Who deserves the most blame for the 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks?
Line them all up because anyone who got on that team plane headed for Seattle is a suspect.
The Miami Dolphins lost 24-3 on the road to the Seattle Seahawks in a contest that wasn’t as close as the score.
Quarterback Skylar Thompson, who started for Tua Tagovailoa, was about as bad as it gets and may have seen his last snap as a Miami Dolphin. Head coach Mike McDaniel let the discipline train fall off the track, making the offense look like the first day of implementing a new system. The Dolphins ended up with eleven penalties, and I can’t tell you I’ve ever seen more watching the NFL.
It was bad. Just bad. It leads me to question just how much of the Dolphins vulnerabilities was Tagovailoa covering up.
We’ll get into everyone who shoulders blame for this loss, but I can’t think of a team where the gap drops so far between the starting quarterback and the backup. It’s almost as if the team came in thinking it was a lost cause and wanted no part in playing.
The defense was by far the best unit on the field for the Dolphins, and they’ll escape blame this week, but they let a few big plays happen early that got the Dolphins in a hole. However, they did force two turnovers and only gave up 7 points after giving up 17 early.
Now let’s get into the real culprits of the crime.
QB Room On Fire
I don’t want to misrepresent this subtitle, so I want to say “on fire” in this instance doesn’t describe them playing well. It means on fire, like the famous scene from Community where Troy walks into the room, and everything is on fire or in chaos.
Let’s just go down the list. The starter, Tagovailoa, is on IR for his third documented concussion. The backup, Thompson, who’s a third-year player drafted by Miami, beat out an actual good backup quarterback in Mike White through training camp and somehow regressed into a practice squad player when he became the starter. The other quarterbacks on the team are Tim Boyle and Snoop Huntley, who haven’t been here long enough to know the playbook.
On Sunday, Thompson looked like he didn’t belong on an NFL field. McDaniel was constantly watching the play clock and sprinting down the sideline in case he needed to call timeout because his quarterback could barely get the play off in time or even function.
Thompson looked overwhelmed. He was not on time or in rhythm with his receivers unless they were easy completions over the middle. I can’t remember Thompson using his legs to keep the defense honest. That was the reason the offense had a glimmer of hope with him under center, and it didn’t happen.
To sum it up, Tim Boyle looked better than Thompson, even though one has been in the system for three weeks, and the other has been in it for three years. Take a guess who was who.
The quarterback room, minus Tagovailoa, might be the worst in the league. That’s a problem on its own because when the starter has the type of injury history that Tagovailoa has, you’d think to get a real quality backup when the starter does go down at some point.
That’s GM 101, and I’m looking at you, Chris Grier.
From The Top Down
I can’t leave a blame session without pointing out the obvious, and that’s why this team is too top-heavy. There’s not enough depth for the Dolphins to be considered a Super Bowl contender.
Usually, the best teams with the healthiest rosters make it the furthest. That’s the rule. Patrick Mahomes got smoked in the Super Bowl when his offensive line was decimated by injuries. There’s no getting around it when it comes to the playoffs, but in the regular season, the best franchises are the ones that can keep the engine running when backups are playing, and that includes quarterbacks.
Just look at Andy Dalton Sunday, Jake Browning last year, or Cooper Rush a few years ago. They either balled out or kept their team winning, and that’s a sign of a quality GM and coaching. When Tagovailoa gets injured, the Dolphins fall apart.
What else can you say besides the team is dependent on Tagovailoa starting every game and it’s not a sustainable model? There needs to be a quality backup behind him that can at least win half their games as the starter.
The Dolphins haven’t had a capable backup quarterback for as long as I can remember. You could say Teddy Bridgewater was that a few years ago, but he couldn’t win any games either. You have to admit your mistakes at some point and invest in a backup quarterback that can win games when called upon, and the Dolphins went bankrupt on that gamble.
So Who’s to blame?
When we line up all the suspects in this crime, there’s blame to be shared. We have Skylar Thompson as our main suspect. He looked overwhelmed, couldn’t command the offense, and could not get anything going before exiting with a chest injury.
There’s Mike McDaniel. His playcalling was questionable, including abandoning the run when it was the only thing working on offense. He didn’t give Jaylen Wright enough touches, and his trust in Jason “Miss One Kick Every Game” Sanders is so misplaced that Sanders must have something on him.
We also have Chris Grier. His lack of depth in this roster build, along with signing a bunch of injury-plagued players is rearing its head right now and makes him look inept at his job.
Oh, I almost forgot. There’s Danny Crossman, the special teams coordinator whose unit had the most penalties I’ve ever seen for a unit that barely sees the field. I mean they had to punt the ball three times in one possession because of back to back to back penalties. That was a job-losing performance by his group.
The Dolphins need to bounce back next week because if they don’t, the season may be lost before Tagovailoa returns.
Line up behind the glass and point out the man who deserves the most blame for the loss to the Seattle Seahawks because this was one of the worst games the Dolphins have played in the Mike McDaniel era.
It’s about as bad as it gets.
