The NFL season did not begin the way the Miami Dolphins hoped it would.
A Week 1 matchup on the road against the Indianapolis Colts gave Miami a chance to play indoors and away from the wet and sloppy conditions back home in Miami.
The bad weather may have been a better option for the Dolphins as they were embarrassed by the Colts, with a final score of 30-8. It was an awful opening-week performance and here are three takeaways from Miami’s loss.
1. The defense was abysmal
Miami was already expected to be a bit thin on defense this season with the losses of Jalen Ramsey, Javon Holland and others. It was not, however, expected to give up 33 points to a Daniel Jones-led offense.
The Dolphins allowed Jones to go 22-of-29 for 272 yards along with two touchdowns. Along with the stellar performance for Jones, the Colts racked up 156 rushing yards on 40 attempts.
2. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were non-factors
For Miami to succeed, it needs contributions from its all-world receivers in Hill and Waddle. When those two are not able to contribute, bad results usually follow.
The two receivers combined for just eight catches and 70 yards in Sunday’s loss. It showed the same theme from last season, and that is the Dolphins are usually going to lose if both Hill and Waddle struggle to get touches and yards.
3. Miami has a $212 million problem
The way-too-frequent struggles from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa reared their ugly head again in Sunday’s loss. Tagovailoa managed just 14 completions for 114 yards and finishing with more interceptions (two) than touchdowns (one).
Miami will not go far at all this season is Tagovailoa performs like he did Sunday. Dating back to last season, his recent play has shown that he is worth much less than the $212 million he was given in his most recent contract extension.
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