Miami Dolphins, Sorry For Your Loss!

Week six was a wake-up call to a lot of the dreamers hoping they would be contending this season. Entering 2021 there was one AFC team that thought they were rounding the corner and becoming a more legit team in the league. There are two ways to tell if you stink in the NFL: if you’re scheduled to play in London, and if you ever lose to Jacksonville. Well, the Miami Dolphins had a double-dip of trash validation in week six.

I am sorry for your loss Miami Dolphins, but your season is over!

Entering the game, the Jaguars had lost 19 games in a row. Which sounds depressing, but is very customary for Jacksonville to get losses at Costco. Miami traveled overseas with Tua Tagovailoa returning to the helm. Looking at the stat line, one can certainly say Tua showed up as best you would expect. 33 of 47 for 329 and two touchdown passes to former ‘Bama teammate, Jaylen Waddle, with just one pick. Maybe the Hawaii native needs to play more often on islands?!

Well, it seems as the Miami passing game isn’t the main problem. In addition to the Waddle connection, Tua and Mike Gesicki clicked for eight catches and 115 yards on nine targets. These two receivers combined to help the Dolphins march down and score on their opening drive. Unfortunately, the offense fizzled on the next couple of red zone visits, causing them to end in field goals instead of touchdowns. After starting the game with a Waddle touchdown, Tua bookended his day with another Waddle TD in the fourth quarter, finding him on a short two-yard route.

Miami’s overperforming defense last season was a massive strength for them. Week six’s London match highlighted how empty the depth chart is as Trevor Lawrence lit up the secondary for 319 yards. Granted, Xavien Howard and Byron Jones missed the game due to injury, but that proved to be the difference as this tightly contested game came down to the final seconds.

The Miami defense was able to get pressure on future Head and Shoulders spokesman, Trevor Lawrence. They sacked the rookie quarterback twice and Miami hit him another seven times. That being said, it was his sixth game with the Jacksonville offensive line, so at this point, he has become accustomed to running for his life.

The imbalance in Miami lies with their running back situation, which is a hot mess. Some use the term running back committee when there are two okay backs, not a stand-alone star. Miami needs desperately to find a lead RB and some OL help in the upcoming offseason. They ran 20 times for 77 yards…among three running backs and Tua. Heck, the QB actually ran the best with 22 yards on three rushing attempts. So maybe we can stop the ‘Tua is the problem’ garbage.

Miami leaves week six with a 1-5 record, and on a five-game losing skid. They have plenty of young talent from the last couple of drafts but this is a major step back as a threat in the AFC East. Now Miami is risking being worse than the Jets. Which as we know, is your grandfather’s Jaguars.