It’s possible the Dolphins’ offense has had worse days in the franchise’s 47 seasons.
Against a defense as bad as the Titans have? That would be hard to do.
Miami’s offense struggled to do much of anything Sunday, losing 37-3 to a Tennessee defense ranked at or near the bottom of the league in almost all statistical categories.
There’s plenty of blame to go around — and the Dolphins’ offensive line knows they are not getting away without taking their fair share.
“Any loss is awful, especially like this,’’ left tackle Jake Long lamented. “But we can’t hang our heads. And we won’t.’’
Said Richie Incognito: “Such a lopsided defeat, it’s tough. There were a lot of factors.’’
Consider this: Miami mustered just three points against a team that was last by allowing an average of 34.2 per game. The Dolphins gained just 255 yards against a team that averages a whopping 415 allowed per game.
Tennessee’s rush defense came in ranked 30th in the league by allowing 141.6 yards. Miami picked up just 54 on the ground Sunday after gaining 84 against the Colts the previous week.
“We really haven’t had success doing it,’’ Incognito said when asked why Miami has struggled to run. “We have to find ways moving the ball down the field. It has been tough sledding.’’
Although rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill will be skewered for his three-interception performance against the Titans, Miami’s offensive line had another rough outing.
Long, who struggled against the Colts and Dwight Freeney last week, said the Titans came out hard from the first play and Miami “never got the momentum going.’’ Failing to convert on a third-and-1 on the opening drive and Reggie Bush’s fumble on the second didn’t help.
“We didn’t play well enough. Point blank,’’ Long said. “They made the plays we didn’t. We need to get that corrected and do so quickly. ... We just haven’t played well enough up front, and we know that. ... We’ll get it fixed. We’ll do our job and get back on track.’’
Long wasn’t the only one hit by the officials. Center Mike Pouncey was called for holding in the third after Bush was stopped for no gain on a first down. Incognito was pulled off the field by coach Joe Philbin in the second quarter after he was hit with a personal foul.
It was a bad penalty for Incognito as well as the Dolphins. Tennessee had been called for offsides on a play in which Thomas went 14 yards to the Titans’ 14.
Because there were two penalties on the play, the 15-yarder on Incognito was upheld — from the original spot of the foul. Instead of Miami being in business inside the red zone, the Dolphins faced a first down from the 43.
“Offensively, as a whole,’’ Philbin said, “I don’t know that anyone — as far as I saw — is playing very well at this stage. I would say they [the offensive line] are a part of that.’’
Incognito, who has been voted as one of the league’s dirtiest players by his peers, said afterward he thought the play was still going when he got called for the late hit. Incognito missed a handful of plays before going back onto the field.
“I gave the guy a shove, it was a dumb penalty that definitely hurt the team because it pushed us out of points,’’ he said.
“It was a mistake on my part.’’
Said Long: “... We’re going to come out [Monday], correct the film, practice and get back to the way we play football. When we do that, we’re going to win games.’’






















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