Welcome to the Monday Fish Wrap, Week 2, a look back at a few things that stood out when watching yesterday’s game between the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif.

FIRST QUARTER

• Not sure anyone made note of it so I will — FB D.J. Herman‘s first quarter catch was not only his first as a pro, it was his first TOUCH since high school, at best. Primarily a linebacker at San Diego State, he had no college touches on offense.
• The early field goal miss was a letdown on numerous levels. Dolphins gave up on attempting a first down as Malik Willis keyed only on Devon Achane on 3rd and 13, his first read. That told me that Jeff Hafley wanted to get something out of that first drive, which netted a miss by Riley Patterson.
• Shame on all doubters of sasfety Michael Taaffe, myself included. He is one tough SOB and count him out at your own peril. Plays hard, flies around, smart kid. (Led the team in tackles with 9).
• Dolphins clearly like Zeke Biggers as it seems like he’s seeing the field more than Jordan Phillips right now. On Josh Uche‘s TFL, Biggers made a nice play from the 3 tech to help make it happen. Next play, he was back on nose and had zero effect.
• San Francisco’s third down conversion that led to the first TD saw Jordyn Brooks in way too much space and covering way too much Christian McCaffrey.
• Playing goal line the next play, no Phillips which was surprising. San Fran ran right at Biggers for the touchdown.
• On Achane’s first big run, WR Kevin Coleman had an impressive block that helped key the play.

SECOND QUARTER

• It just feels like the team is operationally more comfortable on offense under Bobby Slowik. No chaos so far this half. Nothing feels rushed. 
• Willis escape of a would-be sack would’ve been a 10-yard+ loss for the majority of league quarterbacks and all former Miami QBs (except Dan Marino who would’ve already thrown it) 
• No other way to put it but Miami OL has looked the part of a bully this drive, and it’s beautiful
• Willis needs to be more of a thinker at times. If you’re outside the pocket and going to lose yards, get rid of it. It’s not hard.
• On the third down before yielding to the field goal unit, even after replay I struggle to see how the 49ers got pressure that quickly out of a 4-man rush (it would be a recurring theme)
• 7:50 mark: Watching Dolphins lack of pass rush has spurred a whole new thought for me — there is no metric currently utilized that tells you how much time a defender spends in coverage. Miami gets no pass rush. Coverage stats are certainly affected by that though there’s no accounting for it.
• There’s been a noticeable move that’s worked well so far for SF — deal with Zach Sieler 1v1 by letting him come up field hard. Have now seen multiple times they do that and Brock Purdy simply steps up into the empty pocket after he over-pursues. It should be noted though, Sieler doesn’t seem to have lost a step.
• I hate saying it but hate seeing it even worse: Jason Marshall Jr.‘s effort on run plays is questionable, at best. Whatever the opposite of “sticking your nose in there” is, that’s him in his first year-plus. He’s fine going at a static defender but awful when it’s time to get physical, despite having the size to do it.
• In the first half, Dolphins are noticeably better on special teams than last game, though they haven’t had to deal with one return. Jaylen Wright‘s return was some good, hard running. Wright playing less than Ollie Gordon on offense though is telling.
• More of San Francisco getting all kinds of pressure while using vanilla sets. I’m guessing they are already thinking about the film they are giving the next opponent. 
• On the roughing play on Willis, Jonah Savaiinaea got beat purely off one move and never got even a hand on Keion White, who hit the QB with a full head of steam. Shades of 2025 unfortunately.
• Big time play by Willis to convert after scrambling and finding Malik Washington, somebody I’d call the glue of this receiving unit at this point. After a tough first game, he’s returned to his reliable self.
• Third down play to Caleb Douglas for his first catch of the day was good execution by the Dolphins. San Francisco mixed it up and sent an extra man who would’ve gotten there had Willis faced having to run through reads. Good route by Douglas whose speed — and then ability to snap it off — threatens pro DBs more than most could’ve anticipated, especially this early in his career.
• It’s been a “welcome to the league, rookie,” kinda game for Kadyn Proctor, though the late hold on Bosa didn’t look egregious to me.

