5 THINGS WE LEARNED
Penalties were plentiful again: The Dolphins had 10 penalties for 97 yards one week after having 11 penalties for 102 yards against the Jets. Against Minnesota, the Dolphins had a second-quarter drive that included five penalties for 36 yards. They had an ineligible man downfield, pass interference, two holding and a false start. The penalties took the Dolphins out of field goal range. Later in the second quarter a 24-yard gain was aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty that gave the Vikings half the distance to the goal. They scored one play later. In the fourth quarter guard Robert Hunt was called for holding to force at first-and-20 from their own 48. Although it wasn’t Hunt’s fault, the possession resulted in a lost fumble by Jaylen Waddle that Minnesota turned into a 24-10 lead. Keep an eye penalties going forward.
Goodbye misery, hello paradise: The Dolphins went 2-1, defeating New England and Buffalo and losing to Minnesota, with the NFL’s best homefield advantage. This was likely the final game with the infamous South Florida humidity. The next home game is next week’s Pittsburgh game, which is an 8:20 p.m. kickoff. After that, we’re into November and its likely great weather with the Browns game on Nov. 13. Sunday’s game didn’t provide much of an advantage because it was cloudy for much of the game. But at kickoff it was 85 degrees with 65% humidity and a feels like temperature of 91 degrees, which was good enough to make life a bit tougher on the Vikings. By the way, the humidity might have gotten the best of Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who had to go to the locker room in the third quarter because of cramps. He also had problems with cramps at Baltimore. But Hill ended the Vikings game with 177 yards on 12 receptions.
Run defense performs well: The Dolphins held Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, who attended Miami Central High, under control. Cook finished with 77 yards on 13 carries, much of it after the game was decided in the fourth quarter, in his homecoming game. The Dolphins’ run defense, led by tackle Christian Wilkins, clamped down on anything the Vikings attempted whether it was up the middle or on the edge. The Dolphins entered the game 13th in run defense at 110.0 yards per game. Minnesota ended with 82 yards rushing on 16 carries.
The primary difference in the Dolphins’ schedule this year compared with 2021 is now underway: Both this year and last, the Dolphins played a powerhouse first five opponents (in 2021: 10-7, 11-6, 10-7, 13-4, 9-8 = 53-32, a .624 win percentage; in 2022, heading into Week 6: 2-3, 4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 3-2 = 14-11, a .560 win percentage). However, the next 10 opponents last year boasted one mediocre quarterback after another and had an almost inconceivably poor win percentage of .347 (59-111) to grease the way for a defense-driven 7-3 run that put Miami in position to make the playoffs as they went to play 12-5 Tennessee on Jan. 2, losing 34-3 and being eliminated from contention. This year? On top of facing the Pro Bowl passer Kirk Cousins and the Vikings in Game 6 on Sunday, the Dolphins will go up against five other passers with a career passer rating above 91, with four of those games on the road (the Bills’ Josh Allen, Chargers’ Justin Herbert, 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo and Lions’ Jared Goff ). The win percentage for the final 12 opponents headed into Week 6 was .492.
Tyreek Hill got back on pace to break the NFL single-season receiving yards record: Hill did his usual star turn against the Vikings, piling up 177 yards and ending Week 6 with 701 yards. That puts him on pace for 1,986 for the season. The record is the Lions’ Calvin Johnson’s 1,964 10 years ago, albeit in a 16-game season. Hill needs to average 115 yards a game in the final 11 to set that record.