Team Grades: Dolphins Head Into Bye Week Hopeless Under Joe Philbin's Lack Of Leadership
By Abraham Gutierrez
When was the last time one recalls an NFL game in which a team failed to convert on a single third down opportunity? For those trying to think long and hard about the answer, stop right there, as the Miami Dolphins are the proud owners of that feat, going 0-for-12 in third downs in Sunday's, 14-27, loss against the New York Jets.
That statistic alone much sums up Miami trip to London, as another game in the books means another lackluster effort in the forgettable Joe Philbin era. Thus, the lowly Dolphins head into the bye week with a 1-3 record and a long flight back to the states in their immediate future.
Yet, somehow, someway, it's still not time to press the old panic button, according to head coach Joe Philbin, despite the fact that, it's painfully obvious that this team is simply going through the motions right now.
"We still can't panic," he said after the game. "It all seems like the walls are closing in on you. We all realize that. We got to look at things, we got to be honest about where we are and what we're doing well, what we're not doing well – correct those things, emphasize them, and obviously we're 0-12 on third down today. We got to get that area fixed. There's some things that need to be fixed, no question about it and that's what the next 14 days are going to be all about."
Offense: F
The Miami Dolphins offense recorded 15 first downs, gathered 229 yards of total offense, held the ball for 22 minutes and 16 seconds, and as mentioned above, converted on zero percent of their third down situations (0/12). Going up against a Jets defense that had been susceptible against the rush in the first three games of the season, the Fins chose to stay away from that area, tallying just 58 yards on 11 rushes.
Instead, quarterback Ryan Tannehill chose to throw the football 44 times on Sunday, and the end result was his worst performance of the 2015 NFL season. With an offensive line that played like, Miami's O-line, the former eighth overall pick completed 19-of-44 pass attempts for 198 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and was sacked three times for a dismal quarterback rating of 53.0.
"We're up against the wall right now and we have to fight our way out one game at a time," Tannehill said in his post-game presser. "It's tough when you don't get the start you want to, didn't come out and move the ball like we wanted to, got behind and really just opened up their whole blitz package and they have an extensive one, we knew that coming in and we wanted to get out to a fast start and they just kept coming at us."
Nevertheless, the second-year man out of Texas A&M believes there's nothing wrong with the leadership of this team... or does he?
"There's a lot of passion in the locker room. I don't think we have a lack of leadership in the slightest," Tannehill added. "There's more leadership on this team than any team I've ever been a part of. So, there's definitely not a lack of leadership. I believe in coach Philbin and how this coaching staff prepares us. That's out of my hands and can't think about that."
Defense: F
Even though there were a few bright spots, the defensive effort was overall atrocious, yet again. Miami's "D" surrendered 24 first downs, 425 total yards, were on the field for 34 minutes and 44 seconds of the game, and for a third straight week, failed to record a single sack.
From the opening whistle, it was clear that it was going to be a long game for this defense, as they couldn't stop the run or the pass. Journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick set the tone by connecting on a 58-yard bomb to Brandon Marshall on the very first play of the game for New York's offense.
From there, it as all downhill, as Miami allowed Chris Ivory to run wild, tallying a career-high 166 yards on 29 carries and a score. Marshall was also unstoppable in this one, as the former Dolphin led the way with 128 yards on 7 receptions, and Eric Decker pitched in with 46 yards on four grabs and a score.
"Tackling needs to get better, simple as that, said controversial defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. "It just comes down to execution and tackling, that's what we struggled with in this particular game and we're going to go back and watch the tape and see what else we did right and what we did wrong and go from there."
Coaching: F
There's much to say about the coaching in this game, except that it was exactly how it's been through four games: atrocious. Not only did Miami get off to yet another slow start, but the fact that very few adjustments were made, coupled with and the lack of passion from the players, screams for an immediate coaching change.
Nevertheless, Philbin didn't appear the least bit worried when reporters asked questioned him about job security following yet another disappointing showing.
"No, not at all," he said. "I'm worried about getting this team straighten out, fixed, and getting our team ready to play the Tennessee Titans. We gotta beat the Tennessee Titans first, start salvaging our season, so, we gotta look critically at what we're doing, all aspects, which we did.
"We adjusted some things, strength and conditioning wise this week," Philbin continued. "We adjusted some meetings. We adjusted some practice time. We adjusted some things schematically. Obviously, it didn't give us the end result that we're looking for yet and we'll continue. We have a bye week to even examine it even closer and come up with a solution that works.
"That's the biggest thing we haven't had this season, is momentum during the course of a game."
Abe Gutierrez's (Twitter: @GutierrezAbe) passion led him to ditch law school journey in order to launch his own publishing company. His expertise make him a valued addition to Examiner.com, AXS.com and the CBS-Sports family. Some of his work can be found on CBS-Miami (Dolphins), CBS-LosAngeles (Chargers), CBS-BayArea (Raiders), CBS-NewYork (NY Jets), CBS-TampaBay (Buccaneers), AXS.com, Examiner.com and other online publications.