As let down as Miami Dolphins followers feel about this 1-4 train wreck of a start to the season, imagine the gut punch for the 81-year-old team owner.

Steve Ross went all in on the Brian Flores/Chris Grier regime leading a rebuilding effort to finally get the Dolphins off the NFL island of lost causes. Instead we are reminded that one 10-win season with a young coach is no basis to declare him a success, as Flores follows the trajectory of predecessor Adam Gase that may lead him to oblivion.

The surprise is that the failings of Flores’ strength as a defensive technician may become his downfall.

Granted, Sunday’s trip to Tampa Bay to face the defending champion Buccaneers wasn’t a likely win. But the 45-17 debacle was an absolute indictment of Flores’ defense, which was supposed to be the cornerstone for improving on a 10-6 season.

There may be no opposing coach with the basis for defending against Tom Brady that Flores has, from all the years they spent on the same sideline in New England. And there was the Dolphins win in the regular-season finale of 2019 – Flores’ first season in Miami – that prematurely ended Brady’s Patriots career.

But Brady at 44 had his way with Flores’ defenders all day Sunday, making it look ridiculously easy while throwing for 411 yards, five touchdowns and a 144.4 passer rating.

The Bucs scored touchdowns on six of nine drives (not counting the final possession when they ran out the clock). They made a field goal, missed one and punted only once.

Dolphins disaster on third down

Perhaps most notable, Tampa Bay converted eight of 11 third-down chances.

But that is simply a continuation of what we have seen all season. Flores’ defense has gone from the best in the NFL on third down in 2020 (31.2 conversion rate) to second worst (54.2 percent) in the first four weeks. That was before the Bucs, missing Rob Gronkowski, converted 72.7 percent on third down.

This Dolphins defense has been a sieve on every down so far this season.

They were sixth in scoring defense last season, allowing 21.1 points a game.

They have given up an average 30.8 through five games this season, which would have all been losses if Xavien Howard hadn’t wrestled a fumble away from the Patriots in the final minutes of the opener.

But Howard was beaten by Antonio Brown for two touchdowns Sunday, including a 62-yard scorcher. Brady fended off the Dolphins’ highly paid cornerback duo of Howard and Byron Jones like a couple of common houseflies.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay averaged 4.8 yards a carry rushing, which made Brady’s task easier.

More from Five Reasons Sports: Brian Flores needs to fix this fast

Dolphins’ offense lacks luster

The offense showed some promise early. It helped to have Preston Williams (three catches for 60 yards) back at wide receiver and Myles Gaskin (99 all-purpose yards, two touchdowns) back in the game plan.

They’re still not getting what was expected of rookie receiver Jaylen Waddle, who has his moments but too many drops.

The bottom line is these Dolphins look like a team in need of a rebuild rather than one in the third year of a complete makeover that was supposed to lead to the playoffs this season.

Granted the schedule looks more favorable the rest of the way (the 0-5 Jaguars next week in London). But the flaws of this team are plentiful and glaring.
Clearly they’ve miscalculated in player evaluation because they are getting pushed around up front and beaten at the skilled positions.

Most damning is the lack of impact so far from the nine draft picks taken in the first two rounds in the past two drafts.

Waddle may yet turn into a star, and fellow 2021 first-rounder Jaelan Phillips is looking better each week (first full sack Sunday). The jury is still out on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who may return next week.

Finally his first full sack. Jaelan Phillips. #Dolphins @ourturffb pic.twitter.com/QZ0EPEpkAG

— Lisa Johnson (@LJ1303) October 10, 2021

What will owner Ross do as Dolphins sink?

But how patient will octogenarian owner Ross be as he watches another coach/front office combo foundering?

That may be more interesting to watch than anything that transpires on upcoming Sundays. Specifically, will Ross go into damn-the-torpedoes mode and order full-fledged pursuit of Deshaun Watson despite the legal issues hanging over the troubled Houston quarterback?

