Phin Phanatic
FanSided

Miami Dolphins : The week 9 winners and losers

By Tj Ray

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 24: Mike Gesicki #88 of the Miami Dolphins jumps into the stands after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter in the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium on October 24, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 24: Mike Gesicki #88 of the Miami Dolphins jumps into the stands after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter in the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium on October 24, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /
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The Dolphins are finally in the win column. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win, right? And in a season where the Dolphins don’t own their own first round draft pick, it’s not even the usual bittersweet feeling of “well we won, but at what cost?” Let’s just enjoy this win for what it is, the end of a really long skid.

WINNER: Mike Gesicki

Three words: Lock him up. Mike Gesicki is by far the best player on this Dolphins team. The team needs to sign him to an extension ASAP. He obviously gives everything he has when they step on the field. He had four receptions for 54 yards, two of which were incredible one-handed grabs. He also dropped what would have been a hat-trick of one-handed poster catches.

LOSER: Jesse Davis and Liam Eichenberg

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the offensive line struggled mightily in this game. The Dolphins lead the league is pressures allowed. Davis and Eichenberg were both visibly getting beaten at the line consistently throughout this game. Eichenberg is still a rookie, so he might figure it out, but it’s hard to see Davis improving much at all at this point in his career.

WINNER: Jaylen Waddle

Waddle sits right behind Gesicki on the “best player on the team” list. He snagged eight catches for 83 yards. I’m still waiting for him to break off a deep route but this is probably about as good as it’s going to get with the offensive line being what it is.

LOSER: Tua Tagovailoa

Something weird happened before this week’s matchup. Tua was named the backup because of a broken middle finger right before the game, but apparently he was healthy enough to play backup in an emergency? Did the Dolphins not know about Tua’s broken finger until Sunday? If they did know it was a possibility that Tua couldn’t play, it seems wildly irresponsible for the team not to have elevated a third quarterback. Either way, Tua lost this week. His “injury-prone” label is dangerously closet to being written in permanent marker. If Tua doesn’t start on Thursday’s matchup against the Ravens this chatter is just going to get louder.

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