Have a look at the statistics sheet and it appears like a winner.
The Miami Dolphins had 23 first downs to Minnesota’s 11 … ran 73 performs to Minnesota’s 51 … had 385 yards passing to Minnesota’s 156 … and 458 complete yards to Minnesota’s 239.
That’s what occurs when you've gotten 10 penalties (for 97 yards) and three turnovers and may’t shut out one other recreation within the fourth quarter. Their 3-0 begin is now a 3-3 season.
Listed below are 10 ideas on the sport:
1. Play of the sport: With the Dolphins driving for a go-ahead rating with about three minutes left, Teddy Bridgewater confronted a second-and-14 and threw over the center to Jaylen Waddle. The receiver minimize upfield and had the 14 yards for a primary down when was hit and fumbled. Minnesota recovered at its 26-yard line and returned to the 41. Two gamers later, Minnesota had a game-sealing landing and certainly one of Waddle’s questions received underlined. He dropped a ball earlier that was intercepted. Hill had 5 catches for 80 yards, however the two turnovers are what impacted the sport most.
2. Stat of the sport: The Dolphins used two quarterbacks for the third straight recreation. You understand how they are saying accidents are a part of the sport? They’re a part of each recreation for Dolphins quarterbacks. Skylar Thompson seemed on his solution to proving why Mike McDaniel began the seventh-round rookie in Sunday’s first half. His stats of seven of 13 for 89 yards hardly informed the story. Two passes had been dropped. Just a few different huge performs had been known as again by penalty (see No. 5). He then appeared to bang his thumb on a Vikings helmet on following via a cross and he was finished for the day. In got here Bridgewater, who was cleared of concussion protocol on Saturday regardless of by no means having a concussion (we don’t have to get into all that once more, can we?). Bridgewater struggled in the beginning, as may be anticipated for a quarterback who couldn’t observe a lot this previous week and had one aborted play all season. He completed robust in finishing 23-of-34 passes for 329 yards two touchdowns and two interceptions. If not for that Waddle fumble, he’d have had an opportunity to win it.
3. Proper till the very finish when Dalvin Prepare dinner broke a 53-yard run after Waddle’s fumble, the Dolphins protection stored them within the recreation. Take its work after a faked punt received stopped brief on the Dolphins 33-yard line within the third quarter of a 10-3 recreation. Christian Wilkins stopped a receiver display screen for minus-6 yards. Wilkins then stopped Prepare dinner for a one-yard loss. After an unlawful process penalty on Minnesota and an incompletion, Minnesota confronted fourth-and-22 and extra importantly was pushed out of discipline purpose vary. The protection did this virtually all day. Minnesota didn’t get its preliminary first down till late within the second quarter. Nevertheless it typically was the place it was put in. When Waddle dropped a cross that was intercepted on the Miami 41 simply earlier than half, Minnesota simply received a discipline purpose. There have been solely 15 seconds left within the half on that possession so a greater instance was when a Minnesota punt return gave it the ball on the Dolphins’ 49 within the third quarter. It ended up dropping seven yards that possession due to a sack by Raekwon Davis. The protection did the whole lot however …
4. Stat of the Recreation II: Minnesota 3-0 on takeaways. That’s a mirrored image of each side for the Dolphins. The offense was free with the ball with Waddle accountable for two turnovers. It’s the third straight recreation the protection didn’t get a takeaway. The Dolphins are actually minus-5 on turnovers for the season, which is usually an excellent reflection of how the 12 months is trending.
5. Did you see essentially the most irritating Dolphins non-drive in, oh, the final decade on Sunday? It summed up how they might have nice statistics and lose. On their second possession Sunday, the Dolphins began at their 17-yard line and their first three performs had been a Thompson cross for 30 yard to Waddle, a Raheem Mostert run for 16 after which a cross to Tyreek Hill for 9. After a 3-yard run, that they had first-and-10 on the Vikings 24. That’s the place issues received, uh, attention-grabbing. Listed below are the highlights:
* First-and-10 at 24: Robert Hunt illegal-procedure penalty;
* First-and-15 at 29: Thompson cross to Trent Sherfield for 20 yards is known as again when middle Connor Williams is flagged for unlawful man downfield;
* First-and-20 at 34: Thompson cross to River Cracraft for 30 yards to the Minnesota 2-yard line is known as by holding penalty on guard Liam Eichenberg;
* Second-and-12 at 26: Go to Hill for 9 yards known as again by offensive-interference penalty by Alec Ingold;
* Third-and-22 at 36: Thompson cross to Waddle for six yards known as again by holding on Sherfield.
