The Miami Dolphins are not playing like the team that made some serious noise last season. Armando Salguero of Miami Herald believes identifying the problem in the team’s subpar performance through the first three games of the 2017 Nfl Season is plain simple: Dolphins playmakers are just not making big plays.
After amassing a 10-6 record last year, the Dolphins (1-2) found themselves lagging behind the New England Patriots (3-2) and the surprising leader Buffalo Bills (3-1) in the AFC East standings. Although it’s too early for the Dolphins to push the panic button, Salguero wanted some urgency from the team’s designated playmakers to do the jobs.
Dolphins offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen also agreed with Salguero’s sentiments, saying all the team needs right now is a big run, a big catch, a big throw, a big block, and any significant rally to get them going.
Heading into Week 5 of the 2017 NFL season, the Dolphins are dead last in average points per game (8.3 ppg), 30th in rushing yards (66.3 rpg), and 28th in passing yards (182.7). Miami’s defense has been pretty decent at 19.0 points allowed per game, but the team obviously need a game-changer on the offensive end of the field.
Is it time to bench Cutler?
Jay Cutler, who was brought in to replace injured quarterback Ryan Tannehill, continues to irk most of his team’s fanbase with poor performance and lackadaisical body language at times.
In three starts, Cutler covered 614 yards with two touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 28.5. In fact, his longest touchdown pass of the season is a 29-yard connection to Kenny Stills against the San Diego Chargers in Week 1.
Despite the heat Cutler is getting from the fans and some football pundits in Miami area, Salguero is still a believer that the veteran quarterback will pull it through somehow.
He still thinks that Cutler deserves to start over backup Matt Moore because he hasn’t turned the ball over that much (two interceptions in three games) and created a tense atmosphere in the locker room. All the Dolphins need to do for a big play to happen is to improve their anemic offensive line.
Maualuga is coming
Rey Maualuga will likely make his Dolphins’ debut against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
After going through several setbacks with his hamstring injury, the 6-foot-2, 260-pound pass rusher is looking to make an impact for Miami that is badly looking for a spark plug. Physicality has been Maualuga’s calling card throughout his career, and his former coach in Cincinnati Matt Burke knows what he brings to the table.
“He’s probably one of the best I’ve been around at taking on offensive linemen because he’s such a big powerful guy. He knocks offensive linemen back,” said Burke, who now serves as Dolphins’ defensive coordinator.
