Tag Archive for: NFL

Rookie receiver Preston Williams provided the Dolphins with a small victory against Baltimore

/0 Comments/in /by

Preston Williams gave Miami its first victory of the year.

Nobody expected the 2019 season to be pretty for the Miami Dolphins. At the same time, nobody expected a 59-10 blowout by the Ravens in week 1.

The Dolphins, the NFL’s youngest team, was expected to have a few bright spots while tanking away the 2019 season.

Preston Williams, an undrafted rookie from Colorado State, is continuing to make a case as a diamond in the rough.

After an impressive preseason and training camp, Williams finished his first regular season game with three catches for 24 yards, including this saucy touchdown grab before halftime.

“If you’re looking for small victories, that’s about it,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said of the catch.

Fitzpatrick, the 16-year NFL vet, finished his first start by going 14/29 for 185 yards including one touchdown and one interception. Look for Fitzpatrick to continue to target Williams as the Dolphins will play from behind for most of the season.

 

Follow what probably will be the worst team in Miami professional sports history with us at FiveReasonsSports.com. Let’s go through it together, as we all suffer in the 15 games that are left, until get Tua, right?

Join the discussion following us on Twitter and get the best Miami Dolphins content in the market with us here, or at DolphinsMaven.io

By the way, go ahead and buy your Tank For Tua t-shirt and tank top right now clicking here!

Also, you can go ahead and check our new YouTube channel or our video section here in FiveReasonsSports.com

The Miami Mutiny

/0 Comments/in , /by

Towards the end of the 2018 season, all the talk was about the “Miami Miracle”.

Since then, we have confirmed that Gronk didn’t have the angle.  And that the play was unlike anything else in franchise history.  But truth is, it did nothing to alter the Dolphins’ season.  Except for maybe driving the the team further down the draft pecking order.  That won’t happen this year.  As the Dolphins are destined to have the top pick in 2019, come one way or another.

After all, most of the talk this offseason has been around the team tanking.  And if they are in fact doing whatever they can to land Tua Tagovailoa, it would probably upset a lot of the veterans in the locker room.  But just like we learned from Adam Beasley prior to the Dolphins trade with Houston, players were ready to ‘revolt’.

So how do you think those same players felt, after the worst home loss in franchise history?  Mike Florio, the man with more whisperers around the NFL than Lord Varys in King’s Landing, suggests a mutiny is forming.

Per a league source with knowledge of the situation, multiple Dolphins players contacted their agents after Sunday’s season-opening blowout loss and directed them to attempt to engineer trades elsewhere. The players believe that the coaching staff, despite claiming that they intend to try to win, aren’t serious about competing and winning and by all appearances have bought into the notion that the Dolphins will take their lumps now in the hopes of laying the foundation via high draft picks for building a successful team later.

Now let’s not pretend that this outcome is much different, regardless of who the Dolphins still had on the roster.  Everything about this team stinks.  And time will tell how all of this shakes up for Chris Grier,  Brian Flores, and the rest of the Dolphins’ organization.  But if reports are true, there’s a time bomb waiting to go off in the locker room.  When it does, the tank will be All Systems go.

#TankingAintEasy

 

Josh Houtz (@houtz) is a die-hard fan of the Miami Dolphins.  Buy your official 5 Reasons Sports ‘Tank For Tua’ shirt here!

Brian Flores

Brian Flores: ‘I’ve got to do a better job of coaching’

/0 Comments/in , /by

MIAMI GARDENS — Brian Flores had spent his whole football life preparing for Sunday – the past 15 years with the most successful organization in the business in New England. He did his part in helping the Patriots win four Super Bowls, including the most recent.

Sunday was his first chance to show that he could take what he’s learned and lead a winner on his own.

Flores’ first regular-season game as head coach couldn’t have gone worse for him and the Dolphins, a 59-10 thrashing by the Ravens at Hard Rock Stadium. Actually, the Ravens could have scored more. The game ended with a kneel-down at the Miami 5.

