Starters Play, Youngsters Pop As Miami Dolphins Wrap Up Visit To Chicago With A 24-24 Tie (Yuck!)

Starters Play, Youngsters Pop As Miami Dolphins Wrap Up Visit To Chicago With A 24-24 Tie (Yuck!)

The Miami Dolphins just wrapped up their trip to Chicago. And the good news is they didn’t lose, but the bad news is they didn’t win. You are Locked On Dolphins, your daily Miami Dolphins podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. All right, Miami. Welcome to another episode of Locked on Dolphins. It is your team every day here on the Lockdown Network. I’m your host Cal Krabs, a lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, host of Locked on Dolphins, co-host of Locked on NFL Scouting, author of Touchdown Miami on Substack and NFL staff writer for a Toz Sports. Want to give a special welcome and shout out to our everydayers because it is your team every day. We don’t just say it, we live it here on the Locked Onet. Today’s episode of Locked on Dolphins is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown NFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Preseason game number one. It’s in the books. And the Miami Dolphins have tied the Chicago Bears. Yuck. Hate ties. By a final score of 24 to 24. And uh I think the first chapter of this game showcased some familiar frustrations. There was the goal line stand on the opening possession. Uh the Dolphins starters on offense and you don’t have Tyreek Kellen. You don’t have Jaylen Wadd, but they have some explosives. You have a chunk play that’s offset by a procedural issue because Larry Boram’s not lined up on the line of scrimmage. It’s a point of frustration. It’s an easily adjustable thing, right? And it’s the it’s the backup swing tackle. Austin Jackson’s not in. So you don’t go too crazy over it. But man, it’s the kind of stuff that just drives you nuts because it’s the kind of stuff that has been littered as easily avoidable issues uh in a lot of places throughout kind of the Dolphins offensive chapters. And then they get down to the one yard line and they’re knocking on the door. And look, I I like the the attitude. We’re going to mash this ball in here, right? Uh but the only problem with that is they didn’t. And you had one play where there was a missed execution what by what looked like Jonah Savanayiah down on the goal line. And then there was another run where Jaylen Wright stops his feet and it kind of kills his momentum. And then there’s another one where looks like Patrick Paul blocks down and Pharaoh Brown’s not on the same page and he blocks out and it opens up this gap for this second level player on fourth down to come screaming through and make a tackle and you lose yardage on fourth down. So it’s kind of the the short yardage woes popped up. So, some familiar things that showed up for Miami throughout the course of this preseason matchup against the Bears, but I thought the way that they moved the ball was really promising. I I I think especially you consider uh the chemistry with Malik Washington. You get into some got to have it situations and two is looking for Malik Washington. The chemistry between those two as a secondyear player I think is really important. We got some outbreaking patterns to help win to the sideline on throws. Uh those are the little things that I think you look for and you you thirst for just to add a few more uh abs if you will to the play sheet for when you get into got to have it situations. Now um it was a brief cameo appearance for Tuong Aloa. We had some of the the touch pass stuff, the the shallow uh air yards. He he went five for six in this game. Zach Wilson comes in and gets an explosive play for Nick Westbrook Aeen. Kind of felt bad for Zack on one because Zack had Germaine Ephetti blocking for him at right tackle and and you need to be able to to watch the full film to get the full um list if you will of who did well, who didn’t on a play in playout basis. Um, but the domino effect of Larry Boram now being the starting right tackle because Austin Jackson’s on ice until the start of the regular season and then Andrew Meyers missing time and Liam Iikenberg’s missing time and it it leads to Germaine Fetti who just signed here is getting early playing time. Um, I thought Pat Paul looked pretty sturdy, but then then the drop off when Keon Smith now has to play guard and would ideally be at tackle and Larry Boram’s up with the ones because Austin’s now playing the the trickle down effect. A lot of those concerns that you had throughout camp with the daily practice reports from those that were in attendance about, hey, this offensive line’s not looking super sturdy. Um, I think your your backups are kind of dispersed right now across the depth chart and maybe some of them aren’t playing in their ideal spot. And you saw this where Germaine Afetti’s got to come in and and conceding a lot of pressure. So, Zack finishes five and 96. He gets the explosive play to Nick Westbrook on on the the catch and run down the field, but he sacked four times and uh it it looked like there was not a lot