The Miami Dolphins appeared like they were poised to upset the Detroit Lions on Sunday, until the defense gave up an 11-yard touchdown to Theo Riddick which gave the opponent the 20-16 win. The Dolphins dropped to 5-4 on the season as offensive inconsistencies plagued the team once again. The moral victory was not good enough for stars like Mike Wallace who are beyond frustrated with the team's performance through 10 weeks.
According to Wallace, the Miami Dolphins cannot continue to play like this. The unit put up just 228 yards of total offense. On its first two drives, they lost a combined 20 yards. According to ESPN, seven of their drives went for just five plays or less despite having a 16-13 lead at one point. Too many three-and-outs led to the winning score by the Lions and frustration from Wallace.
"It's the same thing I tell you every week," Wallace said, via ESPN.com. "We have to find our balance, man. We can't keep doing this on offense. We can't be up and down to be the team that we want to be. We have to be able to finish football games. Our defense played great once again. [The Lions] are going to score points. They have Calvin Johnson and it's going to happen. I feel like they did a great job on defense. We had a chance to kill the game and we didn't do it again on our end on offense."
While Wallace is certainly justified with his comments, head coach Joe Philbin likely does not want to keep hearing his star receiver speak out against the team. Wallace has voiced his frustrations a number of times in the past, questioning the abilities of Ryan Tannehill and the players around him. Could this hurt Wallace's future with the Dolphins?
The Miami Herald has suggested in the past that a trade of Wallace is not entirely out of the question. The wide receiver's name continues to pop up in different scenarios as players like Jarvis Landry and Charles Clay put up big numbers. Wallace has a large contract that, if moved, would free up a lot of salary cap space for the Dolphins to make more adjustments in the offseason. There is not guarantee who stays and who goes if the Dolphins continue to struggle as Tannehill's future has also been placed into question. However, things will not be getting any easier for Miami. They might face Jacksonville, but they also have games against Denver and New England coming up that will be a challenge.
"Definitely, definitely, definitely we have to hold our own weight. I always say we have to be able to hold our own weight," Wallace said. "We have to be able to kill games. That game should have never even come down to the last drive."
