Phinsider Mailbag: Answers your 2018 Miami Dolphins Week 2 questions

The Phinsider Mailbag made its 2018 debut yesterday Chandler Cox Miami Dolphins Jerseys , asking you for your questions. You did not disappoint as the bag got full fairly quickly. We have nine questions below to discuss, so let’s get to them fairly quickly.Before we do, however, watch for the next Phinsider Mailbag question request next Wednesday. We will then answer your questions on Thursday. You can also hit us up at any time on Twitter, just use #AskPhinsider.What happened to the pass rush against Tennessee? - jonmanI think it was a combination of things. First, the Titans were clearly trying to get rid of the ball extremely fast, especially Blaine Gabbert who was second in the league in Week 1 with a 2.34 second time to throw (only quarterback who was faster? Ryan Tannehill at 2.33 seconds). Marcus Mariota was ninth in that stat. In other words, the Titans quarterbacks were trying to neutralize the Dolphins’ pass rush by simply getting rid of the ball.The other thing was the design of the defense. Miami was looking to stop the scrambling ability of Mariota and force him to stay in the pocket. The defensive ends were not rushing straight toward the quarterback on Sunday. Instead, at least how I saw it, it looked more like they were making sure to be outside, almost in run-defense to seal the edge, before they were attacking. It is a smart game plan to keep a quarterback from hurting you with his legs, but combine that with short time to throw marks, and the pass rush seemed to be a beat behind.Why didn’t the Dolphins use more Gore and Drake in the field at the same time? Worked for a first down in the first play. - GllmiasprMiami used the two-running back look four times during the game, and it did look like it gave them an edge as both Kenyan Drake and Frank Gore could become the ball carrier, a blocker, or a target out of the backfield. But it was just four times. I think part of that is 11 players on the field, six immediately from five offensive linemen and one quarterback, leaves five “skill” player positions. Kenny Stills, Kenyan Drake, Mike Gesicki, Danny Amendola, Frank Gore, Jakeem Grant, A.J. Derby, Durham Smythe, Albert Wilson - and throw in DeVante Parker and possibly Kalen Ballage - and now you have multiple players who should be on the field Miami Dolphins Jerseys 2019 , but simply not enough spots to get them all out there. Plus, I think the Dolphins just want to make sure they have a fresh running back at all times. If Ballage is active, maybe we see that set more often, because the rookie can also rotate into the backfield, but why wear out both Drake and Gore at the same time?How do you think our two young linebackers did against Tennessee? - PittsburghPhinsfan420I think they were young linebackers. There were times where things worked well, and there were times where someone was out of position or confused on the coverage. That is going to happen and we have to expect it. Hopefully, we only see the mistake once though, as the coaches and the linebackers realize the mistake and fix it.What happened with the two short kick offs. Planned, or poor execution?- jonmanI have to believe those were planned, because Jason Sanders has a leg on him. It will be something to watch this weekend, though.How long do you think it will be until Minkah gets the start at safety instead of McDonald? If that were to ever happen this year? - NMPhinfan29 I do not think it will happen. I know people want to say T.J. McDonald struggled - and at times he probably did - but he is a solid player who does the right thing more often than not and lets Reshad Jones be Reshad Jones. That is a perfect complimentary player for the Dolphins’ secondary. He did lead the team in tackles on the day, so he is doing something right.Minkah Fitzpatrick will play safety this year, but I do not think he is going to push McDonald out, simply because the team likes him at the nickel cornerback position right now. Until someone else proves they can beat him out for that position - or beat our Bobby McCain on the outside allowing McCain to move back inside - why take Fitzpatrick out of that role? Why fix something if it is not broken?Are they planning on starting Charles Harris this year? If so, any idea when? - MassPhinsPhanI do not think they need to, nor should they want to, start Harris right now. Cameron Wake and Robert Quinn are your starters. Harris and Andre Branch will see plenty of snaps rotating in behind them. If Harris gets a start, either Wake or Quinn are injured.Why isn’t Vincent Taylor getting more snaps? He’s been our best interior lineman by a mile but hardly gets snaps (18 in the last game compared to the rest which were 36, 31 and 29 respectively). - ElPasoPhinFanI do not think he is the best defensive tackle. He is good, but I think Jordan Phillips, Davon Godchaux, and Akeem Spence are all ahead of him - and William Hayes may be as well. Right now, Taylor is a really good depth player who will rotate into the game plenty and will make an impact on special teams. He is a 2017 sixth-round pick who is showing he has a ton of talent. That should be enough this year. What was the impact of not having DeVante? - VaanxDeVante Parker’s absence has probably more impact than fans realize. Parker, if healthy - and