Dolphins win gut-check game to stay in playoff race while eliminating the Patriots | Opinion
This is what December football often becomes.
It’s playing with a makeshift offensive line, and then having to fill out another hole because the starting left guard leaves the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.
It’s playing with a passing game that is missing the starting tight end, who leads the team in receiving touchdowns, and the No. 1 receiver, who leads the team in receptions and yards, and the No. 2 receiver, who also happens to be the punt and kick returner.
It’s groping for something that works on offense.
It’s fighting and scratching to keep the team in the game on defense.
You wanted December games that matter?
Welcome to games that twist knots in your stomach.
And you better love it. Because it beats being irrelevant at the end of the season.
So you got that kind of game from the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots on Sunday.
Dolphins 22.
Patriots 12.
This was a gut-check game. And the Dolphins passed the exam.
Miami’s record improves to 9-5 which keeps the team on track to make the AFC playoffs as a wildcard team. If the Dolphins can win each of their final two games, they are assured of being in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Patriots? They’re eliminated from playoff contention courtesy this loss.
Credit this game, in which the Dolphins had to grind out the victory, for keeping Miami on the right track.
This one had it all, with the possible exception of snow on the ground and mud substituting for grass.
You got a game in which the Dolphins finally figured out in the second half that if they were going to win, it had to happen by running the football like they did in the old days.
And the Dolphins did that to the tune of 250 net rushing yards. It was a season high.
The most important run of the game? It was much like this game in that it was unspectacular and difficult to accomplish, but when Tua Tagovailoa snuck in from 1-yard out with 3:13 to play, it sealed the victory for Miami.
The play was appropriate somehow. Because the player drafted by Miami to throw the team to grand heights, used his feet and power to score. Yeah, not what you expected.
Tagovailoa completed 20 of 26 passes to a receiver corps made of mostly of reserves. But the damage was minimal as Tagovailoa’s passes accounted for 145 yards and he had an interception.
The heavy lifting for Miami’s offense was done by Salvon Ahmed and Matt Breida, two running backs who have missed games because of injuries or because of being on the Covid reserve list.
Ahmed rushed for a career-high 122 yards on 23 carries.
Breida delivered 86 yards on 12 carries.
You got a game in which the Dolphins kept the Patriots offense out of the end zone. Oh, sure, New England scored 12 points. But all of them were from Nick Folk field goals.
The Dolphins defense was dominant although late-game desperation by the Patriots did contribute to their modest 303 total yards.
Fittingly, a sack by Emmaneul Ogbah ended New England’s hopes for a comeback. He sacked New England quarterback Cam Newton to put the game away.
So the grind goes to the Dolphins.
And that’s what December games can be: A tough grind.
This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 4:04 PM.
