QBRyan Tannehill was average although the numbers look OK - 28 of 42 for 310 yards with a TD and an INT. But, 16 points at home is not OK. He had 3 opportunities to hit a wide open Mike Wallace for long TDs. And when I say wide open I mean a fulkl 3-4 yards from the defender. Tannehill missed on all 3. He underthrew Wallace on one - Wallace came back to the ball and made a great 53 yard TD. He underthrew him for another and istead of a 75 yard TD Wallace had to come back and somehow catch the ball for a 57 yard completion instead of an easy catch and another 20 yard jog to the endzone (the Dolphins setteled for a FG instead and lost the game by 4) and on the last throw he finally overthrew Wallace with 18 seconds to go on what could have been a 60 yard game winner when Wallace somehow got behind the defense in a hail mary type of pass. That's the difference between a great game and an average game. He really needs to run more for first downs because he is very good at it. C
RB It's official, The Dolphins can not run. The nest runner is QB Tannehill but he doesn't want to run. Miller had 8 yards on 10 attempts and Thomas had 8 yards on 3 attempts... Tannehill had 36 on 4 tries. D-
WR An excellent game for Wallace. They just could not cover him and was open by a mile on a regular basis. Tannehill just can't seem to be able to make the long throw to him. He was open three times. He caught two of them but had to get back to catch them and it resulted in 1 TD instead of 2. He finished with 127 yards on 5 catches (including a 57 yard completion and a 53 yard TD) with a TD. He should have had more yards and scored if Tannehill could throw it more accurately. The other WRs were OK. A-
OL McKinnie stabilized the pass protection but the rest of the line and the run blocking especially is not very good and that's puting it mildly. The 2 RBs ran for 16 yards on 11 carries. Ouch. D+
LB The Dolphins LBs are not playing as weel as they should. They had a good game and limiting Newton to 20 points is solid but no big plays from the unit. B-
DL The D-line dominated the first half and it showed on the scorebored. But the second half was a different story. They couldn't get pressure and that began Miami's fall. Is there really a reason for not playing Dion Jordan more ? A-
Secondary 4th and 10 - for the game and they could not stop Steve Smith. The end of the 2nd and 4th quarters were just bad. Newton did not have a good game but he carved the Phins when it mattered the most. B-
Special teams Sturgis missed a FG (do I have to remind anyone that the Panthers won by 4) and somehow should tell Thigpen that it's better to save 10 seconds and take the ball at the 20 instead of runnig nowhere wasting time and getting the ball inside the 20. Fields is well, Fields. Best punter in the NFL. B (Fields gets an A again...)
Coaching A bad game. The Dolphins had no business losing this game. The settling for FGs, the bad long balls by Tannehill even though it was evident the Panthers could not cover Wallace. The ridicolous decision to put 4 men deep at the end of the half that resulted in a 29 yards catch and run and a FG at the end of the half and the collapse in the second half. I'm not talking about the lack of a runing game and th emystery of not putting Jordan in more. D
