The Miami Dolphins are now more than a full 24 hours removed from their Week 1 loss to the New England Patriots. Miami’s performance should leave a poor taste in everyone’s mouth — the team was capable of winning their season opener of 2020 but critical miscues eventually snowballed into an insurmountable deficit late in the football game. It’s unfortunate, but it’s also just one of sixteen contests on the season. We’re on to Week 2, where the Miami Dolphins will be hosting the Buffalo Bills.
But if Miami’s end result is going to improve, we’re going to need to see better play from several key members of the Dolphins’ roster. Here are three players who must play better football games in Week 2.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
Perhaps Week 1 was just “one of those days” for Ryan Fitzpatrick. But if the veteran quarterback is going to stave off the inevitable calls to see QB Tua Tagovailoa, he can ill afford to have too many performances like the one we got on Sunday against the Patriots. The three interceptions thrown are a little misleading — WR Preston Williams fell down at the top of his route against the best cornerback in football, Stephon Gilmore. That’s an interception every time and it is hard to fault Fitzpatrick for that play.
But the interception at the end of the first half? Brutal. The interception at the end of the game, which came in the end zone? Miami was in position no matter what to cut the lead to one score and then attempt an onside kick. Such a high-risk throw was a questionable decision at best. Miami didn’t get the benefit of a call and it was intercepted, compounding the decision.
Fitzpatrick had an earlier attempt to Mike Gesicki that was left too far inside and nearly resulted in another interception as well — the Dolphins need to iron out the timing.
LB Jerome Baker
If you’ll look at the Miami Dolphins’ stat sheet, you’ll see Baker logged a grand total of 16 tackles against the Patriots. That’s a testament to his range on the field and certainly an impressive number. But when you look beyond Baker’s pursuit skills, it becomes apparent that he left some plays on the field — and took some others too far. Baker got lost trying to track a deep over route from TE Ryan Izzo in coverage for a long gain over the middle of the field. Izzo is about as unimposing of a receiving threat as Miami will face all year, falling off his coverage as badly as he did is a bad rep.
Baker was penalized twice as well, including a 15-yard penalty for a late hit out of bounds on WR Julian Edelman on what was already a 20+ yard gain. With Miami trying to scratch back into the game, Edelman’s big gain was turned into a huge one with the late hit.
Baker was penalized twice throughout the game and in pass coverage he conceded three completions on three attempts for 50 yards — conceding a perfect quarterback rating in coverage.
WR Isaiah Ford
Ford was elevated in the game plan once it became apparent that DeVante Parker was not going to be able to finish the game with a hamstring issue. In 46 snaps, the Dolphins got effectively nothing from Ford in the passing game and he ended the contest as a non-factor while stepping in for Miami’s most important weapon. The tradeoff was notable and Miami’s offense lost all of their punch as a result. If Parker can’t go against the Bills, Ford is going to have to discover some new tricks to create space and win some reps.
