Patriots vs. Dolphins: Grading Reggie Bush's 1st Game With Miami

The biggest move the Miami Dolphins made in the offseason was trading for Reggie Bush, and Dolphins fans got to see Bush make his debut with the team Monday night as they faced the New England Patriots. 

Bush had his ups and down with the New Orleans Saints and now has a chance at a fresh start with the Dolphins. Bush's big play ability has had Dolphins fans buzzing the past month waiting to see if he could ignite an offense that never really took off last season. 

With rookie second-round pick Daniel Thomas inactive, this was Bush's time to shine.  

The Miami Dolphins said before the game they wanted to give Bush 20 touches, and they did exactly that. So how did the first game in the Bush experiment go for the Dolphins? Read on to find out. 

Running

As Reggie Bush scampered for 13 yards off-tackle on the third play from scrimmage, it looked like we could be seeing a new Reggie Bush. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as that was Bush's longest run of the night.

On the rest of his 10 carries, Bush just managed a measly 25 yards on the ground. Yes, the Miami Dolphins largely ignored the running game. Instead, they resorted to throwing the ball for the majority of the game, and they had great success doing that, but shouldn't that have opened up the running game even more for Bush?

Danny Woodhead, a similar style of back to Bush, managed 4.9 yards per carry running the ball for the New England Patriots. Now the Dolphins aren't the Patriots, but Woodhead is supposed to be a poor man's Reggie Bush, not the other way around.

If one game was any indication, Bush looked like the same back who struggled to run in between the tackles with the New Orleans Saints. 

Receiving

Reggie Bush was a weapon catching the ball out of the backfield, but we already knew that. 

Bush tallied team-high nine receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown. Though, it should be noted that the touchdown came in garbage time. 

At the very least he was efficient, catching nine of the 10 passes thrown in his direction. However, it should be noted that he only averaged 6.2 yards per catch and his longest reception of the night went for only 16 yards.

In a game where Chad Henne passed for 416 yards, you would have liked to Bush break off a long catch and run in which he shook some tacklers in the process.  

Final Grade

The Reggie Bush experiment in Miami didn't get off to the start many were hoping for.

Bush looked an awful lot like the back we watched for five years with the New Orleans Saints. A good receiver out of the backfield, but a runner who struggles to gain yards up the middle and isn't decisive with his cuts in the backfield.   

If the Dolphin's plan is to make Bush their feature back, I hope they have a backup plan.

Where Bush really hurt the Miami Dolphins was near the end zone. Because of his inability to run up the middle, when he was in the game near the goal line the New England Patriots knew he wasn't going to be the one taking a handoff.

On a crucial fourth down play at the 1-yard line with the Dolphins threatening to cut the New England Patriots lead to seven, the Dolphins attempted a fade route, instead of pounding the ball to Bush.    

If the Dolphins truly believed Bush was a feature back, he would have gotten that handoff. The Dolphins decision to throw just confirmed what we previously thought to be true. Reggie Bush is a third-down back/return man. Nothing more, nothing less.  

Final Grade: C