Offense, finish, win hide shortcomings
The NFL playoffs might start in January, but the Miami Dolphins players and coaches already feel as if they are playing in the elimination rounds.
Miami’s 34-33 upset of the New England Patriots puts the Dolphins’ record at 7-6, and keeps coach Adam Gase’s team in a four-way tie with the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, and Tennessee Titans for the final AFC wild-card spot with three games left in the regular season.
That means the Dolphins are relevant in December, and each week should be viewed as an elimination game.
“It’s a different feeling when you’re fighting for your football lives. You never know what’s going to happen,” Gase said. “You can lose one game and it’s all over.”
Here is the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s report card, evaluating how the Dolphins performed in Sunday’s last-second win over the Patriots.
Passing Game: A
Ryan Tannehill produced his third straight efficient performance, completing 14-of-19 passes for 265 yards and throwing three touchdown passes against the Patriots. His 155.2 passer rating was the third best of his career, and put his season passer rating at 105.7, which makes him the NFL’s sixth-best quarterback statistically this season. Tannehill benefited from making receiver Kenny Stills, who caught eight passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, his primary receiver. But Miami’s offense continues to struggle on third downs, converting just 1-of-7 against the Patriots, and that must get fixed.
Running Game: A
The Dolphins gained a seasonhigh 189 rushing against the Patriots, averaging 9.0 yards per carry. Frank Gore rushed for 92 yards on 12 carries and had one catch for 24 yards. The Dolphins dusted off some of Albert Wilson’s old plays and put Brandon Bolden in them, and the veteran tailback gained 60 yards and scored two touchdowns on two carries. The Dolphins need to find a way to replicate this type of rushing performance because it’s Miami’s best formula for success.
Defending the pass: D
This shouldn’t be surprising, but Patriots quarterback Tom Brady carved Miami up, completing 27-of-43 passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns (112.4 passer rating). Thanks to Brady, New England converted 9-of-16 third downs, and plenty of them were plays that kept drives alive, and created scoring opportunities. Brady throw about half a dozen perfect passes that weren’t able to be defended. Miami utilized too much zone coverage at times and the Dolphins only managed two sacks on Brady.
Defending the run: A
The Patriots became the third team this season that Miami has held to fewer than 100 rushing yards in a game. That’s a major accomplishment considering New England was the team that rushed for 175 yards against Miami in Week 4. The Dolphins linebackers, especially Kiko Alonso (10 tackles) were a major contributor in holding the Patriots to 77 rushing yards on 30 carries.
Special teams: F
Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge took Darren Rizzi’s lunch money Sunday by blocking two punts. New England saw a shortcoming in John Denney’s blocking because they went after Miami’s long snapper and capitalized off him twice. Those blocks and the rugby-style punts Miami was forced to use to counter what New England was doing, and its lackluster return game against New England allowed the Patriots to win the field-position battle.
Coaching: B
The Dolphins offense matched the Patriots point for point all game. The offensive game plan, which attacked New England’s linebackers, was brilliant. But The Dolphins’ Frank Gore rushed for 92 yards against the Patriots.
Matt Burke’s defense got carved up playing soft zone against Brady, and Rizzi’s special teams unit hurt the team more than they helped them, which is a shocker considering how reliable Miami’s special teams has been throughout the years under Rizzi.
Stock up: James
Offensive linemen usually only draw attention when they mess up, but there are rare instances where their performance in a game sparks the offense. That was the case for right tackle Ja’Wuan James, who was a beast against the Patriots, burrowing open huge running lanes on both sides of Miami’s offensive line. James’ performance on Sunday will likely be one of the games used to push up the impending free agent’s asking price next spring.
Stock down: Fitzpatrick
Defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins’ 2018 firstround pick, has had a solid rookie season, despite Miami asking him to play all over the secondary. But Fitzpatrick struggled in his first game without standout cornerback Xavien Howard, who is sidelined by a knee injury, as he was forced to do the heavy lifting in the secondary by defending the opposition’s best receiver. The rookie allowed four completions for 63 yards and committed two penalties, the last of which was debatable. Fitzpatrick himself acknowledged he could have and should have played better, and Miami will need him to considering this Sunday’s opponent, the Vikings, have one of the best receiver duos in the NFL.