By Byler Henry
With this Sunday’s lost, the Dolphins now fall to 0-4 for the season. The Chargers came into the game at 1-2, which gave the Dolphins a chance to get their first win of the season. It was a close first half, but then all hell broke loose in the second half. In the last three games the Dolphins have been outscored 81 to 0 in the second half. Dolphins have to do a better job at closing the second half. Taco Charlton has some insight on what they need to do for the second half. “We just have to come out of the half I would say with more of a spark ready to play, make some key plays and then it’ll be all different. It’s just one or two plays – not one or two plays – but there are a couple of plays, that if we make that big play, it could be that play that changed the game. There are some things I think we can correct and come back a better team.”
With the way the Dolphins are playing this year, there is a good chance they can finish this season winless. There are two other teams to go 0-16, the 2017 Browns and the 2008 Lions. Prior to 1978 the NFL season was 14 games and the 1976 Buccaneers went 0-14. Since their existence the Dolphins have not had a winless season; however, they came close in 2007 going 1-15 with 9 double digit losses. Their worst loss was a 40 to 13 loss to the Jets. They bounced back in 2008 going 11-5, making the wildcard before losing to Baltimore. If history is starting to repeat itself, Dolphins will be 1-15 again this year, then bounce back next year making the playoffs. Or they may have their first winless season.
The first half started off as a competitive battle, with the Chargers up 17 to 10. Dolphins had a chance to cut the lead to four by halftime, but kicker Jason Sanders missed the field goal. When the third quarter started, it was a different game. Phillip Rivers was able to pass for 310 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. His O-line allowed him to stand in the pocket and make key throws while still taking some hits. Conversely, the
Dolphins O-line was able to get protection in the first half, but it broke down in the second half. When Josh Rosen had the protection he made good throws, completing a touchdown pass to DeVante Parker. For the game Rosen was 17 of 24 for 180 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Overall, Coach Brian Flores still has confidence in his quarterback. “I thought he played well early. I thought he got the ball out quickly, got the ball in space, let the guys – our backs, our receivers – catch and run early. We had the one long play early. We had a couple of drops that didn’t help his cause. I think that would have sustained a couple of drives. We had one that I think we
may have scored. A couple of them may have extended some drives, and that’s something that we talked about week after week after week. Again, those eight to 10 plays could be the difference between winning and losing or a much tighter game.” The running game was also non existent with Kenyan Drake rushing for a total of 44 yards on 9 carries.
Not being able to close out the second half is going to hurt the Dolphins down the stretch this season. Next week they have a game against Washington who is also winless. Will they bounce back from this loss and get their first win of the
season, or will they continue to go down this downward spiral? We will find out next week.