that is a big if - gives Miami the big-bodied number one receiver the offense is lacking. Mike Gesicki could end up in that role if he develops and Parker cannot get healthy - think of how the Patriots use Rob Gronkowski as their primary receiver, then compliment with the rest of the receiver group - but he still needs some time to adjust to the NFL. Right now, Miami has a ton of speed that is working basically in the short and deep levels, using slants or deep patterns to exploit that speed. Parker comes in and gives you someone who can work at the intermediate levels. Miami’s offense is going to be able to work around Parker’s absence if needed Chandler Cox T-Shirts Jersey , but having him adds a layer to the offense that we are not seeing otherwise.What does the offense need to do to be better on third down? - wellwhoopddamndoI am not ready to say the offense has an issue on third down, but 2-for-10 feels way too much like last year to totally ignore as well. Part of it is the intermediate targets that Parker should be. Part of it is also penalties turning a 3rd-an-5 type of play into 3rd-and-15. Get those under control, get Parker back, and see Gesicki develop into a reliable receiver, and I think the third-down conversion rate goes up.I mean, it really cannot go down much. Enough of this.If the Eagles are going to make a respectable showing after their first Super Bowl title, it’s time to do so. They have lost three of four. They turn over the ball too often and can’t make big defensive stops.They are heavily injured physically and, perhaps psychologically, by a 4-6 record as they host the New York Giants (3-7) on Sunday.“It’s uncharted territory a little bit,” coach Doug Pederson says. “I think the guys have really handled it well. They’re disappointed, they’re frustrated, quite frankly, as we all are. We haven’t played up to the caliber that we’re capable of playing.“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us, and we’re not going to do the same. We just have to come to work ready and practice, and prepare, and as they say, try to go 1-0 each week.”Six weeks of 1-0 might be good enough to win the NFC East, in which they trail Washington by two games and Dallas by one. The Eagles have two games left with the Redskins and one with the Cowboys, to whom they have lost in Philly.New York has won two in a row to temporarily quiet the social media and tabloid complaints about Eli Manning. The veteran quarterback has shown that given time to throw — the O-line has vastly improved the past two weeks — he still can produce. And he has talented teammates in Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard.“I think we’re running the ball better than we did, so I feel like we’re playing better football, but we got to continue doing that,” Manning says. “They’re a good team, they’re a good defense, they got a good front four and they’re a little banged-up in the secondary, but they’ll have a good plan and we just got to go execute.”The weekend began with the Thanksgiving Day tripleheader.At New Orleans Infant Chandler Cox Jersey , Drew Brees threw four touchdown passes to inexperienced receivers and the Saints (10-1) won their 10th straight game with a 31-17 victory over Atlanta (4-7) that eliminated the Falcons from contention in the NFC South.At Dallas, Amari Cooper had a 90-yard touchdown catch while finishing with 180 yards receiving and two scores and Dallas pulled even with Washington atop the NFC East at6-5 with a 31-23 Thanksgiving victory over the Redskins.At Detroit, Chase Daniel set career highs with 230 yards passing and two touchdowns to keep Chicago (8-3) rolling with a 23-16 win over the Lions (4-7).Off this week are the Chiefs and Rams, the final byes of the season. They are probably exhausted after that 54-51 Monday night affair in which Los Angeles improved to 10-1 and Kansas City fell to 9-2.Seattle (5-5) at Carolina (6-4)The winner could place itself in strong position for a wild card. Neither the Seahawks nor Panthers figures to catch their division leaders, the Rams and Saints, respectively. A Seahawks loss clinches the NFC West for LA.Carolina has lost two straight in entirely different manners, a blowout at the hands of Pittsburgh and then a one-point defeat at Detroit when a 2-point conversion failed .Both teams will want to run; Seattle leads the league in yards on the ground despite not having a standout running back.Tennessee (5-5) at Houston (7-3), Monday nightNot only are the Texans, winners of seven in a row, in charge of the AFC South, they’ve become a factor for a potential playoff bye. They’ll need to keep up the excellent work on both sides of the ball.J.J. Watt has made an impressive comeback from basically two wasted seasons with 10 sacks and a seemingly non-stop presence around the ball. He could be particularly destructive if the Titans need to play Blaine Gabbert for the injured starting QB, Marcus Mariota.The Titans have been maddeningly inconsistent. They dominate New England, then get blown out at Indianapolis. This is a rare difficult matchup for the rest of their schedule.Pittsburgh (7-2-1) at Denver (4-6)A sign of a contender is playing poorly — very poorly at times — and still winning. The Steelers did that last week at Jacksonville, a game that could catapult them to bigger things in a division they already