of consistent width of the pocket. And both of these backup quarterbacks, Zach Wilson and Quinners, uh, they both look to get off of their spot, but their feel of throws as they’re uncovering while getting off your spot and trying to throw with accuracy, you saw it a ton with ooers, right? Like he didn’t necessarily panic in the face of pressure, but he was looking and eager at times to get off his spot and look to move. and you’re just not on the same page and it’s not synced up and I think that contrast in style of play kind of bit the Dolphins especially as you get deeper into the wide receiver depth chart and you already didn’t have your top two guys in this game but uh Devon Chan ran strong in this game I thought um we’re going to get into Taj Washington I thought the entire first team defense obviously I think Chicago had eight yards of offense in the first half through two positions um Caleb Williams didn’t start the Bears didn’t play a lot of their starters that’s what you would want it to look like. So, I think from that standpoint, uh, you acknowledge that Jaylen Phillips doesn’t dress, but everybody else is kind of rocking and rolling and it looks the way that it needs to look for your expectation of who Chicago played and who you played to go out there and feel good about, hey, we executed. And then from an injury standpoint, the guys that are higher up on the depth chart on the defensive side of the ball, Elijah Campbell looked like he kind of grabbed above the knee. Um, but that’s one where he’s in there running for that third safety spot, which makes obviously Iffy Malfanu returning off of the pup that much more or the non- football injury list that much more important for you. U, but by and large it looks like you avoided some of the chaotic opportunities that can come when you get in these preseason games and you have guys that go down. So, um, Dolphin starters getting some run on both sides. Some guys like Jonas Savina played over 30 snaps in this game. I think for a guy like that as a second round rookie, those are healthy opportunities, right? So, uh I want to get into some of the young standouts that I have on my notes and my sheet uh just off the TV copy and then obviously we got to go back and watch the tape and make sure we uh say things with a lot of confidence. So, a lot of this obviously off the TV copy. I don’t know if you guys watched the Bears broadcast on NFL Network. I hope you felt my pain if you did because I about gouged my eardrums out trying to listen the Chicago broadcast call this game. But uh that’s neither here nor there. We’re going to get into some of the young standouts in Miami’s 24 to 24 tie against the Chicago Bears next. Make sure you guys stick with us. Today’s episode of Locked on Dolphins is presented by Yahoo Fantasy. It is the best time of year. NFL kickoff is almost here and that means fantasy football season is back in full swing this year. 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Uh and it wasn’t just the route running, right? Because you get into oh Chicago and they press the receivers at joint practice and they’re getting real physical and we thought they were thing up and this that the other thing. The primary concern that I had with all the reports from the joint practice was Jaylen Wel missed the team period because he got the wind knocked at him because Tyreek Stevenson blew him up and Tyreek Hill did not practice. So you’ve got Malik Washington, Eric Zukama, Nick Westbrook, Destridge, Taj Washington, Theoise, Andrew Armstrong, Monterey Baldwin, AJ Henning, Tariq Black. These are the receivers that are participating when Jaylen Wadd gets the wind knocked at him for the period on Friday. when teams choose to play you physical and they choose to bracket 10 and 17, who’s the winner? Who’s the route winner? And I I think Malik Washington has an opportunity to be a good all-purpose receiver, but I don’t think he’s twitched in the way that Taj Washington is. And this is the first sampling we’ve got of Taj Washington, right? He was hurt. He missed all year last year as a late round draft pick as a seventh round rookie in 2024. But my goodness, just the the short area start stop ability, the lateral quickness. Um looked like he kind of fought the ball a little bit on that third down conversion with the ones. Um but that’s neither here nor there. There was uh good opportunities in the open field or making guys miss. I thought it was a great showcase for Taj Washington as you’re in that battle for wide receiver five, wide receiver six. How many wide receivers do the Dolphins keep? It’s a big question, right? Because you got 10 and 17. You got Malik Washington. You got Nick Westbrook Keane. That’s four. Dirtritz has some special teams appeal, but so does Malik Washington. So maybe you can get off of of that fence if you’re stuck on it. Eric Azukama is the light bulb finally going to come on here after being drafted in the fourth round in 2022. Uh one of the UDFAs. If not, do you just keep five? They kept four at 53man roster cutdowns last year and