That’s not simply 5 penalties in seven performs from scrimmage. That’s 65 yards of offense being negated by these penalties. The Dolphins turned a positive field-goal try, and presumably landing a few instances, right into a punt.
6. The Dolphins have accidents at quarterback, sort out and now the cornerback place was all the way down to crumbs due to accidents. Within the second half, when the protection was put in dangerous positions, Noah Igbinoghene was at one cornerback and Justin Bethel was in on some packages for the primary time this 12 months. That’s as a result of rookie Kader Kohou was out this recreation, Nik Needham was misplaced within the first half and brought out on a stretcher with a foul ankle damage and Keion Crossen was dominated out for the second half with a knee damage. The depth at cornerback was a query coming into this season with Byron Jones out. The undrafted Kohou supplied some aid there. However you'll be able to wager the Dolphins will likely be scouring for assist both on observe squads or because the commerce deadline approaches.
7. The weekly Tyreek-Hill-is-a-beast word. Minnesota protection had one rule Sunday: Don’t let Hill or Waddle get deep. Its safeties lined up most performs in Broward County. Hill nonetheless had insane impression on the sport in catching brief passes and zipping via the secondary. He had 12 catches for 177 yards and far of them had been after the catch. Greatest play? On fourth-and-5 on the Miami 48 with simply over six minutes left, McDaniel went for it and Bridgewater’s cross to Hill ended with a 14-yard achieve. For a man on the damage report this week, Hill was a dominant participant simply as he has been all season.
8. Jason Sanders is 0-for-3 on discipline objectives over 50 yards with a miss from 52 in Sunday’s second quarter. That’s not an enormous pattern measurement and Sander is 14-for-24 in his profession over 50 yards. Neither is this to query Sanders’ expertise as he’s made all seven discipline objectives below 50 yards this 12 months after Sunday’s 44-yarder within the first quarter. There’s room to say this offense has to get into makeable field-goal vary and to say these are costly misses by Sanders. Twenty-four kickers have made discipline objectives over 50 yards this 12 months. Ten kickers have no less than three discipline objectives of over 50 yards this season. 5 kickers have 4 discipline objectives over 50 yards and three (Justin Tucker, Graham Gano and Daniel Carlson) are 4 for 4. The purpose is, Sanders has to make a few of these. The bigger factors is the particular groups …
9. … proceed to have issues. Two aforementioned performs within the third quarter continued that narrative with the missed discipline purpose. A pretend punt the place a snap to brief again Clayton Fejedelem got here up brief. A 25-yard punt return put Minnesota on the Dolphins 49-yard line. Throw in Minnesota punter Ryan Wright’s 73-yard punt that reversed the sphere within the first quarter – plus his six punts contained in the 20 – and it was one other day the particular groups misplaced their battle. For a crew with accidents, particular groups must win a few of these days.
10. Subsequent week: Steelers at Dolphins. It’s the lone prime-time recreation that’s scheduled for the Dolphins and the plotline is the apparent one. Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores returns to Exhausting Rock Stadium and it’s an advanced return. Flores’ 24-25 report with the Dolphins was higher than the roster deserved or the group needed within the case of his first tanking season. His bigger issues had been merely getting together with individuals. He fired extra coaches in a shorter span than any Dolphins coach, beginning together with his offensive line coach 4 practices in. He then made the Dolphins not solely a part of the lawsuit in opposition to the NFL for racial discrimination however uncovered the crew’s want to tank by saying proprietor Steve Ross supplied him $100,000 for every loss and it additionally tampered with a big-time quarterback who was clearly Tom Brady. Welcome again?
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