Jorge’s Hot takes - Miami 20 - New York 3

By: Jorge Hinojosa

Season sweep of the green team from NYC, that’s always a good result. Let’s get into the game:
 
The good:
 

• Dolphins Defense. With picks by Nik Needham and Xavien Howard (What else is new?) the back end of our defense shut down any threats from Darnold. Denzel Mims is going to be a star in NY by the way, the guy is good, but today the experience, ball hawking and talent of the Dolphins secondary was able to win the match-up today. After a tough week against Denver it was good to see them bounce back and dominate the game. Elandon Roberts also deserves a shout out here. Yeah, he might have started the season off slowly but, he’s really come on since the game vs San Francisco and every game he makes a game-changing hit. Today it was on Frank Gore who tried to convert a 4th and 1 only to be met violently by Roberts in the backfield.
  

 

• The bounce back. Last week was tough, it was the worst game of the season and the Dolphins needed to bounce back and dominate the winless NYC greens. The offense is still a work in progress (more of that in a minute) but the defense had a great bounce-back game and dominated the game.

 

• DVP came back on. In what was his best game of the Season DeVante Parker went over the century mark for only the second time this year and finished the game with 8 receptions for 119 yards. He was quick, assertive, and imposed his will on the Jets defense.

Photo Credit: www.miamidolphins.com

The bad:
 

• Offensive play calling and execution. OK, I’ve praised Chan Gailey a few times this season and even apologized for some criticism on the podcast but it is now plain obvious that the lack of imagination, adaptability and aggressiveness is really hurting the Dolphins offense. Whether it’s Tua or Fitz under center the reality is that Gailey is not helping this team succeed. Today, we were lucky to play the Jets but the Broncos have already put out a blueprint of how to beat us and I expect teams to copy from that.
  

 

• No running game. Not sure what else I can say at this point about it, other than the Dolphins have no running game to speak of. Recently acquired DeAndre Washington made a solid (?) contribution today with 49 yards in 13 attempts but RB has to be atop the need for the Dolphins next year.

 

• Matt Hack. The Hawk had been playing lights out this year but wasn’t his day out there in MetLife Stadium today. It may have been the unpredictable winds but the Dolphins need to have their punting weapon back in best form as soon as possible.
  

 
The ugly:
 

• Fumbles. Seriously, consecutive drives ending in a fumble (from Breida and Laird) highlights the aforementioned issue of not having a running game or a reliable running back anywhere in the roster.

 
It’s never easy to win in the NFL and the loss by the Raiders helps the Dolphins as they continue to vie for a playoff berth. Next up is the Burrow-less Bengals. Another game the Dolphins ‘should’ win. 

Please welcome Jorge Hinojosa to the PhinManiacs team!  Please follow him on Twitter @FranciscoHinoPe