Dolphins at Seahawks recap: Good, Bad, Ugly from Miami’s loss

The Miami Dolphins lost to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, a loss that still stings on Monday. The team took the lead 10-6 late in the fourth-quarter, but wound up on the wrong side of a 12-10 score line. The game was much closer, and more low scoring, than anyone would have predicted prior to kickoff, with defenses on both sides dominating much of the game.

Below, we will take a look back at the game, picking a good, a bad, and an ugly thing from the contest to discuss.

Note: No matter your feelings on the kneeling of four Dolphins players before the game, this thread is not the place to discuss it. The story of them kneeling is still on the front page, and please head over there if you want to say something about that. We purposely are being a little lax on the “no politics” rule in that thread, but will not be in here. This story is about the play on the field, and not the decision by those players to kneel before the game. Thank you.

Good

Defense. The defense as a whole was pretty good throughout the game, though they did break on the final drive. Isa Abdul-Quddus had an interception, Jordan Phillips forced a fumble that Kiko Alonso recovered, Reshad Jones seemed to be everywhere, Ndamukong Suh was a force up the middle, and Cameron Wake and Mario Williams were pressuring Russell Wilson routinely. Williams left the game with a concussion, so the Dolphins pass rush could take a step back next week against the New England Patriots, but the defense appears to be better than expected, at least after one game. The Dolphins are going to need to ride the defense this year, especially while the offense grows and finds their rhythm, so their performance on Sunday was definitely good.

Bad

Quarterback hits. Some of the hits Ryan Tannehill took were on the offensive line and running backs missing a rusher. Some of the hits he took were because he held the ball too long. Whatever the case on each one of the hits, it needs to be fixed. Tannehill was getting crushed all day long, even though he somehow gets up every time it happens. There was one moment where he laid on the turf a little longer than usual and was a little slow when he did start to stand up. Seeing your starting quarterback that banged up in Week 1 of the season is never a good thing, and the Dolphins have to figure out a way to get the ball out of Tannehill’s hand faster and to get the offensive line to block a little longer.

Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Andrew Frank’s blocked 27-yard field goal deserves a mention here, given it would have given the Dolphins 13 points on the day, putting them in position to win. There were other points given up on Sunday (mostly because of the ugly section below), but a 27-yard field goal should be considered a chip shot, and Franks mis-kicked it. He put it way too low and it was blocked (with the unfortunate assist from Laremy Tunsil, who missed his block on the attempt allowing the kick to be blocked).

Ugly

Drops. Some will say that every team has drops and that they are not an excuse for the offense. On Sunday, the Dolphins showed why some drops are more painful than other drops.

(Side note: Bobby McCain’s reaction at the end of the GIF is exactly the same reaction every Dolphins fan had when the play occurred.)

At this point, opposing secondaries could just about drape everyone over Jarvis Landry, and leave everyone else open. DeVante Parker is injured (again), Jordan Cameron is dropping passes (again), Kenny Stills is dropping passes when he is wide open, and the rest of the receiving corps are rookies who are going to make rookie mistakes. Jay Ajayi was left in Miami on a “coach’s decision” and Isaiah Pead is injured for the running backs. Other than Jarvis Landry and Arian Foster making some plays, there was no one during this game who seemed to want to make a play for the offense regularly, and the team has to solve some of these issues....now.