Dolphins need answers amid more questions

The Miami Dolphins lost on Monday night but it wasn’t the loss that hurt it was the way they lost. If nothing else the team is consistent with the way they are losing.

Another 45 points were put on the board against the Dolphins defense and this time it was against an offense that frankly isn’t very good. In fact it could have been worse. Panther receivers were open all night but several of the young wide-outs couldn’t catch the passes that were thrown to them.

On the Dolphins side of the offense, nothing worked again. Jay Cutler is proving that he can’t play anymore and while everyone knows he carries himself with a “whatever” attitude, it is becoming increasingly evident that he simply isn’t a leader.

After winning a weekly honor in last weeks loss to the Raiders, Cutler showed nothing on Monday night. Missing open receivers was almost comical at times. Some will point to the time he had in the pocket but there were times last night that Cutler could have made a play and didn’t. His vision is lacking, his footwork is off, he is throwing off his back foot far too often and when he throws the ball it’s more or less a jump ball. Again though, it’s nothing new and something he has done his whole career.

The stat sheet for the running game looked decent but that is masked by a long Kenyan Drake touchdown run of 60 yards. Miami generated little else in the run game and it is clear that while Damien Williams is an asset in the passing game, he is not a good at running the ball. Of course that too can be blamed on an offensive line that continues to struggle.

Miami’s offensive line problems are evident to everyone but the Dolphins decision makers. Miami’s Mike Tannenbaum has tried to address the line issues with cheap fillers. It doesn’t work. They have almost $10 million invested in Mike Pouncey and another $9 million plus in Ja’Wuan James who is out for the year. It’s time to move on.

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Miami needs to start thinking about the future. Yes they are only one game under .500 in an AFC race that will likely put a .500 team in the sixth seed but the Dolphins are not playing as though they will end the season at .500. They are playing like a team that may not win another game.

The Dolphins this season have been blown out more times than they were in the 1-15 season under Cam Cameron. A 20-0 loss in London to the Saints. A 20-6 beat down to the Jets in New York. A 40-0 loss to the Ravens in Baltimore. Last nights game against the Panthers. When does it end?

Execution is still the biggest problem facing Adam Gase. The receivers are running the routes, but his quarterback is far too cavalier and his friendship with Cutler doomed the season from the start. But Miami really had little options after losing Ryan Tannehill.

The list of excuses can fill an entire page. Poor play by the offensive line. Poor play by Cutler. Andre Branch who can’t maintain the outside edge, Xavien Howard’s inability to cover. Kiko Alonso over playing the gaps and missing tackles. Then there is Julius Thomas. He get’s his own article later today.

A bigger issue for the team however is there is no answer to the problems. Miami can’t operate with the offensive line they currently have and the defensive scheme is either broken or the players are not good enough to run it. On Monday night we saw the defense at its worst again.

Fans shouldn’t expect much more from them. The Dolphins approach under Tannenbaum has been to sign aging veterans who may have one more year left in them for cheap. The problem is they are not paying them cheaply. Jermon Bushrod is overpaid, Thomas is overpaid, Cutler is overpaid.

The 2018 off-season is still so far away but it can’t get here fast enough. Barring a miracle, barring a change on offense, these Dolphins are playing to get out of the season. What is worse is the fact that the schedule will get much harder moving forward. The easiest game is next week at home against Tampa Bay.

For a team that entered the season with such high hopes, this one has gone South really quick.