Another dreary showing, this time a 16-10 loss that was the Miami Dolphins’ fourth defeat in five outings, has fans understandably upset. The team is off to a 2-4 start nobody saw coming, and like many of the other losses, fans are pointing at coach Mike McDaniel’s handling of the team and general manager Chris Grier’s handling of the roster. Which is a nice way of saying there’s at least a segment of fans wanting heads to roll immediately.
On the brighter side, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is on track to start Sunday against Arizona, so maybe the Dolphins’ offense will look more like the Dolphins’ offense. Maybe.
So let’s get to your sizzling questions in our weekly mailbag.
Tua’s back! But what exactly does this mean?
@JTCharles01
What’s your prediction for the remainder of the season and does Tua save it?
I have a problem with expecting Tua to be The Savior. He’ll certainly help, and the offense should look different with him, but it wasn’t exactly piling up points at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 even with him. Defenses have figured out how to minimize Tua to Tyreek and Jaylen. Now it’s up to McDaniel to force them to respect the run game, which should help open passing lanes again. Either way, the Dolphins must — must! — fulfill their goal of becoming a team that can churn out 10- and 12-play scoring drives. You can’t live on home runs alone.
Debi Mass (and several others)
Knowing Tua’s injury history why did we not have a veteran backup?
Debi, that is the No. 1 question about the makeup of this team. It’s the first question Steve Ross needs to ask Chris Grier. It’s probably the first question we’ll ask Grier the next time he fields our questions.
Mike Huylebroeck
If Tua cannot return can any of the QBs on this team or practice squad or even a draft pick run this system? It’s built around Tua to his strengths. Second question: is the lack of targets for Tyreek and Waddle a result of lack of QB awareness/play or is it on the play-calling?
It’s clear that it’s Tua or nobody for 2024, so he needs to be able to stay on the field. Defenses are clamping down on Hill and Waddle but that’s true of any elite receiver. Those guys are paid to get open regardless. Seemed as if the fill-in QBs were looking for the first available outlet, which is why you saw targets for players such as Jonnu Smith (who’s quite worthy) and Julian Hill.
Greg Loggins
Why bring Tua back … when this team has no chance for playoffs. The risk is permanent damage and lowering our chances for a good draft pick, by maybe picking up 1 or 2 wins with him?
Sounds like you’re advocating Tank with Tua. The risk of Tua injuring himself is always going to be there. You pay him as a franchise QB, you can’t afford not to play him if he’s healthy.
Earl Mcdougald
Why isn’t miami trading for a quality backup to Tua?
The time for that was the offseason. Nobody is giving up a quality QB now. Not for what Miami can afford. And fans forget there aren’t many quality backups out there to begin with.
@matt_mattyd87
Do u agree we r one hit away from not winning another game rest of season? (Referring to Tua). No one else can run this gimmick offense.
Really don’t want to even think about trying to cover 11 more games that look like Sunday’s. Talk about testing creativity.
Woe is us Dolfans
John DeSain
Is this the most underachieving team in Miami history?
Whoa. There’s some competition for that one. How many Super Bowls did they reach during Dan Marino’s 17 seasons? So far, this team does rank.
Brent Vonier
I’m not so sure that the Georgia Bulldogs couldn’t beat us right now. We’re pathetic.
I hear this thinking often. Great college team, but they’d lose by 50 to any NFL team.
Todd Berndt
Will we ever return to the good ol’ days when we would beat crappy teams but lose to the good ones?
So 2023 now qualifies as the good ol’ days?
Los Leebos (and many others)
Why am I still watching this team?
How else would you know you should ask yourself that very question?
@MrEd315
Have the Dolphins hit rock bottom as a team this season?
I think so. But if they don’t make the playoffs, regardless of the hows and whys, that will qualify as rock bottom.
Judd Moore
How are the Detroit Lions doing?
I never miss the chance to say I argued for Dan Campbell to get the permanent job when they opted for Adam Gase.
