The Miami Dolphins have lost their first two preseason games by a combined score of 43-24. The Dolphins are trying to improve things. First year head coach Joe Philbin has talked about where the Dolphins could use some improvement. The three areas Philbin brought up in particular were slow starts, inability to get the defense off the field and inconsistency in the red zone.
Our slow start number one as a football team. That's the number one concern to me. Our inability to get off the field on defense has been a concern to me and I would say our inconsistency on offense in terms of, I thought number one in our first game, in terms of just games, we moved the ball relatively well. We knew we had some red zone issues, etc., but I think we've been inconsistent there. Probably those would be the top three right now.
Miami failed to score in the first half of their first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and didn't score against the Carolina Panthers until about midway through the second quarter. If this team is going to be successful this season, they need to start games off better.
In both games, the Dolphins have trailed in the time of possession category, allowing their opponents to hold onto the ball for at least 33 minutes. Its obvious that trying to get the defense off the field can only help them, both with rest and with giving the opposing team less time to score.
Red zone inconsistency is something that the Dolphins have to work on to improve the offensive problems. Being able to score in the red zone should be able to help with the slow starts the Dolphins are having.
The team plays their next preseason game on Friday against the Atlanta Falcons, so after a week of trying to address these problems in practice, fans will see if they can improve on all this.
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