Last season, for a national audience on Black Friday, the Miami Dolphins played a New York Jets team that had a big, fatal problem. They didn’t have a quarterback.
Tim Boyle was so bad that day that the Dolphins returned a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the half for a pick-6. The Jets gained 159 yards and did not score an offensive touchdown until garbage time. The Dolphins won 34-13 and everyone knew the Jets were better than that. They were absolutely incompetent as a quarterback.
On Monday night, the Dolphins could feel the pain of the 2023 Jets.
On their third starting quarterback in just the first four weeks of the season, the Dolphins were horrible. The Tennessee Titans weren’t good either, but they won 31-12 against a Dolphins team that can’t compete without Tua Tagovailoa, who will be out for a while with a concussion. Tyler Huntley had 96 yards passing and the Dolphins had 184 yards and 13 first downs as a team.
The Dolphins signed Huntley off the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad on September 17, and 13 days later he was a starter. He wasn’t better than Skylar Thompson, the Week 3 starter, or Boyle, who is now with the Dolphins and entered last week’s game when Thompson was injured. The offensive went nowhere. It was ugly.
As the calendar turned to October, the Dolphins’ season appears to be over.
An ugly game on Monday night.
When ESPN penciled in Titans-Dolphins as part of their Week 4 doubleheader on Monday night, they were expecting Will Levis vs. Tagovailoa. As it turned out, Mason Rudolph was the best quarterback on the field.
Levis threw a horrible interception on Tennessee’s first drive, then landed hard on his shoulder diving for a first down on the Titans’ second possession. Rudolph came in, and while he wasn’t spectacular, the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was steady. The Titans were probably happy with steady play from that position for a change. The Dolphins would have taken him.
The first half did not have any touchdowns by either team. It was sloppy football, but at least the Titans scored three field goals. That was enough for a 9-3 halftime lead.
Just before the end of the half, Huntley fired a shotgun blast and had to cover it before the Titans did. However, a big turnover was negated because the Dolphins had an illegal move before the snap. ESPN cameras focused on Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who shook his head sadly.
That summed it up for the Dolphins. This is not the offense McDaniel or anyone else expected to see this season.
Dolphins in bad place
It’s tough for the Dolphins and it will be while Tagovailoa is out. McDaniel isn’t pulling off a miracle with the quarterbacks available, and that has led to some overreactions about his coaching ability. Not many coaches would do much better without a functional quarterback.
The Dolphins had hopes of improving last season, when they led the AFC East for much of the season and made the playoffs. There is a lot of talent in the squad. But it’s hard to play without a viable quarterback. The Dolphins had some good game design in the fourth quarter when they faked a running play and Jaylen Waddle found himself wide open near the sideline. Huntley missed it by a mile for a foul. There’s not much any Dolphins coach or teammate can do to help with that.
The Titans finally got a touchdown on the board in the third quarter. A subsequent field goal gave them a 19-6 lead. That seemed insurmountable against the current Dolphins offense. Miami was getting a little desperate with just over 14 minutes left in the game and went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 39-yard line. The handoff went to De’Von Achane and was stopped for a loss.
Everything with the Dolphins will be an arduous task without Tagovailoa. Miami is 1-3 and has lost three in a row. No matter who is next on the Dolphins quarterback merry-go-round, it’s hard to believe much will change.