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Dolphins Win, But Have Plenty To Fix

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Dolphins circled the wagons after two weeks of chaos surrounded the franchise and managed to pull out a victory Sunday afternoon, but even in a victory; the Dolphins still left plenty to be desired by the play on the field.

One player who continued to play well was right tackle Tyson Clabo. After being benched earlier this season for repeatedly giving up sacks, Clabo has come back strong the last three weeks. On Sunday, Clabo allowed no sacks and no quarterback hits against the San Diego Chargers.

Still, left tackle remained a problem, even with massive Bryant McKinnie on the perimeter. McKinnie gave up two of the Dolphins' four sacks on Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus.

Overall, Tannehill has been sacked 41 times in 2013, or 4.1 sacks per game. The Dolphins record for sacks allowed is 43, which Tannehill will likely shatter by Week 11. He's currently on pace to get sacked more than 60 times this season and leads the league in sacks this season.

Tannehill's pocket constantly collapsing around him is hurting the Dolphins' attempt to get a deep pass game going. On Sunday, he was 4-11 for 66 yards and an interception when he tried to throw a pass more than 10 yards down the field.

That could explain some of the issues with Mike Wallace not being very involved in the game plan, that and his numerous drops since signing a record contract with the Dolphins in the offseason.

One thing that did continue for the Dolphins on Sunday was the disappearance of first-round pick Dion Jordan. According to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald, Jordan played in only 22 snaps on Sunday against San Diego.

Jordan has made little to no impact for the Dolphins on the defensive side of the ball, despite being drafted third overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. The Fins sacrificed fixing the offensive line in the offseason to select Jordan, who can't get on the field.

Another area where the Dolphins continued to struggle is at the safety position. Despite giving Reshad Jones a large contract extension in the offseason, he has been targeted repeatedly during the season by opponents and has yet to live up to the contract extension.

Against the Chargers on Sunday, Pro Football Focus found that San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers had a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3 throwing against the Dolphins' safeties.

Still, a win is a win and the Dolphins moved to 5-5 on the season and are in the hunt with the New York Jets for the final wild card spot in the playoffs. For a team that averaged 5.1 inches per rush last Monday, that says something about the resiliency of the team…and the AFC.

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