Five things we learned from Sunday
Walton deserves more snaps
Mark Walton, the former University of Miami standout, started his first NFL game Sunday against the Redskins, and used his increased workload to show he belongs on the field. Walton contributed 53 combined yards on nine touches in the first half and finished the game with 32 yards on six rushing attempts and 43 yards on five receptions.
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Drake
It seems that Kenyan Drake’s days with the Dolphins are numbered based on his use and role with the team, so with the trade deadline approaching it would be beneficial for Miami to ship him to a tailback-needy team for a third-day pick. Drake, the Dolphins 2016 third-round pick, will be a free agent this coming offseason and considering Miami plans to be aggressive with the $120 million in cap space, it will have it would benefit the franchise long term to move him now to a team like the Los Angeles Rams or the Pittsburgh Steelers instead of banking on getting a compensatory pick in the draft.
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McMillan starting to settle in as a starter
Raekwon McMillan began the 2019 coming off the bench and filling various roles on the Dolphins defense. But his emerging play has allowed him to regain the starting inside linebacker job, and has helped him become one of the few reliable defenders on Miami’s defense. McMillan, the Dolphins 2017 second-round pick, led the Dolphins with nine tackles against the Redskins.
Dolphins saw win streaks snapped
The Dolphins, in their 54th season in the NFL, had never lost to the Redskins in South Florida. Quirks in the scheduling formula kept the Redskins from visiting the Orange Bowl until 1981, when the David Woodley-quarterbacked team edged Washington, 13-10. The Dolphins — then in Miami Gardens — also won in 1987 (the only loss after Thanksgiving for that Super Bowl champion team), 1993, 2003 and 2011. This comes on the heels of an almost 38-year-long home win streak against the Chargers being snapped two weeks ago.
one of the great in NFL history
Miami ended an almost inconceivable second-half scoring drought
Miami ended a streak of 139 minutes and 4 seconds of being shut out in the second half of games this season when Kalen Ballage burrowed into the end zone with 10:56 left against Washington. When accounting for the Dolphins being scoreless for the final 16:28 of 2018 season, the club’s second-half woes had spanned 155:32 (or, more than two and a half games of time). Then, the Dolphins splurged by scoring six more points on DeVante Parker’s late scoring reception from Ryan Fitzpatrick.
MIAMI GARDENS — On Sunday, Josh Rosen experienced something new and unique in his young football career.
Going back to his college days at UCLA, and during his stint as a starter with the Arizona Cardinals last season before being traded to Miami, the secondyear quarterback had never been benched for performance reasons.
But that’s exactly what coach Brian Flores did in the fourth quarter when he pulled a struggling Rosen, who completed 15-of-25 passes for 85 yards (3.4 yards per attempt) with two interceptions, and replaced him with Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“I felt like we needed a spark,” Flores said. “We were down, 17-3, at that point.”
And Fitzpatrick delivered, leading the Dolphins to two touchdown drives in his four fourth-quarter series.
Fitzpatrick, a 15-year veteran who began this season as Miami’s starter, produced a 106.7 passer rating by completing 12-of-18 passes, throwing for 132 yards and one touchdown. He provided Miami’s offense a much-needed spark.
“I was disappointed, but I understood the situation,” said Rosen, who unseated Fitzpatrick during the practices leading into Miami’s Week 3 31-6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. “It obviously was a smart decision given how the game almost ended.”
MIAMI GARDENS Josh Rosen wanted to use the final 12 games of the Miami Dolphins season as a tryout to show coach Brian Flores, general manager Chris Grier and the team he could be their long-term starting quarterback.
Unfortunately for Rosen, his third start at the helm of Miami’s offense in Sunday’s 17-16 loss to the Washington Redskins, was the worst game of his Dolphins career.
Rosen completed 15-of-25 passes for just 85 yards with two interceptions in three quarters of work. He led a scoring drive that resulted in a field goal, but he was unable to uplift the Dolphins offense like backup Ryan Fitzpatrick did before Miami’s disappointing finish.
“I was disappointed, but I understood the situation,” Rosen said of his benching. “I mean it obviously was a smart decision given how the game almost ended. Flo’s job first and foremost is to win football games and I respect the decision, and it’s my job to not put him in that position.”
Despite the final outcome, Flores said Rosen will remain the Dolphins starting quarterback.
Rosen is referring to Miami’s late rally, which ended on a failed two-point conversion attempt when tailback Kenyan Drake dropped a quick pass from Fitzpatrick that was well defended by Redskins players.
The quarterback change, and Fitzpatrick’s late rally didn’t produce the season’s first win, but his fourth-quarter work was the most promising Miami’s offense had looked in the season’s first five games, and should set a standard for the Dolphins offense going forward.
Whichever quarterback is on the field needs to give his team a chance.
“I’ve been in every situation you can imagine multiple times,” said Fitzpatrick when asked about Rosen’s mindset. “I know that for [Rosen], maybe he hasn’t experienced as many of these situations as I have, but you just put your head down, work hard and go from there.”
There is no debating that this is a putrid Dolphins team, one that struggles in every aspect of