The Miami Dolphins are 1-2 on the year after a 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. This is a far cry from where they were through 3 games during the 2023 regular season as they had two games in their 3 last year in which they had 36 or more points – including the big 70 point game against Denver. Miami combined for 106 points in their week 1 and week 3 game last year – and believe it or not – they scored more in both of those games than they have cumulatively through the first 3 weeks of the 2024 season. The Miami Dolphins have 33 total points through the first 3 games of the 2024 season and the outlook for this franchise is very bleak. Now I know you may be thinking – well this isn’t fair because Tua got hurt and they would have put up more points against Seattle in week 3. And I acknowledge that, but I don’t think Miami was going into Seattle and beating that defense with Tua. And obviously we wish the best for Tua in his recovery – but he looked terrible in the week 2 game against the Bills before leaving with injury. And in today’s video we’re going to dive into why the Miami Dolphins future is frightening. And there’s a lot to dive into and it’s not just an overreaction to a 21 point road loss with a backup quarterback. We’re going to dive into the struggles this franchise has faced over the past 9 or 10 months, and what the future may hold for this team. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down a couple of concerns I have with this team moving forward – and it goes back to last year. Over the Dolphins last 13 games they have put up 265 total points – which includes the playoff game against the Chiefs in which they only put up 7 points. 265 points over those 13 games equates to around 20.4 per game – which would have ranked tied for 21st with the Los Angeles Chargers based on the 2023 season. But when you dive into the numbers and you put context around the numbers – there’s a few things that need to be acknowledged. During this 13 game span which dates back to week 9 of last year – the Dolphins put up 30 or more points in 3 of those games. Two of those games came against the Jets in which they were quarterbacked by Tim Boyle, Trevor Simian, and even Zach Wilson. The other 30+ point game came against the Washington Commander who would go on to finish the 2023 season with 4-13 record and have the number 2 pick in the draft.
Those games were outliers relative to how the Dolphins have played over the last bakers dozen games – and this goes back to the narrative of the Dolphins not being able to beat good teams – and the results show this. And if you take those 3 games – which again are outliers – then the Dolphins 265 points over the last 13 games – dwindles down to 156 points in 10 games – and that 20.4 points per game – shrinks all the way to just 15.6 points per game. And I know Tua being out at the moment certainly doesn’t help things – but the slide for this team was starting while Tua was playing. Tua very much started the final 3 games of the Dolphins 2023 season in which they put up just 40 total points against the Ravens, Bills, and Chiefs – as they would be outscored 103-40 in weeks 17, 18, and the wild card round in 2023. And to be completely honest – the Dolphins are a two play sequence away from being 0-3 to start the 2024 season.
And that two play sequence was a Travis Etienne fumble on the goal line – followed by a Tyreek Hill 80 yard touchdown on the very next play. That sequence saved Miami from going down 21-10 rather than being up 17-14 late in the 3rd quarter. And even within that game – the lone game they’ve won so far in 2024 -they didn’t look good in that game outside of a few plays – the Tyreek 80 yard touchdown of course being one of them. Miami averaged just 3.2 yards per carry in that game and the leading rusher for them was Jeff Wilson – who had just 26 rushing yards on 5 carries.
Within the Jags game – De’Von Achane had 10 carries for 24 yards and Raheem Mostert had 6 carries for 9 yards. The Buffalo game was a complete disaster and they were down 31-10 before Tua got hurt and even with a healthy Tua – this was a great example of how the Dolphins are always going to be limited. Miami lost the turnover battle 3 to 0 and I think the worst thing for them in this game – aside from Tua getting hurt of course was – Buffalo didn’t look that great offensively. Yes James Cook had a great game and made some plays – but Buffalo’s offense was on the field for less than 24 minutes in the game and they had just 247 yards of total offense. Josh Allen is a player who I believe is an MVP candidate every year – but he had just 139 yards passing and despite him being a really good dual threat quarterback – he only had 2 rushing yards on the night. Miami was dominated before the injury and they had just 30 total points in two games.
And what I think is also very concerning about the Dolphins is they haven’t been able to run the ball either. Now I know losing Connor Williams and Robert Hunt in free agency was always going to be tough – as each were very good players last year – and especially Connor Williams when he was healthy in the run game – but Miami is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry through 3 games and that is obviously in the bottom 10 of the NFL. And what’s frustrating is it’s not like they haven’t been trying to run the football either as they rank in the upper half of the league in rushing attempts through the first 3 weeks. And for reference – they averaged 5.1 yards per carry in 2023 which led the NFL.
There’s a reason we often discuss complimentary football on the channel and it’s because football is the ultimate team game. You can’t be one dimensional offensively and expect to win a ring. There may be a crazy outlier year here or there – but the Dolphins are not going to be that team with Tua as their quarterback in 2024, or even 2025 for that matter. They have to be able to run the football to be able to set up the passing game to get the ball into Tyreek and Jaylen Waddle’s hands routinely and the results have spoke for themselves.