Still, it was the second-worse loss in Dolphins history.

The surprise wasn’t that Flores’ reign started with a loss in a rebuilding season. It was how poorly the Dolphins performed, how outclassed they were by the Ravens.

And, frankly, how ill-prepared they appeared despite months of meticulous preparation by a demanding and perfectionist coach.

Brian Flores and his Missed on goals

“We talked about playing penalty free. We talked about having a clean operation, alignments, assignments, trying to play turnover free, and we didn’t accomplish any of that. We talked about starting fast. We didn’t accomplish that.

“It starts with coaching. It starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of coaching this team. We’ve got to play better. It starts with me. We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of work we have to do.”

The thoroughness of the beating administered by Baltimore illuminated the ruthlessness of the NFL. Before Ravens coach John Harbaugh took his foot off the Dolphins’ throat on that final play, he had shown no mercy all afternoon.

Harbaugh called a fake punt with his team leading 35-3. It went for 60 yards and led to another score.

Harbaugh went for it on fourth down with his team up 52-10.

Flores, who has been on the other side of rough-riding an opponent while coaching under Bill Belichick, shrugged it off.

“It’s our job to stop them. Those are my thoughts,” he said. “It’s not their job to let off. So it’s our job to stop them. John is a good coach. They’ve got a good team. It’s our job to stop them. I’m not looking for handouts here.”

Brian Flores not blaming tanking

Similarly, Flores brushed aside a question regarding concern about whether there is enough talent on a roster that has been stripped bare of many of veteran players in the early stages of rebuilding.

“I don’t worry about that,” Flores said. “We’ve got the guys we’ve got. We’re going to coach them. It’s our job to coach them. It’s our job to get them better. It’s our job to put them in positions to play well and make plays, and that’s my job. I’m not getting into – Look, I’m not an excuse maker. I never have been.

“Put that in the excuse bucket and you can kick it to the curb, because I’m not into that.”

Flores has bristled at the suggestion the Dolphins are deliberately tanking the season, playing to lose in order to be in position to draft a quarterback to build around.

He puts high demands on his players, as well as on his coaches and himself.

In Brian Flores way of thinking, Sunday’s result is a challenge to be met with even harder work.

That was evident in what he said his message was to the team at halftime when they trailed 42-10:

“‘Let’s play better. Let’s not have as many penalties. Let’s get aligned. Let’s tackle. Let’s not turn the ball over.’ … I just wanted us to stick together, play together and fight.

“We’ve got to fight. We can’t lay down. We’ve got to fight, keep fighting.”

Ready for Patriots?

His message will likely be similar when the team returns to practice this week.

Because, guess what, next week can be worse: The opponent is Flores’ former team, the Patriots.

As much as Harbaugh threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Dolphins, imagine what Belichick will have in store for his former protégé.

“I’ll just go through my normal process, my normal routine,” Flores said. “I’ll obviously reflect on what this was this past week and try to improve it and try to do a better job. At the end of the day, how this team plays is a reflection of me, and I have to do a better job, and this team has to do a better job, and we’ll come to work tomorrow and try to do that.”

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

More from Dolphin Maven

Please check out our site, dedicated to bringing you Dolphins news, insight and commentary year round.

The Miami Dolphins look like the worst team in local history

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

The Miami Dolphins haven’t been able to do much right in the past couple of decades.

But this tanking thing?

They’re naturals.

Sunday’s 59-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens was so complete that the score is misleading. If Lamar Jackson had stayed in for the fourth quarter, the Ravens were headed to the 70s. As it was, this was the highest score by a Dolphins opponent in a regular season contest in the franchise’s increasingly ignominious history.

And here’s the thing: it can and will get worse.

The Dolphins — what’s wrong with Minkah Fitzpatrick — couldn’t handle the Ravens’ pedestrian receivers Sunday. Next Sunday? Tom Brady comes to town with Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman. And it’s not like there are lots of Dolphins young players with high upsides who will improve drastically as the season progresses.

