Dolphins film study: How Miami engineered one of the biggest comebacks in team history
For the Dolphins to pull off their second-largest comeback in franchise history Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, down 21 points in the fourth quarter, It took a bit of everything, including precise execution and some fortuitous bounces.
Here is a breakdown of the key moments that played a role in the Dolphins’ miraculous turnaround.
Fourth-down stop
For much of the afternoon, it was a tough game for the Dolphins defense, who saw their Cover 0 looks neutralized by quarterback Lamar Jackson’s quick-hitting passes and then gave up a 79-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. But after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver River Cracraft with 12:12 remaining in the game, making it a 35-21 score, the defense came up with arguably its biggest stop of the game.
Facing fourth-and-1 from the Dolphins’ 41 and 9:16 left, the Ravens kept their offense on the field. Baltimore ran QB power with Jackson and as he tried to cut back and slither into an opening, he was stonewalled by inside linebacker Elandon Roberts, who worked his way from the weak side of the play to stop Jackson short.
Allowing a first down likely would’ve resulted in at least a field goal for the Ravens, pushing the Dolphins’ deficit to three scores with more time off the clock. Instead, Miami got a relatively short field and kept the game within two possessions.
Forty-eight-yard TD to Hill
The Dolphins faced third-and-10 from the Baltimore 48 after a pair of completions to place the ball into Ravens’ territory. That’s when coach Mike McDaniel looked at his play sheet and called on what he told NBC Sports’ Peter King after the game is their “F***-It” play.
Hill was isolated on the right side of the field, while receivers Cracraft and Jaylen Waddle and tight end Mike Gesicki were in a trips formation to the left. Gesicki briefly blocked before leaking out to the flat, while Cracraft and Waddle ran post routes, sprinting vertically and cutting slightly across the field. Meanwhile, Hill ran a go route, sprinting straight down the field.
It was a perfect call against the Ravens, who were in a single-high defense with one deep safety, rookie Kyle Hamilton. The speed of Waddle on a post route appeared to put Hamilton in a bind, who came up to cover Waddle and left Hill 1-on-1 with Peters. Peters, seemingly expecting safety help behind him, was left flat-footed as Hill sped past him for the score to make it a seven-point game with 7:47 remaining. Maybe most importantly, it only took 84 seconds off the clock.
Sixty-yard TD to Hill
After forcing another quick punt, the Dolphins faced third-and-6 from their 40-yard line. The Ravens lined up in a Cover 0 look with eight defenders along the line of scrimmage and no deep safety. At the snap, though, they appeared to drop into zone coverage, with some miscommunication among their defensive backs. Safeties Hamilton and Marcus Williams traveled with Waddle across the field, leaving rookie cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis 1-on-1 with Hill. Armour-Davis never turned to run with Hill, as if he expected to have a defender over the top. By the time Tagovailoa released the ball from his hand, it was too late, as Hill was heading to end zone to tie the score at 35.
“That was a miscommunication if you want to call it that,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday, “and the deep half player didn’t realize he was a deep half player, and he needs to get back there. So, those are mistakes.”
Game-winning TD drive
Justin Tucker’s 51-yard field goal put the Ravens back up by three with 2:18 remaining left, but it took Tagovailoa just two passes — and two completions — to get the ball into Baltimore territory. Then, McDaniel used motion to do what the Dolphins were able to do all afternoon, influence the Ravens defense and get them out of position.
On running back Chase Edmonds’ 28-yard run that put the Dolphins deep in the red zone, Cracraft went into motion to his left, taking rookie cornerback Damarion Williams with him. At the snap, Gesicki also cut across the face of the play from right to left, taking safety Chuck Clark with him. The movement of Cracraft and Gesicki was enough to freeze the defense for a moment and leave a wide-open lane for Edmonds to break through. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Dolphins lead the league in motion at the snap (45 percent of plays) and all motion (77 percent).
“As far as the advantage [of motion], it also is more of what is what does that movement do to the defense? And what is their adjustment?” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said last week.
On Tagovailoa’s 7-yard game-winning pass, he motioned Waddle to the left and Armour-Davis followed him, indicating man coverage. At the snap, Marcus Williams shaded to Hill’s side, double-teaming him with Marcus Peters on the right side of the field. That left Waddle with a 1-on-1 matchup with Armour-Davis, and he broke out before cutting back into the middle of the field. Tagovailoa, on the move, quickly scanned the right side of the field before coming back to the left and delivering a pinpoint pass above Armour-Davis that only Waddle could rise up and grab.
“Tua told us in the huddle, ‘It’s us or them right now,’” Waddle said, “so he called a play, we executed, and luckily, we got the win.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 2:06 PM.
