Dolphins Were Finally Resilient In Week 5
Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
It’s hard to think of teams that have been bitten harder by the injury bug than the Miami Dolphins this season. Beyond the devastating Tua Tagovailoa injury, the Phins have had big-time contributors Raheem Mostert, Kendall Fuller, and Terron Armstead miss games. Just this week, we found out that Jaelan Phillips would be out for the rest of the season after knee surgery.
But more concerning even than the injuries has been the fact that Miami displayed zero push-back over the past few weeks. In the two weeks since losing Tua in a 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins were punchless, scoring a combined 15 points.
For a while, it looked like more of the same on Sunday against the New England Patriots. After taking their first lead of the season on a field goal, Tyler Huntley threw an interception (which set up a 31-yard touchdown run by Rhamondre Stevenson) on Miami’s next drive. On their third drive, the Dolphins lost star running back De’Von Achane, who led the team in all-purpose yards, to a concussion. To add insult to injury, Jason Saunders would go on to miss a 41-yard field goal seven plays later.
At the half, the Phins once again looked punchless, trailing the 7-3, posting just 174 yards through 30 minutes. In addition to their offensive woes, Miami also had a punt blocked, then fumbled on another field goal attempt. It looked like yet another humiliating loss to drop them to 1-4.
But then, the Dolphins finally showed something we hadn’t seen from them in weeks: Life.
The Patriots drove for a field goal to get ahead by a touchdown, a seemingly insurmountable lead for this battered Dolphins team to overcome. That would be the last points the Patriots scored on the day, as Miami roared back with three straight scoring drives to gain a 15-10 lead, punctuated by a short-yardage touchdown run punched in by Alec Ingold.
.@AI_XLV does it all 😤 pic.twitter.com/XTezIhSmhV
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) October 6, 2024
The biggest reason for this second-half comeback was Miami finally unlocking the running game. In the past two weeks, the Dolphins ran the ball 48 times for a total of 171 yards. On Sunday, Mike McDaniel unleashed the ground attack 40 times and was rewarded with 193 yards.
In the second half alone, Miami ran 21 times for 112 yards — over five yards per carry. Not only did Mostert return to form in his first game since Week 1 (19 carries, 80 yards), but we finally saw Jaylen Wright‘s breakout game. The fourth-rounder from April took over the Achane role and his speed paid off for Miami. His 13 carries and 86 yards (10 and 74 in the second half) kept the Dolphins moving forward on their three scoring drives, picking up four first downs. Wright could have had even more, as well, had a 35-yard gain not been called back for a penalty.
“I think the running back room was ready to put the team on their back, so to speak,” said McDaniel after the game. “I think having Raheem back was awesome. It was unfortunate to lose De’Von for sure. Then you saw a rookie play some snaps where you can feel his confidence just being established.”
The running game and defense isn’t a familiar formula for the flashy Dolphins, but it was how they needed to play to get into the win column without Tua. “We challenged each other to be able to win a game like that just in general and not have to have super explosive plays to win a football game,” McDaniel told the media. “To put together a 17-play drive at the end of the game… That’s something we can build upon as we clean up the layers of things we have to clean up.”
Unfortunately, the Dolphins took more punches, losing Jevon Holland with a potentially season-ending hand injury in the fourth quarter. But for one week, Miami looked like a team that can roll with those punches, and even against a 1-4 New England team, that has to be a refreshing sight.
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