After all, it’s tough to justify refusing to part with a stockpile of high draft picks if you keep firing blanks year after year and remain mired in the same muck of mediocrity.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

So this is what passing a kidney stone feels like.

Ball at the Colts 3 yard line.

First down.

Down 20-3.

After accumulating fewer than 80 yards in the first three quarters, there are signs of life for the Miami Dolphins, after remembering Devante Parker and Mike Gesicki exist…. and enough time (12 minutes) to make the end reasonably interesting.

It’s a situation that calls for creativity, especially if you’re aware of your offense’s undeniable inadequacies.

Malcolm Brown over right guard. Two yards.

Jacoby Brissett keeper over the center. Nothing.

Brown over left guard. Nothing.

Finally, on fourth down, a circus catch from Gesicki on another errant Brissett throw, for the team’s first touchdown.

It turned out to be too little, too late, but absolutely appropriate for the afternoon. For the Dolphins on offense, everything is excruciating, to the point of being embarrassing. And even those of us who have been faithful supporters of the Brian Flores regime are starting to wonder. The fans already seem to be ahead of us.

Simply, it shouldn’t be this hard.

Not in the third season of a regime. Not against a winless team at home. Not when you’ve had so many draft picks and free agent dollars to expand the offensive talent base. Not even when you’re starting a backup quarterback, since that quarterback (Brissett) was decent enough to start plenty of the games for the team on the other side.

Brian Flores needs to fix this. Soon. Or his tenure is going to take a troubling turn. One his predecessors have experienced, in which every decision is questioned rather than trusted. In which an impatient octogenarian owner (Steve Ross) starts getting antsy. In which even the media start wondering if he’s experienced and able enough to make the necessary adjustments.

“I think we need to take a look at everything,” Flores said after the 27-17 loss dropped Miami to 1-3 with the defending champion Buccaneers next. “But it’s really across the board, offense, defense, special teams. It starts with me coaching…. We are out there making mistakes in all three phases.”

Accountability is appreciated, but so is accuracy. It’s not really all three phases. No, the other two, special teams and defense, haven’t been exceptional, but it’s the offense that’s been offensive. The Dolphins had Hall of Famers, and near Hall of Famers, on their defense in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and even those defenses finally broke after the offense kept bending their patience, by putting them in adverse positions. This one can’t hold up if the offense is off the field in three or four or five plays, over and over.

****

 

****

 

Through three quarters, the Dolphins had the same number of points (three) as they appear to have offensive coordinators, now that we’ve learned that Charlie Frye is actually sending in many of the plays. And those plays? Oof.

The Dolphins are coaching scared, and it starts from the top.

“We tried to be methodical early,” Flores admitted.

He said there were some big play possibilities that turned into safer checkdowns.

Perhaps. The tape will tell. But there were also big picture decisions that were overly conservative, indicating a lack of trust in the team that Flores and Chris Grier put together.

If you’re paying your kicker (Jason Sanders) big money and believe in your defense, why are you punting rather than trying a 55-yard field goal when you had momentum early?

“We wanted to play field position there,” Flores said, sounding like Dave Wannstedt from scared Dolphins teams gone by.

And they did down a punt at the one.

But is that better than a 60 percent shot at three points?

When even a missed kick would have kept the Colts on their side of the field. Isn’t your defense good enough to still stop them?

Those points could have come in handy later, when the Colts got going.

That’s the thing. Every team eventually does. Even the Dolphins do. It just comes so late, when other options are off the table, and they have no alternative but to press the action.

What’s become obvious through four games is that Flores and his offensive staffers, whom he handpicked, don’t believe in the talent they and the front office have assembled and elevated. What’s become obvious is Miami misfired by not acquiring at least a couple of experienced offensive linemen to assist the raw projects. What’s become obvious is that a team that starts Malcolm Brown at running back — because Myles Gaskin can’t protect? — is not a team that takes taking pressure off its quarterbacks seriously. What’s become obvious is that this rebuild, seemingly ahead of schedule, is still many miles away from fruition.

What’s become obvious is that, after a prolonged and warranted honeymoon, the tide is turning on Brian Flores.

