With so many roster spots up for grabs, position battles and new players to evaluate, there is much more to breaking down a preseason game than regular season.
After an extra day of film review, it’s time to dive into everything and anything important from the Miami Dolphins at Chicago Bears, preseason game 1 from Soldier Field.
FIRST QUARTER
– First series, Dolphins showed extreme defensive fronts on first and second down (five to eight men on the line), with no more than 3 players starting the play off the line of scrimmage (all DBs). This might be the strategy with all the talent in Miami’s front seven (and the same one Brian Flores uses in Minnesota): stack the box and put your opponent in tough down-and-distance.
– Second drive: five man defensive front on first down again. Four-man fronts with the back seven zoning up on 3rd down. Result was two three-and-outs.
– New special teams coach Craig Aukerman isn’t coming in and doing the same old thing. On punt coverage, it looks like the Dolphins now prefer to double team both gunners. Last year, Danny Crossman gave more mixed looks including doubling one side, but more often than not, they played off of gunners.
– Tanner Connor started in the FTE role, a good sign for him. His blocking looked improved over previous seasons, a big factor in him making the 53.
– Left tackle Patrick Paul, the same one who was “developmental” a month ago, somehow continued to look like a dude.
– McDaniel, Tagavailoa’s confidence in Malik Washington is clear on the first drive, as was Washington’s confidence within the system. Getting the job done without Hill and Waddle in the field only accentuates how effective Washington could be in various roles within the offense, particularly on underneath routes as well as on disguised runs. He’s a heck of a tough player.
– Watching live it was hard to notice, but Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was actually in for most of the opening drive and played with the ones and twos, lining up a good deal in the slot. His feet are sluggish running routes. The one positive to take from his early snaps is a guy that big from the slot does a much more effective job stepping in and sealing run blocks along with a tight end.
– Capable guard play helps Aaron Brewer do what he does best in the run game — get to second-level blocks.
– Jaylin Wright didn’t score because an old problem persists and it’s hesitation.
– McDaniel leaving Wright in after his first run got the ball to the 1-yard line was fantastic on many levels. First, if Wright is a viable short-yardage option or not, find that out now. Second, see if any of the habits that held Wright back last year have been resolved (they seem to have not). Finally, if players (see: Tyreek) want to make public statements about who should be doing what, you just let that play out publicly.
– Wright’s inability to feel a lane opening or knowing where the hole is shows up even before he’s even made his first cut. There’s a good half-second to three-quarters where his decision-making is slow when as soon as when the balls snapped, and in that time gaps close in the NFL.
– QB Zach Wilson‘s short-arming throws to wide open players — especially when Conner’s was for six — leaves you with questions. He even did it on a completion or two in the flat.
– Westbrook-Ikhine’s 36-yard reception came when the Bears backed out of the coverage they were in (you can see them signaling before the snap), leaving NWI basically uncovered and running down the hash. He had no targets before Wilson entered and when I watched, his feet looked sluggish in his route running.
– Tahj Washington is looking like a confident player after missing all of his rookie year.
SECOND QUARTER
– RB Alexander Mattison hits the hole noticeably harder than Wright. He had no hole on either of his running plays but still worked to bang through for yards.
– (THOUGHTS BEFORE MATTISON’S SURGERY ANNOUNCEMENT) It would be good to see less Achane and more Ollie Gordon/Mattison/Wright, in that order. This is assuming everything is okay with Mattison who landed on the crown of his head in the second half and did not return. Both Gordon and Mattison played without hesitation, something that can’t be said about Wright for the most part.
– For now, Channing Tindall is running with the first team kick coverage unit.
– After being probably the loudest cheerleader for his selection, it’s less-than-exciting to see DT Kenneth Grant loaf on the back side of plays almost immediately after getting in. (Revision/addendum 3:44 p.m. I have gotten some better looks at Grant after those early plays and some are encouraging. He will bat down a lot of passes this year)
– Second team defense is smaller on the edges and looks a little disheveled. They’re no longer running the atypical fronts on first down; three- and four-man mostly.
– First snap for DT Zeek Biggers from what I can see comes with the 2s and 3s and he’s playing defensive end, which I love. I don’t think Biggers’ best days are inside because of his upper body width as well as his height, but I love the idea of him working to be an edge player. Anthony Weaver was a big end — this versatility will give Biggers more opportunity.
– In goal line at 7:20 in the quarter, rookie DT Jordan Phillips had an absolutely disgusting rep. Lined up over center as a true nose (which he often was in this game), he rode his initial blocker then literally tossed him aside, filled the hole and single-handedly stuffed Bears RB Kyle Monangai. Power personified. Wrestling hand strength on display. Encouraging.
– On Chicago’s first touchdown drive, the backup defense did a good job once the Bears found the 10-yard line and everyone played the actual TD play well except safety Patrick McMorris who made an incorrect break that put slightly him out of position on an overall well-defended play.
– Throughout his time in, Zach Wilson seemed challenged to play on time. A great arm can have you play a fraction later, but numerous plays saw him simply holding the ball too long.
– Wilson is better than Tua at … sliding.
– My concern with Tahj Washington coming out of USC was that he would be too frail for the NFL. But he had nice plays where he got extra yards from both Tua and Wilson. He deserves consideration and is looking like a better value than Eskridge. Loved his shake after the catch.
