The Most Inexcusable Loss of the McDaniel Era

The Most Inexcusable Loss of the McDaniel Era

It seemed like an easy win was in store.

For the first time this season, Miami was cruising along as they were rolling the Carolina Panthers by a score of 17-0.

Both the offense and defense were playing at a high level as it seemed like the team carried over the momentum from last week’s win over the New York Jets.

That positivity lasted until the end of the first quarter.

And then, just like that, all the problems that the Dolphins have had this year showed up again in the worst possible time.

Suddenly, the offensive line struggled to protect Tua.

The Dolphins’ defense, which had contained the lowly Panthers for the first quarter, let up explosive play after explosive play, and quickly, Carolina got back into the game.

I think, though, the most discouraging part of the game was the Dolphins’ defense, or lack thereof.

As I have mentioned in some of my previous posts, I thought the defense would be the strength of the team, at least in the early part of the year, especially since the first couple of opponents on paper seemed to be weak offensively.

Boy, was I wrong.

Miami simply cannot stop the run, which, as you might expect, is a huge problem.

It makes the issues in a suspect secondary that much bigger when the front seven, the supposed strength of the team, cannot get enough of a pass rush or stop the run.

The pairing of the two makes for a disaster.

Plus, when you flip over to the other side of the ball, the offense went stagnant for much of the second and third quarters.

When the defense started to get a few stops, Miami’s supposed electric offense could not do much of anything to capitalize.

That combined to let Carolina back in the game and eventually allowed for a Panthers’ win.

Now, sitting at 1-4, I really do not know where this team goes from here.

They have three games to end October: vs. the Chargers, at the Browns, and at the Falcons.

Miami could win all three or drop all three games in any particular fashion.