Dolphins Diary Week 6: No Pride, No Hope, No future
Another Dolphins regime has reached the point of absolute hopeless failure. Making matters worse, they don't process their first-round pick, a pick that will be in the top five. They essentially traded a three and a one for Jaylen Waddle, getting a late first-rounder in return. They had a slew of draft picks, and few of these players have panned out. For that, GM Chris Grier needs to be fired. They made a brilliant deal getting four high picks for Laremy Tunsil and have whiffed on every pick. It would seem that the Dolphins have a philosophy of drafting is quantity over quality, and that is why the Dolphins have sucked for 20 years and will likely suck for 20 more.
Losing to the Jaguars is not the worst of the Dolphins' problems, and losing five straight games is not the worst. The worst is that the Dolphins continue to spin their wheels and are in an endless cycle of mediocrity as they continue to find the worst front office personnel. The drafting that the Dolphins have done over the past two decades has consistently been terrible. How do they have a poor offensive line when they had five first-round picks over the last two seasons? One selection was used on Tua Tagovalioa, but Austin Jackson has been awful. How is it that they have no running game, as Myles Gaskins has been worse than Kalen Ballage? The consent missing on draft picks is beyond frustrating, and now we essentially traded a top-five pick for Jaylen Waddle. Unless Waddle is Jerry Rice, that trade is foolish. Trading three down to 12 back up to six is ridiculous, and in the end, they get the 49ers' pick, and the Eagles get the Dolphins' pick, so we traded a top-five pick for a late first-rounder.
The Dolphins had a great first drive; it was time-consuming and resulted in a touchdown. Miami played well defensively in the first quarter holding Jacksonville to a field goal on their first drive. The Dolphins were in command for most of the first half, but they settled for two field goals and left the door open. The Jaguars scored late in the second quarter and went down the field to take a 17-13 lead. It rarely ends well when a team is in control and only leads by three at the half.
The Jaguars had a chance to put the Dolphins away following a bad interception by Tua Tagovalioa, but Urban Meyer foolishly went for it on fourth down, forgoing the field goal. The Dolphins took advantage and scored a touchdown to take a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins had the ball and had a chance to add to their lead when Brian Flores lost his senses. It started when Myles Gaskins dropped his third pass of the game. The ball was called a catch initially, but after an official huddle, it was ruled incomplete. Flores unsuccessfully reviewed it. The ensuing punt was a touchback, but the Dolphins challenged again. There was no way that the ball hit off Jamal Agnew's hand.
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The Jaguars went down the field and tied the game on a 54-yard field goal by Matthew Wright, a field goal that appeared to be sailing right but hooked in. The Dolphins got the ball and again stalled at midfield. This time they went for it and failed as. Malcolm Brown could not get one yard, and the Dolphins line could not create enough push for one yard. Since Miami had no timeouts, the Jaguars were able to use up the rest of the clock. Worst of all, the Dolphins allowed a fourth-down conversion to get the ball in position for Wright to win the game 23-20 with a 52-yard field goal.
The Dolphins had some injury issues no Devante Parker, no Xavien Howard, and no Byron Jones, but the Jaguars played to lose. The Jaguars had a 20-game losing streak and Urban Meyer looked lost with his decision-making. So here the Dolphins sit 1-5; the season is over. The Dolphins will be bad enough for a top-five pick that instead will go to the Eagles. Not that it will mean anything because Chris Grier only knows how to pick his nose, he does not understand how to pick talent in the NFL. I thought Brian Flores was a good coach but the lack of adjustments each week and the lack of a game plan shows that may not be true. His decision to waste two timeouts and plays that were never getting overturned was foolish, and the Dolphins are back at square one.
When does the suffering end? When does the misery end? Tua Tagovalioa was not awful on Sunday, but he does not look like an NFL quarterback. Where is the hope? How do the Dolphins matter again? This season is over; next season is hopeless. When will the Dolphins get better? Something needs to be done, and it needs to be done now. You can blow it up and start from scratch. You can roll the dice and trade for Deshaun Watson, but you can't continue the same path. Something needs to change, and it needs to change now as the Dolphins have no bye week and will surely lose again to the Falcons next week.