AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Miami Dolphins are in for a rough year.
- Through one half of football, the Miami Dolphins look like an absolute disaster.
- The Dolphins defense allowed the Baltimore Ravens to jump to a 42-10 lead in the first half, with Lamar Jackson completing 10 of his 11 passes for 210 yards and four touchdowns.
- Miami made a big trade just before the start of the season that seemed to indicate the front office was focusing on the future, but their first half of the 2019 season was difficult to watch.
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The NFL season is just a few hours old, but it's already clear that the Miami Dolphins are in for a rough year, and might just be the worst team in football.
Hosting the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins looked lost on the field against quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore offense. Miami allowed nearly 400 total yards in the first half to take a 42-10 deficit into halftime.
The Ravens offense deserves credit - Jackson completed 10 of his 11 passes for 210 yards and an impressive four touchdowns, including two long scoring strikes to Marquise Brown.
But the story of the first half was how lost the Dolphins defense looked while attempting to stop the Ravens attack. With solid protection against a lackluster defensive rush, Jackson had all the time in the world to watch plays develop, and drop passes into receivers' hands seemingly uncontested.
The Dolphins offense didn't fare much better, with Ryan Fitzpatrick going 12-22 with one touchdown and one interception through his first half as the Dolphins starting quarterback. Through 30 minutes of play, the Dolphins offense managed just nine total rushing yards, compared to 181 yards on the ground from the Ravens.
It was always going to be a tough year for Miami, who are clearly in rebuilding mode and as a team in between quarterbacks, likely wouldn't mind winding up the worst team in football and landing the first overall pick in the 2020 draft and the right to draft Alabama's Tua Tagovailoa.
Read more: We ranked every NFL team's situation heading into the 2019 season
The Dolphins' front office all but committed to a year in the tank just before the start of the season when the team traded away left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills to the Houston Texans in exchange for a boatload of picks in the next two drafts - a move that reportedly was met with a potential "revolt" from the Dolphins players.
But even if it was a part of the long term plan for the team, the Dolphins first half on the field was hard to watch.
The season is long, and there's still a chance that the Dolphins find some life and turn things around - Week 1 is no time to overreact to a small sample. But through one half of football, Miami has made a strong case for themselves as the worst team in football.
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