It is time for Tua Tagovailoa to start at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins.

Pressure Point: Time for Miami Dolphins to turn to Tua Tagovailoa

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Staying reasonably competitive with the Seattle Seahawks and MVP candidate Russell Wilson in a 31-23 loss Sunday is of little consequence for the Miami Dolphins.

It only served to set back the time table of their mission.

The 1-3 Dolphins are no playoff contender. This season is about the future, and it is time to take the next vital step in that direction.

Yes, it is time to take the wraps off Tua Tagovailoa.

I say that knowing full well coach Brian Flores doesn’t agree. He will say Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the Dolphins the best chance to win, despite plenty evidence on Sunday to the contrary.

Three promising drives deep into Seahawks territory in the first half netted only three field goals because Fitzpatrick wasn’t sharp. He couldn’t make the money throw when he needed it.

Unlike Wilson, who after the Dolphins pulled within 10-9 with 24 seconds remaining in the half, took the Seahawks 75 yards in four plays in the span of 21 seconds for a 17-9 lead.

Can’t win with field goals

There would be two more field goals in the second half before Fitzpatrick scrambled for Miami’s lone touchdown in the final two minutes with the Seahawks firmly in control.

Flores’ displeasure was evident: “For the most part I felt we moved it well. Fitz ran it, threw it, but at the end of the day you’ve got to finish in the red zone.”

Keep in mind, the Seahawks came in ranked 32nd — dead last — in pass defense and total defense. That’s right, worse than the Dolphins’ porous defense, which ranked 25th in both categories. Seattle was allowing 28.7 points a game, and their defense was banged up.

Yes, give the Miami defense a gold star for a commendable job against Wilson and keeping the Dolphins in the game until the final minutes — until Fitzpatrick threw the game-sealing interception.

But you’re not beating playoff-caliber teams with a flurry of field goals, as Flores also pointed out.

It is abundantly clear at this point what the Dolphins need.

They need to see if Tagovailoa is the talent he is touted to be.

Let’s see what Tagovailoa can do

Some intriguing footage appeared on Instagram last week of Tua scattering pinpoint completions around the field during Dolphins practice.

Right, it was practice. It proves nothing. But it sure whets the appetite to see what Tua can do in a game.

And for him to begin acclimating to the NFL, like Justin Herbert, taken one pick later in the draft, is doing quite well with the Los Angeles Chargers.

For those keeping track, Herbert was 20-of-25 for 290 yards and three touchdowns with a 137.9 passer rating in a 38-31 loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

By every indication, Tagovailoa is fully recovered from the serious hip injury that made it possible for the Dolphins to draft him with the No. 5 overall pick in April. Being active as the backup quarterback in each game so far verifies that.

The other vital question going into the season was whether a rebuilt offensive line would be adequate to protect a franchise quarterback. The play of the line has been the most positive development on offense for the Dolphins.

Rookies Austin Jackson and Solomon Kindley are not exhibiting the growing pains that generally come with first-year players immediately thrust into the starting lineup.

Rebuilt line passes early tests

Considering the line has newcomers at four of five positions — veterans Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras were also offseason additions — it is impressive how quickly it has messed as a unit, and with no preseason. Pass protection has been solid from Week 1 and run blocking has improved the past two games.

Now the line needs a playmaker working behind it. Fitzpatrick has served the Dolphins remarkably well, but FitzMagic isn’t taking this team anywhere meaningful after a 1-3 start.

This is not a knock on Fitzpatrick, who has been everything that could have been asked of a veteran leader and bridge quarterback for a rebuilding team.

He is a delightful personality and an inspiration with his daring dashes for first downs and touchdowns. Really, a marvel as a 37-year-old starting for the eighth team in a long career.

The bottom line on Fitzpatrick’s performance Sunday was no touchdown passes, two interceptions and a 66.4 passer rating.

“Red zone execution really falls on the quarterback,” Fitzpatrick said. “For me, I walk out of this game feeling terrible in that. I felt like there [were] a lot of guys on our team that played well enough to win and I, unfortunately, was not of them. When that happens and your quarterback doesn’t play up to his ability, then you’re not going to win a whole lot of games in this league.”

That sums up the frustration of the present. Plenty of reason to get started on finding out if Tua can change the narrative as soon as possible.

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

 

Dolphins Stock up, Stock down vs Jaguars

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Welcome back to another installment of Stock Up Stock Down. In Week 3 of the NFL, your Miami Dolphins traveled north to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in a clash of in-state rivals. On primetime television, we took care of business and got our first win of the year with a score of 31-13. There were a lot of positives as well as some things to work on. Let’s dive in and see who raised and who lowered their stock this past week.

Stock Up

 

Draft Class:

It’s getting to be a regular occurrence when we finish the game and see how impressive some of our rookies have been, but this past week it felt like they were of importance to the victory. Without understating how impactful both Austin Jackson and Solomon Kindley have been, I also want to give a lot of credit to Noah Igbinoghene. He, after getting torched all last week,  bounced back with a shut-down game where he didn’t let a pass completed to his intended receiver.

Robert Hunt continues to rotate and has solidified a role on the goal line, and finally, Brandon Jones, who has, from the first game, been impressive and continued his solid play by flying around everywhere. The fact these rookies are biting at such an early juncture of the season is very indicative of what we have uncovered because, as Bill Parcells famously said, “if they don’t bite when they’re puppies, they usually won’t bite.”

Team’s Response:

One thing I wanted to keep an eye on is how the team would respond to a close defeat the previous week. The team came out as a unit and from the opening whistle, dominated. The first offensive drive had a script which included a plethora of runs to Myles Gaskin, passes to DVP, Gesicki, Jakeem, and then a touchdown to Preston. Starting strong has not been a strength of ours under Brian Flores, so it was good to see the team play and execute to perfection. It’s up to the team to continue this momentum and prepare for a formidable opponent in the Seattle Seahawks.

Myles Gaskin:

Coming into this year, I think most people following the Dolphins assumed a rotation of Jordan Howard, Breida, and Laird/Gaskin but boy has Gaskin proven us all wrong. Myles got off to a scorching start on Thursday night when he got 50 yards on the opening drive. Gaskin took a stranglehold on the backfield carries this week, ending up with 22 carries for 66 yards and also tying DVP with five catches to lead the team for 29 yards. In total, we gave Myles 27 touches, which he turned into 95 yards from a player we expected little to no contributions from.

