3 things learned in the Miami Dolphins soul crushing loss to the Chargers

My soul has been stomped on. Is that a bit extreme? Probably. But it is how I feel when I think about the horror that was the Miami Dolphins trying to play offense against the Los Angeles Chargers last night.

I feel like Shang Tsung came into my house, ate my food, played with my dogs, and then stole my soul before he left. My spirit has been trampled on and the only phrase that I can tell myself is one that we have been saying to ourselves for decades. You know it well; Same Old Dolphins.

The same old Dolphins showed up and tricked us into thinking that they were a real team only for when things got tough to turn into the weak, paper team that they always end up being in the end.

Did I drink the Kool-Aid? Yeah, I certainly did. Wore my Nikes as well. But, since I’m a tortured Miami Dolphins fan, I can tell you that you never truly shake the occasional negative thoughts that the team you love is actually a phony even when they look like they can do no wrong.

Losing to the 49ers last week, an NFC team didn’t bother me too much. They have a defense that is legit. Guys were still open but Tua didn’t connect for various reasons.

But to lose to Chargers, an AFC team, when the games matter even more, with a trip to Buffalo next Saturday where the weather looks to be bad, well it sort of rocks the system a bit.

The Chargers, a defense that gives up 151 yards a game on the ground and who is ranked 27th in pass defense over their last three games, putting Mike McDaniel, Tua, and the rest of the Dolphin’s offense in a vice grip, that I didn’t see coming. Neither did anyone in Miami and it was painfully obvious.

The battle between Tua vs, Herbert wasn’t much of a battle. One guy got his full offense back and clicked immediately and often and the other had three completions for 25 yards in the first half.

Is that to say that it is not final who is better? I suppose the prudent answer is we need to wait and see more but if you have had eyeballs even before this game and especially last night, are you really unsure which one of the guys is the better player with more talent?

This isn’t to say that our guy can’t win games. He can. But you easily can make the argument that Tua needs near pristine consistent conditions to do well. I wouldn’t push back on that too much, at the moment.

But I really don’t care about QB battles. I care about team battles and right now our Miami Dolphins are on the ropes and the Bills are going to look to knock them out. This is a pivotal point in the year where the Miami Dolphins, who once were thought of as an easy playoff team, are now going to have to fight and claw for it.

We’ll get to Buffalo later in the week. Let us see what we learned from yesterday’s game.