Taking Care of Business

Miami took care of business Monday night in the Covid Bowl in New Orleans as the Dolphins beat the Saints 20-3 for their 7th straight win. Miami’s record now stands at 8-7 and they are currently in possession of the 7th & final playoff spot in the AFC with 2 weeks to go in the season.

The game was as much about who wasn’t playing as who was, as New Orleans was missing 22 players due to Covid protocols while Miami was missing 6 such players. Including players who were injured, the Saints were missing their top 3 quarterbacks, 3 starting offensive linemen, 3 starting linebackers and all of their reserve defensive linemen. 

The Saints were forced to start rookie Ian Book at quarterback in what was his 1st NFL game. And he played like a rookie in his first game. His 2nd pass was a pick six interception that was returned 28 yards by Nik Needham for a touchdown to put Miami up 7-0 less than 5 minutes into the game. 

For the game Book was 12 for 20 for only 135 yards with 2 interceptions. He was also sacked 8 times as Miami constantly blitzed him. 56 of his passing yards came on 1 play late in the 4th quarter. 

The Dolphins defense also shut down the Saints run game holding them to 83 yards on 23 carries. Alvin Kamara, who was probably the Saints only hope for winning the game, was shut down for the most part as he had only 52 yards rushing and caught just 2 passes for 7 yards as the Fins defense dominated New Orleans all game long.

In light of New Orleans having 22 players out due to Covid and the stellar play of the Fins defense, the Dolphins played it close to the vest on offense and gained only 259 yards. As a result, Miami only scored 1 offensive touchdown with kicker Jason Sanders kicking 2 field goals to account for the rest of the scoring. 

Miami’s only touchdown came on their 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter that covered 86 yards in 9 plays and took 4:30 off the clock. The big play on the drive was a 40-yard pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to wide receiver Mack Hollins on a perfectly thrown ball by Tua. The Fins also used a flea-flicker with Tua completing a 24-yard toss to wideout Jaylen Waddle. 

A rouging the passer call on New Orleans kept the drive alive, which was capped by a 1-yard flip pass from Tua to Waddle for a touchdown to put Miami up 17-3 with 5:10 to go in the 3rd quarter. 

Miami did what it had to do to beat a severely limited Saints team, but will need the offense to improve their performance if they want to beat Tennessee this coming Sunday. The offensive line will particularly need to play better as they gave up 3 sacks while also incurring 3 holding penalties. 

Other key takeaways from the game were:

  • Miami’s 7 game winning streak is their first such streak since 1985.
  • Miami is the first NFL team to have a 7-game losing streak and a 7-game winning streak in the same season.
  • Tua finished 19-26 for 173 yards with 1 touchdown pass and 1 interception. The interception was a particularly bad pass as Tua forced the ball down field and overthrew the receiver while he had Waddle open underneath. 
  • Although the Dolphins only ran for 86 yards, they remained committed to the run with 30 rushing attempts. Duke Johnson ran for 39 yards on 13 carries while Phillip Lindsay gained 36 yards on 13 carries. Myles Gaskin had only 10 yards on 3 carries.
  • Miami had 16 1st downs compared to 10 for the Saints. 
  • Waddle was pretty much the entire Dolphins offense as he caught 10 passes for 92 yards and scored the teams only touchdown. DeVante Parker was held without a catch. 
  • Miami’s defense stopped New Orleans on all 12 of their 3rd down opportunities.
  • With their 8 sacks, Miami now leads the NFL with 45 sacks. 
  • On Miami’s final drive of the 1st half, Sanders missed a 59-yard field goal, as the Fins O-line did their best to sabotage the drive that began at their own 25-yard line with 2 holding penalties and allowing a sack on the play before the field goal attempt. 
  • On the Saints 5th drive of the 2nd half, after Miami went up 20-3, the Fins sacked Book 3 times.

Although Miami currently holds the final wild card spot, they must win their final 2 games to guarantee they make the playoffs. It starts next Sunday in Nashville vs. the Titans and ex-Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill. The regular season concludes in week 18 with Miami hosting the Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium. 

To win both games, the defense will need to continue to play at an elevated level, but more importantly, the offensive line must play better and the Fins will need to create more chunk yard plays downfield.