Ryan Fitzpatrick:

Fitzmagic is back, baby! Fitz did his thing all night long. From running the ball 7 times for an average of 5.8 yards per carry to only having 2 incompletions, Fitzpatrick seemed to be firing on all cylinders. At one point, he started the game 12 for 12, so he was locked in from the opening drive. One thing that is undeniable about Fitz is the amount of love and passion his teammates have for him. It’s never more apparent when you see Christian Wilkins running to celebrate with the offense after every TD.

After another solid week, it seems tone-deaf to even mention Tua, but that’s what happens when you draft a QB at five, and as much as I would love to see Tua play, he will have to earn it and prove to everyone he’s better than Fitz because just going to him for the heck of it, might not sit right with the team as a whole.

Stock Down 

Run D:

This has become too much of a regular occurrence for me to think it only falls on the players. Some may be thinking well the Jaguars did not crack 100 yards rushing total or even got close, and while that may well be true, it doesn’t show that with a 2/3 score lead throughout the game, the Jags had minimal opportunity to run evident by the 42 passes Minshew threw up. Unfortunately, on the few times, they did run, they gashed us each chance. Minshew carried three times for an average of 7.3 yards per carry as well as James Robinson getting 2 touchdowns and averaging 4.2 yards on just 11 carries. Eventually, Coach Flores will have to take a personal interest in fixing this because he was hired as a defensive guru who cannot improve our defense.

High Priced Free Agents:

It is looking more and more likely that this part of the article will stay here throughout the year. Elandon Roberts looks as lost as any rookie I have seen play. We brought him in as an LB/FB, but with Cox owning the FB position and getting next to nothing from the LB, what did we sign him for? Shaq and Ogbah also have to take some heat because the 2 things they were brought in to do was No.1 rush the passer and 2 stop the run, and after each passing week it feels like those 2 things are next to impossible to ask of them. They have shown nothing through 3 weeks of the season, and eventually, we will have to look at younger players such as AVG, Raekwon, and KGH. FYI KGH and AVG both got sacks.

Situational Football:

After the positive response the team gave this week, I did not want to bash the coaching staff too hard, but it still needs to be done. We had an opportunity at the beginning of the 3rd quarter at the Jacksonville 40-yard line, where we had a 3rd and 7 where Myles was only able to get 6. So, on 4th and 1, with the ability to all but end this game by putting it up to four scores, we decide too late in the shot clock run out the offense to line up with 2 seconds left not to run a play but get the delay of game penalty. Some might say I am too aggressive, but when will we begin to see our Return on Investment for all these picks and money we have spent on the o-line. Eventually, we have to believe we are the tough, physical team that Coach Flores wants us to be and go and get that 1 yard to ice the game. 

Overall this team grew in the four short days in between the Bills game and the Jags game. We need to continue to work on the things we struggled with and continue what we have already mastered. With ten days to prepare against a tough opponent like Seattle, we will need to be firing on all cylinders to hope to steal one from Russell Wilson and Pete Carrol. Till next time, Fins Up!

 

A Night of Magic in the Magic City

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Sometimes life is unfair. You do the things the right way, put your best foot forward, and it doesn’t go your way.

And sometimes you get exactly what you deserve.

Miami 52, Florida State 10.

And the game wasn’t as close as the score indicated. A result like this does cause me to pause and think of those schools less fortunate than us. I think often, in these trying times as a country, about this quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

And there is no doubt that FSU has little, oh so little, at this point. So, as a humanitarian, I am a bit conflicted. Conflicted about whether to laugh hysterically in Florida State’s face for the abhorrent performance and program trajectory OR whether to celebrate the glorious performance by Miami. So I’ve decided to do both.

Bobby Bowden Ain’t Walking Through that Door…

…and if he could, he’d do a Grandpa Simpson.

via GIPHY

Glee does not begin to describe my level of euphoria at the complete meltdown in Tallahassee.

Whatever you think about Willie Taggart’s ultimate coaching ability, he got a short leash. And you know how we know this? FSU fans told us! How FSU arrived here is a worth recounting, because we can rejoice in years long incompetence enabled by shifting excuses and justifications from FSU fans. Let’s humor this nonsense.

We were told that it was a good thing that Jimbo Fisher went to College Station because he had so torched the football program that the best thing is for a National Championship winning coach to leave.

Okay, fair enough. That would mean that his successor had a major rebuild. And no, Willie Taggart going 9-12 is not acceptable, but is it fireable, in the middle of the 2nd season? You don’t even let him finish the season.

Okay, fair enough. You fired him because you had a coach waiting in the wings, a true genius of the game. A can’t miss coach. And then you hired this guy…

And it took less than an offseason for Norvell to exaggerate his response to social injustice and have his best player call him out for it.

That this program walked into Miami having already lost to a really bad Georgia Tech team (who has, since then, lost 2 games by a combined 45 points), with a coach in quarantine having tested positive for COVID-19, is not actually that surprising. That they still didn’t realize how bad they were makes the victory even sweeter:

The only reason you can’t tell that Miami wasn’t playing the Little Sister’s of the Poor is that the Little Sister’s wouldn’t grab that many face masks and the Little Sister’s would know not to throw this pass:

With the Canes setting a record for points in the rivalry, people keep bringing up FSU’s 47-0 win in 1997, the last time the game was a complete mismatch like this. At that time, Miami was at the depths of probation. Down 30 scholarships. FSU was one of the best teams in the country. FSU finished the 1997 season 11-1 and ranked #3. They also played in the National Championship Game in 1996, 1998, and 1999, winning the last one. 1997 was FSU at their height and Miami saddled with historic sanctions.

That is not the case now. FSU is just awful inside-out, and has been trending this direction for years. Maybe Norvell will turn it around. Maybe next year, in Tallahassee, FSU will win this rivalry game.

But they reveled in the Al Golden Era and the subsequent fallout, an era placated by the Miami Athletic Department repeatedly doubling down on stupid. Bottom rail on top now.

