For the 2 nd week in a row the Miami Dolphins played a lesser team on
the road and won a high scoring game they easily could have lost. And
for the 2 nd week in a row, they can thank the incredible triumvirate of
quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen
Waddle for the win.
Last week in their 31-27 win over the Lions, Tua threw for 382 yards
and 3 touchdowns with 294 of the yards and 2 of the TD passes going
to Hill and Waddle. On Sunday in Chicago they beat the Bears 35-32
with Tua again having 3 touchdown passes to go with 302 yards. Hill
and Waddle combined for 12 receptions for 228 yards and 2
touchdowns.
Miami also continued their baffling trend of scoring and giving up a lot
more points on the road than they do at home. The scoring at Hard
Rock Stadium is about half of what it is versus playing away from home.
But let’s get back to the terrific trio. Tua’s QB rating of 115.9 ranks 1 st in
the NFL. Ahead of guys whose names you are probably pretty familiar
with – Mohomes, Allen, Burrow, Jackson and Herbert.
As for Hill and Waddle, they rank 1 st and 5 th respectively in the NFL with
1,104 and 812 receiving yards respectively. The receivers ranked 2 nd -4 th
are players named Jefferson, Diggs and Kupp. You have probably heard
of them, too.
The success of Tua, Hill and Waddle brings back memories of Dan
Marino winging the ball downfield to the Mark’s brothers, Clayton and
Duper. There is no receiving duo in the league who strikes fear in NFL
secondaries like the lightening quick Hill and Waddle do. The middle of
the field is often wide open because the defensive backs are back
peddling as they are afraid of Hill and Waddle racing past them and Tua
has done a masterful job taking advantage of this with quick, accurate
passes.
In addition to leading Miami to a 6-3 record (6-0 in games Tua has
started and finished) this trio has also done something miraculous –
they have made the games exciting to watch. Seeing the offense march
up and down the field with multiple big plays makes Miami one of the
more entertaining teams in the league. This team is nothing like the
Dolphins teams we have watched for the past couple of decades.
All that said, don’t order your Super Bowl tickets just yet as Miami’s
defense needs to improve significantly if the Dolphins are going to beat
the NFL’s elite teams. Miami is giving up an average of 33 points a game
in their 5 road games and that won’t do if they hope to beat the likes of
Kansas City, Cincinnati and Buffalo on the road in the playoffs.
Playoffs??? Yes. Miami is a legitimate playoff contender, but their metal
will be tested in weeks 13-15 when they play the 49ers, Chargers and
Bills; all on the road. The addition of edge rusher Bradley Chubb and
the hopeful return of cornerback Byron Jones could elevate the defense
to the level that is necessary. They don’t need to be the best defense in
the league, but they do need to show significant improvement.
As to the defense’s performance vs. Chicago, I will give them a mulligan
due to the incredible performance of Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
He almost won the game for the Bears single handedly. Chicago had
368 total yards and Fields accounted for 301 of them.
He only threw for 123 yards, but he had 3 TD passes and zero
interceptions. But it was his running that was special. He ran for an NFL
quarterback record 178 yards including a spectacular 61-yard TD run.
The scary part, and the reason for the mulligan, is head coach Mike
McDaniels is probably looking at each of Fields 15 runs in the film room
today and even with 20-20 hindsight probably can’t figure out what the
Dolphins could have done differently to stop Fields. He was that special
on Sunday.
Other key takeaways from the game were:
- Despite the superb performances put forth by Tua, Hill, Waddle
and Fields, the play of the game was put up by the Dolphins
special teams. In the 2 nd quarter with a 14-10 lead and the Bears
punting, Justin Phillips burst through the line to block the punt
which Andrew Van Ginkel scooped up and ran in for a touchdown.
Without that play, Miami probably loses the game. - Dolphins’ kicker Jason Sanders missed a 29-yard field goal to end
the 1 st half which could have cost them the game. Later in the 4 th
quarter with Miami clinging to a 3 point lead the Dolphins went
for it on 4 th down from the Chicago 15-yard line in order to give
them a 2-possession lead. Tua under threw TE Durham Smythe for
what would have been a 1 st down, but if Miami had been up by 6
points instead of 3, they likely would have attempted a 33-yard
field goal to put them up by 9 points. - Miami also went out on downs in the 3 rd quarter giving Chicago
possession at their own 35-yard line. - On the Bears final drive Miami caught a huge break when
cornerback Keion Crossen wasn’t called for pass interference on a
play that would have given the Bears the ball deep in Dolphin’s
territory. Their final drive ended on their own 42-yard line as
Miami’s defense held on 4 th down. - Miami’s defense did a good job stopping the run as long as it
wasn’t Fields carrying the ball. On the Bears other 25 carries they
only gained 74 yards. Overall Chicago rushed for 252 yards on 40
carries. - RB Raheem Mostert garnered the Fins 1 st touchdown on a 1-yard
run. Hill’s TD catch was for 3 yards while Waddles TD catch went
for 18 yards. - RB Jeff Wilson had a strong Dolphins debut with 9 carries for 51
yards plus 3 receptions for 21 yards including a 10-yard TD. - Bears TE Cole Kmet had 5 receptions for 41 yards and 2
touchdowns while WR Darnell Mooney caught 7 passes for 43
yards with 1 touchdown.
Miami hopes to move to 7-3 in week 10 as they host the 3-5 Cleveland
Browns. As long as Tua, Hill & Waddle are in the lineup I like the
Dolphins chances.
