On Tuesday I reported to you that Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman had a career chat with his players and implored them to overcome the difficulties of the past couple of weeks and make their sons proud.
It was Sherman's way, I guess, of challenging his players.
Well, I challenge Mike Sherman to make necessary corrections and make fans proud -- because the offense the Dolphins have been putting on tape for much of this season, and particularly lately, simply isn't good enough.
Consider:
The Dolphins are averaging 19.2 points per game this season. That is 25th in the NFL.
That is the worst mark in the AFC East so far.
That is worse than a season ago when Miami averaged what we all considered an unacceptable 20.6 points per game.
The Dolphins have not scored a touchdown in six quarters.
The Dolphins are tied with Kansas City for the fewest passing TDs in the NFL (6) so far this season.
This is not good. Fact is, it is terrible because the Dolphins haven't exactly been playing stellar competition. The hard part of the schedule is coming up, believe it or not, after the Buffalo game.
“I think it’s just a lot of things that we just have to execute better," Sherman said. "It’s typical coach talk. We’ve got to execute a lot better. We’ve got to not have penalties. Not turn the ball over. Those things all play a part in it. Got to have good plays. I’ve got to call good plays -- make sure they’re the ones that apply specifically to that defense.
"There’s a lot of reasons, which we have to get fixed. There’s no question. This is unacceptable."
Correct!
Unacceptable.
I cringe at the idea that Miami still has to play against the San Francisco and Seattle defenses.
The situation is frustrating because generally the Miami defense and special teams have been good enough, with the exception of the last two losses to Indianapolis and Tennessee, to provide Miami with a winning team.
So the offense needs to hop on its horse and giddyup.
The Bills, Thursday night's opponent, provide an opportunity. The Bills, to put it diplomatically, stink on defense.
They give up more points (31.7) per game than any other NFL team. They are dead last in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game. Combined, they allow 410 yards per game on the ground and through the air and that's 31st of 32 teams.
So the Bills are possibly a prescription for what ails the Dolphins offense.
Of course, I kind of thought that last week before the Tennessee game.
