More feats for Tagovailoa - ‘He’s a magician.’ And Dolphins news, notes at every position
Notes, by position, as the Dolphins prepare for Thursday night’s critical game at Green Bay:
QUARTERBACK
Tua Tagovailoa woke up on Monday ranked first in the NFL in completion percentage (73.3), fifth in QB rating at 106.3 and eighth in average yards passing per game (251.4). In Dolphins single-season history, that passer rating trails only Dan Marino’s 108.9 in 1984.
And Tagovailoa’s passer rating is a league-best 116.3 in his five games since returning from a concussion.
“He was out for four games and the Dolphins averaged 10 points,” said NBC’s Jason Garrett, who will fill in for Cris Collinsworth, alongside Mike Tirico, on the call of Thursday’s Dolphins-Packers game on NBC. “He’s back and they average 30. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this thing out. The guy is Magic Johnson. I’ve never seen a guy see the field this quickly and get the ball out of his hands so quickly into these holes where guys can catch it. He’s a magician. When you take this guy out of the lineup, no one can replace him. He’s playing as well as anyone in the league right now.”
Tagovailoa is now 7-0 against the Patriots in his career. Among active quarterbacks, only Jimmy Garoppolo has a better record against another team; he’s 8-0 against the Rams.
Tagovailoa has completed at least 70 percent of his passes in five consecutive games, the longest streak of his career and the longest ongoing streak in the NFL.
RUNNING BACK
De’Von Achane’s two touchdowns gave him 19 in 22 games as a pro. He leads the Dolphins in both touchdowns rushing (three) and receiving (five). In Sunday’s 34-15 victory against New England, he became the 12th player this season to have two touchdown receptions in a single quarter.
Achane, who averaged just 3.2 yards on his 10 carries, played 36 snaps, compared with 21 for Raheem Mostert (two carries, five yards) and 13 for Jaylen Wright, who averaged 4.0 yards on seven carries but had a fumble returned for a touchdown.
Fullback Alec Ingold played only nine offensive snaps after missing two games with a calf injury; he’s going to be need to augment a running game that has been erratic recently.
WIDE RECEIVER
Jaylen Waddle’s 144 receiving yards were his most ever in a home game and second most in any game, behind the 171 he produced in a September 2022 game at Baltimore. Waddle played 52 of the Dolphins’ 68 offensive snaps and Tyreek Hill played 50.
Malik Washington, as usual, had the third-most offensive snaps among receivers, with 23, compared with 17 for Odell Beckham Jr. and 16 for River Cracraft.
“It’s a ball-control passing offense,” NBC’s Chris Simms said. “They almost kind of bore you. Three yards here, four yards here...they do that, the defense widens, and then it’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle down the middle and you watch them go. They’re really efficient, they control the clock, and their defense is playing really well.”
TIGHT END
Jonnu Smith’s 535 receiving yards are tied for fifth (with New England’s Hunter Henry) among all NFL tight ends this season. On Sunday, he became the first Dolphins tight end to have touchdown receptions in consecutive games since Mike Gesicki in November and December 2020.
Smith played 47 of Miami’s 68 offensive snaps. Julian Hill played 31 and Durham Smythe 25.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The lopsided score allowed Terron Armstead to sit out the final 19 plays on offense; Patrick Paul played those 19 snaps at left tackle. The Dolphins allowed two sacks, but Pro Football Focus did not blame either on the offensive line.
Center Aaron Brewer (43 pass blocking snaps) and Armstead (35) did not allow a single quarterback pressure.
PFF graded right guard Liam Eichenberg, Paul and Brewer as Miami’s best run blockers on Sunday.
DEFENSIVE LINE
PFF rated Zach Sieler as Miami’s second-best defensive player on Sunday, behind only outside linebacker Chop Robinson.
Sieler played 46 of 69 defensive snaps, while Calais Campbell played 35, Da’Shawn Hand 32, Benito Jones 28 and Neil Farrell 15.
PFF rated Jones seventh among 18 players who appeared on defense for Miami on Sunday; he has raised his game over the past three weeks.
“This defensive line has stepped up,” NBC’s Devin McCourty said. “You talk about an older Calais Campbell, Zach Sieler, the rookie Chop Robinson...they’re making teams do things they don’t want to do because of the pressure they can apply...it lets the corners and safeties play free and play fast.”
LINEBACKER
At outside linebacker, Robinson had a remarkable 10 quarterback pressures and 1.5 sacks in 28 pass rushing chances against New England. He now has 22 pressures and 3.5 sacks over the past three weeks, a period in which he has the NFL’s highest pass rush win rate.
At outside linebacker, Emmanuel Ogbah played 42 snaps, Robinson 35, Tyus Bowser 30 and Quinton Bell 21. Ogbah had three pressures and a sack. PFF rated Bowser the fourth-best player overall on Miami’s defense on Sunday, behind Robinson, Sieler and Anthony Walker Jr.
As for inside linebacker… With Walker leaving after 18 snaps because of a hamstring injury, Tyrel Dodson logged 48 defensive snaps and he had five tackles and an interception. PFF rated him eighth of Miami’s 18 defenders on Sunday, and PFF said Dodson and fellow inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks (who played every defensive snap, as usual) were Miami’s best players against the run. But Dodson played only eight snaps against the run.
SAFETY
PFF rated Jordan Poyer sixth and Jevon Holland 18th and last among all Dolphins defenders on Sunday. Both played every defensive snap, as usual.
Holland permitted three receptions in four targets for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Poyer allowed two completions in four targets for 21 yards.
CORNERBACK
With Kendall Fuller missing a second game in a row with a concussion, rookie Storm Duck (48 snaps) again played more than Cam Smith, who logged 16 snaps.
PFF rated Duck fifth among 18 Dolphins defenders on Sunday; he allowed just one of four passes in his coverage area to be caught, for 10 yards. Smith permitted one of two passes to be caught for six yards.
Jalen Ramsey and Kader Kohou logged all 69 defensive snaps; both allowed four of five passes to be caught, per PFF, with Ramsey allowing 53 yards and Kohou 34 yards on those receptions.
This story was originally published November 25, 2024 at 11:19 AM.
