3 Takeaways from the Miami Dolphins' Week 15 Win
The Miami Dolphins may be closing in on their first playoff berth since the 2016 season. They won't be seeing the AFC East-rival New England Patriots if they get there.
On Sunday, Miami beat New England 22-12 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, knocking the Pats from playoff contention. Meanwhile, the Dolphins improved to 9-5 and remain in the thick of the AFC wild-card race heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
Miami scored all 22 of its points in the second half, overcoming an early deficit against New England. It also avenged its Week 1 loss to the Pats, which came during a stretch in which the Dolphins opened the season with three losses in their first four games.
Things are looking much better for Miami now, as it has won eight of its 10 games since that tough stretch to begin 2020.
Here are three takeaways from the Dolphins' win on Sunday afternoon.
Tagovailoa Played Like a Leader in Second Half
It can be challenging for a rookie quarterback to go up against the Patriots, who have an experienced head coach in Bill Belichick and a solid defense. And in the first half, Tua Tagovailoa looked like a rookie at times.
In the second half, however, Tagovailoa made adjustments and led the Dolphins' offense to impressive results. He may have passed for only 145 yards and an interception, but he completed 20 of his 26 pass attempts. Most importantly, he scored a pair of fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns after Miami trailed 9-7 following three quarters.
Tagovailoa gave the Dolphins a 15-9 lead with 12 minutes, 55 seconds to go by scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run and completing a two-point conversion on a pass to running back Salvon Ahmed. Then, Tagovailoa sealed the victory with a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:17 remaining.
Still, Tagovailoa isn't satisfied with his performance, which helped lead Miami to victory.
"There’s a lot of things I need to continue to work on. It’s a continuing learning process for me," Tagovailoa said, according to Safid Deen of the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
But Tagovailoa showed why the Dolphins selected him with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft: He's a strong leader for their offense. And the 22-year-old could be coming through for the team late in games for many years to come.
Rushing Attack Didn't Miss a Beat Without Gaskin
The Dolphins hadn't had a 100-yard rusher in a game since Week 15 of the 2018 season. With starting tailback Myles Gaskin out after getting placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the odds didn't seem great for that drought to end. Yet, not only did Miami have a 100-yard rusher, it nearly had two.
Ahmed, an undrafted rookie, had a breakout performance, rushing for 122 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Matt Breida also had 86 yards on 12 attempts, as the Dolphins compiled 250 yards on the ground. Entering the day, Miami ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards per carry (3.6), so it was a needed showing.
It was the first time that Ahmed had played since Week 11, as he missed some time due to a shoulder injury. He returned with his best game yet, while scoring his second career touchdown. Meanwhile, Breida's carries and yards were both season highs.
"Ahmed ran hard. Breida ran hard. The offensive line blocked well," Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said, according to Paul Gereffi of the Associated Press. "It’s about execution, execution, execution."
If Miami can continue to run the ball like this moving forward (especially when Gaskin is added back to the mix), its offense could be more difficult to stop. And with Tagovailoa still inexperienced, having a potent running game should only help him and the Dolphins have success.
In Control in Playoff Race, Dolphins Have Challenges Ahead
The Dolphins are 9-5, and so are the Baltimore Ravens. However, Miami sits in the No. 7 seed in the AFC (the third and final wild-card spot), because it owns the tiebreaker over Baltimore due to having a better conference record. The Dolphins are also one game behind the other two current wild-card teams—the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts, who are both 10-4.
Miami controls its own destiny in this playoff race, so two more wins in Weeks 16 and 17 will be enough to get it into the postseason, regardless of other teams' outcomes. However, the Dolphins have two challenging road matchups to end the regular season, as they'll face the Las Vegas Raiders (7-7) and Buffalo Bills (11-3).
One positive for Miami, though, is that Buffalo could decide to rest its starters in Week 17, as the Bills have already clinched the AFC East title and likely won't have a chance to get the No. 1 seed (the only spot that will award a first-round bye). The Dolphins are likely to be more motivated to win that game.
But first, Miami may have to take down Las Vegas, which is still alive in the wild-card race but needs a lot of help to get into the playoffs. It will be a must-win game for the Raiders, who have lost four of their last five.
The Dolphins may need to take care of business on their end, as the Ravens' final two games are both against opponents they should beat—the New York Giants (5-9) and Cincinnati Bengals (2-10-1). So, it'll be important for Miami to keep its recent momentum going down the stretch if it hopes to reach the playoffs.