Manuel Alberto Diaz II

While Norvell was fabricating stories about his response to the social injustice protests, Manny Diaz was on the trail. Yes, he was on the recruiting trail, where he has been dominating and stocking Miami’s cupboards. But he was also marching on the social justice trail:

And yes, you can be cynical about these things. But I’ll trust what Greg Rousseau told 247 Sports:

“It was great to see him do that. You see like other coaches around football, they say nothing when that happened, they are hiding, but now with that the season in jeopardy, they are like, ‘Oh I love my kids, I want these kids need to play.’ But a lot of it isn’t not genuine around the country. Some of the SEC schools, it’s really just all about money. But I feel like Coach Diaz really cares about us, like 100 percent. He’s a great dude and he’s always supportive. Even for me when I told him my decision [about opting out] he wasn’t one of those coaches that was like, ‘Oh you’re going to be a third-round pick if you leave.’ He didn’t try to lie to me or anything. Of course I don’t know if I’m going to be a first-round pick, but at least he shot me straight … He’s a class act and a really great guy.”

Ultimately, this sort of thing should matter. And maybe it does. Of course, if Diaz keeps doing things like losing to FIU, he won’t be long for this job. But maybe players want to play for someone genuine, believeable, and in their corner. Maybe you can draw a direct line from Diaz caring about players to recruits wanting to play for him.

Diaz arrived at the Florida State game at the peak of his short tenure. Last year started with 2 losses, and even after getting to 6-4, 6-4 is still 6-4. This time, they came in 2-0, with a road win against a ranked team in their pocket already. College Gameday was covering the Canes’ game for the second week in a row. FSU was terrible. Clemson was next.

This was the game the Canes had either been losing or at least playing terribly in for more than a decade. This helps explain the odd build up to the game. The pandemic certainly played a major role in that. A normal day of celebration and festivities reduced to the immediacy of the game itself.

But even from a football angle this game was viewed, on paper, as a Top 15 program that is growing into the season against a team without their head coach on the sideline that had just lost at home to one of the worst teams in the conference. This looked like a mismatch. And yet, we struggled to believe it, primarily for 3 reasons:

  1. It’s a rivalry game.
  2. FSU still has athletes to match Miami.
  3. Miami has spent 15 years not playing up to their abilities on a consistent basis.

All 3 of those “reasons” became clearly not applicable a few minutes into the game.

This was a different Miami. Executing on 3rd downs, precise, foot on the gas. This was Manny Diaz’s Miami, the unwavering violence he delivered to the defense 4 years ago now on display on both sides of the field. That negated any rivalry aspect to the game. And FSU clearly did not have the players to match Miami.

I don’t think we fully realized the gap between these 2 teams coming in, but we could sure see it a few minutes into the game. Diaz’s staff having cohesion that was absent last year. Mike Norvell watching from his couch, his acting head coach Chris Thomsen spending the entire game wearing his mask as a chinstrap in an apparent tribute to the team going through the motions but not doing anything with a chance of success.

Miami was better in every facet of the game. They played to their potential, and that was enough to dominate Florida State.

Maybe Diaz will ultimately be unsuccessful. Maybe he will fail at Miami. But as a program, we’ve been through a really dark stretch. So we should revel in Diaz’s masterpiece.

You Reap What You Sow

Whatever ultimately happens here, this result was deserved. Manny Diaz overhauled his entire coaching approach and it paid off. He could have gone the Al Golden route and stuck to his guns. He didn’t.

He put in the work, and the results were on display on Saturday Night. Diaz brought a team in that had every reason to come in with a big head and find themselves in a close game. Instead, they listened to Joaquin.

Meanwhile, FSU came in in shambles, absent a head coach, and somehow left in worse shape.

The bye week will afford Canes fans an opportunity to revel in this. And they should. You don’t often beat your rival like this, and future success is never guaranteed. It was fun. It’s a game they can put on and watch over and over again, for years to come. And they can do that with the knowledge that this is not a one off, not an isolated game, but as part of a larger string of games where the Canes have looked and played like a Top 10 team, something they now are.

But the not so shocking thing that managed to shock us is that any other result, anything other than a complete Miami blowout, would have been unjust.

Sometimes life is unfair. You do the things the right way, put your best foot forward, and it doesn’t go your way.

And sometimes you get exactly what you deserve.

Both Miami and FSU got what they deserved on Saturday, in a Magical Night in the Magic City.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003

Five Reasons to Like the Canes Win Over Florida State

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Miami destroyed Florida State 52-10 on Saturday night. And while it was challenging to find just 5 things to like, unlike FSU, I chose to rise to the challenge:

