You like passing? Well, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 25 of 32 passes for 285 yards with 3 touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Fan of the run game? Miami rushed for 195 yards on 33 carries for an average of 5.9 yards per carry. And they ran for 2 TDs. Yes, the Dolphins, not the Browns who have the 3rd best run game in the NFL, controlled the game by running the ball. Who would have thunk that?
And defense wins games, right? Miami’s defense held the Browns to 297 total yards, suffocated the ground game of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt for most of the afternoon, sacked Browns QB Jacoby Brissett 3 times and forced a fumble by Chubb.
Add that all up and you have a dominating 39-17 win for the Dolphins on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
One of the best parts about the passing game on Sunday was the way Tua distributed the ball. The dynamic duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle was “held” to 9 receptions for 110 yards and 1 touchdown. So Tua got everyone else involved. WR Trent Sherfield caught 4 balls for 63 yards including a touchdown. Fullback Alec Ingold had 4 receptions for 45 yards with a touchdown. And running backs Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostert combined for 6 catches for 46 yards.
And was that Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris carrying the ball for Miami yesterday? Nope. It was Wilson, playing in his 2nd game for the Fins, running for 119 yards and touchdown while Mostert gained 65 yards and also ran for a TD. Huge kudos to the Dolphins offensive line for the huge holes they opened all day long for Wilson and Mostert to run through.
Double kudos for the O-line as Tua wasn’t sacked during the game with left tackle Terron Armstead manhandling Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett.
The message that Miami sent to the rest of the league yesterday was that the Dolphins offense is much more than just about Hill and Waddle. This should petrify defensive coordinators throughout the NFL.
Over the past 3 games Tua has thrown for 969 yards with 9 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. An incredible streak for which he deserves a huge pat on the back. That said, he did it against the Lions, Bears and Browns. His true test and the test for the entire Dolphins team will come in weeks 13-15 when they play on the road versus the 49ers, Chargers and Bills.
Other key takeaways from the game were:
- DE Emmanuel Ogbah tore his triceps during the game and is done for the season. Ogbah wasn’t playing as well as the past 2 seasons, but this is still a huge loss. CB Keion Crossen also left the game with a shoulder injury, but the extent of the injury is unknown.
- Brissett was 22-35 for 212 yards with 1 touchdown pass. He also ran for 40 yards on 7 carries.
- Miami’s defense has had an issue with mobile QBs this season as Justin Fields ran for 178 yards, Lamar Jackson for 119 yards and Josh Allen 47 yards in addition to Brissett’s 40 yards on Sunday. One good sign, though, is that the Dolphins won all 4 of those games. A second good sign is that Miami has done a good job of controlling traditional running games this season. Not including Brissett’s yardage, Cleveland was held to 72 yards rushing with 33 of those yards coming on 1 play.
- Dolphins’ kicker Jason Sanders missed 2 extra points, which takes him to 3 misses on the season. He did make both of his field goal attempts but is 0-3 this year on field goal attempts over 50 yards. Missing extra points and long field goals is not something you want from your kicker, so I wouldn’t be shocked if Miami has tryouts for kickers during their bye week.
- Miami’s other kicker, punter Thomas Morstead, had the afternoon off as Miami never had to punt. The Dolphins had 9 drives during the game with 5 ending in touchdowns and 2 others in field goals. They were stopped on downs once and their final drive was when they ran out the clock at games end.
The Dolphins are now atop the AFC East with a 7-3 record. Miami has a bye this week before hosting the Houston Texans in week 12. You can never count your chickens in the NFL, but Miami should be 8-3 before starting on their challenging 3 game road stretch in weeks 13-15. If Sunday’s performance vs. Cleveland was a harbinger of things to come, I like Miami’s chances in the weeks to come.
