Food ran out, but Dolphins have the recipe
MIAMI GARDENS — They ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They ate turkey sandwiches. When that food ran out by the second lightning delay, they ate the barbecue chicken meals meant for after the game.
“We ran out of snacks,” defensive end Cameron Wake said.
They took off pads. They laid on the floor. They watched other games on the NFL RedZone and talked about nuances in their game.
“What else was there to do?” receiver Jakeem Grant said.
Yes, lightning struck the proverbial twice Sunday to deliver a nearly four-hour delay and make the Dolphins’ 27-20 season-opening win against the Tennessee Titans the longest game in NFL history. But what do you expect from a team stalked by oddness in recent openers?
“I won’t be surprised by anything,” coach Adam Gase said. “We’ve about had everything.”
At the end of the day that would never
end, they even had this: A recipe this team needs to follow for success. Defensive turnovers, led by safety Reshad Jones’ two interceptions. Speed few teams can match. And a physical offensive line that produces a running game and helps manage quarterback Ryan Tannehill into efficiency.
That’s it. That’s the recipe. That’s what played out for much of this odd day full of fits and stops and re-starts and all that lightning, both in the sky and on the field. When Grant returned a kickoff 102 yards to put the Dolphins ahead, 17-10, it was the second longest in team history.
“Who know how fast he was going — I could barely see him he was going so fast,” Tannehill said.
Then there was Tannehill’s 75-yard pass to a streaking Kenny Stills. That was the longest Tannehill completion since his rookie year in 2012.
“That right there — that’s what you work for,” Stills said.
This offense has four players — Stills, Grant, Kenyan Drake and Albert Wilson — with speed that change Sundays. The Dolphins haven’t had this type of acrossthe-board gear in years. Of course, what makes it all work, what helps Tannehill, is just the opposite of speed: Big, strong, physical line play.
Tennessee isn’t a great team. It has a good defensive front, though, and the Dolphins line set the tone with 97 yards rushing in the first half. Frank Gore had 49 yards on five carries at that point. Drake had six carries for 40 yards.
It wasn’t as easy from there, and they ended up with 120 total rushing yards for the day. But the larger point is they didn’t ask Tannehill to carry this day. He had moments, every quarterback does. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 230 yards, two touchdowns … and two interceptions.
One interception on secondand-goal from the 4-yard line was especially hard to take. Tannehill under threw rookie tight end Mike Gesicki. Tennessee cornerback Malcolm Butler staked out his position and came up with the ball.
“It was on me, completely on me,” Tannehill said. “I’ve got to find a better way to get him the football.”
On this first day, against this battered team, such a play was overcome. By half, Tennessee was without starting quarterback Marcus Mariota and both starting tackles. It still hung in there until Jones made the kind of play this defense needs — and even a star like him hasn’t. His two interceptions matched his total from last year and doubled his one in 2016.
So this of this day: The second longest kickoff return in team history. The longest pass Tannehill threw in six years. Interception totals by Jones in on afternoon representative of his season totals.
Is that a recipe for success — or a rare convergence of career moments?
That’s what the rest of the season will tell us. As things went, the Dolphins made their lone, weekend prime-time appearance on Sunday by the force of Mother Nature. The smiles were there. The food was gone. And everyone had the same idea Gase did.
“I’m ready to go home,” he said.