Well, well, well … Who saw this coming? Shutting down the Houston Texans this past Sunday was one thing, but dominating one of the top offenses in the NFL is something entirely different. Stopping one of the most dynamic players in the NFL in Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson is a whole different matter than stopping the Texans’ Tyrod Taylor.
Jackson and Baltimore’s elite offensive line didn’t have an answer all evening for the Dolphins constant blitzing. The Ravens’ coaching staff couldn’t dial up any solutions to Miami lining up 7-8 defenders at the line of scrimmage all game long.
The most telling statistic is that with 7:40 left in the game the Ravens only had 137 total yards. The result was a dominating Dolphins 22-10 win. Well, dominating on defense at least as the Miami offense continued to struggle scoring only 1 touchdown. 3 of the 4 times they were in the red zone resulted in short field goals by Jason Sanders.
Once again Miami struggled to run the ball gaining only 60 yards on 22 carries for a pathetic 2.7 yards per carry. And quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Tua Tagovailoa were sacked 4 times and under constant pressure. Unfortunately, Richmond Webb, Larry Little and Dwight Stephenson aren’t walking through the locker room door to fix Miami’s offensive line problems.
One positive sign for the offense, though, was the appearance of several chunk yardage plays. The Dolphins completed passes of 64, 52, 35, 23 and 21 yards. Those 5 plays accounted for 56% of Miami’s total offense in the game. It was their 1st two pass plays over 50 yards all season. But again, they only scored 1 touchdown, which won’t get it done most weeks in the NFL.
But enough about the offense, as this game was all about the defense. They sacked Jackson 4 times and had him on the run all evening. Most of his 9 rushing attempts were a result of him trying to avoid the Fins intense blitzing pass rush.
Miami also held Baltimore to 94 yards rushing with the Ravens running backs only gaining 36 yards on 13 carries. The return of defensive tackle Raekwon Davis has made their run defense much stouter, but credit must also go to Miami’s switch in strategy a few games ago of stacking 5-8 players at the line of scrimmage.
Now for the play of the game. And I don’t mean the “touchdown” catch by Dolphins guard Robert Hunt where he rumbled 12 yards and flipped into the endzone. Uh, Robert, you are an offensive lineman and thus an ineligible receiver. But thank you anyway, as it was an exciting play non-the-less.
Back to the play of the game by Miami’s best player, cornerback Xavien Howard. Early in the 4th quarter not only did he strip Ravens’ wide receiver Sammy Watkins of the ball, but he scooped up the ball and zigged & zagged through the entire Ravens’ team for a 49-yard touchdown that put the Dolphins up 15-3 (they failed on the 2-point conversion try). Considering Miami’s continued struggles to run the ball, maybe they should give Howard at shot at running back. Only kidding. Sort of.
A 99-yard Ravens touchdown drive, aided by 35 yards in Miami penalties (which included a horrendous roughing the quarterback call on safety Jevon Holland), brought Baltimore to within 15-10 with 4:12 left in the game, but Miami responded with a touchdown drive of their own keyed by a 64-yard pass to WR Albert Wilson. Tua finished off the drive with a 1-yard QB sneak for the touchdown.
Baltimore made a last gasp effort in the final minute of the game, but CB Justin Coleman intercepted a Jackson pass in the endzone to finish off the Ravens.
Other key takeaways from the game were:
- There was an Albert Wilson sighting. After pretty much ignoring him for the first 9 games of the season, Wilson caught 4 passes for 87 yards and he also ran twice for 19 yards.
- There were no Mike Gesicki sightings, though, as he had nary a reception on 7 targets. WRs Isaiah Ford and Jaylen Waddle both had 4 catches for 84 and 61 yards respectively.
- Brissett left the game on the 1st drive of the 2nd half after injuring his right knee. Although it looked to be a serious knee injury, Brissett appeared to be ready to re-enter the game on the next series. But head coach Brian Flores pointed his finger at Tua, who for the 2nd game in a row didn’t start due to a finger injury on his throwing hand. His decision was likely a combination of Brissett not being 100% and hoping Tua could spark a struggling offense.
- Brissett finished 11-23 for 156 yards while Tua went 8-13 for 158 yards while running for a touchdown.
- One of the keys to victory was Miami forcing 2 Ravens’ turnovers while the Fins didn’t turn the ball over at all.
- On game after having only 2 penalties, penalties almost cost Miami the game as they had 11 penalties for 97 yards.
- Miami held Jackson to 26-43 for 238 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception. He ran the ball 9 times, but only for 39 yards.
- On Baltimore’s first 2 drives of the game, Miami held them to field goal attempts, the 2nd of which was missed by Justin Tucker.
- On Baltimore’s 3rd drive of the second half, Jackson appeared to complete a short pass to tight-end Mark Andrews for a 1st down, but Flores challenged the catch. Surprisingly, they overturned the call despite no evidence, at least to me, that the ball had touched the ground. The Ravens ended up having to punt in what was a key turning point in the game.
- In the 3rd quarter, Miami had what was probably their most creative offensive play call of the season. After handing the ball off to RB Miles Gaskin and running for a few yards he then turned around and threw the ball back to Tua who then threw the ball back to Gaskin for a 14-yard gain.
- After a pass interference call gave Miami a 1st & goal in the 4th quarter, the Fins offense imploded. A Gaskin run gained zero yards on 1st down. After an incomplete pass to Gesicki, guard Austin Jackson was called for a false start on 3rd down. On the next play there was offsetting penalties which was followed up by the Hunt “touchdown” catch which resulted in another 5-yard penalty. After an incomplete pass to WR Mack Hollins, Sanders kicked his 3rd field goal of the game from 29 yards out.
This game was by far the most satisfying game of the year for the Dolphins, as it was exciting to watch the Miami defense just dominate one of the better teams in the league. They still have a long way to go on the offensive side of the ball, but if their defense continues to perform at this level, they will have a chance to win any game.
Next up is the Jets in New York on November 21. That is followed up by games vs. the Panthers, Giants and the Jets again. They are all winnable games and it would be nice to see the Fins offense step up to at least give the defense some help.