– New addition Germain Efedi with an absolute brutal effort from left tackle on the play Wilson had a screen to Washington batted down. Could have easily chipped his man but left him untouched, where he simply moved to the backfield and batted down the pass. Entire play ruined because of the smallest detail.
– WR Erik Ezukanma had a strong game. His first catch was a high ball over the middle from Wilson where he went up and got it. Ezukanma has been way too slow in picking things up BUT from the standpoint of big-play capabilities, he ranks third on this team only behind Hill and Waddle.
– On the seven-yard 2nd quarter touchdown by Wright, he had to break what amounted to an arm tackle at the line after G Kion Smith and C Daniel Brunskill did a nice job of getting defenders moving toward the boundary while Jonah Savaiinaea came in to wall off the back side, creating a huge cutback lane. It was a nice cut by Wright though and then he hit the hole, he hit it hard.
– Nice coverage by CB Ethan Bonner on the gift interception for McMorris. Blanketed his receiver and got a hand in for the PBU.
– Wilson misses a lot of open reads that happen quickly in favor of holding the ball. Cost him on two sacks this quarter alone.
THIRD QUARTER
– I may have missed TE Pharaoh Brown in the first half but from what I can see this is the first time he’s been in.
– Efedi has had a brutal outing. He got absolutely worked on a spin move by Austin Booker who registered his second sack. Booker was a very good pass rusher at Kansas the Bears got in the 3rd round of the 2024 draft. Him playing as long and as late as yet did was an effort to get him going after a poor rookie year, but it was clear he outmatched some Miami linemen.
– Not many of the UDFAs got early playing time. S John Saunders Jr. likely got in a little earlier than expected with Elijah Campbell‘s injury and he took advantage. He’s a player with elite hands and a nose for the ball. Her tries to turn the ball over anytime he’s near it.
– Tindall struggling in pass coverage. Eugene Asante not really a part of the plans at this point it doesn’t seem.
– Athletically CB Jack Jones has more to offer on the outside than Kendall Sheffield or any of the other reserves. If he can keep it together, it would be a one-year nice band-aid with a strong cornerback group available in the 2026 draft.
– QB Quinn Ewers takes the field for the first time at 6:27. The most accomplished lineman in front of him is probably Pharaoh Brown. The front: Ryan Hayes, Jackson Carman, Addison West, Josh Priebe, Kion Smith. It’s not hard to determine how this might go.
– LB Grayson Murphy‘s sack not noteworthy at all given that he went completely unblocked. Nothing really to gain from that film-wise, despite the statistic. A lot of people like Murphy but he isn’t going to make the team if he can’t hold the edge in the run game. Miami has too much talent. It’s not to say he can’t be a good player, but it might not happen here.
– UDFA CBs B.J. Adams and Ethan Robinson on the field. Weaver seems to like Adams outside and Robinson inside and as the game goes on, he has Robinson walking down to the line nearly every snap, either threatening blitz or actually coming.
– Ewers fumble was again Booker from the back side. He just overmatches everybody still playing at this point.
– In goal line with the 3s and 4s, Biggers still at end does a nice job to assist on a TFL on first down. The power he has out there is more palpable. Two plays later, he’s playing over center but still working swim moves.
– Another good sign for Aukerman — nearly every kickoff returner did well, and they used five or six.
FOURTH QUARTER
– Taking it with a grain of salt where we are in the game and who’s playing, Ollie Gordon looks like the second-best back on the roster. He’s both breaking tackles and extending runs with power and good vision.
– Regardless of the box score, Ewers is coming off poised and comfortable in the offense. His footwork is not staggered, it looks good.
– Mattison’s season ended on a play, it turns out, on a good delivery from Ewers and an even better job by Mattison after the catch.
– As a veteran in his seventh year, the injury must particularly sting for Mattison, still seeing action in the 4th quarter of a preseason game. And I seem to be the only one who mentioned it before game week but carrying only four backs, knowing you want to sit Achane after a short stint, is reckless. If the Dolphins were carrying the league average of six running backs, there’s a fair chance Mattison is donning a ball cap and not a helmet that late in the day.
– UDFA Addison West did a good job from the center position on Ollie Gordon’s fourth quarter touchdown run, neutralizing the Bears’ nose tackle enough to help the rookie cross the goal line for his first time in Miami colors.
– I’m a Saunders fan. Nose for the ball and doesn’t quit on plays.
– When Asante did finally find the field, he was bringing it. Assisted tackle on special teams and laid into some people on defense, including unnecessary roughness on one.
– The fade route Adams got beat on for a touchdown is a little deflating. He was beat on no move, just straight speed, and it was only 14 yards he needed to stay with the receiver.
– Where the Dolphins are playing Wease and Armstrong has me give the edge to Armstrong as he’s in the slot. Like NWI did earlier in the game, he can use his size inside as a blocker, all things being equal between he and Wease.
– Ewers best throw of the night saw him deliver a dart over the middle to A J. Henning. Overall, I liked the outing for Ewers. He never looked overwhelmed despite near constant pressure.
– Tindall made some nice plays in the fourth quarter. All of them coming straight forward.
– Don’t know if this says anything but S Jordan Colbert got a lot of playing time in the second half. And I really hadn’t heard his name before.
– In the end some of the line play was so bad it risked Ewers getting hurt. Maybe Miami needs to bring back Brett Gabbert for the umpteenth time.
Aqua & Coral Report 