"MIAMI GARDENS - It was the worst season opener in the Mike McDaniel era, by far. The Dolphins' 33-8 loss at Indianapolis on Sunday was a prime example of a bad plan poorly executed. Tight end Darren Waller (hip) wasn't ready. The run game didn't display any power. The offensive line was shaky. The pass rushers were ineffective. The secondary was leaky. And special teams did more bad than good. Oh, and the coaching was worse than all of the aforementioned breakdowns."
"Running back De'Von Achane (seven carries, 55 yards) only had 14 yards on five carries in the first half, when the game was on the line. He had a 15-yard carry in the third quarter when it was 23-0, and a 26-yard carry in the fourth quarter when it was 30-0. Those are meaningless yards (no blame on Achane here)."
"The connection between Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (four receptions, 40 yards) remains out of sync, just as it was in their final two games last season against Houston and San Francisco. It's clear the lack of offseason work hurt their cohesiveness. The Tagovailoa-Jaylen Waddle connection (four receptions, 30 yards) was equally useless. Nine players had a reception, none totaled more than Hill's 40 yards."
The Dolphins lost 33-8 at Indianapolis with multiple breakdowns across phases. Key offensive issues included an ineffective run game, shaky offensive line play, poor pass protection, and three turnovers by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Wide receiver connections with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were out of sync, and no receiver gained more than 40 yards. Defensively, the run defense surrendered 156 yards on 40 carries and lost time of possession heavily. Special teams produced negative plays, and coaching decisions received primary blame for the overall poor performance.
Read at Sun Sentinel
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