Kelly: Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley fails to come to Dolphins’ rescue | Opinion

Six practices and 12 days.

That’s how long Tyler “Snoop” Huntley had to work with to learn the Miami Dolphins offense.

While the South Florida native might be familiar with his Miami Gardens surroundings, the crash course this 5th year quarterback had to undergo to be ready for Monday night’s 31-12 home loss to the Tennessee Titans was unprecedented.

But one of the NFL’s most complicated offenses was put in the hands of Lamar Jackson’s former backup this week because the Dolphins had no better option.

Riding a two-game losing streak, one which features the offense moving at a snails pace, the Dolphins had reached a desperate point in the season with Tua Tagovailoa sidelined another two games because of the concussion that got him placed on injured reserve, and broken ribs Skylar Thompson suffered in last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

And that’s why Huntley got the start two weeks after being claimed off the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, and could routinely be spotted double and triple checking his wrist band before many snaps, which is how he was calling plays that came in from the sideline.

Unfortunately, there’s a difference between having knowledge of the plays and being able to properly execute them, and that distinction was on display during Monday night’s embarrassing loss to the previously win-less Titans.

The belief was that Huntley’s experience, and the fact he had produced meaningful wins for the Ravens, provided Miami’s coaches and players artificial hope, and belief that the offense would find its way out of neutral.

Problem is, Huntley’s play seemingly put last year’s top-ranked offense in reverse.

“You wish you had 1,000 reps you’ve went through, but it is what it is,” said Huntley, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 96 yards, and was sacked twice. “I’m here. I just have to hone in even more. I felt pretty comfortable. Now I’ve go to dig deeper.”

The Dolphins hadn’t scored a touchdown in 10 quarters before Huntley’s 1-yard scramble into the end zone in the fourth quarter ended that drought, which began after a first-quarter touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in the week 2 loss.

Since then the Dolphins offense has looked anemic, out of sync, and often simplistic (where are the cheat motions), constantly plagued by penalties (they were a problem against for the second straight game), and routinely sputtering on third and fourth downs (Miami’s 2 for 13 on fourth down attempts this season).

If the Dolphins had a better option they might have replaced Huntley, but it’s clear Miami views Tim Boyle as little more than a practice squad quarterback (even though he’s on the 53-man roster), and Thompson can’t throw the ball more than 15 yards and runs as fast as my grandmother.

And unfortunately for Miami, this is likely the train the Dolphins will ride until Tagovailoa is cleared to practice and play, and that will likely be the week leading up to the Oct. 27 home game against the Arizona Cardinals.

The problem is Dolphins fans expected a miracle headed into Monday’s game because Huntley has experience coming in, and playing hero ball — scrambling around for first downs — was supposedly going to be a cheat code.

But the Titans clamped down on the run most of the contest. Huntley did manage 40 of the Dolphins’ 106 rushing yards, but when he produced his most runs it was too little, too late.

He was clearly over matched, and the safety he was penalized with after attempting to throw away a fourth-quarter pass while still inside the pocket standing in the end zone, was proof of this.

With the exception of a dropped pass from Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, most of Huntley’s passes were off the mark.

“His teammates around him, at times, were doing what we needed them to do in a game like that,” McDaniel said. “He had a lot on his plate and I thought he was a competitor all the way through.”

But clearly Huntley lacked chemistry with his weaponry, like the third-and-17 deep ball he overthrew to Hill, who was wide open after smoking L’Jarius Sneed downfield.

Huntley misfired on two deep balls to Hill. One was under thrown, and required Hill to play defensive back, breaking up a possible interception in the end zone. On the other Hill was wide open along the left hash mark, with Snead trailing, but the pass was overthrown.

Hill was so frustrated at the lost opportunity he attempted to kick the incomplete pass after he bounced in the air, but much like the Dolphins’ offensive execution, he failed to execute, whiffing on the kick.

Hill left the locker room before the media arrived, which was a clear sing of the frustration he was caught on camera exhibited during the fourth quarter.

Hard not to envision Hill’s frustration subsiding until the Dolphins find some solutions for the sluggish offense, and at this point McDaniel openly admits everything will be examined, and everything is on the table.

“You can’t argue that the offense is good,” McDaniel said. “I hadn’t really been in a situation where we hadn’t had production consecutively like this so you really have to open your mind to all things.”