So there’s a real chance this could be the worst non-expansion team in South Florida sports history.

Yes, the Miami Dolphins were 1-15 in 2007 under Cam “Thumbs This Way” Cameron.

But they were outscored on average only 27-17 per game.

The Panthers have been middling to bad for a while. But they’ve never been the equivalent of 1-15 or even 2-14 NFL bad.

So it’s just the 2007-08 Miami Heat (15-67 after Dwyane Wade and everyone else got hurt and the Heat raided the D-League roster) and the 1998 Florida Marlins (54-108 after H. Wayne Huizenga sold off a World Series winner).

But this?

This has the looks of something historic.

What will the Miami Dolphins do well this season? Throw? No. They can’t protect. Run? No. They can’t block. Tackle? That appears foreign to them. Cover? Ravens ran wild through the secondary.

And as it gets more and more hopeless, more veteran players will check out, interested only in their checks. More fans will stay home — tanking sounds better in principle than it feels in practice.

Prepare for the worst.

It’s what many of you wanted.

And the Dolphins will deliver.

 

 

It just took minutes for the Ravens to humiliate the Dolphins

/1 Comment/in , /by

The Baltimore Ravens came out of the gate raving and making the Dolphins pay for their lack of… talent.

It took just minutes for the visiting team to show the crowd and all of us watching (forced, of course), what this Dolphins season is going to be about.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
We saw a little of what the Fitzmagic is going to be during the beginning of the season, at least, until Brian Flores decides to turn it over to Rosen, probably after a 0-4 start of the season with the veteran quarterback.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Are we surprised by this start of the season?

No. But we had to see to believe, I guess.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

We have been watching the Marlins do the same this past couple of years, and we’re finally getting a football version of tanking in Miami professional sports.

It’s painful, and it will be a long season if you plan to follow the Miami Dolphins with us.

The Baltimore Ravens took advantage of the tanking Dolphins and showed us what this season will be like. Sit down and enjoy your beer, if you can…

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Go ahead and buy your Tanking for Tua t-shirt or tank top.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

BETDSI.com: The Miami Dolphins are a touchdown dog

/0 Comments/in /by

BETDSI had no merci with the Dolphins.

With the offensive and defensive lines this, um, lacking, are you surprised the betting line is this low?

Well, some bettors aren’t, apparently.

That’s why, if you want to bet the Miami Dolphins and take the seven points from the Baltimore Ravens today, you need to give up a little more (-112) at BetDSI.com.

(BetDSI.com is where you should go and use the promo code FIVE101 for a bonus).

Taking the Ravens and giving the seven points (at -105) good play to me, especially since the forecast is mild for a September afternoon — cloudy and a high of 87.

Even easier money, of course, is the moneyline.

But to bet on the Ravens to win, you need to currently need to give $323 to make $100.

And we all know what happened in 2007, when Baltimore was the only team to lose to the Dolphins.

If you believe in Miami’s ability to corral Lamar Jackson, sure, pick the upset. Maybe Minkah Fitzpatrick picks him off a couple of times.

We’ll just be sitting on the other side.

In Five Reasons Sports Network we promise you we will be there with you for this long 2019-2020 Miami Dolphins season. We know it is not an easy thing to be a Miami sports fan right now, but give it a couple of years and we might be winning a lot of games, and maybe some championships. This is how it is now. You have to tank to have a shot at winning, if you’re not one of the highest payrolls of the game. It sucks. We know. Let’s embrace it together. Be part of the Five Reasons family. 

Crashing from Grace: Antonio Brown is his own worst enemy

/0 Comments/in /by

Antonio Brown is not making things easy on himself.

A  lot can change in a year. Just ask Antonio Brown. The National Football League superstar was once at the pinnacle of his profession. Once the best wide receiver in the game, it appeared that nothing could take him down. however, in the last year he has become his own worst enemy.

