Hyde10: Offensive woes, QB problems, here comes the draft — 10 thoughts on Titans’ 31-12 win over Dolphins

Clunk.

The Miami Dolphins hit rock-bottom Monday night with the kind of performance right out of the tank year of 2019. Or the 1-15 season 2007. Or any other insufferable season this franchise put up.

The previously winless Tennessee Titans beat the Dolphins 31-12 at Hard Rock Stadium in a statement of where the Dolphins season stands. Here are 10 thoughts on the night:

1. Stat of the night: Twelve points. That’s all the Dolphins could muster. That’s one above their NFL-low average this year. Even that came with some trouble as they had only Jason Sanders field goals of 44 and 56 yards and a total 84 yards of offense on 40 plays until the game was out of hand in the fourth quarter and ….

2.Stat of the season:  … the Dolphins scored their first touchdown in 10-plus quarters. De’Vone Achane scored from 1-yard to make it 22-12. Even that was painful. The Dolphins had three, illegal-shift penalties on their 11-play, 70-yard drive in borderline garbage time. Still, it was something. You have to go all the way back to the first quarter against Buffalo when Achane scored on a 5-yard pass for the last time the Dolphins scored a touchdown. The team that scored 70 points on Denver last September scored 45 points in four games this September.

3. Let’s not put this on Tyler Huntley. It was a roll of the dice to insert a quarterback who arrived two weeks ago from another team’s practice squad. He completed 14 of 22 passes for 96 yards. It’s not like injured backup Skylar Thompson lit up the offense in Seattle in the 24-3 loss last week. Look at Monday’s other sideline for the value of a backup quarterback who has played in the system. Tennessee lost starter Will Levis in the first quarter and Mason Rudolph came in to run enough of an offense to win the night. Rudolph wasn’t great — nor was he asked to be. He completed 9 of 17 passes for 85 yards, but more importantly…

4. Rudolph handed the ball off. The Dolphins defense held up most of the night, as Tennessee had 40 carries for 142 yards. That’s just a 3.6-yard average, but Tennessee’s plan was to run the ball, not make mistakes and build up possession time in a low-scoring night. It kept the ball 19:40 to the Dolphins 10:20 in the first half. That’s the game it wanted to play and it worked.

5. Here’s a site you haven’t needed the past few years either because the Dolphins didn’t have a first-round pick or they started fast enough to not consider draft order. Tankathon.com updates the draft order of every team weekly. And, yes, that’s where this season seems headed. The Dolphins are tied at 1-3 with eight other teams right now. And, yes, that’s where this season seems to be.

6. What a painfully action-packed final 65 seconds of the first half. In order:

1:05 — On a Tennessee punt, the referees ruled Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley touched the ball and Tennessee recovered at the Miami 26. Instant field goal, right? On replay, it was ruled a Tennessee player touched it a split-second before Riley so the Dolphins got the ball at their 25.

:26 — On third-and-three, Huntley wasn’t looking for the snap, and it shot behind him. But it was ruled a non-play because the Dolphins had an illegal shift for a 5-yard penalty.

:22 — A 30-yard punt by Jake Bailey goes out of bounds at the Tennessee 44-yard line.

:16 — On first down, Rudolph throws 26 yards down the middle to the Dolphins 30. With no time-outs, the Titans sprint downfield and ….

:01 — Rudolph spikes to stop the clock.

:00 – Nick Folk’s 44-yard field goal goes through the posts to make Titans 9-3 at half.

7. What is this team’s short-yardage identity? The Dolphins lined up on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter at the Tennessee 46. Achane was in the backfield, not fullback Alec Ingold. So power running wasn’t on the menu. The odd call was for an end run to Hill. Tennessee linebacker Caleb Murphy strung it out enough so Hill couldn’t turn the corner and that was that. Then, on fourth-and-an-inch in the fourth quarter, Huntley lined up in the shotgun and they ran a sweep to Achane. That was stopped, too. Are these their best short-yardage plays? Or are they constantly trying to surprise teams when simple north-south runs up the middle would be the better idea?

8. McDaniel wanted to correct one mistake from last Sunday by getting the ball in his best players’ hands. So on the Dolphins first play of the night, a simple pass over the middle went to Jaylen Waddle for 14 yards. The second play was an end run to Tyreek Hill for 16 yards. De’Von Achane got a carry for a yard on the third play for a yard and McDaniel was no doubt making a statement about his playmakers being in the game plan. Of course, the fourth play – second and 9 from the Titans’ 42 – became a problem when Hill dropped a lateral pass and Tennessee recovered the fumble. From there, nothing seemed to work. Hill ran past Titans cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to be wide open down the sideline in the second quarter and Huntley missed him. Then, on the first possession of the third quarter, Waddle dropped a pass over the middle. Late in the third, Hill ran open deep and Huntley just overthrew him. It wasn’t until down 22-6 in the fourth quarter that Hill and Waddle contributed to a scoring drive.

9. Quick Hits:

*Jaelan Phillips came back early from his Achilles injury, but went off twice with an apparent leg injury on the same right side. The second time he left the field and went to the locker room.

*Rookie Patrick Paul replaced Terron Armstead at left tackle and … didn’t do anything to call attention to his play. Before further review, that seems a good thing.

*Anthony Walker, starting for injured linebacker David Long, left the game in the second quarter after being hurt on a punt before returning.

*Emmanuel Ogbah had his second interception in nine seasons on the Titans’ first drive.

10. Next game: Dolphins at New England. Headline in Sunday’s Boston Globe: “The Patriots are probably the worst team in the NL, and Sunday’s blowout loss to the 49ers proves it.” That’s all you need to know about what was once a tough place to play. The Patriots are 1-3 and the debate is whether to play rookie quarterback Drake Maye or protect him from bodily damage.