“It’s a lack of focus, a lack of concentration, all of those things,” Flores said. “And that starts with me.”

He needs to put a stop to it — not just the mistakes, but also the mismanagement, of personnel, of approach, of attitude.

So his group starts scoring points.

 

Ethan Skolnick can be reached at @5ReasonsSports and @EthanJSkolnick. His columns are sponsored by www.EverythingTradeShows.com 

 

 

 

The original fear going into the college football season was the SEC having two teams shoved into the playoff. The last time that happened, a team who didn’t play in the SEC title game went on to be the team who won the conference. 

However last year saw two ACC teams in the playoff. For one pandemic crazed season, Notre Dame was a full member of the ACC rather than simply an independent. 

This year the No. 8 Fighting Irish has returned to football independence and after four weeks, I’d bet the ACC wishes to have them back. 

The ACC looks to be out of the running for the College Football Playoff. Clemson suffered its second loss of the season and dropped all the way down to No. 25. It doesn’t help that the two undefeated teams are Boston College and Wake Forest. Neither team has garnered much respect going into the season so it takes a while for the committee and AP to catch on. 

Boston College proved to be an offensive force after beating Missouri 41-34 in overtime off the back of its rushing attack which is 19th in the nation in yards per game at 221.5. The Eagles will earn some respect if they beat Clemson and North Carolina State in the next two weeks.

Wake Forest also seems offensively inclined with a defense that averages 14.3 points per game, but its two best wins are the conference’s two last place teams. The Demon Deacons’ schedule is more backloaded with a November slate of North Carolina, NC State, Clemson and Boston College.

In a crazy way, the ACC’s best chance to spring board back into the playoffs may be for Boston College and Wake Forest to reach the end of the season with perfect records and their titanic clash to scintillate the nation. 

Now or Never

Cincinnati was a feel good story last year after running the table and making it to the Sugar Bowl against Georgia. The No. 7 Bearcats were able to maintain their top 10 ranking by going 3-0 against Indiana and two mid-majors. 

The real test comes on Saturday at Notre Dame. Beat the Fighting Irish on national television and the Bearcats will be made men so long as they can run the conference table. 

Not good enough

Oklahoma is the only team in the top 10 to consistently go down the rankings for winning. A last second field goal against West Virginia isn’t good enough for the AP just like beating Tulane by five points wasn’t impressive either. At this rate, a loss might completely sink the Sooners chances at the playoff. 

Crashing the party

Arkansas put the nation on notice when they defeated Texas by 19 points in Week 2. Now after beating Texas A&M 20-10, the No. 8 Razorbacks are presenting themselves as a force to be feared in the SEC. They are the classic big and scary SEC team that runs all over and snuffs out hope with their defense. Arkansas allows 14.5 points per game, which is the 10th lowest in the nation, and average 261 rushing yards per game, which is good for 8th most nationally. 

The Razorbacks are running through the gauntlet. After Texas A&M comes a No. 2 Georgia team that just finished tenderizing Vanderbilt 62-0.

The Hawkeyes of Autumn 

The Iowa Hawkeyes are No. 5 thanks in large part to their elite defense (11 PPG). It’s surely not because of their offense, which was held to 54 rushing yards against Colorado State. Whether or not Iowa truly deserves to be in the playoff conversation will depend on how they handle 4-0 Maryland on Friday and No. 4 Penn State the following week. Pass those two tests and the pathway to the Big Ten title game is wide open. 

Given the Week 4 rankings it’s going to be awfully difficult for the College Football Playoff committee to resist the urge to place two SEC teams in the final four. 

Once again, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia sit at the top of the rankings, along side with five other SEC members. The Crimson Tide held off a second half surge at No. 11 Florida while the Bulldogs dominated South Carolina at home. 

The last time both Alabama and Georgia were in the playoff, they met in the title game. Alabama won the national championship despite not even playing in the SEC title game.

It’s likely that the only time these two titans face off will be in the SEC Championship Game. Should they both maintain their respective standing going into the title game, would the results be moot? Would the loser simply end up at No. 4 when it’s all said and done?