  1. 52-10. Remember when this used to be a rivalry? I do, we all do. And it still is! The Canes beat their biggest rival by 42 points. Frankly, I try not to just put the score in here, but FSU’s obvious deficiencies are obfuscating how big of a deal this is. The series since the 90s has been categorized by periods of dominance oscillating back-and-forth, with each school going on long win streaks multiple times. But even in those streaks, the games tend to be competitive. And even less rare is consecutive blowouts. Last year’s 17-point win in Tallahassee resulted in Willie Taggart’s firing. The Canes won this game by TWENTY FIVE more points than that. This performance was legendary and we shouldn’t lose sight of that in the aftermath of the dumpster fire in Tallahassee.
  2. Offensive Physical Domination. We’ve heard a lot about Rhett Lashlee’s offensive pace. We’ve heard a lot about “spread” being used as a generic term, often used to imply this team is just going to wing the ball all over the place. And Lashlee is playing faster, although he is changing pace a lot to keep defenses off balance versus just running hurry up on every play. And yes, D’Eriq King is spreading the ball around to multiple receivers, with 8 WRs catching passes in the 1st quarter alone. But a less talked about change is the change up front. I personally have lambasted the lackluster offensive line play for years. And the unquestioned strength of this FSU team is their defensive line, touted by some as one of the best in college football. If FSU was going to compete, it would be by dominating this matchup.
    ‌
    The Miami offensive line destroyed FSU. 200 yards, 5.4 YPC, 4 rushing TDs, no sacks allowed, and no QB hurries for the  Seminoles. Complete domination. Incredible performance from the Canes’ front line, the much maligned front line. Garin Justice has worked wonders with this group.
  3. Bubba Bolden. I have to talk about the Canes’ safety for the second week in a row. Once again, he showed himself to be one of the best safeties in the country. There were 2 highlight plays, a deflection leading to an Al Blades, Jr. interception and an interception of his own later, but on every play Bolden is quick to diagnose the play and rally to the tackle, quick to diagnose a pass and break on the ball. On a field full of athletes, Bolden seems to be playing at a different speed. The physical ability is there, but the mental aspects of his game are eye popping. Last year, he was injured celebrating a late interception against FSU, which cost him the rest of the season and possibly facilitated the Canes’ late season implosion. This year, his performance guaranteed that no such drama was necessary, and as he grabbed a much deserved 4th quarter interception, the game was so out of hand he didn’t need to celebrate.
  4. The Defense Hit. Both defenses started the game slow, with the game commencing with back-to-back long drives. FSU’s defense folded from there. Miami’s flexed. Yes, there is a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball. The Canes gave up over 300 yards to one of the worst teams in the country. And there were some mental lapses, missed gaps, and plenty that will need to be cleaned up. But the big positive here is the Canes responded to giving up a long FG drive by getting enraged, almost offended that the Seminoles were on the same field as them. When the Seminoles offense took the field again, this time trailing 14-3, the game reached it’s first (and ultimately last) inflection point. This was either going to turn into a shootout or the Canes were going to win in a blowout, with FSU’s defense looking clueless. That drive? Run for 4 yard loss, Run for 5 yard loss. False Start. Give up play for 15 yards on 3rd and 29. Punt. Game over.
    ‌
    And then they started to eat. And eat. And eat. The Canes ended the night with 3 interceptions, 6 sacks, and 13 Tackles For Loss, physically toying with the Seminoles. On the rare occasions FSU did manage to move the ball, it ended poorly. It wasn’t a perfect defensive performance, but it was a physically imposing one.
  5. Offensive Perfection. While the defense wasn’t perfect, the offense was as close to perfection as you can get. There were 4 possessions where the Canes did not score a TD: (1) The end of the half where they ran out of time and kicked a FG, (2) A fumble while driving in the 3rd quarter, (3) A punt on the first possession with all the backups in, and (4) Kneeling the ball at the end of the game. All 7 other possessions were TDs, and 3 of the 4 that weren’t had extenuating circumstances or there was a reasonable chance those also end in TDs.
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    As impressive as the top line was, it only gets more impressive when you dig deeper. This was a masterclass from Rhett Lashlee, who through 3 games has shown a keen ability to quickly to adjust to whatever a defense is doing and counter it. Lashlee has all the tools in his toolbelt, play fast, play slow, run, pass, misdirection…he seems to not have a preference for any one thing, settling for whatever is working at that point in time. But in this game, everything worked. Miami put up 517 yards, with 200 on the ground and 317 through the air, an amazing level of balance. They actually won the time of possession battle. This game was a symphony, and Lashlee was conducting a masterpiece of his own writing with D’Eriq King as first chair. It’s really rare that everything clicks like this, and Saturday was one of those nights. And what a night it was.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003

Ryan Fitzpatrick is a worthy role model for Tua Tagovailoa as Dolphins quarterback. (Tony Cappobiano)

Pressure Point: FitzMagic brings much-needed joy in Dolphins win

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Well, that was fun.

For the love of Fitz, how often has it been possible to express that sentiment about any Miami Dolphins game during the past two decades?

Just when it was needed most, 37-year-old boy wonder Ryan Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins to a 31-13 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Thursday night performance that was as joyous as effective.

Big picture conclusions should be avoided from any given game in the NFL. But coming on the heels of troubling opening losses to the Patriots and Bills, it was a relief to allay fears of another season-killing opening winless stretch like Miami’s 0-7 start last season.

And the “We want Tua” chants can remain on hold for awhile.

Tua Tagovailoa’s time will come soon enough, and hopefully he will prove to be the wunderkind of Dolfans dreams.

Right now, this is Fitzpatrick’s team and there is no question about that in the locker room.

Tight end Mike Gesicki said: “Yeah, I mean Fitz is out of his mind. He’s [37] years old and still playing this game like he’s 23. But to have him as our leader and for you to see the fun that he has — after I scored my touchdown we just came off to the sideline and just started yelling and screaming and chest bumping; it’s so fun to play with him.”

Sure, Fitzpatrick is averaging more than an interception a game in his long career with eight teams. He may throw up three picks any given day, as he did in the opener at New England.

More about Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins’ win at Five Reasons Sports

Fitzpatrick can be ‘crazy’ good

Then he turns on that old FitzMagic and has a night for the ages as he did Thursday, opening with 12 consecutive completions. Added to the nine in a row to conclude Sunday’s loss against Buffalo, Fitz’s streak of 21 was second-longest in Dolphins history behind Ryan Tannehill’s 25, which is also tied for the NFL record.

Fitzpatrick completed 18 of 20, including two for touchdown, ran for another score and even caught one of his own deflected passes.

What stood out apart from the stats was the crazed celebration after bowling Csonka-like into the endzone for a third-quarter touchdown that blew the game open — confirming Gesicki’s “Fitz is out of his mind” affirmation.

Fitzpatrick put it in perspective afterward: “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world being able to go outside and play football with my friends.”

Cleary, Tua couldn’t have a better role model to prepare for when he gets the keys to the franchise.

No question, this Dolphins season is still more about the future than the present. This is the first forward step in a rebuilding process (last season was the teardown that began it).

Some exterior walls have been set on a foundation, but it remains to be seen how the finished product will look — it will never be finished, of course.

There will be sobering Sundays ahead for the Dolphins. They’ve got more tough opposition coming up the next two weeks with the Seahawks and 49ers.

The Jaguars aren’t on the level of the Patriots and Bills, but they were favored, and rightfully so at home in prime time of a short week for both teams.

Offense shows positive signs

We began the season with the perspective of looking for progress. And for an indication that the approach of coach Brian Flores and general manager Chris Grier in constructing this team and Flores in coaching it is well founded.