As I’m writing this, many are still trying to figure out the details of Brown’s suspension from the Oakland Raiders. Although this is big news, it is just the tip of the iceberg. This is something that has been manifesting for the past year now. If anything, his departure from the Pittsburgh Steelers sort of set the Antonio Brown train wreck into motion.  On March 10, the Raiders acquired him from the Steelers for a third and fifth-round pick. Following the deal, they reworked his contract. a three-year deal with a maximum of $54.125 million, it was certainly a healthy investment from Oakland.

It’s fair to call it a healthy investment because of the stuff that proceeded before the deal. Calling out JuJu Smith-Schuster for fumbling was, to put it lightly, a bad move. Sharing a locker room video on Facebook live following the Steelers victory was also not ideal either. He did apologize for it, so I have to give credit where it is due. For every step forward he may have taken, he always took two steps back. He was benched last December before Pittsburgh’s game against Cincinnati for a dispute with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

I hate to say it, because I’m not a fan of big Ben, but Roethlisberger looks the best out of anybody following the Steelers drama. He still sits from his perch as the team’s starting quarterback.

Anyway, I digress.

Brown’s tenure in Oakland, for how short it has been to this point, has been eventful so far. From freezing his feet in a cryo- chamber to having a dispute over helmets, he has certainly made for good television. If anything, he may have been the most interesting part of this season of Hard Knocks. The dispute on Thursday with general manager Mike Mayock is just the tip of the iceberg to all the things that have led before it. It’s a shame that his legacy is being tarnished by his actions. He’s a very good wide receiver, and the numbers certainly don’t lie.

1,000 total yards in six straight seasons, 74 career touchdowns, and seven Pro Bowls. Those are just some of the accolades he has accumulated in his career. With so much talent, he is now throwing it all away. He was once feared by cornerbacks. Now, he is being feared by the entire National Football League because you never know what is going to happen next. The undoing of Antonio Brown is one of the most fascinating things I have seen. It’s not fascinating like exciting, it’s fascinating like “Wow, I can’t believe he self-destructed that quickly.” It’s sad really, and one of the more shocking stories in all of football.

Who knows what will happen next in this saga? As Antonio Brown has taught us, expect the unexpected.

 

So you’re saying we (Dolphins) don’t have a chance?

/0 Comments/in /by

The Dolphins had the perfect season.

And now they have the imperfect roster.

So the Miami Dolphins have accomplished something remarkable already, at least if a computer simulation is to be believed.

They have absolutely no chance of playing in the Super Bowl in their home stadium this February.

Zero. Point zero.

None.

Nada.

Zilch.

Look:

That’s 10,000 simulations.

And not once does Josh Rosen hit Preston Williams in the back of the end zone with a perfect strike to capture the Lombardi Trophy.

The Dolphins were the only team with that distinction.

Seriously, anything could happen if you tried it 10,000 times.

They might even draft a good offensive lineman outside the first round.

 

We love football and of course we like seeing our teams in Miami going to the playoffs and giving us something to root for. We know it is a hard time in Miami sports, but we are glad we can be with you in these difficult moments. Just do not let us go. We will go through the painful season together, and then, at some point, everything will be alright. Stay with us. Keep listening to our Five Reasons Podcasts, please. 

Wait, the Dolphins Will Play Football This Week?

/0 Comments/in , /by

Now that the dust is settling on the Miami Dolphins offseason, there is actual football on the horizon.

The bloodletting has ceased (for now) and the Miami Dolphins will attempt to field an NFL roster Sunday when they host the Baltimore Ravens.

Cuts and trades have left the 53-man roster a barren wasteland void of talent or hope for this season.

Tank you very much indeed.

 

These teams are polar opposites in many facets, starting under center.

Ryan Fitzpatrick will start an NFL football game for his eighth team Sunday.

Lamar Jackson has seven career starts.

Jackson improved as the year went on after taking over for Joe Flacco, and the Ravens were actually a top ten offense in terms of yardage last year.

A lot of that was thanks to Jackson who was second on the team with 695 yards rushing, and Baltimore won six of his seven starts.

