a pass that would've been a long third-down conversion. Yes, part of that was on Tannehill not leading Landry as well as he should've (which would've led to a touchdown), but bringing the ball in would've at least led to the drive continuing.
Tight Ends: F
Miami's tight ends can't seem to block without holding, and have been extremely unreliable as receivers. Jordan Cameron did get his hands on a bad Tannehill throw early, but as bad as the throw was, he still should've held onto it.
I'm not even bumping up the grade for Cameron's touchdown at the end of the first half. That was all Ryan Tannehill, Cameron just did his job and didn't drop it.
Offensive Line: C+
Save for Mike Pouncey having a snap issue, as well as Jason Fox and Dallas Thomas being Jason Fox and Dallas Thomas, I can't complain too much about the offensive line.
The few times Miami ran the ball (again, 14 total rushing attempts with Ryan Tannehill getting three of them), they opened up holes that were well exploited by the running backs. They also for the most part did a good job in pass-protection, with most of Tannehill's sacks coming from either his own lack of decision making or coverage sacks.
Miami's offensive line is better than you think, and will get better when Ja'Wuan James comes back.
Defensive Line: A-
Tony Romo came away the winner, but his pocket was far from pristine.
Ndamukong Suh continued his dominance, locking up Zack Martin and drawing plenty of holding penalties from him (with the officials actually calling a few of them) while recording seven tackles. Olivier Vernon had one sack, but it should've been two (bad penalty against Jamar Taylor wiped a big third down sack off the board in the second quarter). It was arguably Vernon's best game of the season.
Derrick Shelby also had himself a good game with a key fourth quarter sack, while as a group, they managed to hold the Cowboys run game until the end of the game.
Brent Grimes and Neville Hewitt were credited with an interception each, but thank the defensive line and their constant pressure for making those picks possible.
Linebackers: C
I don't fault the linebackers too much for their performance. They simply didn't have the horses, and were put in horrible positions at times (why is a linebacker covering Dez Bryant?).
Despite that, they weren't bad. Neville Hewitt did get an interception, and they were able to rack up tackles. The Cowboys tight ends Jason Witten and Gavin Escobar combined for four catches for 47 yards and no touchdowns, which you'll take any day of the week.
Defensive Backs: F
The defense was pretty good up front, but in the back it was a disaster.
Brent Grimes did get an interception, but that was only because Tony Romo threw it up for grabs after having Miami's defensive line collapse the pocket. It was a punt-type throw, and Grimes should've been able to run that back for a touchdown.
Jamar Taylor was atrocious: When he wasn't getting burnt, he simply wasn't trying. Not a good look for him.
I could discuss how well Reshad Jones played, but he's the only player in the secondary that seems to get anything done. It's a shame that the talent around him can't even be adequate.
Special Teams: C-
It was a bad special teams play that shifted the momentum in Dallas' favor for good, as Jarvis Landry allowed the ball to bounce in front of him in the end zone and onto the one yard line before picking it up.
That could've been a disaster as the Cowboys came close to recovering the kickoff. Had they done that, it's Cowboys ball inside the Miami five.
Too many long returns for the Cowboys as well, which has been a problem all season long.
Coaching: F
Miami had to run the ball to win the game. They ran the ball 14 times, with three coming from Tannehill. The Dolphins' defense needed their defensive backs to come up big. They couldn't, and it doesn't help when a linebacker is matched up with Dez Bryant.
The Dolphins also can't afford to punt the ball when down 10 with six minutes to play, yet punt they did.
Horrendous coaching effort from the Dolphins. A coaching staff cleanup will be necessary, no matter how many Oklahoma drills Dan Campbell makes the Dolphins do.
Dolphins Lose Ground in Race to Final Wild Card
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Here's how much Sunday's loss to the Dallas Cowboys affects the Dolphins.
A win would have put them at 5-5. With Houston (a team Miami holds the tie-breaker over) defeating the Jets 24-17, the Oakland Raiders losing to the Detroit Lions, and the Buffalo Bills playing the New England Patriots on Monday Night, the Dolphins could've been tied for the final wild card spot with control over their own destiny, a fairly easy schedule to close out the season and a meeting with the Jets next Sunday.
Now they practically need to win out, and still get some help. Miami is a game and a half behind Buffalo (who holds the tie-breaker over the Dolphins), and one game back of a Houston Texans team who plays in an infinitely worse division.
Miami Averages Five Yards Per Carry Running the Ball
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Give credit to the Dolphins offense, as they have given us two mind-blowing stats.
The first one is the fact that they ran for five yards per carry. That's good.
The second stat is they ran the all 14 times. That's not good.
The Dolphins were either tied or trailing by one score for most of the game. There's no reason to abandon the run. Yet they did, and it led to short drives, more third down issues and in the end, only 14 points on the board.
This has to change, but I've only been preaching this since the start of the season. If not now, when?
Most teams would love to have Lamar Miller and Jay Ajayi in their backfield. To misuse them like this is criminal.
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Dolphins Avoid History
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The last three weeks, the Miami Dolphins have allowed a safety.
It didn't reach four straight weeks, but not for lack of trying.
Had there been a safety given up by Miami on Sunday, they would've been the first team in NFL history to allow a safety in four straight games.
At the very least, they avoided that shred of infamy.
"I Think the Coach Made a Really Good Decision to Punt the Ball"
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Most of us love to second-guess the head coach after befuddling decisions.
In my case, I get a paycheck for doing so.
While I'm always the first to criticize, I'll also be the first to admit that a good 90 percent of the time I don't know as much about football as the coaches and players. I'm not a football savant, but rather just a guy who can write well and has a few opinions about the sport.
In fact, most of what I criticize is something that should be painfully obvious to the coaches, because if I can see something won't work, if I can see that it's the wrong thing to do at the wrong time, how can the coaches not see it?
With that being said, you don't have to be a football savant, just someone who occasionally plays Madden to know that when you are down by two scores with six minutes left to play, you have to go for it on fourth-and-six.
Mike Pouncey disagrees with me, per Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post, and what he said has me extremely worried about this team's mentality.
"It’s tough to get 3rd-and-6 much less 4th-and-6. I think coach made a really good decision to punt the ball," says the All-Pro center.
I would've never expected a player as competitive as Pouncey to say something this defeatist.
What does this say about how Pouncey might feel about the play-calling? What could it say about how he feels about the quarterback?
I don't want to get involved in any molehill mountaineering, and I'm not one to serve up hot takes. But that quote says a lot, and can't just be ignored.
"We Are Going to Finish 10-6"
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Here's a quote that doesn't need any real analysis.
As a fan, you want to hear this. It conveys that the team still believes itself to be in the race (despite the standings saying they're not), and shows that they won't quit.
Here's linebacker Kelvin Sheppard's prediction for the rest of the 2015 season, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald: "We are going to finish 10-6."
Does this quote deserve some laughter? Of course it does. While I have been very pessimistic (see the opening slide), I'll admit that it's possible because they can win six more games.
It's important to note that four of those final six games are at home, and each of these games are winnable (assuming New England has home-field advantage wrapped up going into Week 17).
Will they win six more games? No. While I'd love to be wrong and see this part of the article plastered all over social media in the week leading up to a Dolphins vs. Texans Wild Card playoff game (FYI, this matchup is technically possible), I doubt I will be wrong. The team has too many holes in too many places, and can't conceal them due to poor coaching and inconsistent quarterback play.
But good job, good effort Mr. Sheppard. Fans should like that your belief in the team is that strong.
Statistics courtesy of NFL.com
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