The first two games were not encouraging. The defense, despite an extensive makeover, was atrocious. High-priced veterans signed in free agency played like suspects rather than upgrades.

The first encouraging signs are with the offense, and if began in the second half against the Bills.

Over the past six quarters, Fitz and Co. have produced 508 yards and 41 points.

The reconstructed offensive line, with right tackle Jesse Davis the only holdover, is showing potential of a solid unit. Rookie linemen Austin Jackson and Solomon Kindley are looking more comfortable each week.

Neither rookie has allowed a sack in three games. Commendable, considering they had no preseason games to get acclimated.

The Dolphins rushed for more than 100 yards for the first time this season, with a 138. They need to improve on the average of 3.8 yards a carry — even that was inflated by a 29-yard run by wideout Jakeem Grant.

That Myles Gaskin (66 yards on 22 carries at Jacksonville) has emerged as the surprise featured back is an endorsement to building through the draft rather than free agency. Veteran offseason signees Jordan Howard and Matt Breida combined for five yards on six carries and have done little in three games.

High-flying Gesicki catches on

The biggest revelation on offense is Gesicki, the 2018 second-round pick who was the target of criticism as a rookie and the first half of his second season. But since late November the lanky former Penn State Nittany Lion has seven touchdown catches, tied for most in the NFL in that span.

Gesicki’s latest was another leaping masterpiece, which gave the Dolphins a 21-7 lead. Hopefully he will be a popular target for Tua for years to come. For now, he has become a favorite of Fitz, especially in the red zone.

The heaviest lifting remains on defense, though the unit was much better against the Jaguars, including four sacks. Several of the offseason acquisitions had more of an impact than in previous weeks. Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill had seven tackles including a sack. Kyle Van Noy forced a fumble and recovered it in the scramble. Shaq Lawson had six pressures.

Notably, rookie cornerback Noah Igbinoghene found some redemption in coverage after getting undressed by Bills receiver Stefon Diggs.

Veteran corner Xavien Howard had an interception, but is not back to pre-injury level in pass coverge.

Better teams will continue to expose the shortcomings of this defense. Tackling remains surprisingly shoddy for a Flores team.

But for one night the Dolphins had reason to pose and puff out their chests.

For Dolfans, it was a game that left you wanting more — more celebratory screams. More quirky, crazy FitzMagic.

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

Brevin Jordan

Five Reasons the Hurricanes Will Beat the Seminoles

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The Miami Hurricanes look to continue their early season momentum as they host the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday.

Early season rivalry games have a way of setting the tone for a season.

Miami and Florida State enter their matchup Saturday on opposite plains.

The Hurricanes (2-0, 1-0) host Florida State (0-1, 0-1) in a game that looms large for both programs.

For Miami, expectations are high as they have improved each week.

While for Florida State the uncertainty lingers as the Seminoles try to rebound off a disappointing 16-13 loss to Georgia Tech.

Miami has beat Florida State three years running and oddsmakers have the Hurricanes as early double-digit favorites.

That being said, anything can happen in a rivalry game.

Especially this one.

With all things considered, the Hurricanes appear to be the superior team.

Here are five reasons that superiority should translate to an easy victory Saturday.

 

Quarterback

So far in his first season under center at the University of Miami, quarterback D’Eriq King has been as advertised.

 

Through two games King has completed 34-of-54 attempts for 469 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also added 92 yards and another score on the ground, his running ability within Rhett Lashlee’s spread offense has opened up the entire playbook. King has taken care of the football so far and is taking what the defense gives him.

Florida State allowed Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims to throw for 277 yards, and King has far more weapons at his disposal. King will have to look out for Asante Samuel Jr. in the Florida State secondary however, he picked off two passes against Georgia Tech.

Meanwhile for the Seminoles, quarterback James Blackman had a game to forget in their opening day loss. For the game Blackman went 23-of-43 for just 198 yards with one touchdown and an interception. More damning is that he lost two fumbles, against a nasty Miami front four he could be in for another mistake prone game.

 

South Florida Video

Miami Ground Game Should Feast Again

Cam Harris has come out of the gate on a mission with 263 yards in two games on a ridiculous 10.3 YPC, with touchdown runs of 66 and 75 yards already. Freshman phenoms Jaylen Knighton and Don Chaney, Jr. have been the perfect compliment to Harris, each have been solid contributors already. With King as another threat to pull it down and improved play on the offensive line, the Hurricanes ground game has been a huge factor.

Florida State did a decent job holding Georgia Tech to 161 rushing yards on 40 attempts, but they will be in for a bigger challenge on Saturday.

For the Seminoles to have any success on offense they will need to be able to run the football against a Miami run defense that struggled to contain Louisville running back Javian Hawkins. Miami had trouble with the Cocoa Beach product as he gashed the Hurricanes for 164 yards rushing.

It could be a little easier for the Hurricanes this week as the Seminoles run game did little against Georgia Tech in a close game, finishing with just 109 yards on 31 carries (3.1 YPC). If Miami can shut down the run early and get a lead, Florida State will be in trouble as the game wears on.

Phillips and Roche vs the FSU Offensive Line

Speaking of feasting, the Miami pass rush could be in for another dynamic performance against an underwhelming FSU offensive line.

Jaelen Phillips and Quincy Roche combined for 3.5 TFL against Louisville and Miami had 10 for the game.

 

Florida State did a decent job of protecting Blackman despite allowing three sacks, Blackman had ample time to throw on plenty of occasions but could not capitalize. Miami will try to take away the Florida State running game and make them one dimensional, while controlling down and distance. The Florida State offense will be in trouble if they are continually in third-and-long situations where the Miami defensive line can pin their ears back and come downhill.

Florida State allowed six tackle-for-loss against Georgia Tech and Blackman barely completed 50% of his passes for the night.

We could see a lot of the Turnover Chain Saturday night.

Miami Makes Less Mistakes

As mentioned turnovers could play a huge role in the outcome and so far with D’Eriq King at the helm the offense is taking care of the football. Blackman on the other hand doesn’t have the same accuracy and has been prone to the turnover lately having thrown five interceptions in his last two games.

