Dolphins erase early 14-point deficit to rout Panthers, secure best start since 2002
The Miami Dolphins entered Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers as 14-point favorites.
By the end of the first quarter, that script had been flipped with the winless visitors leading 14-0 on the scoreboard.
But the Dolphins continue to show they have reached a point where they can overcome bad stretches of play against teams they’re expected to beat.
Miami put that ugly first quarter behind it quickly, scoring 35 unanswered points to beat Carolina 42-21 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
For the second week in a row, the Dolphins took care of business against one of the NFL’s struggling teams and secured their first 5-1 start since 2002.
The victories over the Panthers (0-6) and New York Giants the past two weeks, while expected by many, were important as the Dolphins’ competition will ramp up again in the coming weeks.
Miami will make a trip to face the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday night and has a matchup with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Frankfurt, Germany, on Nov. 5. Also sandwiched between those games on the Dolphins’ schedule is a home game against the New England Patriots on Oct. 29.
The Dolphins’ explosive offense didn’t crank up to its usual speed until their third drive.
“I think there were some mishaps, but you’ve also got to give credit to their defense,” said quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who completed 21 of 31 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns, a 126.0 passer rating. “Their defense did a good job with what they thought we were going to do, and some of them, they guessed right, and some of them, we just needed to be better with our technique. That’s all the way across the board.”
The Panthers held the Dolphins to a couple of rare three-and-outs and took advantage of a sluggish Miami defense in the first quarter as Carolina rookie quarterback Bryce Young’s 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Adam Thielen put it ahead by two scores with six seconds left in the first.
Almost as a sign of things to come, Tagovailoa found wide receiver Tyreek Hill over the middle for 27 yards to end the quarter.
The play ignited the Dolphins’ offense, which scored touchdowns on five of its next six possessions.
“There was no pressure at all,” Hill said. “Going into games like this one whenever we were down 14-0, there was doubt, but it seemed like today was different. Everybody was calm. Everybody was relaxed because we understand how the game goes and how well we are prepared. You feel me? Our head coach, he has done a great job on preparing this team. Shoutout to him for just getting this team to that level, and it’s awesome to see. It’s awesome to play.”
Tagovailoa and Hill connected six times with the latter amassing 163 receiving yards and scoring on a go-route for a 41-yard touchdown with 1:54 left in the first half that put the Dolphins ahead for good.
On the play, Hill drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for another offbeat celebration when he grabbed a cellphone from a content creator standing behind the end zone and did a backflip while filming himself.
In last week’s win over the Giants, Hill was flagged after going into the stands to give his mother the football.
The Dolphins continue to lead the NFL in chunk yardage plays, bringing their total of plays of over 20 yards this season to 38.
Hill’s yardage total gave him 13 games in his career with 150 or more receiving yards, tying him with Calvin Johnson for third-most in a player’s first eight seasons. Hill now trails only Hall of Famers Lance Alworth (17) and Jerry Rice (16) in that category.
The Dolphins’ ground game and defense did the rest to put away the Panthers.
With rookie De’Von Achane on injured reserve and Jeff Wilson inactive, Raheem Mostert took on more of a featured back role again and ran for over 100 yards for the second time this season.
Mostert scored three touchdowns overall, finishing with two rushing scores and 115 yards on 17 carries. Mostert also caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa for Miami’s first score with 11:13 left in the second quarter.
The Dolphins defense played much more consistently from the second quarter on. A week after they posted seven sacks against the Giants, Miami had four sacks. Defensive lineman Christian Wilkins had two of those sacks, giving him 3.5 for the season, which puts him one short of tying his career-high in a season.
The 21-point victory may ultimately be a footnote in the story of the Dolphins’ season — especially with key matchups looming against the Eagles and Chiefs and possibly pivotal games in the final month of the season. But McDaniel saw this latest juncture as particularly important.
“I thought this game was a special game for us,” he said, “because [we] fell short of expectations early, and so you learn a lot about your team in moments like that, and what I saw was a team that nobody was giving rah-rah to each other at all, but no one was questioning, ‘Hey, guys, we’ve got to pick it up’ insinuating there was a lack of effort. They just went and did their jobs, the same way I would expect them to do it if they were 14-0.
“What happened was the tide turned a little bit, and we took advantage of some opportunities, but you never know until you’re in that situation what’s going to happen with your team. That shows the composure and really that’s what you see from winning teams, is that confidence and other — it was a good maturation day for us for sure, so I was fired up about that. I couldn’t have written a better script.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 4:05 PM.
