3 Takeaways from Dolphins' Week 16 Win

At the start of last season, the Miami Dolphins appeared to be one of the worst teams in football. They had stripped their roster of talent in the offseason and appeared to be tanking for a new franchise quarterback. They landed Tua Tagovailoa in the draft and looked to begin their rebuild during the 2020 season.

However, Miami's rebuild really began with the hiring of head coach Brian Flores, who made last year's talent-starved team a competitive one. With some key pieces added this past offseason—like Byron Jones, Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah and Kyle Van Noy—the Dolphins became a potential playoff contender.

Saturday's win over the Las Vegas Raiders moved Miami to 10-5 on the season and in control of a wild-card slot. If they win in Week 17, the Dolphins are in the postseason, and that's the biggest thing to take out of Week 16.

Here's what else we learned from Miami's 26-25 win over Las Vegas.

For the second time since he was named the starting quarterback, Tagovailoa was benched for veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. This time, the benching resulted in an epic comeback win at a pivotal point in the season. Tagovailoa will return to the starting lineup for the season finale, but he may not finish that game wither.

"Whatever we need to do to try to win, that's what we’ll try to do," Flores said, per Safid Deen of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Tagovailoa was mediocre before being pulled, amassing just 94 passing yards and leading the team to a mere 13 points. This isn't the first time Tagovailoa has been ineffective this season, and the rookie seems to be struggling to dissect and deliver against NFL defenses.

This shouldn't come as a shock. While rookies like Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and, to a lesser extent, Jalen Hurts have made the transition from college to the pros look easy this season, it usually isn't that simple.

Tagovailoa is a work in progress, and his growing pains could easily carry over into 2021. That doesn't mean that he can't be the franchise quarterback the Dolphins have longed for, but Miami is going to have to exercise patience.

Fitzpatrick delivered 13 points in late limited action and helped orchestrate an improbable three-play, 19-second drive for the game-winning field goal. He clearly has a better grasp of Chan Gailey's offense and can provide a spark when Tagovailoa is struggling.

Without Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins probably don't win this game. Miami has to consider bringing him back as quarterback insurance for the 2021 season.

While the Dolphins will risk landing a blow to Tagovailoa's confidence by keeping Fitzpatrick on the roster, Miami is in a position to continue competing in the AFC East. Miami and the Buffalo Bills are the two top teams in the division, and the Dolphins could potentially take over the top spot with just a couple of more pieces in place.

However, if Tagovailoa's learning process extends through most of the regular season, it could waste a prime opportunity.

Flores has done a good job of balancing the offense's competitiveness with Tagovailoa's development by moving Fitzpatrick in and out of the lineup. That should continue next season, and it would require bringing back Fitzpatrick in free agency.

Fitzpatrick may have won the game for the Dolphins, but it was Miami's defense that made the comeback possible. While it did allow 418 yards of offense, it also held the Raiders to just 25 points. Derek Carr was sacked three times and picked off once, and Las Vegas had four of its six scoring drives end in field goals.

Flores has built a playoff-caliber defense in a short amount of time, and it's going to make Miami a relevant force in the postseason—and likely into 2021.

No team has allowed fewer points in 2020 than the Dolphins, and only one team has allowed fewer passing touchdowns. The Dolphins have shown that they can hang with elite teams like the Kansas City Chiefs because of their defense, and they have shown that they can still when games when the offense is struggling.

This was a make-or-break game for Miami, and if not for some strong defensive efforts when it mattered most, the Dolphins would be on the outside looking in at the wild-card race.