How good are the Dolphins based on their Week One victory?

This is the third season in a row the Miami Dolphins have faced the New England Patriots in an opening weekend, becoming some sort of an AFC East tradition.

Bill Belichick and his Patriots have often struggled in previous seasons to win in Miami, losing three of their last four regular season games at the Hard Rock stadium.

Unfortunately for New England, this trend has continued into 2022, with Miami securing a convincing win to kickstart the ‘Mike McDaniel era’.

Going 1-0 over a division rival is a great way to start any NFL campaign. But there is certainly room for the Dolphins to improve going into Week Two.

A top-tier defense

Over the course of the 2021 season, the Dolphins’ defence showed itself, at times, to be a formidable force. Fast-forward to 2022, and we only need to watch this one game to witness this defensive strength continue and grow.

From as early as Mac Jones’ first end-zone drive, we saw a Dolphins interception; a pass intended for ex-Miami receiver DeVante Parker, tipped in the air by Xavien Howard, intercepted, and returned for 31 yards by Jevon Holland.

Another key play was seen in the second quarter, where Brandon Jones batted the football away from Mac Jones, concluding in Melvin Ingram recovering the dropped ball for a Dolphins touchdown.

All-in-all, with a good number of forced turnovers, fumble recoveries and a handful of sacks, the defence played a crucial role in securing Miami the win.

No surprises with Hill (Cheetah) and Waddle (Penguin)

Throughout the offseason Dolphins fans were ecstatic with the prospect of seeing both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle line up in this offense, and this duo did not disappoint!

Hill ended the day on 94 receiving yards from 12 targets. He was undoubtedly quick, strong, and ferocious in the air, matching all expectations held by Dolphins fans during the offseason.

Following a breakout rookie season, Waddle also put on an impressive display against the Patriots, finishing the day on 69 yards and a crucial fourth-down touchdown.

Moreover, two of the fastest speeds of week 1 were recorded by both the Penguin and the Cheetah. Waddle hit a high of 20.8 mph on his 42-yard touchdown, and Hill reached 20.3 mph on his 18-yard screen play. This truly is a wide receiver force to be reckoned with.

Too early to assess Tua?

Tua Tagovailoa put up 270 yards and a touchdown pass against New England. But it’s no doubt all those ‘Tua haters’ will probably be unfairly criticising him for a mediocre performance.

Currently, Tua is the NFL’s eighth-highest rated passer, and over the opening weekend, he similarly recorded the eighth-best completion percentage, in combination with the sixth-highest yards per attempt (8.2-yards).

Likewise, Tua was one of only eleven quarterbacks this weekend without a turnover. This reflects the accurate narrative he has consistently been painted with. Arguably, this was best seen when he completed 42-yard rocket to Waddle, resulting in his first passing touchdown of the new season.

Yet, to an extent, I do agree that there is an element of stardust missing from his gameplay.

For anyone who watched the whole of this AFC East clash, we all know Tua was not perfect. At least two of his passes could have been easily intercepted, and the Dolphins were zero for two in the RedZone.

But for now, let’s give the guy a break, his record is now 4-0 against the Patriots. As long as he continues to deliver victories for the Dolphins, we cannot complain too much.

Still struggles in the run game

Arguably since losing Jay Ajayi in 2017, the Dolphins’ run game has been average at best. And even then, I am being extremely generous.

McDaniel’s Dolphins invested during the offseason to try and ignite this sleepy Miami rush. Yet, we might have to wait a while to see if we can get this side of the offense going; with Week One indicating that this may not be an easy fix.

Whilst Chase Edmonds appeared to be a large part of the game, recording 12 carries, he did only produce 25 yards from these. Similarly, in 5 carries, Raheem Mostert only gave us 16 yards. Both, in my opinion, failed to have a significant impact against New England, given the expectation held during the offseason.

Hopefully, throughout the new season we will see this run game develop, as continuing a winning streak with a tough schedule will undoubtedly demand improvement in this area.

Some final thoughts…

• Far from perfect, but Miami did well to secure an opening win.
• Kader Kohou had an outstanding game as an undrafted rookie.
• Mike Gesicki was very quiet, does he have a future role in this team?
• Brandon Jones had himself a game!