Miami Dolphins break franchise scoring record, rout Denver Broncos in home opener
The Miami Dolphins don’t need much time to ignite their offense these days.
After three plays and a minute and 23 seconds, wide receiver Tyreek Hill was already celebrating a touchdown catch with fans behind the wall beyond the corner of the end zone.
Hill’s 54-yard touchdown from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was just the beginning of another offensive track meet the Dolphins used to overwhelm the Denver Broncos on their way to a record-setting 70-20 victory at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami’s 70 points set the franchise record for points in a game, surpassing a 55-14 win on Thanksgiving Day at St. Louis on Nov. 24, 1977. It was the highest score by an NFL team in a regular season game since Washington scored 72 on Nov. 27, 1966.
The Dolphins also set the franchise record for most scrimmage yards in a game with 726 (376 passing, 350 rushing). According to NFL Research, the Dolphins were the second team since 1940 to finish with 300-plus passing yards and 300-plus rushing yards in the same game. Their 350 rushing yards is a franchise record. And Miami came up nine yards short of the NFL record for most yards in a game set by the Rams in 1951.
The Dolphins are 3-0 for the second consecutive season.
And you can largely credit that to speed, speed, and even more speed up and down its roster, which has Dolphins fans dreaming big as they head into a crucial tilt at AFC East nemesis Buffalo (2-1) next weekend.
“To be able to put up 70 points, I think that’s going to put a lot of teams on notice that we’re nothing to play with,” said running back Raheem Mostert, who totaled 142 yards and scored four of the 10 touchdowns. “We’re that team just to put it blunt.”
Even without one of its most explosive weapons in receiver Jaylen Waddle, who was sidelined due to a concussion, the Dolphins’ offensive arsenal put the game out of reach by halftime after scoring 35 points. It tied for the second-highest scoring half in franchise history and the team’s most since 2015 against the Texans.
Miami racked up 344 total yards by halftime and scored on five of its first six drives. The Dolphins became only the fifth team since 1970 to score at least four touchdowns rushing and four passing in the same game.
“This isn’t compared to anything that I’ve seen or been a part of,” Tagovailoa said. “Just talks about the resilience of our team, although we were up going into halftime, I’m very proud of the guys and the way they continued to play. No one took their foot off the gas. Everyone continued to play. That’s the result that we got.”
Hill was timed at 22.07 miles per hour on one of his nine catches for 157 yards for the game — the fastest ball carrier speed this season in the NFL according to NextGen Stats.
In fact, the Dolphins now have the five fastest such plays in the league this season. Hill has three of them.
Mostert had one of 21.62 seconds last week at New England, and he ran for 82 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries on Sunday.
The other belongs to the newest addition to their arsenal, rookie running back De’Von Achane, who ran for 203 yards and two touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes in his first significant NFL action. One of Achane’s runs clocked at 21.5 mph per NextGen Stats.
Tagovailoa conducted the entire operation with one of the most accurate starts ever by a Dolphins quarterback. He completed his first 17 passes for 215 yards. It was a career-high for passes without an incompletion to start a game and fell one short of the franchise record set by Ryan Tannehill.
One of those was a no-look shovel pass to Achane for a 4-yard touchdown that put the Dolphins ahead 21-7 with 10:16 to go in the second quarter.
Tagovailoa finished with a 155.8 passer rating, completing 23 of 26 passes for 309 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Backup Mike White entered the game after Tagovailoa’s final touchdown pass to Achane early in the fourth quarter. White then clinched the first 60-plus point game in Dolphins history with a 68-yard touchdown pass to Robbie Chosen.
The only time the Dolphins failed to score came when they were stopped short on a fourth-and-inches gamble at their own 34 with five minutes left in the second quarter, punted once, when time ran out at the end of the first half and when they took a knee on their final drive, bypassing the option to set the record for most points in a game.
“It felt like chasing points and chasing a record, that’s not what we came into the game to do,” Dolphins coach McDaniel said. “That doesn’t have a bearing on the overall season outcome ... the message that I thought it would send wasn’t really in line with how I view things.”
The Dolphins’ offensive line, which saw the debut of left tackle Terron Armstead did not allow a sack while the starters were in the game. Miami also did not punt while their offensive starters were in the game.
Even after McDaniel emptied the bench early in the fourth quarter, the fireworks didn’t stop.
After White’s long touchdown throw, Achane clinched the first 70-point game in Dolphins history when he broke loose for a 67-yard touchdown run.
“Shame on us if you put a ceiling on what you’re capable of,” McDaniel said. “If you just worry about the right things, you don’t worry about anything but your technique and fundamentals and your assignment within the team. You don’t worry about stats, you don’t worry about credit, it’s amazing what a group of people can do going in one direction.
“I think the points don’t carry over, but I do think this is a meaningful game for a lot of guys to understand to not let an opportunity on the field together slip through your fingers in any way, shape or form because collectively, we have all the right people to do some pretty cool stuff on the football field.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2023 at 4:23 PM.
