Nov
16
These don’t look like the grades of a team that pulled off a hard-fought victory against a potential “contender.”
The only units that looked consistently good were the defensive line and wide receivers, and even then it depended on the players in question.
Among the wide receivers, Rishard Matthews and Jarvis Landry were their usual selves on Sunday, combining for 12 catches, 145 yards and a touchdown. There were three big receptions from Miami’s top two receivers, with Landry coming down with a touchdown pass that was originally deflected at the line of scrimmage, as well as a first-down conversion late in the fourth quarter that helped to seal the game.
Matthews got the Dolphins in the red zone at the end of the third quarter (which set up Landry’s touchdown) with a 43-yard catch-and-run that went down to Miami’s 8-yard line.
Kenny Stills, on the other hand, had some brain farts, including a big dropped pass on a deep ball in the first half.
As for the defensive line, this was Ndamukong Suh‘s best game as a Miami Dolphin. The Eagles thought it would be a good idea to keep him single-covered, an idea that Suh took advantage of, leading to eight tackles, three for a loss, and a sack. He also freed up gaps for the other defensive linemen and linebackers to run amok and get into Philadelphia’s backfield, stifling a run game that looked poised to run roughshod throughout the game.
On the other end of that defensive line spectrum was Olivier Vernon, whose continuous miscues always find a way to cost the Dolphins. His decision in the first half to pick up a fumble to run it in (while never gaining control of the ball) instead of falling on the football for the recovery deep in Eagles territory cost the Dolphins at least three points.
The linebackers were atrocious, but part of that had to do with their lack of depth, as Jelani Jenkins got hurt in the first half. The secondary was equally thin without Brent Grimes (who missed the entire game, more on that later), and losing Brice McCain. They did a slightly better job of stepping it up as the game went along, though, as it was Reshad Jones who picked up an interception late in the fourth quarter on a drive where the Eagles looked like they would take back the lead.
Special teams were all over the place, contributing to Miami’s bad field position (with Damien Williams’ ill-conceived return pinning Miami at the one and leading to a safety) while also committing bad penalties. On the upside, they did block a punt.
It was an uneven game from almost everyone involved. You might say the Dolphins didn’t deserve to win this game, which I won’t argue, but either way they came out victorious.
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