Make no mistake about it — the Arizona Cardinals still very much got “theirs” on offense against the Dolphins in Week 9. Arizona logged 442 yards of offense on the day, averaging 6.9 yards per play and scoring 31 points — the third time this season Miami has conceded 31 points. But, unlike the first two affairs, Miami did manage to claim a victory in this contest. It could have very easily have been worse for the Dolphins on defense considering that standout wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins logged just 3 receptions for 30 yards for Arizona.
But that didn’t materialize. How? Why? What happened to take perhaps the NFL’s best wide receiver out of the game?
The answer for the Dolphins was simple: Xavien Howard.
Yes, Howard was flagged on several occasions for pass interference while in one on one coverage against Hopkins, including one questionable call that saw Howard completely turned around to challenge the ball and Hopkins elevating to try to play it through his body. That particular call was so bad that all-time great defensive back Charles Woodson even had to speak up as the game unfolded.
Xavien Howard is allowed to go for the football bad call
— Charles Woodson (@CharlesWoodson) November 8, 2020
Don’t get it twisted — Howard’s first pass interference call against Hopkins was a mistake; Howard was in phase and simply had to work his eyes inside to find the football and he could have potentially intercepted the pass but he instead chose to continue to ride and bump Hopkins out of bounds while the ball was in the air.
That was the theme for much of the night as Hopkins looked to find space to work: he couldn’t shake free of the physical play of Howard for much of the game.
The Dolphins’ strategy says a lot about how the team views their cornerback duo. Recent signee Byron Jones may be the top-paid player, but Miami seemed content to let it ride with Howard shadowing Hopkins throughout much of the contest. In all, the numbers would indicate it was a success.
DeAndre Hopkins has been held without a target in the first half, with Xavien Howard shadowing him on 13 of his 15 routes (87%).
Hopkins entered Week 9 with the 4th-highest target rate per route (30.2%) in the NFL this season, min. 150 routes.#MIAvsARI | #FinsUp | #RedSea
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 8, 2020
Another high-profile matchup awaits the Dolphins next week as Miami hosts the Chargers and wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. One thing that the Cardinals’ game plan seems to indicate is that we should expect Howard to be the one to mirror Allen throughout the game. If he was up to the task against Hopkins, he can be up to the task against anyone.