For the other conference front runners, that would hopefully not be the case. No. 4 Oklahoma continues to go up and down the rankings because of how close the Sooners’ soft non-conference matchups have been. Oregon moved up to No. 3 but might not have to luxury of a forgivable loss entering their conference slate. The Big Ten’s three Top 10 teams (No. 5 Iowa, No. 6 Penn State and No. 10 Ohio State) will likely beat each other up Until No. 8 Cincinnati enters the Big 12, the Bearcats will likely need to be perfect and hope for nationwide chaos to get in. 

The road to the Orange Bowl will likely go through the SEC but Oregon remains the best hope to crash the party. However, there are other teams new to the rankings who could make a surprise entry. 

The PAC is Wack

Speaking of Oregon, is it possible to count Fresno State as a signature win? The Ducks were initially looked at sideways after beating the Bulldogs by a single touchdown in Week 1, but Fresno State shocked the nation this past weekend with a 40-37 win over No. 13 UCLA, who dropped down to No. 22.

Overall it was a bad week for the Pac-12, starting with Colorado, which came close to knocking off a top 5 team a week ago, getting shutout at home 30-0 by Minnesota. 

“That was a complete, I would say, beatdown in every way,” Colorado coach Karl Dorrell said.

On the plus side, Buffaloes linebacker Nate Landman continues to look like an NFL Draft prospect with his second consecutive 10 solo tackle game.

Utah became the second Pac-12 team to fall to San Diego State with a 33-31 overtime loss. The Aztecs previously dominated Arizona the week before. The Wildcats are so bad this season that after losing to FCS Northern Arizona for the first time since becoming a member of the Pac-12 a winless season is now a highly probable outcome. 

“It’s embarrassing,” said wide receiver Stanley Berryhill III, possibly Arizona’s only good player.

Arizona travels to Oregon this week to be the Ducks’ late night sacrificial lamb on ESPN. 

The Pac-12 now serves to prop up Oregon, who will now have to run the table in impressive fashion in order to have a chance at the playoffs. USC winning again and Stanford reestablishing itself with a dominating win over Vanderbilt has helped the Ducks’ potential playoff resume. 

BYU is for real

The primary purpose of BYU going independent a decade ago was to have control over the schedule and give itself a better chance to get noticed by the BCS/CFP panel. Not only do the Cougars finally have that schedule but are also good enough to take advantage of it. 

The Cougars started the season with three Pac-12 opponents and have cleaned the slate with a 27-17 win over No. 19 Arizona State, who fell off the rankings. 

With 561 passing yards and seven touchdowns, BYU quarterback Jaren Hall seems to be picking up right where Zach Wilson left off.

“We’re 3-0 against good opponents,” Hall said. “What more can you ask for?”

The Cougars have Boise State, Virginia and USC as notable games. A perfect season for BYU might be enough to get the Cougars to a New Year Six Bowl if not the playoffs. 

“WE ARE!”

Any time an SEC team loses a non-conference game, another conference gets its wings. 

Memphis stunned Mississippi State 31-29, Stanford beat Vanderbilt by a 41-23 blowout, and Penn State took down Auburn 28-20. 

With the win, Penn State is positioned in the Big Ten’s driver seat. While the Nittany Lions are expected to get through Villanova (this aint basketball) and Indiana with ease, their looming road matchup with Iowa will tell the story of the season for that conference. 

Iowa knocked off the Big-12’s second best team in the most consequential matchup between the Hawkeyes and the No. 14 Iowa State Cyclones in recent history. Defense is their identity, so when the two teams face off on October 9, it will have the makings of a classic SEC slugfest, which might help both their causes. 

OK Boomer Sooner

Oklahoma entered the season with the Heisman front runner and as a virtual lock to get into the playoff. While the Sooners are 3-0, as their supposed to be, two of their games have been too close to call. Both Tulane and Nebraska came within an arms reach of upsetting the Sooners, which have prompted the AP to penalize them in the rankings. 

