| Advertisement |
DAVIE, Fla. -- The Miami Dolphins had their three-game winning streak ended as they were hammered at Baltimore, 40-0, on Thursday night. And the storylines coming out the game are just as interesting as the reasons Miami was handed one of the worst losses in franchise history. The biggest deal was head coach Adam Gase torching his offense Monday. Gase said the team's problems start with the leaders on offense and it's not a situation in which they can't retain the information.
Advertisement
"I don't think it's a retain information thing," Gase said. "It's we're not putting the work in. That's what it comes down to. If you can't remember it, you shouldn't be in the NFL.
"At the end of the day, guys have got to actually take this stuff home and study it. They're not going to just learn it all in meetings. We've got to find guys that will actually put forth effort to actually remember this stuff and really, it starts with our best players."
Gase, who has consistently hammered the offensive line this season as being faulty, almost exonerated them on Monday.
"To me it comes down to more than just the offensive line," he said. "The majority of the time, the offensive line at least knows who to go to and knows what to do. You've got to get the other guys to know what to do, too. (The offensive line) can't block the running back's guy. The running back, we never block the right guy. I don't even know if we know who we've got. We've got to get that fixed. They can't block their guy too.
"(The offensive line is) trying to do what they can and they're fighting. There's times where I wished they would do things better, but at least I'm getting effort."
Gase said the problem with players not doing their homework has been going on for two years.
"I've been addressing this for a while," he said, "so I'm kind of fed up with it."
Gase said players don't want to listen to corrections after a victory. He said they're dismissive.
"When we win, what happens is everybody brushes it under the rug and just tells everybody how great they are, and then I'm just an (expletive)," he said.
And just to be clear, Gase didn't blame the defense for the recent results. This is all on the offense.
"It's not on defense," he said. "The defense is fine. On special teams we seem to be alright; but maybe that's because it's just easy - just run straight and hit somebody.
"Offensively, it's a joke. We've got too many guys that don't want to take it home with them. Until our best players actually put forth some effort, it'll be (expletive)."
--
Head coach Adam Gase said quarterback Jay Cutler will return to the starting lineup for the Nov. 5 game against Oakland.
"Yes, he's playing," Gase said of Cutler, who missed the Baltimore game with cracked ribs. "He could have played last week."
REPORT CARD VS. RAVENS
--PASSING OFFENSE: F - QB Matt Moore threw two pick-sixes and was generally awful. He didn't get help from his line (three sacks allowed) or his receivers, who continued to drop passes although not at the rate they had previously this season. This was a bad performance all the way around, perhaps the worst of the season.
--RUSHING OFFENSE: F - RB Jay Ajayi (13 carries, 23 yards) wasn't a factor. He was frequently hit behind the line of scrimmage. He had a 21-yard run and aside from that, well, do the math (12 carries, two yards). The line gets most of the blame here. They were tossed around all night. Miami must do something to stabilize its line play.
--PASS DEFENSE: D - Miami had no sacks and no interceptions, and the Dolphins allowed two passing TDs. S Nate Allen left the game with a calf injury, but that didn't have a bearing on the outcome. The only fortunate thing is Miami didn't get torched statistically (although Ravens QBs were 13 of 22, 121 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 104.5 passer rating) because they had so much success on the ground. Ravens QB Joe Flacco (concussion) left the game in the second quarter, but backup Ryan Mallett had no problems.
--RUSH DEFENSE: F - Miami allowed 174 yards rushing, a huge jump from its average of 82.3 yards per game. Baltimore was more physical. That's the bottom line. Miami's defensive line and linebackers weren't as active as in previous games and it had very little to do with scheme and more to do with performance and effort.
--SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus - K Cody Parkey missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt wide right, his first miss of the season after making his first eight attempts. Miami DT Vincent Taylor blocked a field-goal attempt by Ravens K Justin Turner, a strong accomplishment, but it didn't do much good. There's nothing to report in the return/coverage game, which is a good news/bad news situation.
--COACHING: F - No unit - offense, defense or special teams - was sharp in this game. Coaches and coordinators couldn't devise anything to come close to producing a turnover or a touchdown. This was the most embarrassing and humbling loss in the Adam Gase era as well as the second shutout of the season.
