Dolphins defense couldn’t take advantage of momentum swings in loss to Eagles

For the Dolphins’ defense — shades of Charles Dickens — Sunday night’s 31-17 loss to Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles was both the best of times and the worst of times.

But in the end, despite sacking Hurts three times and forcing a interception when Kader Kohou batted a pass right into Jordan Baker’s hands for a pick-six that momentarily tied the score, the bottom line was an loss.

Which is undoubtedly what stuck with them on the flight home. “After every game there’s always something good you can take from it,” said Kohou, after Hurts shook off that disastrous moment to lead the Eagles on consecutive scoring drives of 75 and 83 yards to regain the momentum for good. “It was a game we could’ve won, but didn’t.

“So it’s tough to go home with an ‘L.’”

Yet not totally unexpected for a defense that gave up 48 points a few weeks ago in Buffalo, the best team it had faced to this point. “We’ve got to take advantage of momentum swings,” said linebacker Jaelen Phillips, who had a sack and five solo tackles in his second game back from an oblique injury. “When the offense scores we need to come out and get a stop and vice versa.

“We did that a couple of times. But when the score was close ultimately one or two momentum swings and the game gets out of hand.

“Ultimately that’s the story.”

While no one wanted to quite pinpoint what went wrong in the immediate aftermath of Baker’s second career touchdown, they grudgingly gave credit to the 6-1 Eagles.

“I don’t think anything necessarily changed,” said linebacker Bradley Chubb, who had two sacks and forced a Hurts fumble that eventually resulted in an 40-yard Jason Sanders field goal. “They took advantage of stuff we weren’t doing, made big plays and got the momentum back.

“Hurts was amazing, the way he’s able to navigate the pocket and escape. I thought we played good, but at the end of the day good isn’t good enough. At times the defense stepped up, but we needed to step up in a big way to keep the momentum on our side.”

While Hurts continually kept finding his favorite receiver, A.J. Brown, who hauled in 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown, along with tight end Dallas Goedert (5 for 77 and a score), the play that essentially sealed the Dolphins’ fate was the one they knew was coming.

Call it the “tush push”or “Brotherly Shove,” the Eagles simply line up behind Hurts on short-yardage situations and drive him past the fist down marker.

The Eagles succeeded all four times they tried, including twice deep in their own territory while clinging to a 24-17 lead.

While it was certainly frustrating, at the same time there was a bit of admiration in the losing locker room.

“They found a play that works for them, so I can’t be mad at them,“ Kohou said. “Usually when you get a team to fourth-and-2 it’s a win for the defense.

“But they have that play in their repertoire.”

Baker seconded that. “That’s a helluva play,” he agreed. “I don’t think anybody’s stopped it yet.

“They’ve got the personnel for it. The quarterback for it. They just lift him up and push him forward.”

Between Hurts’ pinpoint passing and his knack of running, it added up to a night of frustration for the Dolphins. Yet looking at the big picture they remain confident.

Confident enough to even visualize a rematch way down the line. That would mean in Las Vegas at the Super Bowl.

“It definitely wouldn’t shock me,” Phillips said. “I think they have the talent and we have the talent as well.”

Which would mean one final chapter in this Philadelphia vs. Miami

“Tale of Two Cities.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 1:38 AM.