Who graded out well, poorly in Dolphins win. Playing time news and more Tagovailoa feats
Who’s to credit and who’s to blame for what went right, and what went wrong, against the Jets?
Start with the good stuff, beyond Tua Tagovialoa’s exceptional work.
Tyreek Hill (10 receptions, 115 yards) and Jaylen Waddle (9 for 99) had their best combined day (214 yards), topping their 143-yard combined receiving total in the opener against Jacksonville.
Pro Football Focus gave very high grades to right tackle Kendall Lamm, both as a pass blocker and run blocker. PFF said Lamm was Miami’s second-best player on offense on Sunday, behind only Waddle and just ahead of Tagovailoa.
Except Lamm, every Dolphins offensive lineman who finished the game gave up exactly two pressures; Lamm allowed none. Tagovailoa wasn’t sacked all day.
On defense, PFF rated Jordyn Brooks, Jordan Poyer and Calais Campbell as Miami’s top three players.
So who was to blame for the problems that nearly torpedoed the Dolphins in their 32-26 overtime win?
The running game mustered just 44 yards on 19 carries (2.3 per attempt), and PFF rated tight end Julian Hill and receiver Tyreek Hill as Miami’s worst run blockers Sunday.
Both had horrific run-blocking grades, and the run-blocking numbers for left tackle Patrick Paul (filling in for the injured Terron Armstead) and left guard Robert Jones weren’t much better. Fullback Alec Ingold also posted subpar run-blocking numbers in seven snaps when he was asked to block.
On defense, two Jets rookie running backs — Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis — combined for 83 yards on 4.0 per carry. PFF said Emmanuel Ogbah, Jevon Holland, Benito Jones and Quinton Bell were the Dolphins’ worst run defenders on Sunday.
The pass defense permitted Aaron Rodgers’ first 300-yard passing game in 35 games, and PFF pinned much of the blame on Jalen Ramsey, Kendall Fuller, Kader Kohou and Anthony Walker Jr.
Ramsey allowed six of eight passes thrown in his coverage area to be caught for 146 yards. (Garrett Wilson was responsible for four of those catches and 97 of those yards.)
Fuller permitted 7 of 10 targets to be caught for 60 yards.
Kohou yielded five completions in five targets for 32 yards and a touchdown.
Walker, matched up against Jets receivers, running backs and tight ends, permitted five of six passes to be caught for 61 yards.
ARMSTEAD UPDATE
Armstead, who left early in Sunday’s game with a knee injury that has given him problems for weeks, needs rest but not surgery, Mike McDaniel said.
“We will let it cool down a little bit,” McDaniel said. His status for Sunday’s game at Houston (1 p.m., CBS) is in question.
SNAP DECISIONS
Some notable snap counts on offense:
De’Von Achane played 60 of Miami’s 72 offensive snaps, with Jaylen Wright logging 14 and Jeff Wilson Jr. 4…
At receiver, Hill played 70 of 72 snaps, an unusually high number for him. Jaylen Waddle played 59, Malik Washington 30, Odell Beckham Jr. 10 and Dee Eskridge 4 before leaving with an injury.
Armstead managed to play only five snaps before Paul played the final 67.
PFF rated Paul 15th best of 19 players who received snaps on offense Sunday. But to his credit, Paul allowed no sacks and just two pressures on 49 pass blocking plays.
Some notable snap counts on defense:
Holland, Poyer, Brooks and Ramsey played all 68 snaps, and Fuller played 67 snaps….
At outside linebacker Ogbah played 47 defensive snaps, Chop Robinson 37, Bell 28 and Mo Kamara 3. Robinson had three pressures on 24 pass-rushing snaps….
On the defensive line, Zach Sieler played 56 of 68 defensive snaps, while Calais Campbell played 43, Da’Shawn Hand 38, Jones 36 and Neil Farrell 3…
Miami gave six defensive snaps to linebacker Tyrel Dotson and three to safety Elijah Campbell.
TAGOVAILOA FEATS
▪ Tagovailoa joined Dan Marino as the second Dolphins quarterback to throw for 300 yards in three consecutive games. Marino did it four times, most recently in 1998.
Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield are the only other NFL quarterbacks to do that this season.
▪ Tagovailoa had his seventh consecutive game with a completion percentage of 70 or better. That’s the third-longest streak in NFL history, behind Joe Montana and Drew Brees, who did it eight games in a row.
▪ Tagovailoa is now 5-0 against the Jets and 7-0 against the Patriots. He’s the only active quarterback to have a record of 5-0 or better against two opponents.
▪ Tagovailoa has thrown 184 consecutive passes without an interception, the second-longest streak of his career. His personal record in 193.
▪ Tagovailoa has thrown at least one TD pass in 13 games in a row, the second-longest ongoing NFL streak behind Lamar Jackson’s 20.
He has now thrown at least one TD in 34 of his past 35 games.
His streak of three straight games with 300 yards passing, two TDs and no interceptions is the longest in franchise history.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 11:02 AM.
