Miami Dolphins week 2 players of the week

Despite a strong attempt on Sunday, the Miami Dolphins simply could not pull off a miracle comeback in New England against the Patriots.

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For the Dolphins it’s a matter of yet another slow start followed by an inability to finish strong. Play calling was a mess the entire first half and defensively things simply didn’t work.

Regardless of the loss there were still players that showed up to play and if you believe Adam Gase who told the media that the “tape doesn’t lie” and they would find out who fought and who laid down. He said that some will “move on”. We’ll see what that means exactly.

Defensively there wasn’t much to write home about as the Dolphins were gutted in the air the first half and then carved on the ground in the 2nd half. When they needed a stop, they couldn’t get it. Miami’s defense got torched by Jimmy Garoppolo and his back-up on their way to a 31-24 loss.

Defensive player of the week

While there doesn’t have to be one, Kiko Alonso had another solid game at middle linebacker. Alonso had 4 tackles, 7 assists, and a fumble recovery. It’s never sportsmanlike to point out an injury to another player but it was Alonso hit on Jimmy Garoppolo that put him out of the game. Who knows how many more points the Patriots might have scored.

For his part, Ndamukong Suh also had a solid game logging four tackles and eight assists.

Defensive bust of the week

Mario Williams had one tackle on the day after registering 56 plays on the afternoon. Miami’s inability to stop the run was a key reason why the Dolphins were unable to win on Sunday. Williams had a solid outing against the Seahawks but he can not pick and choose what games he is going to show up for.

Offensive bust of the week

On the offensive side of the ball it was just as ugly. In the first half anyways. Ryan Tannehill led the team to just 36 yards on the teams first four drives and it wasn’t until the final drive of the 2nd quarter that he marched the team for more than 41 yards.

Tannehill was bad. His inability to hit his receivers, another knocked down pass at the line of scrimmage, and an interception that looked like he and the defender were playing catch, simply led to one of the worst outputs of Tannehill’s career. Add to that the lack of a running game and it spelled disaster to the tune of 24-3 half-time deficit.

Offensive player of the week

There was a couple of directions to go here but if Ryan Tannehill was the worst of the game based on his play in the first half, he has to be the best player of the game based on his 2nd half performance.

Tannehill led three consecutive touchdown drives all over 75 yards in the second half. Two other opportunities presented itself as well. The Dolphins were driving when Jarvis Landry lost a fumble around the 50 yard line and the final drive of the game ended with an interception in the endzone on a jump ball.

Overall, Tannehill threw for 389 yards on the day with the majority of those coming in quarters 3 and 4. He threw 13 incompletions on the day going 32-45 and added 35 yards on the ground which led the team in rushing.