Dolphins’ Flores trusted his defense. It rewarded him with 2 clutch stops in comeback win
Brian Flores’ decision to kick a 50-yard field on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter of a tie game against the Arizona Cardinals was all about trust. First, he trusted Jason Sanders to make the kick. More importantly, he trusted the Miami Dolphins’ defense.
It didn’t matter Murray had carved them up for nearly 300 passing yards and more than 100 rushing yards in Glendale, Arizona. The Dolphins’ defense almost singlehandedly won them a game last Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams and it had just delivered a crucial turnover on downs to set up Miami for the game-winning field goal. Flores trusted defense to hang on for a 34-31 win.
“I like to say all phases work together,” said defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, whose strip sack on the first drive led to a second defensive touchdown in as many weeks. “When the offense is down, defense got to pick them up. When the defense is down, offense got to pick them up, so we work hand in hand.”
Sanders sunk the field goal to give the Dolphins a lead with 3:30 remaining and then he booted the kickoff into an end zone for a touchback. Immediately, Kyler Murray put Miami’s defense on its heels when he connected when he completed a 35-yard pass to the Dolphins’ 40-yard line on the first play of the drive. Miami’s margin of error almost entirely vanished.
Three plays later, the Cardinals had only moved 9 yards and Arizona had to settle for a 49-yard field goal. Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez left it short. The Dolphins (5-3) hung on for the narrow win at State Farm Stadium.
“We’re a defense that bends. We don’t break,” cornerback Byron Jones said. “Usually we don’t like to have a team score 30-something points in a game, but it’s good that we found a way to win in that circumstance.”
Miami struggled to contain Murray and Arizona’s offense all throughout Sunday. The Cardinals’ star quarterback finished 21 of 26 for 283 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and added 106 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. After a fumble no the first drive of the game, Murray led Arizona (5-3) to either a touchdown or field goal on 5 of 6 drives until the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Dolphins made the stops they almost never did throughout the first three. The Cardinals totaled just 77 yards, with nearly half coming on the 35-yard pass from Murray to Arizona wide receiver Christian Kirk. They went 0 for 3 on third downs and 1 for 2 on fourth downs. Murray completed just two passes.
The Cardinals’ first drive of the fourth quarter came right after Tua Tagovailoa’s masterful 10-play, 93-yard drive to tie the game at 31-31. Arizona took over at its own 27 and picked up one first down before Miami flipped the pressure onto Murray. On third-and-9 from his own 39, Murray escaped a near sack and scrambled 8 yards, then picked up the first down with a run on the next play.
Three plays later, the Cardinals faced a third-and-4 and Murray tried to scramble again. He twirled away from defensive end Shaq Lawson and darted for the left sideline, where Jones met him for a crunching hit a yard short of the marker.
“It was fun,” said Jones, who got beat for two touchdowns earlier in the game. “I’m not really known for a big hitter, so it’s nice to stick somebody a little bit.”
On the next play, Murray handed the ball to Chase Edmonds and about four Dolphins met the Arizona running back in the backfield to stuff him for no gain.
“That’s something that we talk about in the locker room, is bring your own juice,” Jones said. “When we make good plays, obviously we’re going to celebrate and we’re going to high five and slap hands, but that’s the beauty of football.”
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury was surprisingly conservative all throughout the fourth quarter. Murray, a contender for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award, only dropped back to pass five times. Edmonds, who began the season as a backup, had five carries.
Edmonds ran twice after Murray’s deep connection with Kirk and Arizona faced a third-and-1 at Miami’s 31. Kingsbury rolled out Murray to the right and second-year quarterback bounced a throw to Kirk. The Dolphins’ defense had once again made the stop they needed to seal the road victory.
“It was a team victory. We made plays really on all three sides of the ball,” Flores said. “That’s what you need to win a game like that against an opponent like that.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 9:47 PM.
