Dolphins Preseason Week 1: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Last night Dolphins fans got the opportunity to see the new philosophy of their favorite team put into action, as it was the first game under the leadership of Joe Philbin and his coaching staff. The Dolphins lost and it wasn’t necessarily the wonderful debut fans wanted to see, but there were still a lot of things, both positive and… not so positive, that are worthy of discussing. So with out further adieu  here are the things that happened; The good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

Impressive Debut: Be it a good thing or a bad thing, there is going to be a 500 lb pink gorilla in the room all preseason, especially when discussing the play of Dolphins QBs and that gorilla is the play of Ryan Tannehill. For most of us fans Tannehill’s development is going to be the most important story, not just this preseason, but until he starts his first pro game. Last night, much to the relief of Dolphins fans everywhere, Tannehill came in and looked great. Against Tampa’s second team D Tannehill went 14-21, 167 yards and a TD. It is easy to dismiss the numbers he put up as they came against mostly back-ups, but the numbers are not what was most impressive about Ryan Tannehill’s debut. It was the accuracy with which he threw, his poise in the pocket, and his on field confidence that really should get us excited. He looked like a true leader and that was really refreshing to see from a young QB.

Young Receivers: Most of the receivers on the roster don’t really stand out as weapons, but the unknowns really flashed at times last night. Led by big nights from Roberto Wallace and Julius Pruitt, Charles Clay made a few big catches including the Dolphins lone touchdown on an 11 yard pass from Tannehill.

The Bad

85: Chad Johnson was only targeted one time in last nights game. And on that lone pass he dropped a catchable ball that led to a fourth down. Maybe it wasn’t enough to truly put Johnson in the ‘Bad’ category, but with all the hype surrounding him, it did not look like a new and improved Chad Johnson showed up yet.

Poor Matt Moore: I feel kind of bad putting Matt Moore under the bad category. He wasn’t awful. If this was last preseason we probably would be saying he did great for the first preseason game of the year. But it is not last year and given the level of competition of this years QB battle, Matt Moore is going to need to step up his game. If Tannehill does what he did Friday in the next three games Matt Moore will need to play better than 7/12 79 yards and an INT. Its only one preseason game, but in a close battle every game counts.

The Ugly

D-fective: The Dolphins starting defense failed to show up. There were a few good stops here and there, but in the end they underwhelmed. There was little pressure created, there were too many 1st downs surrendered, and in the end they looked sloppy. There will need to be some adjustments made this week at practice to ensure the D plays better next time out.

So as you can see the Dolphins will be spending the week trying to adjust and fix all that went wrong against the Bucs. There will be a lot to look for this week, so check back here often for news and updates on the Miami Dolphins! Phins up