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Through two weeks the Miami Dolphins are still searching for their first win and fans have their hands hovering over the panic button.
While the Dolphins have improved since the 2019 season, it hasn’t translated into wins as they fell to Buffalo 31-28 on Sunday after losing to the New England Patriots in Week 1.
Coach Brian Flores is yet to establish any sort of identity as his defense has given up 30 points or more 11 times since becoming the man to lead the Dolphins. On offense, the team showed some life, but the 28-point outing against the Bills is being over-shadowed by the inability to score from the one-yard line on four-straight plays.
It is certainly still early and things can quickly change, but the Dolphins have done a strong job of not shooting themselves in the foot through two games. Miami was whistled for four penalties in game one and followed it up with a three-flag performance against the Bills.
Three penalties for 20 yards is the best mark in the Brian Flores era....
— Jake (@JMendel94) September 21, 2020
Dolphins average penalties per game:
2019: 5.8
2018: 6.8
2017: 8,6
Dolphins currently average 3.5 flags per game. Only Las Vegas (played just one game thus far) and New England (2.5) average less.
The Dolphins certainly have a lot of cleaning up to do, especially with a quick turnaround before facing the Jaguars on Thursday Night Football. While the coaching staff has highlighted that the scheme and communication on both sides of the ball need some work, playing a clean game is a bit harder to teach.
We all remember the days of Joe Philbin and his hope of creating a disciplined football team. Not only did those teams struggle to play a clean football game, but Philbin’s philosophy quickly become old.
It is important to keep in mind that the amount of penalties per game doesn’t matter if you’re not winning football games. While it is still early and just his second season, we have to wonder where the tipping point is for coach Flores and this team.
That tipping point isn’t around the corner as we’re just two games into the regular season, but objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear, especially if Dolphins string together another month of losses and this team begins to mirror 2019.