Injury-plagued offense gets some surprise help
When Solomon Kindley left Sunday’s Dolphins-Patriots game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, Miami was down six offensive starters — seven, if you count Preston Williams, who has been on injured reserve since midNovember.
And yet, the Dolphins had by far their best rushing performance of the season, and arguably their best offensive half of the year.
The Dolphins turned a six-point halftime deficit into a 10-point victory by rushing for 175 yards on 27 carries after the break.
And they did so down the stretch without a single starting guard. Second-year pro Michael Deiter took over for Kindley at left guard, while Jesse Davis started for the second straight week at guard in place of Ereck Flowers.
Deiter had not played a single offensive snap in 2020 before Sunday, despite starting all but one game as a rookie. The Dolphins were so determined to upgrade at guard after Deiter’s 2019 season they drafted Kindley and signed Flowers to a bigmoney contract.
And yet, with the season on the line, Deiter was far from a liability and helped open lanes for a ground attack that went for 250 yards on the day.
“It’s been a process,” said Deiter, a third-round pick in 2019. “It’s just taking it day by day and wherever I am asked to play or whatever role I’m given, just making sure I’m
doing it to the best of my ability and making sure it’s helping this team be as good as it can be and whatever role that is, I got to be ready to do it at a good level.”
The Dolphins should be applauded for how well they played on offense Sunday, considering Tua Tagovailoa’s top four targets — Mike Gesicki, DeVante Parker, Jakeem Grant and Myles Gaskin — were all out due to injury or illness.
Parker’s absence was the biggest surprise of the four. As of Saturday evening, the team was optimistic he would play through a strained hamstring, but that apparently changed in the hours leading up to the game.
Gesicki was always a long shot to play after suffering an ugly shoulder
injury the week before. He didn’t even appear on the field during pregame warmups.
Those injuries forced the Dolphins to start six rookies on offense: Kindley, Tagovailoa, Robert Hunt, Austin Jackson, Salvon Ahmed and Lynn Bowden. It was the first time an NFL team started that many rookies since the Cardinals did so on
Dec. 16, 2018.
The decision to scratch Parker, Gesicki and Grant “went down to the wire,” Flores said. “They were all close [to playing]. These guys are fighting to play and get out there. They just want to help this team. It speaks to the kind of guys we have.”
With Grant out, Noah Igbinoghene and Antonio Callaway shared return duties without great
issue or distinction.
Bowden led the Dolphins in receptions (six for 37 yards) for the second straight week.
THIS AND THAT
Xavien Howard’s
● streak of games with an interception ended at five, but he still had a hand in a Dolphins turnover. He forced a fumble on New England’s first possession of the second half that
reco
Elandon Roberts
vered.
It extended the Dolphins’ consecutive games streak with a turnover to 20, longest in the NFL, and further bolstered Howard’s case for defensive player of the year. He added five tackles Sunday, helped keep the Patriots out of the end zone, and limited New England to 186 passing yards.
Earlier in the game, Howard nearly had his signature play of 2020 — scooping up a fumble and returning it for a touchdown — but upon review, officials determined
Christian Wilkins stepped out of bounds while he was contact with the loose ball, negating the turnover.
“I definitely felt for him on that,” Wilkins said. “I did my best. When you’ve got 310 [pounds] going full speed, it’s hard to stop.”
For the second time
● this month, a successful special teams fake was spoiled by a procedural mistake. The officials determined Kamu GrugierHill did not declare himself eligible on a play in which he caught a firstdown pass from punter Matt Haack.
More on the Dolphins’ ●
special teams: After being perfect on field goals the first eight games, Jason Sanders now has three misses in the last six weeks. He was wide left from 52 yards Sunday.
Flores lost both of his challenges Sunday.