Miami Can Find Reasons For Optimism In Week 4
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Any remaining shreds of optimism that Miami Dolphins fans had going into last week circled down the drain after the Seattle Seahawks dominated the Phins in a 24-3 slaughter. I vividly remember wincing in sheer disgust after D.K. Metcalf caught a 71-yard touchdown pass that put Seattle up 17-0 over in the first quarter. It felt like the Dolphins had no fight in them from the get-go, which was not only tough to watch in the moment, but isn’t exactly a promising sign for the immediate future.
In all fairness, the Dolphins never really had a chance against the Seahawks to begin with. Nobody expected this group to come up with a win at Lumen Field against an undefeated team that boasts an elite defense. Not while Miami is without their starting quarterback. Not to mention, Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver spent the past three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens as the team’s defensive line/assistant head coach where he worked under Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald. Trying to outcoach your mentor, who is immensely familiar with your schematic tendencies, is a tall order.
Many of those factors made it very difficult for Mike McDaniel to adapt his offense on the fly. Fortunately, the Dolphins will have a better chance to regroup in Week 4, at least on paper. The Miami is set to host the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football, which would be comforting if it didn’t immediately conjure up flashbacks from last year’s primetime affair against the Titans, where the Dolphins choked away a 14-point lead in 60 seconds.
Traumatized Phins fans may be inclined to “Remember The Titans” from last year, but I encourage those who incurred emotional damage then to forget about that catastrophe for a moment. The 2024 Titans are not the same team as last year – they’re somehow even worse. Mike Vrabel got fired for “poor communication and misunderstanding” with owner Amy Adams Strunk, which is owner-speak for not sticking up. Vrabel’s replacement, Brian Callahan, is an offensive-minded head coach who has struggled to get the Titans offense kick-started, despite significant investment on that side of the ball.
Will Levis showed flashes his rookie year, averaging 200.9 yards passing per game through nine games with a 8-to-4 TD-to-INT ratio. However, things haven’t played out the way Titans fans had hoped through the first three games of the 2024 season. Levis is second in the league in interceptions (5), trailing only Anthony Richardson. His passer rating, QBR, and yards per game are also down from his rookie year. The only thing that has developed is his innate ability to grace the internet with new memes on a weekly basis.
The generational run for Will Levis continues pic.twitter.com/iOeRjh9J1o
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) September 22, 2024
On top of Levis’ struggles, Tennessee’s run game has taken a hit following the departure of Derrick Henry, who signed with the Baltimore Ravens in the offseason. That’s not to say Tony Pollard is bad, but he doesn’t command the same level of attention that Henry did. Tennessee’s defense has also regressed (at least statistically), ranking 24th in the league by allowing 26 points per game, or five points higher than last season.
It’d be awesome to focus on the Titans’ struggles, but the Miami Dolphins aren’t exactly in a great place either. Both teams have losing records, and despite Levis being a turnover machine, he’s a significantly better quarterback than any of the options on Miami’s active roster. So that settles it, then. Titans in a walk in Week 4?
Not so fast. The addition of Tyler Huntley will make the Dolphins offense better than it was last week. McDaniel is currently being coy and acting like he’s undecided as to which quarterback will start, but let’s be real, he’d be foolish not to start Huntley. The former Ravens signal-caller is easily the most dynamic quarterback on the roster, and his rushing ability gives the offense a tool it couldn’t conceive of having with Skylar Thompson under center. Huntley’s (replacement-to-a-replacement) Pro Bowl nod in 2022 shows that he’s a high-level backup, at the very least.
Then there’s the return of Raheem Mostert, who has been sorely missed through the last couple of weeks. That’s not a dig at De’Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, and Jeff Wilson. All of them are great in their roles when the Dolphins are fully healthy at running back. That being said, Mostert is the most natural runner between the tackles of the group, and his red zone efficiency cannot be overstated for a team that will be leaning heavily on the run game with a backup quarterback in play.
McDaniel got some flack for not being able to adapt last week, but it’s more likely that he simply didn’t have anything to work with in Thompson, who only barely edged out Mike White to win the backup QB battle in preseason. With Thompson unlikely to get starts moving forward, there’s more reason for optimism in Week 4 with Huntley and Mostert leading the way against a bad Titans team.
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