During the month of November the Miami Dolphins turned a dreadful start to the season into something that should be admired.
Miami’s four straight wins, which became a reality with Sunday’s 33-10 domination of the Carolina Panthers, helped Brian Flores’ team rebound from the seven straight losses that preceded it.
So what’s next for the young and seemingly blossoming franchise? Can the Dolphins (5-7) continue to build on the team’s recent success, and can it get Miami back into the playoff conversation?
Here is the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s report card, evaluating how the Dolphins performed against the Panthers:
Passing Game: B
Tua Tagovailoa delivered his fourth 100-plus passer rating (108.3) of the season (8 games played), completing 27-of-31 passes for 230 yards with one touchdown. His knack for getting the ball out his hands quickly neutralized Carolina’s aggressive pass rush, which still managed to produce two first-quarter sacks. Jaylen Waddle had his first 100-yard receiving game, pulling down nine of the 10 passes thrown his way, turning them into 137 yards and one touchdown.
Running Game: B
The Dolphins remained committed to running the football for the sixth straight week, and the result was the team’s fourth 100-plus rushing performance of the season, and the second straight. Miami gained 111 rushing yards on 39 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns on Wildcat runs from Myles Gaskin. What makes this rushing performance even more impressive is that most of those yards came in the third an fourth quarter when Miami was trying to run out the clock to protect a lead considering the Dolphins had 34 rushing yards on 16 attempts at the half. But Miami’s 2.8 yards per carry average was the third worst of the season.
Defending the pass: A
The Dolphins limited Carolina passers to just 10-of-31 (32.2%) for 179 yards, no touchdowns and pulled down three interceptions. It resulted in a passer rating of 13.4, which was the lowest opponent passer rating in an NFL game this season, and the lowest for the franchise since 2003. Miami had a good balance of pass rushing and tight coverage against Carolina, which struggled with the Dolphins’ amoeba defense and the front line’s twists and stunts. If it weren’t for a 64 yards pass D.J. Moore caught on Miami’s secondary this would have been the perfect day for the defense.
Defending the run: A
The Dolphins contained Christian McCaffrey, limiting him to 35 yards on 10 touches in his final game of 2021 because of an ankle injury he suffered on Sunday. Miami also neutralized Cam Newton’s scrambling, holding the athletic quarterback to 5 yards on three carries. But Newton did score a rushing touchdown. The 64 yards was the lowest rushing total the Dolphins defense has allowed this season, and the fifth time an opponent was held under 100 rushing yards in the past seven games.
Special teams: B
The Dolphins special teams scored its first touchdown of the season when Justin Coleman recovered a punt Duke Riley blocked and got pushed into the end zone for the game’s first score. Michael Palardy put all four of his punts inside the Panthers’ 20, and all seven of Jason Sanders’ kickoffs went for touchbacks. However, Sanders missed an extra point, his first of the season. The Dolphins also continue to have a very pedestrian return game.
Coaching: A
The Dolphins offense appears to be getting it going, scoring 26 of the game’s 33 points. Miami’s run-pass-option offense appears to be thriving behind Tagovailoa’s efficient play. With five games left, Tagovailoa’s 70.5 completion percentage this season is the best in franchise history (min. 75 completions) and is second in the NFL behind Arizona’s Kyler Murray (72.7), and he’s not even working with a decent starting offensive line, or an arsenal of proven playmakers. Imagine what Tagovailoa could do with DeVante Parker and Will Fuller, who should be coming off injured reserve in December? The Dolphins need to start becoming more creative with the play-calling now that Tagovailoa is in a groove.
Stock Up
The development of receiver Jaylen Waddle, who is on pace to set the franchise record for rookie receptions, has been steady, and hasn’t even reached its full potential yet because there’s more that the former Alabama standout can do. If Waddle remains on his present pace of catching 6.4 passes per game, he’ll finish the regular season with 109 receptions, which would set a new rookie record breaking Anquan Boldin’s mark of 101, which he set in the 2003 season with the Arizona Cardinals.
Stock down
Austin Reiter had a low snap that cost the Dolphins an opportunity to score at least 3 points at the end of the first half, and if weren’t for an Isaiah Ford tackle that botch snap would have turned into a touchdown for the Panthers. Reiter, who’s battled through some injuries coming into in his fifth start for the Dolphins, eventually got replaced by Cameron Tom. It’s possible his run as Miami’s starting center could be coming to an end this week since Michael Deiter practiced all of last week and the Dolphins could get the season-opening starting center back from injured reserve against the Giants.
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