Granted four of those came at the end of last season in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.

Not grrrreat.

Both teams have had lapses in terms of penalties as each hit double figures last time out.

The difference was that Miami came out to play otherwise while Florida State could not get out of their own way.

Manny Diaz had the team prepared and it will be crucial to avoid a letdown in terms of emotion and intensity.

It Means a lot More to the Hurricanes.

The Miami seniors have never lost to Florida State and if the Hurricanes can take care of business it sets them up for a huge game to follow at No. 1 Clemson.

After dropping seven in a row in the rivalry the Hurricanes want to send the seniors out with a fourth straight win.

Miami is in a great position with Clemson looming on the horizon to make a statement once again under the lights.

 

It is certain to be an exciting game, you can always throw out the records when these two square off.

However Miami is trending up while Florida State is in purgatory, and overall appear to be the better team.

If Diaz can once again have them ready from the opening kickoff and they wear out the Seminoles with the up tempo offense, it should be game over.

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The Extra Yard: Fitzpatrick leads Dolphins over Minshew and the Jags

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On Thursday night in front of the bright lights, the winless Miami Dolphins traveled north to take on their in-state rivals, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The two teams have met a total of nine times throughout the history of the world. Jacksonville is 5-4 all-time. And yes, as Dolphins fans, we all want to forget Marino’s last playoff game.

But the truth is, the Jaguars have gone deeper into the playoffs than I’ve ever seen Miami do in my lifetime. And despite being accused of tanking like the media tried to paint the Dolphins a season ago—Gardner Minshew has Jacksonville 1-1 and playing good football.

So, on Primetime in front of the entire world, the Dolphins and Jaguars faced off. But even more importantly—with Miami’s season hanging in the balance—the grizzled veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick led Miami to battle against the real-life Uncle Rico, aka Gardner Minshew.

FitzMagic vs Minshew Mania

Initially, this seemed like nothing more than a game that would feature two unique QBs. Both have proven time and time again; they can pull a rabbit out of a hat. But what once appeared to be a friendly meeting between the two teams has slowly turned into the battle of the mustache and the beard. And it’s starting to get ugly!

I’m not sure how this all came about, but I’m going to do my best to retrace the steps.

That was all well and good. But then, whether he intended to or not, the man known as Fitzmagic came crashing down with the power of 100 Thor hammers.

When asked why are beards better than mustaches, Fitzpatrick had this to say:

The mustache versus the beard, I think the beard is a cooler look. I think guys that grow mustaches a lot of times have patchy sides for their beards, so they just stick with the mustache.

This was the quote that started it all.

I won’t pretend to know whether or not it was a knock on Minshew and his pre-adolescent mustache. Because the next sentence, Fitzpatrick would go on to talk about his wife’s preference on the length of his facial hair.

But what I do know is after slandering mustaches and their entire existence, the 24-year-old gunslinger would have something to say. And it wasn’t long before he was asked his thoughts about Fitzpatrick’s comments.

“I’ll let mine speak for itself. I have a lot of respect for my elders — especially when they’re much, much elder.”

MY QUICK AND GRITTY GAME RECAP

  • The Dolphins took the opening kickoff and marched the ball downfield at will; capping off the impressive drive a Preston Williams touchdown on 3rd and goal from the two-yard line. This was a unique drive because not only did the Dolphins offense have a clear identity, but the man known as The Unicorn bounced back after a critical drop in Week 2. Perfect first drive by Miami’s offense.

  • I don’t want to be the guy that sits here and points out the team’s glaring weaknesses after an impressive victory. But we need to have a discussion about Elandon Roberts. At times, he looked lost on defense and continues to be a liability in the run. Why would the Dolphins have traded Raekwon McMillan for this? At least, Kamu Grugier-Hill showed up to play. But please, stop giving key defensive snaps to Elandon Roberts.

  • Myles Gaskin is the Dolphins RB1 and continues to look impressive not only in the run game but the passing game as well.

  • Gaskin was playing so well; one of my sources reached out to me regarding this extremely confidential information.

  • Miami continues to use Jordan Howard at the goal line. A place that better suits his violent style of play. Howard once again found pay dirt, sniping Myles Gaskin after he carried the team downfield on his back. Through three games, Howard has 16 carries, 12 yards, and one touchdown. Keep an eye on Chandler Cox and Solomon Kindley on Howard’s touchdown run. It’s beautiful:

  • Wow, Miami’s offensive line really is pretty damn good this year, huh?
  • Dolphins continue to struggle wrapping defenders up. Shenault breaks off a big run after colliding with two or three defensive backs. TACKLE SOMEONE!!!!!
  • Ryan Fitzpatrick on 4th and 1 is about as automatic as Lousaka Polite.

  • The last time the Dolphins had a tight end that truly struck fear in opposing defenses was 2002-2006 and Randy McMichael. Well, I think that’s about to change with the emergence of Mike Gesicki. Ever since he heaved a football over his house, ran through a garage door, and made the catch in the middle of the street; that 2020 was going to be a big year for the Penn State prodigy. How would he follow up his 8 reception, 130 yard career day from a season ago?

  • Kyle Van Noy must’ve heard all the noise about his play early on this season because he came out and played like his hair was on fire. KVN finished the game with 5 total tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and….he killed a man.

  • In 2019, Ryan Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins in rushing yards and touchdowns. Here he is replicating Dolphins legend, Larry Csonka.

  • Dan Marino, aka The Goat, aka The Right Arm of God, made a cameo. And so did The Left Arm Of God.

  • Miami’s offensive line has been a breath of fresh air this season. Austin Jackson looks legit, Solomon Kindley is a mauler, and Ereck Flowers has played solid as well. Ted Karras and Jesse Davis remain the weak links, though I’d rather keep Davis around than Karras. It’s still early, but that was a wash between Karras and Daniel Kilgore.

  • Igbinoghene came to play tonight, as did the rest of the Dolphins secondary.

  • Austin Jackson continues to impress.

  • Ryan Fitzpatrick did a little bit of everything tonight.

  • Nice to see the Dolphins generate some pass-rush today. Here are Emmanuel Ogbah and Zach Sieler sandwiching Gardner Minshew on a key 2nd and 2.

