The Miami Dolphins welcomed the New York Giants to Hard Rock Stadium for a preseason meeting just days after a joint practice session, and on Saturday, Jeff Hafley’s team fell 26-3 to drop to 0-2 in these exhibition games.
Both teams kept a lot of starters on the bench for this game, but New York picked up right where they left off during the joint practice. They really beat Miami in all three phases.
Offensively, the Dolphins couldn’t do anything in the passing game with Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski running the units. Miller completed 6-of-11 passes for 60 yards while Gronowski completed 2-of-5 for a single yard. The quarterbacks were spreading the ball around a bit, as the only players with more than one target were Kevin Coleman Jr., who did have one highlight grab for 30 yards, and Tutu Atwell, who didn’t catch either pass.
Atwell may have played himself off the roster in the preseason because he’s a veteran, and he’s done next to nothing on offense and special teams. Tahj Washington also may have lost his spot on Saturday, as he fumbled a punt at the end of the game.
Miami wasn’t better on the ground, as Jaylen Wright, Ollie Gordon II and Carlos Washington Jr. combined for 22 yards on an abysmal 1.69 yards per attempt. Some of that is on the line, but the backs get a fair amount of blame as well.
On the other side of the ball, Hafley’s defense couldn’t slow down New York’s passing game, allowing Jameis Winston, Brandon Allen and Jake Haener to complete 31-of-42 passes (73.8%) for 257 yards. Against the run, they allowed New York to rush for 136 yards and two touchdowns on 4.1 yards per carry.
There were very few bright spots for the Dolphins in this one, and it’s clear that they need to make a ton of changes to this roster if they’re going to compete any time soon.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Instant analysis of Dolphins ugly preseason loss to Giants
Reporting by Mike Masala, Dolphins Wire / Dolphins Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Masala, Dolphins Wire | USA TODAY Network