then they obviously claimed Grant Dubose off waiverss looking for a physical player. Tosh Washington, man, you play like this all preseason, you’re you’re going to have a chance to be undeniable for one of those roster spots. I think that’s a great development for Miami. Um Ali Gordon, you’d be remiss to to not mention him pretty early on on the offensive side of the football as well. He obviously goes up and over the top for the big touchdown, a short yardage conversion. I’m not saying I’m just saying it was cool to have a guy get in from one yard out and not have it be pulling teeth. Was the consistency of division always where he wanted it to be? No. But spins out of contact on the first run, has a 21 yard. Has the short yardage conversion down on the goal line for a touchdown. Looked like he was going to make some magic happen on this final play. And Mike about had me pulling my hair out here with this end of game sequence where they Chicago turns it over on downs. You get a chance with the ball back. Quinn laces a ball in a tight window to Ali Gordon for a catch and run and then you turn it over on downs and and Quinn takes a sack and then you get the ball back because Chicago just run it out, right? Like you’re and then you get it back with like five seconds left and you run two plays. Uh, but Ali Gordon, I digress. Um, looking real good. Speaking of the running backs, here’s thinking of Alexander Madison, hoping he’s okay. Uh, with obviously the him getting banged up, looking like he landed on his head. I wouldn’t know because Chicago was too busy interviewing somebody on the sideline instead of talking about the player that was down and injured on the field. So, I didn’t get a great peek at it. Um, young guys on the defensive side of the ball. Uh, I I think you could start this conversation with some of the guys up front. I didn’t think either Kenneth Grant or Jordan Phillips were consistently dominant in the way that you want them to look when they’re going to reach their peak in pinnacle. You’d expect that for their first sampling of NFL play. But Grant with some of the retrace stuff where they’re running screens and he’s getting out. He’s he’s getting five, six yards downfield outside the numbers, chasing ball carriers down, that was what really was his hallmark resume play at Michigan. And I I thought it was relevant again today for making a couple of plays and uh had some good knock back as well. Jordan Phillips had a a a goal line stuff where he gets double teamed and he kind of has his shoulders raised up, but because he’s so low to the ground, he’s able to to disengage off of that and he squares up the running back. There was a couple of times where the pile with a running back with momentum goes into Jordan Phillips and the gravitational pull of him as a player like when the contact happens didn’t get off of it very easy. Was it always super consistent? No. There were a few times where he got stretched laterally and it looked like there were some cutback lanes that came off of that. you want those things cleaned up. But I I think for what you expect both of those players and their skill sets to look like, you got a good sampling of it uh here in the first preseason contest against the Chicago Bears. I thought it was a bummer that Derrick McClendon got popped for the uh roughing the passer call. Uh, and same for Eugene Asante on the unnecessary roughness call where the receiver is leaning and going down to try to make the catch and the strike zone changes in a split second and he catches him up in the the upper shoulder head neck area, but it’s still a body shot and gets flagged for 15 on on what would be a touchdown drive for Chicago. I thought that was a bummer. Um because I think Asante like Asante really flew around out there. Uh Derek McClendon was getting after it as a pass rusher. I know I wrote this for a Toz Sports in the beginning of the weekend, but Mike McDaniel said Mohamed Kamar uh in concussion protocol suffered on their travel day. Didn’t travel with the team to Chicago obviously in concussion protocol. Now the last thing Muhammad Kamar can start to afford to is seeing guys like Derek McClendon play like this in the preseason game. Uh because that I mean he big- time president. I thought McClendon played better than Grayson Murphy where I know Grayson Murphy had um a sack but there was some some effort stuff away from the ball and the pursuit level there and and the finish ability. I thought McClendon of all of your non-top four edge guys. I thought Cameron Good had a really nice play on special teams but but Darren McClendon was the one who I thought was the most persistent and disruptive player of the group. You obviously had an interception. It was cool to see somebody get an interception off a tiff ball because I don’t think the Dolphins got a single one of those last year. That’s also neither here nor there. Ethan Bonner with the contest at the catch point. Patrick McMorris off the deflection. That closing down the first half uh was nice to see. And then you had Isaiah Johnson