@andresr305
We’re cooked aren’t we?
Let’s just say they’re preheating the oven.
@BryBryBryannnnn
How salvageable is this season?
It is, but as players admitted in the locker room Sunday, they know the margin for error is almost nil.
@JoshRitter13
What’s the point?
As in the meaning of life? The meaning of life is to enjoy three hours of football on Sunday afternoons followed by an entire week of wondering why we do this to ourselves.
@AYBey3
After 40 years, I’ve decided to enjoy my Sundays by forgoing Dolphins games. Is that rational?
Not if you’re going to start following Arsenal, it isn’t.
Jerald Starnes
Do you think the Dolphins could be tanking this season?
Not a chance.
Play-calling, clock management and all other issues on in-game strategy
@SeamusC1994
What was that game plan? I understand wanting to run the ball more but to not target your big play-making wide receivers is just plain confusing and head scratching.
Plan was to build on the run game we saw in New England. Let Snoop manage the game. Control the clock and shorten the game. Play decent D again. It worked for about three quarters. Turnovers sabotaged everything.
Jordan Hicks
How is Tim Boyle a QB? I’m convinced you are tanking if you let that guy take a snap. Team should sell, sell, sell, this roster is [garbage emoji].
No team can afford to go four deep at QB. Amazing stat courtesy of ESPN: No NFL team has ever won a game in which Boyle threw a pass. Wow.
David Halvorsen (and many more)
Why did Waddle and Hill only have one catch each?
Because they never had any targets. To borrow from Tom Brady’s ex, they can’t throw and catch the ball themselves.
Anthony J Venditti
I don’t care who’s at QB. How do Hill and Waddle only have 1 catch each? Terrible play-calling!
Mike McDaniel praised their blocking for the run game. I won’t diminish the importance of that. But: There’s no way Steve Ross signed those massive checks thinking, “I’ve got great blockers for outside zone now!”
Mark Nash (and many others)
Why is Julian Hill so bad? Sure he’s a good blocking TE but he’s consistently being penalized. He’s a liability in that regard. What is going wrong with the coaching that the team is incurring so many penalties? Lack of discipline? Poor coaching?
Hill has been nailed for 13 penalties, seven for holding. It is a liability. The days of the Dolphins leading the league in fewest penalties ended when Don Shula retired. I once discussed this with him. He said that whenever players messed up in practice, coaches didn’t gloss over it. They ran plays over until they got it right. With today’s shorter practices, I guess that isn’t the case as much.
Ed Guerrero
When will McDaniel feature one running back that is playing well instead of the by-committee approach? Jaylen Wright should be getting the bulk of carries solely based on how he’s performed when given the opportunity.
Wright has looked good, but I wouldn’t just shelve Raheem Mostert or De’Von Achane. They’re quality backs. What’s wrong with rotating them early in games, then leaning on the hot back in the second half? At least until one back clearly proves he’s the best of the three, which wouldn’t surprise me.
Amandeep Tung
Why the play to run Ingold when Wright was ballin’ on that drive?? FB dive at the 15-yard line. That’s a ludicrous play call.
I think McDaniel was going for the element of surprise. He does that often. Wouldn’t mind seeing less of it.
Mike Mo
Love each and every one of these questions! All legit. My question is why didn’t we throw red flag on Mostert fumble? And why didn’t it seem like anyone cared? If someone has a different view please show me. From only view I seen sure seemed like both knees were down.
Mostert said he thought he was down but then admitted he must not have been. Why? Because turnovers are subject to automatic reviews, which is why McDaniel didn’t need to throw the challenge flag.
Jason Burns
My question is how are the same people complaining that McDaniel abandons the run now complaining about targets for the wideouts?
Because when they did throw, it wasn’t to their two playmakers. If they had won by running the ball, like at New England, fans would be far more forgiving.
Rob Howard
How long until we get someone else to do the play-calling?
