What are the Miami Dolphins' final grades for 2021 season?
The Dolphins' season is over and they will be watching the NFL playoffs along with the rest of us.
It was a season of disappointment. A team expected to make the playoffs, did not. A team expected to start well, did not. A team that needed to win its final two games to advance to the postseason, did not.
But there is one final duty to wrap up the 2021 season - a final report card.
Of course, there are probably those of you wondering why we are even doing this when the owner of the franchise, Stephen Ross, handed out his report card last Monday when he fired Coach Brian Flores.
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But we're doing it anyway.
Offense D-plus
Are 2 1/2 coordinators better than one? On the plus side, QB Tua Tagovailoa made some progress, TE Mike Gesicki continued his career-long streak of improvement each season and team MVP Jaylen Waddle broke Miami’s rookie receiving records. But did Tagovailoa improve as much as hoped? His passer rating inched up to 90.1 from 87.1, but he continued to rely on short passes. His yards per attempt was only 6.8, up from 6.3 as a rookie. Meanwhile, the only thing the offensive line proved is that some of the high draft picks shouldn’t have been high draft picks. Run blocking? Miami’s average per carry dropped from 3.9 last season to 3.5. Sacks were up, from 34 last season to 40. That’s on the line. By season’s end, the best running back on the team was Duke Johnson, who had been signed off the street but deserves another contract. Broadening the scope: Miami’s offense ranked 25th in total yards, down three notches, and fell seven places in scoring to 22nd. The Dolphins averaged just 20.1 points, more than five fewer than in 2020.
Defense B
Clearly the strength of the team, especially in the second half of the season, when Josh Boyer’s unit could be a delight to watch. CB Xavien Howard is the star, and rookie S Jevon Holland will be a star, but you could point to any regular and cite big plays each one made. Zach Sieler. Elandon Roberts. Nik Needham. Brandon Jones. You get the idea. Re-signing DE Emmanuel Ogbah (nine sacks) and maximizing the skills of rookie edge rusher Jaelan Phillips have to be high priorities for 2022. Unfortunately, we can’t overlook the sloppy first half of the season. It’s why the final season numbers aren’t what you’d expect. The defense ranked 16th in points allowed (21.9), a drop of 10 places after allowing 21.1 in 2020.
Special teams D-plus
Jason Sanders missed eight field-goal attempts. Sanders was automatic in his All-Pro season of a year ago, but confidence in him this year was such that he was afforded only 31 FG tries, a 20 percent drop. He also scored 41 fewer points. Punter Michael Palardy surprisingly replaced Matt Haack but had a pedestrian season at best. The top performer on special teams was Mack Hollins, who made nine tackles as a gunner.
Coaching C-minus
Brian Flores’ decision to split offensive coordinator duties between Eric Studesville and George Godsey will remain a head-scratcher for years to come. Doubly so since Flores was doggedly determined to not say who was calling the plays — perhaps because it was QB coach Charlie Frye (uh, why?) early in the year. It all was convoluted and unnecessary. On the flip side, Flores and Boyer did get the defense fixed on the fly thanks in large part to those cover zero blitzes that gave QBs fits. The bottom line, however, is this team did not make the playoffs and won one fewer game despite having one additional opportunity via the 17-game season. It lost seven in a row and won seven in a row. And the coaching staff is gone now.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins final grades for 2021 NFL season and no playoffs