control.Antonio Brown is tied for the league lead with 11 touchdown receptions and has at least one touchdown catch in eight consecutive games. With a TD reception on Sunday, Brown would tie Hall of Famer Lance Alworth (in 1963) and A.J. Green (in 2012) for the third-longest streak of games with a touchdown catch in a single season. Jerry Rice has the mark with 12 in 1987.Denver comes off a stirring comeback victory at the Chargers and linebacker Von Miller comes off another one of his dominant performances with a key interception and his 100th sack.Miami (5-5) at Indianapolis (5-5)A pair of .500 teams headed in opposite directions.The Dolphins are reeling, coming off a bye after losses in three of four, but expect to have starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill back from a shoulder injury. The Miami offense has gone nine quarters without a touchdown.Indy is one of the NFL’s hottest teams with four consecutive victories. Andrew Luck has thrown a TD pass in a league-high 33 straight games, and at least three TD passes in seven straight, tying Dan Marino for the third-longest streak in NFL history. Luck can tie Peyton Manning (eight) for No. 2 against Miami.He also has not been sacked since Oct. 4, a career-best 214 attempts. That five-game string without a sack is tied for third longest since 1982.Green Bay (4-5-1) at Minnesota (5-4-1)Yet another prime-time appearance for the Vikings, who are 0-3 at night. Both teams are chasing the Bears, of course, and have wild-card aspirations, too.If Minnesota doesn’t find a ground game, it’s likely doomed to being home in January; it ranks 31st. Green Bay allowed 173 rushing yards to the Seahawks last week.Green Bay doesn’t have that problem. Aaron Jones, who missed the early season tie between these clubs while suspended, has 342 rushing yards and four TDs in the past four games Chandler Cox Jersey nfl draft , plus 12 receptions for 100 yards and one TD. Jones leads the league with 6.4 yards per rush.But the Packers have lost seven straight regular-season road games since winning in overtime at Cleveland last Dec. 10.New England (7-3) at New York Jets (3-7)Just what the spiraling Jets need: Tom Brady and the very annoyed Patriots making a visit.New England played poorly at Tennessee before its bye, but wasn’t within light years of how badly the Jets performed in their loss to Buffalo. While the Patriots are on pace for their millionth straight AFC East title (actually their 10th), the heat on Jets coach Todd Bowles has intensified. New York has lost four in a row and has beaten New England once in the past eight tries.Brady needs 147 passing yards and four touchdown passes to surpass Peyton Manning (79,279 passing yards and 579 touchdown passes) for the most in each category in NFL history, including the postseason.Jacksonville (3-7) at Buffalo (3-7)The Jaguars had a chance to turn around their disappointing season when they led Pittsburgh 16-0 last week. They folded, and now the questions intensify about the security of the coaching staff and quarterback Blake Bortles.Still, though Jacksonville has dropped six in a row, it’s remaining schedule is anything but difficult. To not make some sort of turnaround would be inexcusable.One thing worth noting about the Bills: They keep coming at you, despite perhaps the least-talented offensive roster in the league. Their defense makes them competitive.Arizona (2-8) at Los Angeles Chargers (7-3)The Chargers blew a chance to be tied for the AFC West lead with some suspect play calls and play-not-to-lose mentality late against Denver. Still, they are in excellent shape for a playoff berth, particularly if Philip Rivers makes better decisions with a game on the line.Rivers has 23 touchdown passes and has thrown for at least 25 in 10 consecutive seasons. He needs two TD throws to tie former teammate Drew Brees for the second-longest streak. Peyton Manning had 13.Like LA, the Cardinals come off a late-game fold, against Oakland.Oakland (2-8) at Baltimore (5-5)With Joe Flacco sidelined against Cincinnati, first-round pick Lamar Jackson brought a running game to the QB position, something Flacco won’t be doing when he returns.The Ravens rushed for 265 yards as Jackson ran 27 times for 117 yards, Gus Edwards had 115 yards on the ground and both rookies rushed for seven first downs.“Oh, he had 27 carries,” coach John Harbaugh said. “You know what he did? He won the game. He played his tail off. Celebrate that, and move on.”The Raiders hadn’t celebrated a victory since Sept. 30. They ranked 31st in run defense, so another win here seems unlikely.Cleveland (3-6-1) at Cincinnati (5-5)The Bengals have been ravaged by injuries and seem headed for yet another disappointing season. But a win Sunday would keep them in the wild-card chase.Neither team plays much defense, so while this won’t be Chiefs-Rams, it could keep the scoreboard lit.San Francisco (2-8) at Tampa Bay (3-7)Not much to recommend here.Bucs receiver Mike Evans has 957 yards receiving and can join Hall of Famer Randy Moss (six consecutive seasons) and A.J. Green (five) as the only players in NFL history with at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of their first five seasons. He figures to get it against the 49ers whether Jameis Winston returns to starting duty at quarterback or Ryan Fitzpatrick goes.