  • Andrew Van Ginkel needs to get more opportunities because when he does, good things happen.

  • Not only is he a mauler, but Solomon Kindley is a hype man.

  • Xavien Howard put the game away with this interception. Is he back?

Final Stat Line:

I don’t know when the Dolphins/Jaguars All-22 will be out, but when it is, I promise to bring you plenty of content on Twitter.com.

Goodnight, all.

P.S

beards > mustaches

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A word from a sponsor of Dolphins content on FiveReasonsSports.com….

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Five Reasons to Like the Canes Win Over Louisville

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The Canes went on the road with the whole nation watching and walked out of Louisville with a comfortable 13-point victory. With Florida State on the horizon, here are 5 reasons to like Miami’s performance against Louisville:

  1. D’Eriq King is fantastic. King was in total control of the offense. There were some questions after the opener around the subject of whether the offense was holding back. Those questions were answered. King was called upon time and again and repeatedly delivered pinpoint accurate passes. If not for seven drops by Canes’ WRs he would have thrown for another 50-100 yards and at least one more TD. His final numbers are still strong: 18-30, 325 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs. But he actually played better than those numbers show. A calm, measured, experienced performance from Miami’s senior QB.
  2. Brevin Jordan is the best Tight End in the country. We knew this, and he confirmed it. Rhett Lashlee did an excellent job moving Jordan around the field and Louisville couldn’t cover him. 7 catches, 120 yards, and a TD. But he also converted several key 3rd downs, including a 3rd and 11 on the Canes’ second TD drive. Jordan’s presence helped settle the offense down, as reliability builds a foundation that everyone can lean on. After hurdling a defender to set up the second TD, Jordan was rewarded with the final TD of the game. A complete performance from arguably the Canes’ best player.
  3. Jose Borregales is a weapon. Okay…I know two weeks in a row on a kicker might feel like a bit much. But we’re all about progression. Last week, we were confident that at least Borregales would make the field goals he should make. This week, we’ll discuss what field goals he shouldn’t make.‌⁣
    ⁣
    ***crickets***
    ⁣
    ‌⁣The only open question now is whether the Canes have the best kicker in the country. Facing 4th-and-5 at the Louisville 40 in the 2nd quarter, I went through my mental rolodex of options. Punt, pin them deep, try to force a 3 and out late in the half and score on the half’s last possession OR go for it because 5 yards is very doable. It never even crossed my mind that kicking a FG was an option. Louisville seemed to not trust it either. They sent someone back to return the FG that would inevitably fall short and left a fake prevention defense on the field. I thought there was half a chance that the FG would be a pooch punt. Instead…right down the middle, had plenty of leg to go another 10 yards. And it wasn’t just that kick. Against UAB, Borregales made all 4 XPs and his FG…a marked improvement from last year. But the FG was easy and XPs are XPs. In this game? Made all 5 XPs and made 4 FGs, 2 of which were over 40 yards, and one was the aforementioned 57-yarder. And all the kicks were perfect, right down the middle. Not only are those FGs misses last year, those are misses for the majority of college kickers.
  4. Bubba Bolden is a play maker. If one player flashed consistently on defense, it was Bubba Bolden. Bolden had 11 tackles, 9 of which were solo. His ability to read and react to plays from his safety position and come downhill to blow up plays was a consistent theme for this Canes’ defense. Louisville does an excellent job of isolating players and opening up space to create one-on-one matchups. Bolden short-circuited several could and should have been big plays. When Louisville dissects the film, they’ll have to logically conclude that Bolden was just too good on the night. Several of Bolden’s tackles were in space on 3rd downs, helping the Canes to hold Louisville to 4-of-14 on 3rd downs. On a night where the Canes defense didn’t exactly shine, Bolden did and was spectacular.
  5. The Defensive Line has depth. We knew about Jaelin Phillips. We knew about Quincy Roche. We knew about Nesta Silvera. And they all showed out brilliantly. Phillips showed his complete game, pressuring the QB and stuffing the run…despite being held the entire game. Roche blew up several plays, including a screen in the first half to force a punt and a key 3rd quarter sack. And Silvera provided push the entire game, including one time hilariously blowing up a run play by manhandling a Louisville lineman and shoving him back into the RB. But what stood out to me is rotation. With the Canes playing faster on offense (they were -17 minutes in time of possession today, although a lot of that was down to the 3rd quarter), the defense will need to rotate. And while the secondary struggles to find its sea legs, increasing pressure is getting put on the Canes’ defensive line. Both Jared Harrison-Hunte and Cameron Williams showed they could be counted on. The Canes rotated them in, and they answered the call, with sacks, key tackles, and disciplined play. That is a game changed going forward.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003

Kicker Jose Borregales is Miami Hurricanes X-Factor

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The Miami Hurricanes are 2-0 after a dominating 47-34 victory on the road against Louisville.

Most of the credit for this hot start will go to the newly added quarterback D’Eriq King, who thew for 325 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-30 passing. The Hurricanes have seen stellar quarterback play before, although this year might be different. Offensive personnel has never been Miami’s problem, even in a year that ended with a 6-7 record.

What makes this year different is kicker Jose Borregales, who nailed four field goals. What makes those kicks notable is two of them went as far as 48 and 57 yards, with the latter breaking the Cardinal Stadium record for an opponent by the six yards and the overall mark by five.

Could you imagine the Hurricanes ever attempting to kick field goals from those distances a year ago? The furthest Camden Price kicked was a 32-yard field goal against Florida State.

Miami had to use three different kickers in 2019. Their 28-21 overtime loss to Georgia Tech was a nightmare kicking wise, as both Bubba Baxa and Turner Davidson went a combined 0-for-3 in field goals. Worst part is all of those field goal attempts were short distance.

Davidson was made to be a hero for merely converting one extra point and a 19-yard field goal in Miami’s 17-9 upset win over No. 20 Virginia, a team that finished its season at the Orange Bowl. The bar was set that low due to Baxa missing half of his field goals. An argument could be made that the Hurricanes season would have gone in a much different direction if he only missed just a quarter of his field goals.