in sticky man coverage doing just enough to get his eyes back and break the hearts of all of the Bears fans at Soldier Field who were open for a DPI there in the endame sequence where they took the shot on fourth down. Uh and Johnson gets his eyes back and keeps his hands off the receiver. I thought it was well played for oh shoot it’s underthrown ball. you see a lot of DPIs in that situation because uh the receiver stops and then the DB runs into him and impedes his ability to catch the ball. So, I thought that was nicely done by Isaiah Johnson in that sequence as well. Uh some odds and ends with this tie between Chicago and Miami. That’s coming our way next here on Locked on Dolphins. Make sure you guys stick with us. Listen, we’ve all been there. You log on early, wait forever for concert tickets. You’re sitting in the virtual line. 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Use code locked on NFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms do apply again. Create account. Redeem code L O C K E D O N for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets for the lowest prices guaranteed. I don’t want to overreact. I really don’t. But special teams was pretty good. Special teams got me fired up. Uh some numbers off the special teams. Miami returned three kickoffs and averaged 38.7 yards per return against Chicago. That in contrast to Chicago. Chicago also returned three kickoffs, averaged 21.7. Miami averaged nearly twice as many yards per kickoff return than the Bears did. Miamiy’s average starting field position on drives when attempting a kickoff return was the 44 yardd line, their own 44 yard line. They started on average when returning a kick at the 44. Chicago averaged their own 23. And if it wasn’t for Jason Sanders with the illegal procedure on the one kickoff that they had that didn’t land in the landing zone that was a touchback and came out to the 40, Miami would have been I don’t want to say perfect, but the the the kicking sequence and the hidden advantages in the game as far as starting field positions and net yards on returns to set up your offense and your defense and playing complimentary football really stood out to me in a big way. And I thought the again I’m going to dump on the Bears broadcast here, but they’re backed all the way up and the Gunners get bench pressed to the moon and the punter bombs it on a line without a lot of hang time and it sets up these huge returns. On punt returns, the Dolphins averaged 17 12 yards per return on two punt returns. So they average 38.7 per kick return and 17 and a half per punt return. And the Gunners did a good job. They were physical. The returners did a good job to kind of find some creases. You had kickoff returns that hit downhill. You had kickoff returns that hit outside. You have kickoff returns that made a guy miss. I thought the execution on special teams was outstanding. And when’s the last time you could say that about a Miami Dolphins football team, right? And it wasn’t all good, right? Uh, but even like Miami, whether it was Stonehouse or it was Bailey, I thought the appropriate amount of air was put on the ball to allow the kick team to get downfield. I mean, the the one where they were backed all the way up inside their own 10 yardd line and Chicago got it and it was like a net 47 yard or something like that, but that ball hung up there what felt like forever. And when they boomed it, it also hung up as compared to a lot of Chicago were on a line and it set the Dolphins were return guys up for really favorable opportunities. So I thought that stood out to me in a big way. Uh I want to talk a little bit about Quinn who you want to be fair to Quinn right based off of seventh round draft choice. I know some people thought he got woefully underdrafted, but I I thought it was appropriate with what he looked like on film from an X’s and O’s and an execution of the offense perspective. And then there’s some people that are just never to a tongue of Aloa people that are just convinced that Quinners needs to be the next franchise quarterback of the Dolphins because his name’s not to a tongue. He’s not a left-handed quarterback that doesn’t have the strongest arm in the world. Not not a a big arm player. I get it, right? like u but I I think it was a sobering experience for Quinn as far as he started rough and then he kind of settled in but he didn’t get a lot of help from the guys and I’m not going to sit here and and hammer on the box score right because he went five of 18 I think he started 0 for five he took two sacks he got f he was had two fumbles and lost them both one was at the the very endame sequence where before Chicago had the the four and out and the other one was backed up inside your own five yardd line where you have a promising run from Madison, but then you take a penalty and then you you you go back and you’re backed up and then you got a you get a nice run to kind of get you out of the shadow of your own goal post, but you’re still way backed up and then you get outside the pocket and you get stripped