Eagles 31, Dolphins 17: Instant analysis
The Miami Dolphins fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 31-17 on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Tua Tagovailoa went 23/32 passing for 216 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Raheem Mostert led the Dolphins on the ground with 45 yards on 9 carries. Tyreek Hill led all Dolphins pass catchers with 11 catches […]
The Miami Dolphins fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 31-17 on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Tua Tagovailoa went 23/32 passing for 216 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Raheem Mostert led the Dolphins on the ground with 45 yards on 9 carries. Tyreek Hill led all Dolphins pass catchers with 11 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Here's what I liked and (a lot of) what I didn't…
What I liked
– The sack-fumble on the Eagles' second drive. Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb met at the quarterback, and one of them knocked the ball out of Jalen Hurts' hands. Hard to see which it was. Regardless, Christian Wilkins recovered, and the Dolphins were in business way in plus territory. Credit to the secondary for good coverage, which caused Hurts to hesitate and get happy feet.
– Tagovailoa threw a dime to Waddle on third-and-8 down for 16 yards down to the 6-yard line. Perfect placement, and Waddle broke out and skied right up to the ball along the sideline.
– Holy smokes, what an incredible catch by Cedric Wilson, Jr. right before the first half two-minute warning to convert a third-and-13. Tagovailoa lobbed it up, and Wilson leapt, grabbed it, and tapped two feet down just in bounds for a 29-yard gain. Very pretty.
– Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill for a 27-yard touchdown with 39 seconds left in the half. James Bradberry was on him and had safety help, and Hill blew between and past both of them for a touchdown where he was open by at least 3 or 4 yards. That's not normal. That's superhuman speed. Unbelievable.
– Phillips followed on the next play with another sack, which ended the half. Phillips was a bright spot on the defense in the first half.
– Tagovailoa kept his composure early despite some regular pressure. He was 13/16 for 129 yards with a touchdown. A nice first half from the Dolphins' QB.
– A tremendous punt by Jake Bailey on the first drive of the second half pinned the Eagles inside their own five. Special teams did its job tonight.
– David Long came on a blitz and forced Hurts to step up and take a sack, forcing second and long. The Eagles ended up punting three plays later.
– Mostert rumbled for 21 and 15 yards on back-to-back runs off the edge in the third quarter. Huh, what do you know? Running outside the tackles isn't a bad thing after all when you're lining up against a brick wall. Better late than never.
– Ball don't lie. After a terrible missed flag on fourth down, Kader Kohou came on a blitz on the very next play and deflected a Hurts pass, and it fell into the arms of Jerome Baker, who returned it 22 yards for a touchdown. Talk about making your own luck.
What I didn't
– The entire Dolphins defense on the first drive. Hurts had all day to throw and made the Dolphins pay with back-to-back strikes to Dallas Goedert for 23 and 22 yards on back-to-back plays. The Eagles settled for a field goal after a strangely conservative call to run Hurts on third-and-goal from the 8-yard line.
– Miami getting a delay of game before its first offensive play. How does that happen?
– Isaiah Wynn was bowled over by Jalen Carter on third down on the Dolphins' first drive, which forced Tua to scramble and throw it away. Wynn left the game, as he was stepped on by Kendall Lamm. He was replaced by Lester Cotton.
– Speaking of Cotton, he was called for a hold on third-and-goal from the 12-yard line that took a touchdown off the board. Miami had to settle for a field goal instead. A flag that took 4 points off the board. Brutal.
– That was a DREADFUL call on roughing the passer on Wilkins to turn a third-and-10 into a first down for the Eagles in field goal range. A pathetically weak call that had an impact on the game. Even rules analyst Terry McAulay on the broadcast called it a bad call. Goedert scored two plays later to take the lead back 10-3.
– Losing track of A.J. Brown on fourth-and-3. It's asking a lot to stay with a player of Brown's caliber for that long, but he got behind everyone while Hurts was scrambling and got the ball down to the 1 for a 32-yard gain. The tush push followed, and the Eagles led 17-3.
– The Eagles' defensive line is nasty. There's no doubt about it. But the Dolphins could get absolutely nothing done on the ground. 4 carries for -7 yards in the first half. Liam Eichenberg and Cotton were absolutely blown up for most of the first half by Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
– As such, why the Dolphins didn't try to run outside more often earlier in the game is a major mystery to me.
– The offense was moving well to start the second half, getting across midfield, but a hold on TE Julian Hill put the Dolphins in second-and-18, which forced a punt. It was a legit call and bad hold, as Hill clumsily wrapped his arms around the defender in a quasi-bear hug. Can't have that happen. Another penalty that likely took points off the board.
– Hill dropping a wide-open touchdown late in the third quarter on third-and-3. Another example of the Dolphins taking point off the board through their own doing. Although on fourth-and-3 Bradberry grabbed Wilson's facemask, and while there clearly should have been a flag thrown, there wasn't. A terrible no-call that also took points off the board.
– Long and Jevon Holland crashed into each other while defending intersecting routes. Both were down on the field for a while but managed to get up and off okay.
– Allowing the Eagles to answer so easily after the Dolphins evened the game up at 17. Miami's corners couldn't stay with Philadelphia's receivers downfield, and Hurts had enough time to make his reads. Methodical. Brown stepped through a would-be tackle after a catch around the five, and he trotted in for the score.
– Tagovailoa's interception intended for Mostert. He threw the ball while backing up, and it was a lollipop, slightly underthrown. Darius Slay peeled off of Waddle, fielded it easily at the 1-yard line and returned it for 16 yards. A throw that should never have been made that, again, took points off the board for Miami, as they were in field goal range at the Philadelphia 24. Miami has cost itself far too many points on Sunday night.
– Brown beat Kohou and DeShon Elliott deep with just under 6 minutes left for a 42-yard gain to put the Eagles in position to get the game-sealing points. Andrew Van Ginkel was one step late getting to Hurts, who stood in and delivered a dime just before he got crunched. A game of inches and tenths of a second.
– Kenneth Gainwell spun off a tackle and into the end zone two plays later, and it was all over but the shouting at 31-17 with a little under 5 minutes left.
– Miami would turn it over on downs on the following series in its own half, and the Eagles bled out the rest of the clock.
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