What also concerns me for the Dolphins moving forward is how this roster has been constructed over the past few years. Yes hitting on Jaelan Phillips was nice and the same thing applies to Jevon Holland, Kader Kohou, Jaylen Waddle, and you get the point. But the Dolphins choosing to go all in this year with free agent acquisitions was baffling. Bringing in old veterans like Calais Campbell, Jordan Poyer, Odell Beckham, was never a move I was a big fan of for a few reasons. They internally – thought they were going to be competing for a Super Bowl. You don’t bring in those guys unless you think they are the one or two missing pieces between losing in the wild card round – and going to win the big game. Not only that – but this team lost several players in free agency including two $100 million dollar guys in Christian Wilkins and Robert Hunt.
This team got worse in the trenches from 2023 to 2024 – and somehow someway – they convinced themselves that they were going to be able to figure it out and that this could be their year. And it’s not. I don’t like to do the big over reaction after a single game and say that a team is done or that they might as well pack it in – but 3 weeks is telling for where this team is and the problems from last year are still here. And for a team that’s 1-2 and not going to be the number one seed in the AFC – meaning if they would even make the playoffs this year – and that’s a big IF by itself – but do you honestly think – even with a healthy Tua – that this team is going into any of the premier AFC contending teams and winning not just one playoff game – but 3 in a row. And to me the answer is a resounding no.
They have played the division rival Buffalo Bills 3 times since week 4 of the 2023 season – and in those 3 games – they have been outscored 100-44. And please remember – they were already down 31-10 when Tua was still in the week 2 game this year. They lost in Buffalo last year 48-22 – with a healthy Tua who played the entire game. And please remember – this team was 9-3 and had a 3 game lead in the division race as Buffalo fell to 6-6 – before losing 3 of their final 5 games including the week 18 game against Buffalo in which they were beat at home with a score of 21-14. They can’t beat good teams, they’ve struggled big time out of the gate in 2024 – and they have an aging roster that simply is not talented enough to win 12 or 13 games in a season.
To make matters worse – Miami’s offensive line has regressed and it looked particularly bad against Seattle. So when you think about the Dolphins situation and you think about the great players they have – whether it’s Tyreek, Jaylen Waddle, even De’Von Achane who has certainly flashed at times – it doesn’t matter if you can’t get the ball to them. Seattle’s run defense was notoriously bad against the run in each of the last two years – and that was a big reason why they lost so many games over the last two years – but they dominated this game.
Miami had 65 yards rushing in week 3 and Achane had 11 carries for just 30 yards – with a long run of 13. Excluding a single carry – Achane had 10 carries for 17 yards. And there’s a problems with Miami because they’re not a position or two away. They’re several. I don’t know how serious you can take Tyreek Hill for saying he was going to retire after a contract a couple of years ago mainly because things change so fast in the NFL – but what I will say is Tyreek is 30 years old and he’s not going to play forever.
It’s obviously not going to be easy to eventually replace a player who has back to back 1,700 yard seasons and is the only player in NFL history to do so. Sure the Dolphins are going to have good players on their roster – and they’re going to beat up on bad teams – when healthy of course because losing your starting quarterback for a couple of games obviously isn’t ideal. I know they are still waiting for Bradley Chubb to come back as he tore his ACL in the Baltimore game last year which was on New Years Eve and sure having Bradley would be nice – but he doesn’t help the problems the offense is having. I know I have said before how much of a fan of Mike McDaniel as I am – and after a poor start to the year – I’m not calling for his job by any means – but I think the Dolphins are in a very complicated situation for a few reasons.
IF they fire General Manager Chris Greer – which could very easily happen at seasons end – then we enter a situation where the pending GM would have to both – want to work with Mike McDaniel and presumably want Tua to be his quarterback for the next few years. I think it was wildly ignorant for Chris Greer to not bring in a viable backup quarterback prior to the 2024 season knowing Tua’s injury history and hoping that he would be able to play another full 17 game season.
Football is an incredibly violent game and Tua- or any quarterback’s season is one offensive lineman falling down, or maybe getting a quarter of a second late start on a play and having a pass rusher absolutely drill them from the blind side – from the starting quarterbacks season being over. And this was already with a quarterback who had a lengthy concussion history. We saw teams prioritize the backup quarterback positions this offseason and for good reason – playing 17 games in the NFL for anybody – let alone a player who takes hits from 300 pound lineman while standing in a stationary position – is a grueling task. And for Miami to not prioritize the backup quarterback position entering the year was always playing with fire. This roster is also very thin outside of a couple of positions and it’s also not good enough. And that point can’t be driven home enough. Teams are built through the draft and Miami’s 2023 draft class was 4 total players – two of which aren’t on the roster in offensive lineman Ryan Hayes, and Cardinals backup tight end Elijah Higgins. Relying on Cam smith and De’Von Achane to be an entire 2 man draft class just 20 games into their careers – not surprisingly – didn’t produce great draft results.
