Six practices and 12 days.
That’s how much time Tyler “Snoop” Huntley had to work with to learn the Miami Dolphins offense.
While the South Florida native may be familiar with his surroundings in Miami Gardens, the crash course this 5th-year quarterback had to take to be ready for Monday night’s 31-12 home loss to the Titans of Tennessee was unprecedented.
But one of the NFL’s most complicated offenses was handed over to former Lamar Jackson backup this week because the Dolphins didn’t have a better option.
On a two-game losing streak, whose offense was moving at a snail’s pace, the Dolphins had reached a desperate point in the season with Tua Tagovailoa sidelined two more games due to the concussion that left him ‘had been placed on injured reserve and broken up. Skylar Thompson’s ribs suffered during last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
And that’s why Huntley got the start two weeks after being signed off the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad, and could regularly be spotted double- and triple-checking his wristband before many snaps, which is how he called plays that came from the sidelines.
Unfortunately, there’s a difference between knowing the plays and being able to execute them correctly, and that distinction was demonstrated in Monday night’s embarrassing loss to the previously winless Titans.
The belief was that Huntley’s experience and the fact that he had produced significant wins for the Ravens gave Miami’s coaches and players artificial hope and belief that the offense would come out of neutral.
The problem is that Huntley’s play — he completed 14 of 22 passes for 96 yards — seemingly turned around last year’s top-ranked offense.
The Dolphins hadn’t scored a touchdown in 10 quarters before Huntley’s 1-yard run into the end zone in the fourth quarter ended that drought, which began after a first-quarter touchdown against the NFL Bills. Buffalo in Week 2 loss.
Since then, the Dolphins’ offense has looked anemic, out of sync and often simplistic (where are the cheating moves), constantly plagued by penalties (they were a problem for the second game in a row) and regularly sputtering on third and fourth tries (Miami is 1 of 14 on fourth down attempts this season).
If the Dolphins had a better option, they might have replaced Huntley, but it’s clear that Miami views Tim Boyle as just a practice squad quarterback (even though he’s on the roster). 53 players), and Thompson can’t throw the ball more than 15 yards and runs as fast as my grandmother.
And unfortunately for Miami, that’s likely the train the Dolphins will take until Tagovailoa is cleared to practice and play, and that will likely be the week leading up to the Oct. 27 home game against the NFL Cardinals. ‘Arizona.
Problem is, Dolphins fans were expecting a miracle heading into Monday’s game, because Huntley has experience and playing Hero Ball — scrambling for first downs — was supposed to be a cheat code.
But the Titans suppressed most of the competition. Huntley had 40 of the Dolphins’ 106 rushing yards, but when he produced his highest number of scores, it was too little, too late.
The problem is that he was clearly overmatched, and the safety with which he was penalized after trying to throw a pass in the fourth quarter while still in the pocket in the end zone was proof of that.
With the exception of a dropped pass from Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, most of Huntley’s passes were off the mark.
It felt like he lacked chemistry with his weapons, like the third-and-17 deep ball he threw to Hill, who was wide open after smoking L’Jarius Sneed downfield.
Huntley missed two deep balls to Hill. One was overthrown and forced Hill to play defensive back, disrupting a potential interception in the end zone. On the other side, the hill was wide open along the left hash mark, with Snead trailing, but the pass was knocked down.
Hill was so frustrated with the lost opportunity that he attempted to throw the incomplete pass after it bounced in the air, but much like the Dolphins’ offensive execution, he failed to execute, whiffing the kick .
