2024 Week 4: Titans 31, Dolphins 12

The theme continues this week, one very entertaining MNF game and one very boring MNF game. This was the boring game so I’m getting it out of the way early. 

Miami was already one of the worst teams in the league, and now with Tua out they might take the crown. The Panthers moved to Andy Dalton to save themselves so it comes down to Jacksonville vs. Miami. It’s a tough call to make but I guess that’s why they play the games. Mike McDaniel looks defeated and I think he knows his time is coming to an end with the Dolphins. He went all in on speed a la Al Davis and it’s getting him burnt. See what I did there?

Tennessee finally got their first win and it was the worst game they’ve played all year. I suppose that’s what happens when you play three of the top defenses to start the year.

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WR Report:

- In last week's Dolphins game report I said that this would be a make-or-break game for Mike McDaniel’s career stating that it was “time to see how much of an offensive genius” he is. I said this mainly in regards to feeding Tyreek, and to his credit, Hill was given opportunities. (4-23-0/7, 3 rushes for 19 yards). The Titans crowded the line and were able to stop Hill in the run game, and Huntley was unable to hit him in the passing game reliably – there were two deep balls Tyreek was open on, and Huntley missed by about a zip code. This game wasn’t so much of a make-or-break regarding McDaniel’s genius, it didn’t make him but it certainly didn’t break him. He gained back a little bit of respect from me since he had done the obvious thing of utilizing Tyreek instead of trying to get cute.

- I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s going to be some noise about a possible Tyreek back to KC trade, and I also wouldn’t be surprised if it's something that the Chiefs are interested in doing… but this is the NFL so I can almost guarantee a trade will not happen. What will happen is the Dolphins will wait for Tua to make his decision, if Tua is done, Tyreek is traded and it will not be to KC unless it’s equal to or possibly even more value than what Miami gave up to get Hill. Tyreek will prefer to go to a contender, which leaves PIT, NYJ, NO, SF, DET. The Jets will heavily pursue Adams, as will the Saints for their obvious connections… so let’s say it’s PIT and DET as the two trade partners.

- What will it take to acquire Tyreek Hill? Let’s start with a first-round pick. Both Detroit and SF have their first-rounders, but after that, Detroit doesn’t have much to trade in the over-valued world that are draft picks. Detroit would need to package a 2025 1st-round pick with young speedster Jameson Williams and then I imagine swapping late-round picks in 2025 and 2026, like DET gives up a 4 for a MIA 5 kind of deal.

- San-Fran is in a much better spot to make this deal. They just overpaid Brandon Aiyuk who has been a dud this season, but he’s a big name and if there’s one thing NFL GMs and owners love, it’s the names of players who used to be great i.e. Dalvin Cook. The Niners have a full slate of 2025 Draft picks so I can realistically see this trade being done as Tyreek Hill for Brandon Aiyuk, a 2025 second-rounder and maybe a 4th or 5th lumped in to sweeten the deal. The odds either team hits on that pick are extremely low so why not.

[as an aside, you can forget about the Adams to KC murmurs. LV wouldn’t trade intra-division]

- Once Levis went down Tennessee’s passing game was non-existent. So it’s tough to get a read on any of the receivers. DeAndre Hopkins (2-31-0/4) might be traded to a contender around the deadline. DeHop’s success relies on Levis playing.

- Calvin Ridley (1-5-0/3, 1 rush for 10 yards) is no longer an NFL-level talent, he could be a WR 3 on most teams. If DeHop is traded, Ridley becomes the guy in Tennessee and for Will Levis because as far as Ridley may have fallen since his Atlanta days, Tyler Boyd (2-31-0/2) and Treylon Burks (1-13-0/1) are even more sorry. I will just continue to wait for the day Jha’Quan Jackson gets his chance to try and energize this receiving group.

QB Report:

- Will Levis (3/4 for 25 yards, 1 INT, 2 rushes for 5 yards) was hurt early in this game trying to run for a first down. He was ruled short and was also ruled out for the game. Tennessee is going to stick by Levis despite Rudolph leading them to victory. HC Brian Callahan came out and said it would be Levis with conviction.
- Mason Rudolph (9/17 for 85 yards) didn’t look great, the Tennessee game plan once Levis went down was to run as much as possible. Against most other teams this wouldn’t work but the Dolphins are so bad they were able to pull out a win.

RB Report: 

- De’Von Achane (10-15-0, 3 catches for 14 yards) has not looked good lately, just 1.5 ypc this game and now down to 3.1 ypc on the season. I think Achane is still injured, he was a game-time decision for his massive Week 2 game but since then he hasn’t been nearly as impactful as he should be. Raheem Mostert may return from his injury but if my thinking is right, we may get a split of Achane and Jaylen Wright (9-32-0, 1 target) until Mostert is back.

D/ST Report:
- The Titans’ defensive numbers are very good but I’m not buying it. Their opposing QBs have been: Debut Caleb, Rodgers, Malik Willis (who destroyed them), and Tyler Huntley. Only one real opponent in Aaron Rodgers. This is a good defense but I’m not sure how good yet. They haven’t played enough ‘real’ opponents.

image source: (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)