The Dolphins Confirmed Our Worst Fears in Week One

The Dolphins Confirmed Our Worst Fears in Week One

The only positive thing I can say about the Dolphins’ opening week blowout at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts is that a lifetime of being let down by this team slightly softens the blow. There is something that feels final about this loss, years of debates about the viability of Tua Tagovailoa as a starter and head coach Mike McDaniel’s effectiveness as a leader settled by the arm of Daniel Jones.

In the past, when Miami suffered a loss, there were moments that you could point to in order to build a defense. Times where things went well and showed a positive trend that could be built upon in the future. This matchup featured nothing of the sort. It was a good old fashioned a** kicking. The kind that is occasionally necessary to provide clarity that was desperately needed. 

I hesitate to list all of the things that went wrong for the Dolphins in week 1 in fear that this blog would take me longer to write than it has taken George R.R. Martin to write The Winds of Winter.

So instead, I’ll focus on what most stood out as egregious. Tua Tagovailoa played one of the worst games of his career. On paper, his 114-yard, 1-touchdown, and 2-interception day doesn’t seem completely inept, but in motion, the performance left much to be desired, such as a possible change at quarterback.

He set the tone early with an interception, followed by a fumble and a second pick. Before long, it was 20-0 headed into halftime, and as such, any kind of game plan was out of the window. Late in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins finally got on the board with a TD pass to De’Von Achane, but that only cut the lead to 30-8. I’m not sure if it was just rust or all of the various injuries catching up with him, but Tua looked like a shell of the player we know him to be. This loss doesn’t fall completely on his shoulders, but much of the blame should. 

Outside of Tua, the responsibility for the loss can be shared by the offensive line, which performed poorly but in a predictable way. All offseason, fans had begged the team to seriously address the clear issues on the line, but those pleas fell mostly on deaf ears.

Likewise, the cornerback position was clearly lacking, especially after injuries to Kader Kohou and Artie Burns. A situation that wasn’t addressed until very late into the offseason, when Rasul Douglas signed at the end of August. That would become important when he was forced into action in week 1 after Storm Duck went out with an injury.