Miami traveled west to face San Francisco in Week 2, falling to the 49ers, 35-13. In the loss, the Dolphins gained valuable teaching points, found offensive balance and played hard throughout the game.
1. Teaching moments
One week after an impressive outing against the Rams in Australia, the 49ers kept things rolling in their home opener against the Dolphins. Quarterback Brock Purdy completed 20 of his 22 pass attempts as the 49ers scored touchdowns on each of the first five possessions of the game.
"(Kyle Shanahan) is a great play caller and they've got great players who are experienced and have been running this system for a very long time," Head Coach Jeff Hafley said. "Consistency and continuity in one scheme over time usually equals success."
The Dolphins could benefit from having that game tape to study so early in the season. A chance to dissect how one of the best offenses and play callers decided to attack the scheme and personnel could pay dividends.
"In the second half, I don't think it was a lack of effort or how hard we played," Hafley said. "We did something extremely uncharacteristic on the first play of the half that went for an explosive, and we had another huge mistake on the second that went for a touchdown so quickly."
2. Balance and ball control
Despite the 49ers' offensive success, the game remained a one-score affair going into the halftime break. Miami possessed the ball for more than 20 minutes in the opening half, running 28 plays from 49ers territory. Running back De'Von Achane ran the ball 16 times in the first half for 62 yards and caught three passes for 19 yards.
Miami's consistent running game helped the offense maintain possession for 38 snaps, limiting the 49ers to just two possessions. The run game also allowed Miami to convert on the money down. The Dolphins were 6-for-9 converting on third and fourth downs in the opening half, including a 23-yard completion from quarterback Malik Willis to wide receiver Malik Washington on third-and-9 with less than three minutes to play in the half.
3. Playing hard from start to finish
Everyone in the NFL is talented, which creates razor-thin margins, especially for a young team like the Dolphins. Lessons can be learned from any given play. All it takes is one missed assignment, one instance of poor communication and a play can go the wrong way.
Conversely, when a young and hungry team is on the same page, positive results can become repetitive and keep games close against one of the best teams in the NFL.
"When guys do their job on every single play, and you heard a lot of the players talk about their 1/11th, when guys do that every single play and they play as hard as they did in the first half, we can play with really good teams, really good, experienced teams," Hafley said. "So, you take that, but when you don't and you take one step of mentally or physically, or you're just not locked in, things can get away from you. The margin of error is not very big. So, we have got to be able to sustain that for all four quarters."
After reviewing the film on Monday, Hafley expressed appreciation for his team's effort.
"When you turn on the tape there's an element of toughness and how hard we're playing that jumps off the tape," Hafley said. "We have to establish that and we have to build off of that, and when you turn on the last couple of plays of the game on both sides of the ball, they're playing just as hard as they did on the first."
For more analysis, takeaways and breakdowns, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield, available on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
For more analysis, takeaways and breakdowns, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield, available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