from behind and you lose the ball because you’re carrying it low. And I think it just kind of the arm talent’s evident, but let’s pump the brakes here about how good Quinn looks in practice. You know, we need to see obviously big- time exponential leaps and bounds of the execution of the offense where the timing is the paramount thing and that’s a separate conversation than what the ceiling is when you run a timing oriented offense. Right? Those are two totally different things. Right now, it’s a timing oriented offense, which means if you’re going to try to hit the top of the drop, hitch up into the pocket, and then slide with three like open strides to your right, and then try to rear up and hit the glance. It’s going to be three yards behind the break, and it’s going to hit the defender in the hip or thank good or else he would have thrown an interception. right now. I thought the touch throw that was with five seconds left, the touch throw that he had down the sideline that he dropped right in the bucket, that was a great throw. Uh the was it the third and 15 that he laced to Ali Gordon tight window was a great throw. But the first throw that he had was just a routine out and he airmailed this thing and and put his receiver in a really bad spot to try to adjust the ball. So, I know there’s been a lot of gas on Quinn and and he looks good and he’s got the wow throws. I think you saw the good, the bad, and the ugly all with Quinn in one shot. Um, other players that got banged up throughout the course of this game, we we did have, as we mentioned, Elijah Campbell, we had Alexander Madison. Um, the Dolphins chose to protect a handful of notable players. Jaylen Phillips, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Wadd to a tongue of a low with a brief cameo appearance. Um, but the Dolphins all in all, I think there’s a lot of nice things to build on. There’s some of the same questions that you had. I would like to think this kind of alleviated some of the, wow, they came out and punched you in the mouth questions. I think that was just kind of a an expectations versus reality of a joint practice with a team that that coming into practice was operating on a different intensity level and and the Dolphins had to adjust. And as we heard from Terron Armstead last night on the set, if you’re not subscribed to Toronto on YouTube, cannot recommend it enough. Terron kind of went in on look, there’s a kind of a standard procedure for joint practices. It became apparent throughout the first half of practice that the Bears didn’t care, right? They were taking guys to the ground. They were playing intense. They were really hitting. And that’s what the Jordan Brooks Tyrell Dodson dust up was about was about Jordan Brooks as a leader saying, “No, man. Listen, like they want to be about that life and they want to hit and they want to they want to go full, then we may have been told like, look, you’re supposed to two-hand touch and you’re supposed to th and you’re supposed to tag off and not tackle, but if they’re going to play that way, then let’s play that way.” and Jordan Brook’s like lighting a fire on the guys. And I really appreciated that insight from Toron Armstead because I know one of the things I said from the jump was I don’t want to overreact to a dust up between two players until I know more context about it. And Toron Armstead was there. So he gave us that firsthand account. The Dolphins from here on to Detroit. Uh they are off tomorrow. They have their own practice on th Tuesday and then they have joint practices with Detroit on Wednesday and Thursday. We’ll wait to kind of hear what the status is for some of the players coming out of the game. But that is going to do it for us here on the show. Cow crabs. Appreciate you guys for checking out the postgame. Dolphins 24, Bears 24, tie in the Windy City. Hope you guys will hit subscribe on the channel. Come back. See us again soon. That’s it for me. I’m out of here. Go Fins.

The Dolphins tie Chicago 24-24 in Week 1 of Preseason clash. Can the Fins translate flashes of brilliance into regular season success?

Kyle Crabbs dissects the Dolphins’ mixed performance, spotlighting Tua Tagovailoa’s chemistry with Malik Washington and the defense’s standout plays. Special teams excellence ignites optimism, while Quinn Ewers’ debut raises questions. The analysis covers offensive frustrations, young defensive talents making their case, and the implications for roster battles. With joint practices against the Detroit Lions looming, how will Miami address their short-yardage woes and build on their preseason promise?

Tune in for expert insights on the Dolphins’ path forward and key players to watch as the regular season approaches.

0:00 Intro: Dolphins tie Bears in preseason opener

5:07 Tahj Washington impresses in receiver battle

10:44 Ollie Gordon shows promise at running back

15:49 Special teams performance stands out

20:55 Quinn Ewers struggles in NFL debut

25:31 Outro: Looking ahead to joint practices

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