By Greg Fuchs
It has been said that wide receivers who can’t catch the ball become
defensive backs. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ secondary proved that axiom
on Sunday night as they dropped several would be interceptions that
led to the Miami Dolphins 16-10 win.
On the flip side, Miami may want to move some of their defensive
backs to the wide receiver’s room as they picked off 3 of Steelers
quarterback Kenny Pickett’s passes including 2 huge interceptions in
the final 3 minutes of the game.
With Pittsburgh driving for a potentially game winning touchdown,
Dolphins safety Jevon Holland picked off a long Pickett pass that he
returned to the Steelers 49-yard line with 2:57 left in the game.
After a three & out by Miami’s offense, Pittsburgh got the ball back at
their own 13-yard line with 2:31 to go in the game and quickly moved
the ball down field. With 18 seconds to go in the game, Dolphins
cornerback Noah Igbinoghene stepped in front of the Steelers’ receiver
at the goal line for the Fins 3 rd interception of the game to seal Miami’s
victory.
Miami’s offense came out on fire in the 1 st quarter scoring on each of
their first 3 possessions. After the game opening kickoff, Miami went 71
yards in 4:15 to go up 7-0 on an 8-yard touchdown pass from QB Tua
Tagovailoa to running back Raheem Mostert.
After a Steelers’ three & out, Miami had an 8 play 59-yard drive which
resulted in a 24-yard field goal by Jason Sanders. On the first 2 drives
Miami had several large chunk plays, both on the ground and in the air.
On Pittsburgh’s next possession, Justin Bethel grabbed Miami’s 1 st
interception of the evening giving them the ball at their own 47-yard
field. This led to Sanders’ 2 nd field goal, a 42 yarder, which increased
Miami’s lead to 13-0.
After a 45-yard Chris Boswell field goal put Pittsburgh on the board,
their next drive went 86 yards over 7:29 ending with a 7-yard TD pass
from Pickett to rookie WR George Pickens to pull the Steelers to within
3 points, 13-10.
Miami finished off the 1 st half with a 47-yard Sanders field goal that put
the Dolphins up 16-10.
And that would be the end of the scoring for the night as both teams
pitched shutouts in the 2 nd half. Miami was stopped on downs at the
Steelers 15-yard line on their 1 st drive. Their next 5 drives ended in
punts as Miami was held to four 1 st downs in the 2 nd half.
Pittsburgh’s six 2 nd half drives resulted in 4 punts and the 2
aforementioned interceptions.
Miami’s offense continued a disturbing year long trend of moving the
ball but being unable to finish off drives with a touchdown. The
Dolphins were in Steelers’ territory 5 times but settled for field goals 3
time and were stopped on downs another time. A potential 35 points
resulted in only 16 points. Fortunately, the Dolphins defense bailed
them out with the 2 interceptions at the end of the 4 th quarter.
Other key takeaways from the game were:
- Tua finished 21-35 for 261 yards and 1 touchdown. 180 of the
yards came in the 1 st half. Tua’s accuracy was a bit off for much of
the night and he was lucky several passes weren’t intercepted. - Pickett was 32-44 for 257 yards with 1 touchdown and 3
interceptions. He also rushed 3 times for 20 yards. - Depending on your perception, Pittsburgh either spent much of
the night targeting CB Igbinoghene or avoiding CB Xavien Howard.
Igbinoghene hung tough for much of the night and had the play of
the night with the game ending interception. - Mostert rushed for 79 yards on 16 carries and had 4 receptions
for 30 yards including the Fins only touchdown. - The dynamic duo of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle
finished with 7 receptions for 72 yards and 4 catches for 88 yards,
respectively. - Miami’s defense forced 3 turnovers and sacked Pickett 2 times.
Miami’s offense didn’t have any turnovers and didn’t allow any
sacks of Tua. - Miami played the game without 4 of their top 5 cornerbacks.
Byron Jones is still on the PUP list while Nik Needham is out for
the season with an Achilles injury. Kader Kohou and Keion Crossen
were both inactive due to injuries. Kudos to Howard, Igbinoghene,
Holland and the rest of the defensive backs who filled in
admirably holding the Steelers to only 10 points. - Strong safety Brandon Jones left the game in the 3 rd quarter with a
left knee injury. No update yet as to the extent of the injury. - Dolphins DE Emmanuel Ogbah was inactive for the game due to
an injury. - Miami held Pittsburgh to 95 yards rushing with Najee Harris
gaining only 65 yards on 17 carries.
Week 8 takes Miami to Detroit to face the 1-5 Lions. Detroit’s 2
best offensive players, RB D’Andre Swift and WR Amon-Ra St.
Brown both missed this week’s game. If they both return for week
8, the Lions will be a formidable opponent.
