Miami Dolphins Week 2 recap: 49ers 35, Dolphins 13
The Miami Dolphins left Levi’s Stadium last night on the wrong end of a 35-13 drubbing, and while the first half gave fans reason for encouragement, the second half illustrated the disparity in talent, experience and depth between the two teams.
The 49ers pulled away from the Dolphins with relative ease, showing that they’re a team that’s contending for a championship this year, and that Miami is not.
On the bright side, the Dolphins scored 13 points for the second week in a row, perhaps in homage to Dan Marino, who was repeatedly shown on the sidelines, displaying a mood that was somewhere between disgusted and disinterested.
The positives:
The Run Game: One of the major complaints from last week was that De’Von Achane wasn’t utilized nearly enough. This week, he was featured more prominently. Achane had 20 carries for 74 rushing yards with three receptions. This bodes well for the future; not every team is as stout as the 49ers against the run.
The Ryan Miller TD: While many of us had checked out of the game and were staring blankly at commercials for copper-clad cookware and/or copper-infused socks, Ryan Miller provided a bright spot with 2:30 left in the game, toasting the 49ers secondary for a 77-yard touchdown reception from Malik Willis.
First-half ball control: The Dolphins dominated the time of possession in the first half (19:17 to 10:43), including a 17-play drive that lasted over nine minutes, which made many of us think, “You know, if these drives resulted in touchdowns, this might not be that bad!”
The negatives:
Inability to finish drives: Unfortunately, the first-half drives didn’t result in touchdowns. They resulted in three field-goal attempts, one of which was missed. Red-zone execution simply needs to be much better.
The offensive line: It was, quite simply, offensive. Malik Willis was harassed all day, sacked four times, and a Kadyn Proctor penalty cost Miami a touchdown. It’s a young group that’s still searching for its identity. Let’s hope that happens quickly.
Special teams blunders: While kick coverage was better than last week, the aforementioned FG miss was deflating. Additionally, the Bradley Pinion mishap was one of the weirder fumbles I’ve ever seen. Have you ever started to kick a ball, then halfway through the kicking process you suddenly remembered you left the stove on and just abandoned the kicking process entirely? Me neither, but that’s what that punt looked like.
Next week, the Dolphins host the Kansas City Chiefs for their home opener.
