Five takeaways from the Ravens’ 28-6 drubbing of the Dolphins
Imagine you haven’t done the thing that you love for a month.
And when you finally get the opportunity, it’s in front of friends and family. In your hometown. In prime time.
You probably would want to show out, too?
That’s exactly what Lamar Jackson did in his return from a hamstring injury, leading the Baltimore Ravens to a 28-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Jackson had quite the day, completing 78% of his passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns. He added another 14 yards on the ground.
The Dolphins offense, however, wasn’t able to keep up as the team failed to even score a touchdown. Tua Tagovailoa threw for 261 yards and an interception. De’Von Achane had 101 yards from scrimmage (67 on the ground and 39 through the air). Jaylen Waddle led all pass-catchers with six grabs for 82 yards.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
The Dolphins went into halftime down eight.
That, however, shouldn’t have been the case.
Dolphins wideout Tahj Washington was stripped on his own 18-yard line. Miami missed a field-goal attempt in the red zone in the first quarter. And they failed to convert a fourth down — again, in the red zone — toward the end of the second quarter.
The final straw: a questionable tripping penalty on Ollie Gordon II that negated Tagovailoa’s 36-yard bomb to Waddle. Gordon himself had slipped, leading to him accidentally kicking his leg out and impacting the pass rusher’s path.
“There were elements of the football confidence created last week,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “But the bottom line is, you have to cross your Ts and dot your Is in the National Football League every week, or you may pay. It’s a very, very disappointing and unfortunately, we’re going to have to sit on the disappointment for 10 days.”
This all could have been the difference between a halftime deficit and a halftime lead.
STUFFING THE RUN
The Dolphins’ defense seemingly picked up right where they left off against the run.
Despite the return of Jackson, Baltimore has rushed for just 30 yards on 10 attempts in the first half. Outside of star tailback Derrick Henry’s 14-yard scamper, he has just eight caries for 16 yards during the first two quarters. Jackson, himself, has one sole rush attempt for no gain.
Then the second half began.
Jackson’s effectiveness through the air began to open up more opportunities for Henry and company. The team, itself, ran for 149 yards. A large part: Henry’s monster second half saw the 10-year veteran finish with 119 yards.
“I thought they had a decent game, but a lot of that came towards the end of the game,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said of Henry and Jackson. “The game was out of reach. A lot of garbage time, to be honest with you. I felt like we played well defensively in the first half, but like I said, turnovers, that kills you. Not capitalizing, not scoring when we could, giving him the ball back, giving him an extra set of downs. Players like that, they’re going to find a way to get in the end zone so we got to capitalize when we got the chance to and play complementary football.”
OFFENSE MOVING BALL WELL – AT FIRST
The Dolphins had more than 100 additional offensive yards than the Ravens in the first half.
Granted, the Ravens had a touchdown drive that began at the Miami 11, however, the Dolphins should have more points.
“I would say it’s frustrating offensively, and all the guys felt that same way,” Tagovailoa said. “It’s frustrating because we knew we were a little off here, a little off there, and we had some mistakes, we had some penalties, some crucial ones at that, and we just weren’t able to capitalize.”
That, once again, changed in the second half.
The drives went as follows: three-and-out. Punt. Fumble. Interception.
This wouldn’t lead to wins against even the most pedestrian NFL teams, let alone the Ravens and their elite offensive talent.
TURNOVERS
Win the turnover battle, win the game.
Unfortunately, the Dolphins were minus-three in that regard. In addition to Washington’s fumble, Malik Washington lost the ball early in the fourth quarter. Midway through the final period, Tagovailoa also tossed an interception.
“We got to capitalize when we get down to the red zone,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said. “We just had too many turnovers today, and I feel like that really hurt us.”
INJURIES GALORE:
It’s difficult not to acknowledge the plethora of injuries that might have impacted the game.
First, Ifeatu Melifnowu went down with a toe injury in the second quarter. Then Chop Robinson exited with a concussion. An ankle injury subsequently forced Gordon out, leaving the Dolphins with just one tailback, as Jaylen Wright was a healthy scratch.
Finally, Rasul Douglas suffered a toe injury in the third quarter that kept him out for the rest of the game.
While McDaniel noted that Gordon likely could’ve returned, he will know more about Douglas and Melifonwu’s status on Friday.
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM.