This may potentially be a down year for the Big 12, which is going to soon experience a boom in added teams before eventually losing their founding members in OU and Texas. Theres a good chance that the Sooners run the table once again and the title game ends up being a Bedlam rematch but until then, more ugly victories could potentially keep OU out this season.

Goldie’s All Time Record: 135-61          Vs. Spread: 98-95

Goldie’s Week 1 Record : 9-6                 Vs. Spread: 9-6

Goldie’s Guarantee All Time: 10-5         21-22 Season: 1-0

Goldie’s Upset All Time: 10-4                 21-22 Season: 1-0

Crazy Uncle Jeff All Time: 17-2              21-22 Season: 1-1

 

Goldie’s Guarantee

Minnesota Vikings (0-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (1-0)

Vegas Picks: ARI -3.5

Goldie’s Take: Cardinals Win 31-21

Both of these teams showed the football world a lot during week 1. The Vikings showed us that they might not be as good as we thought, and the Cardinals showed us that they’re much better than we thought. Zona’ is the real deal this season on both sides of the football. Cards roll through the Vikes this weekend. I GUARANTEE IT!  

 

Goldie’s Upset of the Week

Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) @ Chicago Bears (0-1)

Vegas Picks: CHI -2.5

Goldie’s Take: Bengals Win 24-22

Joey Burrow looked great last week coming off a terrible injury that ended his rookie year. A big momentum boost to come back and win that one in overtime last week over the Vikings. Burrow and the Bengals will have some swagger coming into this one, as the Bears look like they’re treading water. I’m still baffled by their decision to stick with Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback. He wasn’t even good when he was in his prime, and the redheaded QB hasn’t been relevant in years. He’s costing Chicago wins and not letting the rookie Justin Fields develop. I don’t get it. Bengals UPSET the Bears in the windy city!

 

Crazy Uncle Jeff Lock of the Week: GB -11

Detroit Lions (0-1) @ Green Bay Packers (0-1)

Vegas Picks: GB -11

Goldie’s Take: Packers Win 30-24

Crazy Uncle is doubling down on Green Bay after a rare miss last week! Jeffy has concluded that last week was nothing but a fluke, and the Packers are locked in and ready to put a hurting on the Lions this Monday night. Rodgers may have not totally been in it last week, but he’s sure to put on a show for the home fans. If there’s something you can always count on in this world it’s: Death, taxes, and the Lions losing in Green Bay

 

Crazy Uncle Jeff Lock of the Week: DAL +3.5

Dallas Cowboys (0-1) @ Los Angeles Chargers (1-0)

Vegas Picks: LAC -3.5

Goldie’s Take: Chargers Win 27-24

Dak Prescott looked phenomenal in their last minute loss to the Bucs last Thursday. Jeffy thinks the Cowboys high powered passing game is going to be enough to avenge that loss with a big performance this weekend. However, I personally don’t they’re not going to win games until they figure out their run game. Zeke couldn’t get anything going in Tampa, and if that continues it’s going to be very difficult for the ‘Boys to stay competitive. Give me the Bolts in a close one. 

 

New Orleans Saints (1-0) @ Carolina Panthers (1-0)

Vegas Picks: NO -3.5

Goldie’s Take: Saints Win 26-21

NOLA had a serious statement win last week, blasting the Green Bay Packers 38-3. Carolina on the other hand, had a hard time putting away the Jets. The Panthers offense is too McCaffrey centric in my opinion and that tends to often be their downfall. Saints keep the train rollin’ with a win in Carolina this weekend.

 

Houston Texans (1-0) @ Cleveland Browns (0-1)

Vegas Picks: CLE -12.5

Goldie’s Take: Browns Win 35-19

Even though the Texans did look pretty good last week against the Jags, I feel they’ll come back down to earth this Sunday. Tyrod Taylor is going to have a much tougher time against the stingy Cleveland defense than he did against the Jags. Plus the Browns are looking to get back to .500 early in a season that has high expectations on them. Yes, you read that right, high expectations for the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland steamrolls the Texans in the Dawg Pound this Sunday. 

