Season finds life in comeback win
ATLANTA — Seconds before the madness, before the heroics, before this final play capped a second half that breathed life into the Dolphins season, Cordrea Tankersley saw the Atlanta formation and smiled. “I’ve seen this," he said. On video last week. In study of the Falcons. And having recognized it, the rookie cornerback knew Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan was coming at him, knew how to play tight end Austin Hooper and knew he needed to make a play on the ball, just as he did.
“Tipped it,” he said after the Dolphins’ 20-17 victory against the Falcons.
Safety Reshad Jones caught the ball at the 6-yard line for the Dolphins’ first interception of the year. And then Jones ran out of bounds and waited for his team to show up, the way most everyone had waited for this team to show up all year.
And suddenly there they were, jumping on Jones, laughing with Tankersley and running off the field with such joy that veteran Cameron Wake shouted, “It’s not what anyone else says! What we says goes!"
What they said at halftime was, simply, “Enough.” The offense, especially. Enough with the dumb plays. Enough with misplays. Enough with the dropped passes, considering Jarvis Landry had two drops in the first three drives — as many drops as he had all last season.
“Can’t do that,” Landry said.
Suddenly, this was an offense you hadn’t seen all season. Suddenly, they went 75 yards down the field to open the second half and Kenny Stills caught an 11-yard pass from Jay Cutler.
Suddenly, Adam Gase’s offense put in defining wrinkles, like Landry going in motion, then reversing field and having an entire side of the field to himself for a 7-yard touchdown.
“That got us,’’ Atlanta cornerback Desmond Trufant said.
Give the Falcons some credit here. They were in Super Bowl form, blowing a 17-0 lead Sunday in similar manner to the 28-3 lead they lost to New England last February.
Give the Dolphins more credit, though. Four secondhalf possessions. Four scores. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be done?
“Once you’ve done it you’ve put up points, you can look at the film and say, ‘Hey guys, this is an example of how it’s done,’’ said Cutler, who completed 19 of 33 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. “This is the feeling you should have when it happens. It’s not just talk. You made it happen."
No, this wasn’t perfect. Your offense can’t keep going scoreless in first halves. Your wake-up call can’t be, “OK, we’re down 17-0! Let’s go!" You can’t use two and three tight-end sets like it’s 1950.
You can’t have a popgun passing attack averaging a measly 4.5 yards per attempt. You can’t count on your defense to shut down Atlanta over the final 36 minutes every time, either.
So it wasn’t a textbook win. So what?
For the first time this season, the Dolphins looked like the team you expected them to be, the one they hadn’t been this first month, the one you weren’t sure they’d be all season.
They didn’t so much beat Tennnessee last week as they survived them. The defense scored the winning touchdown. They beat Atlanta in the second half with both sides of the ball Sunday — complementary football, it’s called. The defense getting the ball to the offense and the offense scoring with it.
“However you find ways to win in this league, you got to get them,’’ Ajayi said. "We were able to get another one this week. We’ve got to stack them up now.”