Dolphins Get DESTROYED by The Ravens. What Happened?

[TheFish]

There are no words to describe what happened at M&T Bank Stadium on the last day of 2023. It was a massacre, to say the least; someone should have really called the police. The Dolphins got demolished by the Ravens in what was a complete meltdown of the Dolphins in every way, shape, or form. The Dolphins got embarrassed on offense, defense, and special teams, the game got out of hand way too fast, and they never had a realistic chance in this game. So, why don’t we take a look and see what happened in this game? First of all, the defense. The Dolphin’s defense wasn’t bad this game, that’s because they didn’t show up at all. It was as if there were only eleven players on the field whenever the Ravens had the ball and all eleven of them were Ravens. Xavien Howard suffered a foot injury early in the game, which forced the Dolphins to play Eli Apple, probably the worst Cornerback in NFL history, and I am not exaggerating. There is no reason to have Eli Apple on the field, especially when he has been terrible the entire year whenever he played, and you have a 2nd round rookie with fresh legs sitting on the bench who could really give the defense a spark. But even before Xavien Howard left the game, the Dolphins didn’t look any better on defense, which brings me to my next point, Vic Fangio. I, for one, am a really big believer in the Vic Fangio system and scheme, and he has shown us this year that it works. The one big problem with his system is his stubbornness. I am not saying that he doesn’t adjust, but he doesn’t seem to gameplan any different for any team. It seems as if he thinks that the same concepts could slow down any offense, but that’s clearly not the case when it comes to the Ravens. The Dolphins have struggled defensively against the Ravens many times in recent years except for one game, which came in 2021. The Dolphin’s defensive approach in that game was seemingly to blitz every play and play man coverage, something that the Vic Fangio defense is not particularly known for, as his defense consists of only rushing four players and playing heavy zone coverage combinations. The problem with this is that Lamar Jackson was never under pressure, and he had all the time in the world to throw the ball or scramble. Vic Fangio’s scheme tends to work when they are playing against a weaker offensive line, but it was not the case here as the Ravens’ offensive line dominated the Dolphin’s front four. But pressure was not the only problem in the defense in this game. The lack of tackling was also present during the game as everyone decided to just not tackle for some reason. Including a 3rd and 16 play in the Raven’s first drive, where they threw a screen pass and were able to convert into a first down. But it was more than in just that play, the Dolphins missed tackles left and right and weren’t able to stop the Ravens offense in any way. The offense wasn’t much better than the defense. Other than that opening drive touchdown, the Dolphins were unable to execute clean drives. This time, it didn’t have to do a lot with the play calling but with the execution of the plays, for example, Tyreek Hill dropping an easy touchdown early in the game or Tua throwing an interception into five defenders. The only bright spot in the offense was Devon Achane who seemingly was the only player in the team who decided to show up and play. Yes, the Dolphins were missing Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert but that’s no excuse for the awful offensive performance in Baltimore. But the Dolphins struggles weren’t limited to only offense and defense, they came also in the shape of special teams. First, Braxton Berrios made a mistake on a kickoff return and instead of letting the ball bounce out of bounds and cause the ball to be spotted at the forty, he called for a fair catch instead and got it at the twenty-five. But that wasn’t the biggest problem because the Dolphins seemingly didn’t learn from last year mistakes where the Ravens returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and instead of kicking it to the back of the end zone for a touchback, they gave them a chance for a return, and the Ravens took advantage of it taking it for 80 yards into the red-zone. The Dolphins can’t keep shooting themselves in the foot. They have to be able to have clean games, with no turnovers, and not give up big plays and returns like this game. Other teams are starting to figure out how to slow down or stop the Dolphins’ offense, and coach McDaniel has to make sure to stay one step ahead of everyone. And about Vic Fangio, he just has to stop being stubborn and learn to sometimes sacrifice his scheme for one game for the greater good of the team. From now on, the Dolphins have to execute perfect games if they want to be able to beat anybody, especially after all the injuries they have been through, including Bradley Chubb’s injury, which will likely keep him sidelined until next season. There can be no more mistakes and no more excuses. Let’s go beat the Bills and win this division. #FinsUp

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