4 things we learned after the Miami Dolphins put one on the Patriots

The Miami Dolphin’s offensive line looked alright at times but there were a bunch of times it got worked.

The offensive line, at best, is a work in progress. This unit, which was at a level of bad that has never really been seen before last year, was in fact better yesterday. I would hope so after the addition of Terron Armstead and Connar Williams.

But the team only had 65 yards rushing on 21 rushes. That’s not good and it’s nothing like anything Mike McDaniel wants.

Chase Edmonds went nowhere often when running the ball. It was pretty much the same thing with Raheem Mostert.

I was however pleased with how they finished the game running the ball. In the Dolphin’s last drive, it seemed like they burning up some clock with tough running.

Pass protection is where the line’s play was most surprising. Yes, Tua did some horrific things such as holding on to the ball too long and not sensing rushers coming at him. But there were far too many times when he had less than a second to do anything because a guy was untouched and was coming to destroy him.

Liam Eichenberg had a rough day and I distinctly remember Connor Williams letting a guy simply cross his face and not put a finger on him which resulted in a fumble.

A lot of it, based on me watching the regular game and not the All-22 or even the All-24 that includes the get-back coaches, was the Patriots running stunts up front. Ends would loop inside and tackles would take the c-gap which caused the most problems. It was worse when those stunts were delayed stunts.

It was the first time this unit played with each other and it showed.

Austin Jackson went down with an injury after Alec Ingold burrowed into his legs on a 3rd down and didn’t return. Then Greg Little, who was pretty awful out there, replaced him and then he went down. Hunt moved to tackle and Robert Jones moved to guard. Jackson stayed dressed the whole game but he didn’t return to the game.

Then the world came crashing down when Terron Armstead limped off the field. Fortunately, he came back but man alive I was white-knuckling it and I was in my basement.

The potential weakest unit on the team was weakened even more. Not the best way to start. What a world we live in where I’m really hoping Austin Jackson gets back in there very quickly.

Overall, there’s a ton that needs to get cleaned up with this unit. I’m very interested in seeing how they respond to the coaching they’re going to get this week.