Anyone that watched that game on Monday night could see that Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley was not the answer at the quarterback position. The early season offensive futility continued without Tua Tagovailoa and took another uninspiring and disastrous turn for the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins scored a cosmetic late touchdown that halted a nine-quarter touchdown drought in their 31-12 loss against the Tennessee Titans. The offensive woes were still the main topic of conversation after the game and showed no signs of improving anytime soon as the Dolphins installed their third quarterback since Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in the second week home loss against the Buffalo Bills.
“There’s a tremendous disconnect between preparation and execution,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “There is a multitude of contributors I believe. The bottom line, it doesn’t matter what we’re doing behind the scenes. On the field that’s not even close to good enough.”
Miami, who have scored a NFL-worst 45 points, finished with putrid 184 yards total offense.
“It’s definitely frustrating. We’re definitely better than we show on game day,” Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “We have to be better than good when your starting quarterback’s out.”
Huntley, who is a Miami native always dreamed of playing for the Dolphins. That quickly turned into a nightmare he will never forget. He got the start against previously winless Tennessee, who also have some pressing questions at the most important position in all of sports. The problems where ongoing after last week’s 24-3 loss at Seattle, when Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle were under center and took the snaps. Signed from the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad on September 17, Huntley completed 14 of 22 passes for 96 yards. He also ran for 40 yards on eight rushing attempts.
Under Huntley’s leadership, the Dolphins appeared lifeless and out of sync. They were called for a handful of illegal shift penalties, including three in a single drive.
On a couple of down field opportunities that they had to have, with star receiver Tyreek Hill, Huntley overthrew passes after Hill had left his defender in the dust.
“You wished you had 1,000 reps to go through the playbook but it is what it is,” Huntley said. “I felt pretty comfortable but now I have to dig in deeper and know the ins and outs of the offense and take the offense to another level.”
With Huntley still green and trying to find his bearings in the offense, having joined the team two weeks ago, McDaniel admitted there were limitations and modifications to the play-calling strategy. It was like riding a bike with training wheels.
“There are calculated decisions with what he was comfortable with from the previous game plan for Seattle and some stuff that he had done in his career,” McDaniel said. “It was abbreviated to the extent to all things he was comfortable with.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Titans also were forced to deviate from their plans and had to use a backup quarterback when starter Will Levis injured his right throwing shoulder during a running play in the first quarter and Mason Rudolph took over.
Rudolph was serviceable, finishing 9 of 17 for 85 yards and orchestrated two touchdown-ending drives in the second half while helping rookie coach Brian Callahan, who grew up in locker rooms with his dad Bill, who is a great offensive line coach, get his first NFL win.
“He didn’t bat an eye when he walked in the game,” Callahan said. “Our guys didn’t bat an eye. He did exactly what you want a guy like that to do in that situation was come in and operate. He was pretty clean operation wise.”
The Dolphins’ defense limited the Titans to three field goals by place kicker Nick Folk before tail back Tyjae Spears’ 7-yard run with six minutes remaining in the third quarter made it a 10-point game, 16-6.
Rudolph was thrilled to help lead the Titans to their first win of the season on Monday, even though he felt like he did not have to do much. Folk took a lot off his plate by converting five key field goals, and Rudolph engineered seven scoring drives.
“I didn’t do a whole lot, that’s for sure,” Rudolph said. “Tony (Pollard) and the O-line and Tyjae (Spears) just mauled them up front. Moved the ball, controlled the ball in the second half. We protected the ball there in the second half and got out with the win.”
Tennessee secured the win when Pollard scored from 4 yards out with 2:03 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“There is nothing good about this situation right now in terms of where our team needs to be,” McDaniel said. “We need to do enough to win a football game against any opponent. Right now, that’s not the case and we need to fix that fast.”
