Tua sparks comeback
Defense stopsMurray late for upset win
GLENDALE, AZ — Well, the Dolphins opened their playbook.
And they certainly don’t have any more injury concerns for their top pick.
Tua Tagovailoa, the franchise’s young quarterback, helped lead the Dolphins back froma fourth-quarter deficit to tieSunday’s game, and even led the offense down the field to take a field-goal lead with three minutes remaining.
AndDolphins coach Brian Flores’gamble on his defense, which was terrorized by dynamic Arizona Cardinals quarterback KylerMurray all day, paid off asMiamiwas able togettwokey defensive stopsdownthe stretch to steal an upset victory on the road.
Tagovailoa threw two touchdown passes and set up kicker Jason Sanders’ go-ahead
Miami 50-yard field goal with 3:30 minutes left, while Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a 49-yard field goal with 1:53 left to giveMiami a 34-31winover Arizona atState FarmStadium.
“We made it. And they did not make it. That was the difference in the game,” said an elated Flores, whose teamwon its fourth straight game despite missing five coaches due to COVID-19 protocols after a positive test this pastweek.
Miami (5-3) still trails the Buffalo Bills (6-2) in the AFC East standings and are seventh in the AFC playoff race, but there’s another major positive you can take away outside of the victory itself: The Dolphins may have themselves a quarterback.
One they can certainly work with and develop despite Flores feeling the need to
shoot down an ESP N report this past week, insinuating Tagovailoa is auditioning before the next NFL draft.
One who showed his ability to hit down field targets in stride, following a subdued and somewhat disappointing starting debut lastweek against the Los Angeles Rams.
One who is mobile enough to roll out of the pocket and find his receivers on the move — quite an encouraging sign for a player who recovered from major hip surgery.
One also not afraid to take off and run as he showed he can successfully slide on his left side (not the surgically repaired hip right side) or dive forward to gain more yards.
One that can respond with a touchdown drive of his own to tie the game, after the opposition took the lead earlier the fourth quarter. One who can put his field goal kicker in range. And one, who still needs his defense to make plays for him to pull out a decisive game on the road.
“I thought he made a lot of plays — a lot of big plays for us. We needed it,” Flores said of Tagovailoa, who completed 20-of-28 passes for 248 yards with a 122.3 passer rating, and 35 yards rushing.
“It was a back-and-forth game. They made plays and we made plays. The stage wasn’t too big for him tonight. He played well.”
Murray had three touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, outplaying Tagovailoa froman individual standpoint on this day, but not securing the win.
Tagovailoa led a 10-play, 93-yard scoring drive to tie the gameat, 31, with roughly 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, where he flashed the potential the Dolphins saw when they drafted him fifth in the 2020 NFL draft.
Tagovailoa was able to gain yards on two key running plays, sidestepping a blitzing defender to gain a first down, and avoiding pressure from a collapsed pocket to run up field for 17 yards into the red zone during a fourth-quarter drive.
He completed two passes to receiver DeVante Parker during the drive, including a 14-yard gain for a first down and a 17-yard throw to get Miami near midfield. And finished the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Mack Hollins, who came on in relief of the injured Preston Williams.
Parker caught all six of his receptions, while Hollins caught the first catch of his career, after Williams left the game with an ankle injury after he scored a touchdown in the second quarter.
“We were able to get into a rhythm offensively in the passgame, and we were able to use it to our advantage as well,” Tagovailoa said, praising offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. “I think Chan did a great job with getting me comfortable with getting the ball out quickly and looking down field .”
As Tagovailoa showed much improvement, the Dolphins defense was able to capitalize on two fourthdown plays where the Cardinals took the football out of Murray’s hands.
Murray torched Jones for two touch downs— a56-yard bomb to receiver Christian Kirk, and a 21-yard pass to tight end Darrell Daniels that was wrestled away from Jones. And Murray used his legs to break the only weakness in the Dolphins defense by gaining 106 yards rushing.
Jones was able to get a crucial run stop of Murray on third down to get some quick redemption. And Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler and linebacker Eland on Roberts blew up a 4th-and-1 run by Cardinals running back Chase Edmondson the next play to force the turnover on downs.
After Sanders kicked the game-deciding field goal, the Dolphins were also able to stand pat defensive ly after Murray hit a 35-yard pass to Kirk in the final minutes. Miami held Edmonds to 9 yards on the next two plays, and Murray missed Kirk on third-and-1, setting up Arizona’s missed field goal attempt.
“We’re a defense that bends. We don’t break,” Jones said. “We don’t like when a team scores 34 points in a game, but it was fun to win in that circumstance.”
Tagovailoa threwa touchdownpass to Williams in the secondquarter, got a rushing touchdown from running back Jordan Howard and capitalized on another defensive touchdown with Shaq Lawson returning a strip sack by Emmanuel Ogbah 36 yards for the first score of the game.
The Dolphins have won four in a row, and five of their past six games.
And they may have aquarterback capable of helping them make a major push for a playoff spot during his rookie season.
“I don’t think any moment is too big for Tua. He’s agreat leader and a great person,” Dolphins center Ted Karras said. “We want to go to battle for him and keep winning games.”
Added Ogbah: “All props to Tua. He came out there and balled for us, and we needed that.”