While that was happening, Borregales was at FIU giving the Panthers confidence that most of their offensive drives will at least result with three points. He was instrumental in FIU upsetting Miami at Marlins Park this past November, making all thee field goals including two going over 50 yards.

The Panthers started calling Miami the “University of Coral Gables” after that game. This website actually sells shirts with that name.

Nevertheless he joined the so-called University of Coral Gables as a graduate transfer because as he admitted last November, it was his dream school and his brother, Andres Borregales, will soon replace him next year.

The rankings are a bit suspect this early in the strange 2020 season. Both Miami and Louisville were unranked a week ago hosting C-USA opponents. The ACC is considered as the superior conference so for both teams to jump so high in the rankings after predicable wins seemed unusual. A conspiracy theorist would tell you that the rankings were manipulated to make the Saturday night game an easier sell. With little to none fan attendance in the stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic, college football has become virtually exclusively purposed for television.

Miami came out on top so now next week’s home game against their bitter but weaker rivals, the Florida State Seminoles, will not only be another primetime affair but also attract ESPN College Gameday to brace the campus with their presence. Had Louisville won, maybe No. 25 Pittsburgh would have jumped higher in the polls than it otherwise would after being Syracuse to make their matchup with the Cardinals a marquee matchup, rather than a mere matinee.

The Hurricanes have a good chance to start 3-0 and be well positioned for championship contention. Maybe Clemson goes through the entire season without a challenge but the face that Borregales can put the Hurricanes in field goal range as soon as their offense crosses the midfield logo gives them a chance to unseat the champs.

Houtz Special: Dolphins should ‘stay the course’ with Tua Tagovailoa

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Last night, the Cleveland Browns defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 35-30 in an exciting primetime game.

This game had everything. And I do mean EVERYTHING.

Odell Beckham Jr. made big plays. Cleveland utilized their two-headed monster in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. And we got a preview of Baker Mayfield vs Joe Burrow. We also got this.

(P.S I miss you Jarvis Landry. #LandryGangGang)

Dolphins can learn a lot from Joe Burrow; Bengals

It was a good night of football.

But my biggest takeaway from this game–besides realizing how foolish it was to sit Kareem Hunt this week for broken Miles Sanders–was that the Dolphins need to stay the course with their young signal-caller.

Because yes, Joe Burrow looked impressive as hell completing a rookie record 37 passes on 61 attempts.

But he also got his ass-kicked, enduring 17 punishing hits throughout the three-hour slugfest.

After the game, Burrow said he was fine. But as we’ve seen first hand in Miami over the years, this type of abuse is not sustainable.

Furthermore, making Burrow throw the ball 61 times is not something we thought we’d see on this day. And behind indubitably the worst offensive line in football, this isn’t exactly a recipe for success.

Now, I know what the first thing is you’re going to say:

bUt MiAmI’S oFfEnSivE LiNe Is BetTeR tHAn CiNcInAtTi’s

Yes, this is true.

But it is also true that Miami has only played ONE game.

Offensively, the Dolphins line played solid. And if younger players like Solomon Kindley, Austin Jackson, and Robert Hunt continue to step up; and the veterans build continuity, there’s no reason why this offensive line can’t rank middle of the pack–at worst.

So, yes I concur that Miami’s offensive line is superior. It’s hard not to be.

Fitzmagic or Fitztragic?

Then there’s also this older, bearded guy on the roster named Ryan Fitzpatrick– whom is playing in his 16th NFL season. Not only did he lead the Dolphins to five wins in 2019 but he’s again reunited with 68-year-old Chan Gailey. Whose offense in week one, admittedly, looked like it hasn’t aged in a few decades. And in their first time together since 2016, there were plenty of kinks to work out.

On Sunday, Fitzpatrick looked much more like his alter-ego FitzTragic–throwing three interceptions in a losing effort. But in 2020, the leash for Fitzpatrick could be longer than a season ago– as Chris Kauffman of 3 Yard’s Per Carry notes in this elegant thread:

And the most important variable–other than health– is how well does the rookie understand Miami’s offense?

After all, we heard all offseason how it’s much more simplified than Chad O’Shea’s from a season ago.

We also know how similar Gailey’s offense is to what Tagovailoa ran in Tuscaloosa.

But in his first taste of the NFL glitz and glamour, Tua did everything asked of him on the sideline. And whether that be communicating with coaches and players, or buckling his chinstrap on every offensive position, The Left Arm of God appeared ready and eager to get out there.

Miami’s starting QB agreed:

“He asked some really good questions. It seemed like he saw the game pretty decent from the sidelines in terms of the stuff that we were talking about and the questions he was asking. It was good. It was a good start just to build on that communication now, just being another set of eyes for me to be able to trust. I thought he did a nice job.”

The Final Yard

Ultimately, it is up to head coach Brian Flores on when he will decide to usher in the new era in Miami.

An era, that many have dreamt about in their heads since the GOAT Dan Marino rode off into the sunset.

And despite all these words I just took an hour to type out, everything could change with another lackluster performance from the veteran Fitzpatrick.

Yes, this is a unique season. But the Dolphins have already been clear that Tua is healthy and able to play. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent Josh Rosen packing with a handful of money. Or removed Tagovailoa recently from the team’s injury report.

In the end, no one knows when the Tua Tagovailoa Era will begin in Miami.

But as we saw last season, all it takes is a few costly mistakes and Brian Flores is ready to make a change.

A change that Dolphins fans have desired for most of their life.

 

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A word from a sponsor of Dolphins content on FiveReasonsSports.com….

Been in an accident? Not sure if you have injuries? In Florida, you have 14 days to be evaluated for injuries related to an accident otherwise insurance won’t pay for your medical care.

If you were in an accident, don’t wait to get evaluated by a doctor, even if you don’t think the accident was serious. Getting the right care after an accident can save you thousands of dollars in medical bills and prevent future pain and suffering.

If you don’t want to go to the doctor, contact Dr. Chung for a virtual consultation and it will ensure that you can use your auto insurance benefits for your future medical care.

Contact us at 561.246.0044 and get a complimentary consultation when you mention “Josh Houtz” or visit us at Keystone Chiropractic for more information.