THIRD QUARTER

• Not sure what the official ruling will be on who was in coverage but Jacob Rodriguez was caught in no-man’s land after Purdy last-actioned to George Kittle running down the seam. To be fair, it was a good play call that exploited a light box.
• San Francisco’s touchdown drive featured them working the middle of the field — Rodriguez on Kittle, McCaffrey on Brooks — all the way down the field before exploiting Willie Gay Jr. with Kittle for the score.
• All three situations seemed to manipulate zone coverage to find man matchups. The touchdown play being Cover 1, which Hafley seems to go to when the field is shorter. To be frank, the Dolphins just don’t have the personnel right now for some of the defenses Hafley prefers.
• A few offensive drives in, the second half feels a bit like JV versus Varsity and given the two team’s age discrepancy, it’s probably actually fair to say. 
• Jordan Phillips‘ effectiveness isn’t what anybody would hope it might be right now. Just watched him get bounced on the first play of SF second drive, then immediately yanked for Biggers. Biggers made a one-yard stop on McCaffery the next play, but if we’re honest, it was only after getting washed out by 49ers IOL but ended up in the right place to make the play. Still prefer him as a big end, but his playing time suggests he’s kind of beating out Phillips at tackle right now.
• Drive that put the 49ers up 28-6 saw them use the middle of the field with ease again. On the touchdown, if Kyle Juszczyk was Zayne Anderson‘s man, he seemed to both miss the motion and took an angle to the play that can best be described as L-shaped. Anderson has been less noticeable (less on the field?) than last week.
• A few plays on this series by Slowik were head-scratchers, including the screen that had Brewer working to space down field but a completely unblocked end without even some kind of chip to slow him down.
• Second half feels like a less confident, competent offense. 
• He of the one glove, Bradley Pinion, apparently glitched.
• – Poor/loose coverage dots this entire game, but the long play before McCaffrey’s late 3rd quarter TD dive wasn’t one of them. Dante Trader was all over it, Purdy’s throw was just a hair too good.
• I hope Miami makes note when watching this game of how effective play action is for San Francisco. With Willis’ wheels times the Achane long run threat, it should be a staple in Miami. I also like the idea of more under center than what Miami runs.
• The two things to watch with Willis right now are the internal clock, and shot selection. Incompletion to Herman felt like a lazy play almost.
• – I get that Hafley will zone up a good bit so on some plays I guess technically Kittle isn’t any one player’s man, but how does a defense almost seem unaware of where he is at times? 

FOURTH QUARTER

• Jordyn Brooks is feeling a little less effective so far. Give it a minute though because I’m pretty sure he wasn’t so squared away his first games in the last defense either and then turned beast. Hopefully it’s not a role change that’s usurping his effectiveness. 
• The most discouraging thing for me this game is what feels like deteriorating line play. The 49ers sack on 3rd down with just over 7 minutes was again just a four-man rush. What’s worse, Brewer and Savaiinaea have Keion White and it took all of a small chip and a twist for White to be free, the Dolphins lineman standing side-by-side with nobody to block and White collapsing for the sack. 
• There are people whose opinion I trust over my own on line play but it feels like this has been an “off” start for Brewer.
• Down 35-6 and six minutes left, the Dolphins turn to “tape time,” getting players like Jackson Woodard and others playing time with the defense. Woodard has been the team’s most productive player on kickoff coverage teams including at least two tackles in this game. I’m
• With the game basically over, wondered If Juju Brents had played. Looked, and he was in. He was a ghost all day or he barely played, not sure.
• Final thought on Jordan Phillips — it feels like he can’t see sometimes. Despite his strength, he’s struggling to disengage at times and when he does, he has to find the okay because he had his helmet buried in whoever was blocking him. 
• Garbage time touchdown from Willis to Ryan Miller showed off Willis’ arm a bit but better than that, he went through a couple reads to get there and had he time to do it. Too many of his second half throws have felt like forced first reads.