I’m available. But then you’d say I know less about calling plays than I do second-guessing those who call plays.
@PhinsJC
Why not sign Hunter Renfrow or Jarvis Landry with Berrios out?
I’m with you, J.C. Would like to see Landry back if he’s up for it. Still looking for any meaningful contributions from WR3.
@Dolfan2334
Why were the players and McDaniel giggling like school kids during the game? The performance was disgustingly bad again today. Doesn’t that just say everything about the culture that’s been created with the Dolphins! Could you ever see that happening with a Tomlin-led team?
Yes! We have fulfilled our Mike Tomlin obligation this week! (Side note: Love Tomlin. How can you not?) The laughter doesn’t bother me. It came while Miami was ahead, despite some suggesting otherwise. There’s plenty that takes place on the field that’s downright funny. Just listen when guys wear a mic (see: Jerome “Where is my mama?” Baker). Of course, there’s a time and place for it. When you’re behind and when you’ve lost, nothing is funny.
McDaniel (stinks). 4th & 1 and they try a 54 yd field goal with Sanders who misses a lot of clutch kicks. Last 2 minutes. Keeping ball in the middle of the field with no timeouts. This is football 101. Until McDaniel and Grier are fired we are done.
McDaniel was concerned they might not get another shot at tying the game, which explains the FG attempt, which Sanders can make. The timeout and clock management thing is something you get when you have QB4 running the show and he has barely taken a rep in practice. But let’s not forget the Colts baited them into wasting a timeout by pretending they were not going to kick that FG in the fourth quarter. Never understand how teams often waste second-half timeouts that come back to bite them in the final four minutes. I’d even argue that sometimes outside of the final four minutes, it might be wiser to take a delay penalty and preserve all three timeouts.
Chris Grier, Mike McDaniel and the firing line
Kevin Gibbs (and a dozen others)
Why haven’t Grier and McDaniel been fired? Experiment over. We should trade Tyreek and get some draft picks and an OL.
So you wanna clean house, eh? Let’s remember Ross just gave McDaniel an extension and we don’t know where Grier’s contract stands. As for players, many of Miami’s top-end guys are so richly paid that trading them is next to impossible.
@RamboPhins
Why don’t the beat guys ask McDaniel the tough questions?
Been seeing this a bunch lately and I need to address it. We do ask tough questions of McDaniel. Plenty of them. As journalists that’s our job. But it’s not our job to do it in an accusatory tone that I think some fans expect. First, we are not fans. Second, asking anything in an accusatory tone is unprofessional and more often than not will not illicit the kind of insightful answer you might think. Also, while on this subject, I’ll point out that Grier is only available to us a few times a year. He’s always insightful when we speak and I wish we heard from him more often, but that’s up to him.
David Ferguson
I need to know why the backup QB situation is as horrible as it is. They know Tua is injury prone. Why didn’t they draft accordingly?
I’ll continue my mantra that teams ought to draft a QB, even in late rounds, virtually every year. You never know (Brock Purdy).
I
Mark Stohlin
Who will realistically be available for us in the first round of next year’s draft?
Six games into the season is a bit early for this. Will the highest priority be OL? A run stopper? A pass rusher? I could make a case for any of those three and even this can totally change by January.
The obligatory Steve Ross section
Omar S Khan
Can Ross sell the team?
Can he? Certainly. Will he? No. Plan remains for his daughters to eventually assume control.
Does Ross know football? (Think Jerry Jones) or does he fully trust his top guns?
Once had an interesting discussion with New England’s Robert Kraft that applies here. Of course Kraft knows the business. The gist of what he said is you need to hire the right people and let them do their job (think Micky Arison/Pat Riley/Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat). So while it doesn’t hurt to be a football expert, being a people expert counts way more here.
Thanks a ton for the questions, everybody. I try to get to all of them but the sheer volume made that difficult this week. Will try harder next week.
Let’s have a great week.