Tampa, FL – The final preseason game for the Miami Dolphins was a bust as they couldn’t overcome an early deficit, falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 24-14. Now, there’s not a whole lot to take away from this game from a playmaker standpoint, as your typical starts on both offense and defense, such as Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Jalen Ramsey, and Bradley Chubb did not play in this game. Just like the games prior, it was a showcase of rookies and players looking to secure spots on the 53-man roster. One storyline brewing this preseason is who will be backing up Tua. At this point, the Dolphins backup QB frontrunners aren’t clear between Skylar Thompson and Mike White, and tonight didn’t help with figuring out an answer.
Who gets the second-team nod?
A slight edge goes to Thompson, who had a solid performance. He threw for 190 yards off of 19 completions with two passing touchdowns and an interception, despite not playing for most of the first half.
The first half was not much to write home about aside from a few solid plays from Malik Washington and this TD from Skylar Thompson to Hayden Rucci.
TB – 17
MIA – 7#GoFins | #FinsUppic.twitter.com/JflU38pxAz— Jake Gibson (@JakeTheEmcee) August 24, 2024
Backup Head Coach too?
Another interesting storyline in this game, though not as relevant, is that Mike McDaniel was the head coach for only the first half of this game. Tight ends coach John Embree took over for the second half, as this was a case to see who should take over as head coach if McDaniel cannot do so. At halftime, McDaniel said to the CBS Miami Broadcast “Really excited for him, the guys are pumped. He just spoke to the team; we were fired up. The adversity is an opportunity to see how a head coach operates down ten.”
Looking to make the squad
Some of the noteworthy offensive playmakers in this game were Malik Washington and Jaylen Wright, who combined for 117 total yards. Hayden Rucci also made the most of his presence tonight, with 44 receiving yards and a touchdown. At the half, McDaniel also spoke to the CBS Miami Broadcast in regards to Malik Washington, saying “You could tell the speed of an NFL game doesn’t rattle him so it was encouraging. We’re looking forward to more to come in the future.”
Trailing 17-0 early on, Miami cut the lead to three points following a touchdown with a minute to go in the third quarter, however, Tampa responded with a score of their own with minutes to go, securing the win in the process.
Truth be told, not much was answered about how ready this team is for Week One. With most of the starters out, you can’t judge how they’ll look by this game alone. Last week’s sole drive for Tua was a better indication of how ready they are than anything in today’s game.
With that said, the preseason is over. For what it’s worth, Miami finishes with a 2-1 record, winning both their home games. All 32 NFL teams will take a week off before Kansas City and Baltimore kick off the NFL season on September 9th.
The Dolphins will begin the season at Hard Rock Stadium, hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars of the AFC South on Sunday, September 9th at 1 pm.
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