The Dolphins won a wild game in Detroit in Week 8 with a 31-27 win having trailed for a lot of the game. Join us as we take a look at the 3 biggest takeaways from the game.
Tua Tagovailoa is cooking
For all the question marks swirling around Tua heading into this season there have been more than enough answers. Tua continues to look an explosive threat in Mike McDaniel’s offensive scheme with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle both posting incredible numbers.
As long as Tua is healthy, and keeps reading the field like he did on Sunday the Dolphins offence can go a long way this season. And that’s now the only question mark facing Tua the rest of the way. Can he stay healthy?
The OL cupboard is pretty bare
With the serious injury to Liam Eichenberg likely to end his season, the Dolphins will likely turn to Robert Jones to fill that void. Jones has always filled in admirably when called upon and we expect that to continue.
In fairness Eichenberg has still struggled in his second year, giving up the fourth most pressures by a guard (19) heading into the game in Detroit, so the drop off to Jones may not be too noticeable.
However, where the issue lies now for the Dolphins is depth. With Austin Jackson, and Greg Little already sidelined Jones is the 8th lineman the Dolphins will have called on this season, and it’s still only week 8.
Don’t be surprised if the Dolphins look to bring in some veteran depth over the coming days to solidify the unit.
The Defence has issues
You can make excuses about injuries all that you want, but this Dolphins defensive unit is looking horrible. When Jared Goff is putting up 321 yards and 27 points you know things are looking bad.
As of this writing the Dolphins ranked 22nd on scoring defence, and 26th on pass yards per game. With the AFC crown likely going through Buffalo and Kansas City that should give everyone pause.
The unit also ranks 27th on takeaways with only 6 through the first 8 games. It’s a far cry from that marauding defence Brian Flores had put together that ranked 9th in 2021 with 26 takeaways. Even that band of scrub players fielded in 2019 averaged one takeaway per game.
Josh Boyer needs to get a handle on things and quickly or for the first time in many years the defence may derail a great offence.
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