Miami was abysmal against the run last year allowing 10 teams to eclipse 100 yards on the ground.

They could be even worse this time around.

The game plan for Baltimore should be simple, pound the Miami front seven into dust on the ground.

Perhaps Vincent Taylor could have been of assistance.

Mark Ingram still has a lot left in the tank at age 29, before the emergence of Alvin Kamara he started to put up excellent numbers in New Orleans with two consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns.

Look for Ingram out of the backfield as well, he has averaged over 43 receptions over the last four seasons.

The departure of Kiko Alonso won’t hurt the pass coverage at least.

Could we see Some Early FitzMagic for the Dolphins?

On the other side of the coin is the savvy veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who comes out guns blazing in the September heat.

 

 

Who can forget the swag that was FitzPatrick during the early part of last season.

He put up three straight 400-yard performances to start the season.

Elite.

Then he went full journeyman.

In that third game last year, Fitzpatrick threw three interceptions after just one in the first two games.

Tampa Bay took the loss in that one and in five straight games to follow. In those losses Fitzpatrick threw eight picks versus just six touchdowns.

That’s the Fitzpatrick most of us expect.

He does have some weapons in Preston Williams, Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant, and Mike Gesicki so there will be some moments.

However the back line for the Ravens is an opportunistic and savvy group in their own right, windows will be tight for Fitzpatrick.

Same Ol’ Ravens D

Safety Earl Thomas joins the Baltimore secondary after a tenuous departure from Seattle. The departure of Eric Weddle left a void in that group and Thomas has the experience to adjust quickly and lead a talented bunch.

 

Baltimore was the top rated overall defense in yards allowed while holding opponents to just 3.7 yards per carry.

Expect the Ravens to stack the box and dare Kenyan Drake and Kallen Ballage to put their foot down and earn the tough yards.

That could be a challenge behind what remains of the Miami offensive line.

 

Hopefully the big boys find their parking spots prior to Sunday, they will likely want a quick escape after the final whistle.

If (when) Miami gets behind the chains, Baltimore can pin their ears back and force Fitzpatrick into mistakes.

There is very little optimism for the Dolphins faithful but home games can take on a life of their own.

Should Miami be able to hang early and stop the Ravens offense, they could keep it close for a while.

Unfortunately it shapes up to be a long day in Miami Gardens, Baltimore simply has too much depth and overall talent.

These teams have a lot of history, including the 40-0 dismantling of Miami in 2017 which will be remembered for an Alonso hit on Flacco more than anything else.

Prediction: Ravens 27, Dolphins 17

Follow us on Twitter for more Miami Dolphins news @SportsWaveDave and @5ReasonsSports.

Make sure to check out and subscribe our Dolphins podcasts Three Yards Per Carry and The Fish Tank.

Dolphins trade Kiko Alonso to Saints

/0 Comments/in , /by

It’s official. Kiko Alonso is gone.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Miami Dolphins have traded LB Kiko Alonso to the New Orleans Saints

In exchange for the veteran LB the Dolphins receive LB Vince Biegel.

 

The news broke almost 24 hours after the Dolphins shipped Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to Houston, in exchange for a treasure chest of draft picks.

Alonso, 29, was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round (46 overall) of the 2013 NFL draft.  He spent his first two seasons in Buffalo, before making a stop in Philadelphia.

He was later dealt to Miami in 2016, alongside DB Byron Maxwell.  The Eagles and Dolphins swapped first-round picks which would help them in their pursuit for Carson Wentz.

During his time in Miami, Alonso eclipsed 100+ tackles in each of his three seasons.

Whether it be for an unnecessary hit on a QB, or a game-changing interception, we will never forget you, Kiko Alonso.

Check out some of Kiko Alonso’s highlights in this link.

 

While we are ready for the beginning of the NFL season, we know you might not be as cheerful as usual, with the last moves the Miami Dolphins have made. However, we invite you to enjoy our coverage of the team, the best in the market for sure, visiting FiveReasonsSports.com often, and listening to our pods here.