 

Las Vegas Raiders (1-0) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)

Vegas Picks: Steelers Win 23-22

Goldie’s Take: PIT -6.5

Both of these squads pulled off impressive close upsets last week. In this one, I expect another close game controlled by defense. The Steelers defensive unit is no joke, evident last week by only allowing Josh Allen and the Bills 16 points. Although I think the line in Vegas is highly underestimating the Raiders, I do still expect the Steelers to win this one at home. Venue call. 

 

Buffalo Bills (0-1) @ Miami Dolphins (1-0)

Vegas Picks: BUF -3.5

Goldie’s Take: Bills Win 35-20

As a Dolphins fan this pains me to write, but the bottom line is Miami has never been a good matchup for the Bills. The last time these two teams played, the Bills absolutely destroyed the Fins, knocking Miami out the playoffs in the process. Plus, the Bills are going to be coming for blood after getting upset by Pittsburgh last week. Bills by multiple scores. 

 

Los Angeles Rams (1-0)  @ Indianapolis Colts (0-1)

Vegas Picks: LAR -4

Goldie’s Take: Rams Win 28-23

The Rams looked like a machine in their rout of the Bears last week, and they’ll try to bring that momentum right into this one as well. There isn’t a defense in the league that is stronger than the Rams, plus the addition of Matt Stafford seems to have the offense working pretty well too. Indy will put up a good fight at home, but in the end expect the Rams to prevail in this one. 

 

San Francisco 49ers (1-0) @ Philadelphia Eagles (1-0)

Vegas Picks: SAN -3

Goldie’s Take: Niners Win 27-17

After getting up huge on Detroit last week, the Niners ALMOST dropped the ball and blew that game. I feel they’ll learn from the bullet they dodged last week, and do a better job of closing this one out. Also, the Niners D will do a much better job of containing Jalen Hurts than the Falcons did. Niners win this one on the road to improve to 2-0. 

 

Denver Broncos (1-0) @ Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1)

Vegas Picks: DEN -6

Goldie’s Take: Broncos Win 26-17

This could be another long season for Jags fans as their week one matchup with Houston didn’t show many signs of life. The rookie QB and head coach tandem is still getting adjusted to the NFL, and it might take some time. Broncos win a snoozer. 

 

New England Patriots (0-1) @ New York Jets (0-1)

Vegas Picks: NE -6

Goldie’s Take: Pats Win 22-17

Bill Belichick is 22-7 in his career when facing a rookie starting quarterback. Expect that trend to continue this weekend as I can’t see the Pats losing 2 consecutive divisional games right off the bat. Defense rules and Pats get a gritty victory in Metlife this Sunday. 

 

Atlanta Falcons (0-1) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0)

Vegas Picks: TB -12.5

Goldie’s Take: Buccaneers Win 31-20

The Atlanta Falcons are a mystery, and they’ve been mystery ever since I started last season with Goldie’s Takes. No doubt in my mind the Bucs are going to win this one, but I expect Matty Ice and the Falcons to at least cover the hefty point spread this Sunday. 

 

Tennessee Titans (0-1) @ Seattle Seahawks (1-0)

Vegas Picks: SEA -6

Goldie’s Take: Seahawks Win 35-31

I don’t think last week’s loss to Arizona is a true representation of the Tennessee Titans. They had a bad week all around, but it’s going to be tough having to follow up a bad week like that with a tough road game in a hostile environment. I think these two teams are pretty even on paper but Seattle’s home field gives the ‘Hawks a slight advantage. Seahawks in a venue call. LET RUSS COOK!

 

Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) @ Baltimore Ravens (0-1)

Vegas Picks: KC -3.5 

Goldie’s Take: Chiefs Win 31-26

Mahomes versus Lamar on primetime is not one you’re going to want to miss. Expect a back and forth game throughout, but the Chiefs historically have been the more clutch team. Give me Patty and the Chiefs to win and cover this Sunday night.