Miami Dolphins' playoff dreams continue thanks to a defensive gem in win over Browns
The Miami Dolphins did what they had to do on Sunday without their star quarterback, defeating the Cleveland Browns 20-3 on the road. Tua Tagovailoa, as expected, was announced as inactive for the contest. He was downgraded to doubtful on Saturday with a hip injury that limited him in practice throughout the week. As such, […]
The Miami Dolphins did what they had to do on Sunday without their star quarterback, defeating the Cleveland Browns 20-3 on the road.
Tua Tagovailoa, as expected, was announced as inactive for the contest. He was downgraded to doubtful on Saturday with a hip injury that limited him in practice throughout the week. As such, the ball was put into Tyler Huntley's hands once again.
The defense made sure he didn't have to do a whole lot of heavy lifting to escape Northeast Ohio with the win.
Miami held the Browns to 276 yards on Sunday, 162 passing and 114 rushing. Cleveland QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson had a rough day, completing just 24 of 47 pass attempts for 162 yards and an interception. He also lost a fumble after a sack by Emmanuel Ogbah.
The Dolphins put the Browns into third down in basically what felt like series after series. Cleveland faced 17 third downs for the game, converting 7 of them.
But it was on the true money down where the Dolphins made their hay for the day. Miami thwarted the Browns all four times that Cleveland went for it on fourth down, including three times in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Ramsey broke up a pass intended for Jerry Jeudy in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to kill one drive. Jordyn Brooks grabbed Michael Woods and marshaled him out of bounds short of the line with 4 minutes left to kill another drive. Then, with seconds left and the Dolphins up by 17, Thompson-Robinson turned it over one last time after misconnecting with Elijah Moore.
Miami had to lean on its defense when Tagovailoa was on injured reserve earlier this season, and the returns were mixed. They certainly weren't on Sunday. To his credit, Huntley acquitted himself well, completing 22 of 26 attempts for 225 yards with a touchdown and adding 52 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
All in all, it was what the Dolphins needed in order to extend their season one more week. And that's all Miami fans could ask for at this point.
