Defense dominates in 5th straight win
Sunday’s 20-9 victory over the New York Giants wasn’t pretty, but it extended the surging Miami Dolphins’ winning streak to five.
Tua Tagovailoa’s steady hand and calming influence, and a suffocating defense has transformed the team after its disastrous 1-7 start to an improbable playoff run.
Here is the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s report card, evaluating how the Dolphins (6-7) performed against the Giants:
Passing Game: B
Tagovailoa delivered his fifth 100-plus passer rating of the season (9 games played), and fourth straight by completing 30-of41 passes for 244 yards and two touchdown (104.1 passer rating). The return of DeVante Parker, who caught all five of the passes thrown his way and turned them into 62 yards, allowed Miami’s offense to be more balanced. The fact that Tagovailoa’s two touchdown passes were to Isaiah Ford and Mack Hollins shows he has a knack for spreading the ball around.
Running Game: D
The Dolphins remained committed to running the ball for the seventh straight week, attempting 25 carries. But the result (69 rushing yards) wasn’t flattering, considering Miami averaged just 2.7 yards per attempt, dropping its yards-per-carry average for the season to 3.3. The Dolphins need to use the bye week to figure out a solution to the run-game struggles as there will come a point in the final month of the season when the anemic run game will hold back the offense.
Defending the pass: A
Mike Glennon has been a backup in the NFL for seven of his eight seasons because he doesn’t have the ability to quickly process what defenses are trying to do, and the Dolphins took advantage of that. They limited Daniel Jones’ backup to 23-of-44 passing for 187 yards with one interception. Miami recorded three sacks, and Xavien Howard pulled down his fourth interception of the season on a deep ball by Glennon. The Dolphins took all of the Giants’ top playmakers out of the game with tight coverage and consistent pressure.
Defending the run: A
The Dolphins held an opponent to less than 100 rushing yards for the seventh time this season, holding the Giants to 91 yards on 17 attempts. Saquon Barkley had 55 yards on 11 carries, but the Dolphins shut down the Giants’ rushing attack despite the team’s 5.4 yards-per-carry average — which was boosted by a 23-yard run by Barkley and a 17-yarder by Davontae Booker. Miami’s three-inside linebacker approach worked yet again because the Giants struggled to stretch plays to the edges.
Special teams: D
Miami’s special teams has been bad and Sunday’s game was the latest example. Jason Sanders missed a 51-yard field goal. Jaylen Waddle returned two kickoffs, gaining a total of 32 yards. He also returned a punt only 7 yards. At least Michael Palardy, who has struggled for most of this season, had a solid game, averaging 44.7 net yards per punt, and downing three of his six punts inside the Giants 20-yard line.
Coaching: A
Just when we thought the offense was shifting into the next gear, the Dolphins sputtered from an execution standpoint. Miami gained 297 net yards, and converted 6-of15 third-down opportunities. At least the Dolphins scored on both of their red-zone opportunities. The Dolphins defense held the Giants to 37.5% conversion rate on third downs, and the Giants failed to score points in their one red-zone trip.
Stock Up
Eric Rowe has had a rough season, one where he lost his starting spot and more prominent role to Brandon Jones. With Jones sidelined for a second straight week, Rowe had one of his better performances of the season. He finished with a teamhigh seven tackles. Ironically, despite the fact Rowe is playing less snaps than last season, he’s two tackles behind Jerome Baker for the team lead in defensive stops. Baker has 66 total tackles, while Rowe has 64.
Stock down
Salvon Ahmed is fully submerged in a second-season slump (149 rushing yards on 54 carries). As a rookie, he had 319 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 75 carries and 11 receptions for 61 yards. Ahmed gained just 23 rushing yards on eight carries during his 22 offensive snaps against the Giants. With former Pro Bowl tailback Phillip Lindsay on the roster, Sunday’s game could have been Ahmed’s last shot to prove he’s a frontline NFL player because Lindsay will likely push for a more prominent role once his injured ankle heals.