Igbinoghene has struggled and needs to bounce back
MIAMIGARDENS— Maybe Noah Igbinoghene never heard of this guy named RussellWilson?
Super Bowl Champion? Seven-time Pro Bowler? Married to a popular entertainer named Ciara?
The Miami Dolphins rookie cornerback, the player Miami selected 30th overall and passed on a ton of talented draft prospects for in the 2020 NFL draft, couldn’t possibly knowWilsonwas one of
game to trim Seattle’s lead to 17-15, with 8:31 remaining in the fourth quarter, before Wilson broke it open.
Wilson threw a 16-yard touchdownpass to receiverDavidMoore with 5:24 remaining, and the Seahawks (4-0) capitalized on an interception of Dolphins starter Ryan Fitzpatrick on the ensuing drive to score on a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Chris Carson with 4 minutes remaining, putting the game out of reach.
“It’s like when you lose a game and youfeel like youshould’vewon it or had opportunities to win it,” Dolphins running back Myles Gaskin said summarizing the postgame mood in the locker room. “That’s what it felt like.”
Although the Dolphins were able to keep it close, their offense was unable to win the game after five straight drives ended in field goals for Miami.
Fitzpatrick started the game throwing an interception on a pass thatwas tipped by linebacker Cody Barton and picked off by safety Ryan Neal. The Seahawks turned the turnover into the first score of the game, a 1-yard touchdown run by Carson five minutes in.
After a three-and-out on their second drive, Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins offense to five straight drives inwhich they sniffed the red zone, but no touchdown.
Fitzpatrick scrambled to the 23-yard line after a holding penalty pushed Miami back after reaching the 20-yard line. Sanders kicked a 41-yard field goal.
Fitzpatrick threw a 17-yard pass to receiver DeVante Parker to get into the red zone, but the offense stalled at the 11-yard line leading to a 29-yard field goal by Sanders.
After a pivotal fourth-downsack by Emmanuel Ogbah, Fitzpatrick drove the offense down the field with a completion to Parker to get to the 27-yard line, before stalling out again.
“I thought that was the story of the day, being able to move the ball effectively and not being able to do anything in the red zone. Whether itwas a penalty, poor execution or a bad read by me, every time we got down there, something bad popped up,” said Fitzpatrick, who failed to lead a touchdown drive against Seattle after seven in the past two games.
“Red-zone execution really falls on the quarterback. Forme, I walk out of this game feeling terrible in that I felt like there were a lot of guys on our team that played well enough to win this game, and unfortunately Iwasn’t one of them.”
Ogbah’s sack and a 45-yard field goal made by Sanders narrowed the score to 10-9, with 24 seconds left until halftime, before Wilson struck quickly.
Wilson and the Seahawks needed only 21 seconds to cushion their lead on the scoreboard, as he threw a 57-yard pass to Moore, whoran right past Dolphins rookie cornerback Noah Igbinoghene to get Seattle into the red zone.
Wilson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass two plays later to former University of Miami running back Travis Homer to help Seattle take a 17-9 lead into halftime.
The Dolphins started the second half with another pivotal defensive play as cornerback Xavien Howard intercepted a pass from Wilson to receiver D.K. Metcalf in theendzoneto start the thirdquarter.
But Miami’s offense failed to capitalize, as the ensuing drive fell flat at the 25-yard line, leading to a 43-yard field goal.
Perhaps the most pivotal Dolphins drive of the game, which lasted 17 plays and ended with the fifth field goal, saw Gaskin lose 2 yards on third-and-3 after Miami reached the 9-yard line.
Instead of going for it on fourth-and-5 from the 11-yard line, the Dolphins kicked a 29-yard field goal under the assumption they would get the football again, down 17-15, with 8:31 left in the game after defensive stops early in the second half.
Wilson — who completed 24 of 34 passes for 360 yards, two touchdowns and the interception — had other plans.
Andby the time Fitzpatrick later scored on a 10-yard run with 1:50 remaining to narrow the margin, and receiver Preston Williams caught the two-point conversion, the final deficit was too much for Miami to overcome.
“I think we can continue to trend in the right direction, but it’s not really helpful when you keep losing games,” said Fitzpatrick, whocompleted just 29 of 45 passes with no touchdowns and had two interceptions.
“I think we’re disappointed at 1-3. It’sbadtohave that record. It’s a good thing to see everybody, upset is, after these losses and knowing we were in these games. But we have to get over the hump.”
The Dolphins played well enough to limit the Seahawks to just 10 points in all but 24 seconds in the first half, and scoreless in the second half until getting sidetracked by Seattle’s1minute and40 second barrage in the fourth quarter.
The Dolphins will look for a bounce-back effort in Week 5 in San Francisco against the 49ers next Sunday. They then face the Broncos in Denver inWeek 6.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you we’re trash, because we’re not,” safety Bobby McCain said of his side of the football.“We just got to be better defensively, in the secondary and not give up big plays. We have a good team and we got a good defense. We just didn’t put it all together today.”