we probably should have seen this one coming. Take an improving

Well Womens A.J. Derby Jersey , Miami Dolphins team that, although entering Sunday’s game at 3-0, easily could have lost two of its first three games, a still formidable New England Patriots squad that, after having lost two straight games, had something to prove and yet another contest at dreaded Gillette Stadium, where the Dolphins haven’t won in a decade and you have a ready made recipe for disaster. Sign up for FanPulse, our weekly Dolphins survey.How bad was it? At halftime , the score was 24-0 and the Dolphins had nearly as many penalty yards (89) as total yards of offense (105). Once again -- stop me if you’ve heard this one before -- Miami could neither convert a third down nor stop the other team on third down. The Patriots had a blissfully easy time pushing the ball down the field, being able to choose between gashing the Dolphins on the ground, to the tune of 178 yards on 37 carries before backup QB Bryan Hoyer’s three kneel downs at the end, or throwing at will against Miami’s feeble pass rush. Meanwhile, while the Patriots were averaging 4.8 yards per rush, the Dolphins could only muster 3.1 YPC themselves.Sure, the Dolphins are still in first place in the AFC East, but does anybody really expect them to beat the Bengals in Cincinnati next week after the way they played on Sunday? As Troy Aikman used to say in that commercial back in the 90’s, get real.I come away from this game with several cursory observations: number one, both of the Dolphins’ top two picks from the 2017 draft, defensive end Charles Harris and linebacker Raekwon McMillan Akeem Spence Jersey , look like busts so far. I’ve been one of Harris’ biggest supporters to this point, but in extended action on Sunday against a banged up New England offensive line, he was virtually invisible. We can make excuses about McMillan’s knee still not being 100%, etc, but after a full year of meetings, film study and preparation, he still looks lost out there. Perhaps he’ll improve as the season wears on, but right now he’s much more of a liability than an asset on the field for Miami, and that’s been true in all four of the Dolphins’ games this season, not just this one. Being slow and having poor football instincts is a bad combination, especially for a guy who is the supposed quarterback of your defense.In the clip-and-save-for-future-reference department, the Dolphins still need an awful lot of help along the offensive line. The only two players they seem to be able to count on are their starting offensive tackles, and Tunsil didn’t exactly look good on Sunday, either. Miami needs to go into the off-season looking to acquire two or three starters at guard and center; both Josh Sitton and Daniel Kilgore were little more than band-aids to stop the bleeding coming into this season, while Ted Larson has done nothing to distinguish himself as Sitton’s replacement. If I were Dolphins GM Chris Grier, I might be tempted to use all my 2019 draft picks on linebackers and offensive linemen, with a couple of DB’s thrown in. Sunday’s thrashing should serve as a reminder of just how far away from contention the Miami Dolphins still are at this point, and let’s face it: squeaking into the playoffs as the fifth or sixth seed, only to be routed in an away game at the first or second seeded team’s venue is not what we http://www.thedolphinslockerroom.com/authentic-bobby-mccain-jersey , as fans, should be rooting for. If we were to lose a couple more games and start having to look forward to the draft and next off-season, I for one would not be heartbroken. Yeah, I’ll take some heat for saying that, but that’s the way I see it. Hey, at least the team is headed in the right direction, which is something we couldn’t say with a straight face a couple of years ago. DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — When Brian Flores was asked how he celebrated winning the Super Bowl, he paused for several seconds and laughed.“I kissed my wife on the field,” Flores said.Then it was on to the next challenge, and a big one — fixing the Miami Dolphins. Flores, the New England Patriots‘ linebackers coach and defensive play-caller, was hired Monday as Miami’s head coach.He accepted the job hours after helping the Patriots shut down the high-scoring Los Angeles Rams for a 13-3 victory in the title game Sunday night in Atlanta.“It has been a whirlwind 24 hours,” Flores said with a smile at a news conference that drew two dozen cameras.“Looking at this crowd here, you’d think we won the Super Bowl,” Miami owner Stephen Ross said. “I’ve never seen this many people in this room. … To me, you start an organization by signing a great leader. I believe we’ve found that leader.”Flores was the first person the Dolphins interviewed after they fired coach Adam Gase on Dec. 31. They decided on Jan. 11 to offer the job to Flores but had to wait until New England’s season ended to complete an agreement.“I wasn’t in a rush to become a head coach,” said Flores, 37. “I had a good job in New England.”Flores said the job with the Patriots’ longtime AFC East foil was appealing because he shared a vision with general manager Chris Grier on how to build a winner.While preparing for the Super Bowl Womens Vincent Taylor Jersey , Flores also began to hire a Miami staff. The group is expected to include former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell as assistant head coach, Patriots receivers coach Chad O’Shea as offensive coordinator and Packers assistant Patrick Graham as defensive coordinator.The son of Honduran immigrants, Flores grew up in Brooklyn and has spent his entire coaching career with the Patriots. He joined them in 2004 and became their de facto defensive coordinator a year ago after Matt Patricia left to join the Lions as their head coach.Flores is the ninth former assistant to Bill Belichick to become a head coach.“I think he’ll be awesome,” Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty said. “But he’s in the division, so I told him he can’t win too many games.”Flores becomes the NFL’s fourth minority head coach for 2019, which is half the total of last season. Diversity advocates have questioned the effectiveness of the Rooney Rule requiring teams to interview at least one minority candidate for any head coach or general manager vacancy.A former Boston College linebacker, Flores also coached offense and special teams with New England. He has a long relationship with Grier, who took charge of football operations in the recent organizational shake-up.Both started as scouts for the Patriots, the Dolphins’ longtime nemeses in the AFC East. Flores will report to Grier under the team’s new, more streamlined leadership structure.Among those attending the news conference were Flores’ wife, Jennifer, their three children and his high school coach. Also on hand was the last quarterback to lead Miami to a Super Bowl, Dan Marino, in 1984, and the last quarterback to help the Dolphins win one, Bob Griese, in 1973.Flores is leaving a team that won its sixth Super Bowl since 2002 to join a franchise that has not won a playoff game since 2000 and plans to rebuild after another dismal season.The Dolphins went 7-9 in 2018 to miss the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years. They allowed 6,257 yards, the most in franchise history Bobby McCain Jersey , and the offense was also among the league’s worst, finishing ranked 31st.One win came at home against New England, when the Dolphins scored a miraculous touchdown with a pass and double lateral on the final play. The Patriots had expected a Hail Mary pass, and second-guessers complained that their secondary included lumbering 6-foot-6 Rob Gronkowski.“My last memory here wasn’t a great one,” Flores said with a chuckle.That improbable finish couldn’t save Gase. Ross fired him, ordered a roster overhaul and acknowledged it may take several seasons to build a winner. The revamp is likely to include the departure of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has been with Miami since 2012 but has never taken a postseason snap.Flores becomes Miami’s 10th head coach since 2004, including three interim coaches. Grier noted that two of Flores’ predecessors, Gase and Tony Sparano, reached the playoffs in their first season before the team backslid, so Miami will try a more patient approach.“We want to build this where it’s long term and you can win for many years, instead of trying to go year to year,” Grier said.Flores is braced for the frustrations that come with rebuilding.“That’s part of leadership — dealing with adversity,” he said. “There’s going to be some pain. There’s pain for every team.”As for his curtailed Super Bowl celebration, he wasn’t complaining.“No, this is not getting cheated at all,” Flores said. “That was a great experience, but I guess I’ve always been this way — I look forward.”