Words Coming Back to Haunt Dolphins

Things are not working out so far the way the Miami Dolphins had planned

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) runs with the ball during the second quarter against Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. / Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins are not a good football team.

This is not us saying it, even though it would be difficult to argue after what we saw at Lumen Field in Seattle on Sunday during their 24-3 loss against the Seahawks.

No, those are the words of defensive lineman Calais Campbell from last week when he said "good teams don't lose two in a row."

This is just. one example of a comment from somebody in the organization that really is sticking out right now in the aftermath of the ugly performance against the Seahawks.

And those comments aren't sticking out in a good way.

THE DOLPHINS ARE NOT A GOOD TEAM

The Dolphins now have lost two in a row and it's actually hard to argue with Campbell's comment when looking at the Dolphins — unlike, say, when looking at the 2023 Kansas City Chiefs, who did lose two in a row at one point on their way to their second consecutive Super Bowl title.

Now at 1-2, this is the first time the Dolphins have been under .500 with Mike McDaniel as head coach. The losses against the Buffalo Bills and Seattle also marked the first time the Dolphins lost by 20 points or more in back-to-back games since the first four games of the 2019 season when the team was in full rebuilding (or tanking) mode.

The Dolphins are dead last in the NFL in scoring 11 points per game, this after being second only to the Dallas Cowboys in 2023.

Lastly, the Dolphins are one of only two teams with two losses this season by 20 points or more; the other is the Carolina Panthers.

GRIER AND THE OFFENSIVE LINE

It's now a famous clip, one that has bee replayed time and time again or cited in the past couple of weeks, that of GM Chris Grier telling the media after the 2023 NFL draft that they were a lot more worried about the offensive line than the organization was.

Grier doubled down on that comment after the roster cuts to 53 with this: "I know you guys made a joke about me saying you guys are more worried about it than we are, but internally that’s how we feel about our group here as a team."

We have now reached the point where we'd suggest the organization absolutely should be worried about the state of the offensive line.

Skylar Thompson really struggled against the Seahawks, but it's also a fact he didn't get great help from his offensive line. Thompson and Tim Boyle were sacked a combined six times in the game, the running game averaged 3.6 yards per attempt and the Dolphins were only 1-for-3 converting third-and-1 situations with running plays.

To make matters worse, left tackle Terron Armstead can't stave off injuries, and now he's in the concussion protocol after having to leave a second consecutive game early.

TUA'S PROPHETIC COMMENT

This brings us to Tua Tagovailoa's headline-making comment, this one from early in the season, that, "Well, brutha, I get the ball out fast, so I'm confident with anybody we got up there, I'll tell you that. I'm confident with anybody we get out there."

The problem is that Tagovailoa isn't in the lineup right now, and Thompson most definitely does not get the ball out fast. There actually aren't that many quarterbacks who did this as well as Tagovailoa, and maybe that ability has helped masked (to a degree) the pass protection deficiencies up front.

But with Tagovailoa out of the lineup, it's now up to Mike McDaniel to come up with a scheme not so reliant on the quick passing game, though his quarterbacks have to help out with their processing speed in the pocket and the offensive line also has to chip in with better pass protection.

None of that was on display in Seattle.

THE RAMSEY SPEECH ABOUT BULLYING

The Dolphins defense has had its moments so far this season, but we clearly haven't seen this terrifying group that unit hoped to be based on Jalen Ramsey's speech to his teammates after a practice.

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks relayed Ramsey's message to the media and expounded on the idea: "So if we can be the initiators, we can be the bullies, I think that makes you a dominant defense to where you’re proactive rather than reactive.”

The Dolphins really could have used that kind of dominant defense against Seattle when they were forced to start Thompson at quarterback, kind of like what the Pittsburgh Steelers have done in getting off to a 3-0 start despite a rather pedestrian offense.

The defense did keep Seattle off the scoreboard for most of the second half to give the Dolphins at a chance at a comeback, but where was the defense at the start of the game when getting off to a lead might have eased some pressure off Thompson?

By the end of the first quarter, Seattle had 151 yards of offense and 17 points, and that 17-3 lead was going to be awfully hard for the Dolphins to overcome with their backup quarterback.

And, unlike the offense, the defense came in with every player on the active roster healthy and available.

So the defense can get better and continue working its way toward becoming dominant bullies. And the offensive line most definitely can improve to the point where maybe it won't be a concern to anybody.

And maybe the Dolphins also can win some games and became what was expected of them, to be a good team.

But right now, none of those things are where they should be or someone said they would be.