Instant analysis from Dolphins’ blowout loss vs. Bucs in Week 5

The Dolphins were defeated 45-17 by the defending champs.

Everyone knew the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were a better team than the Miami Dolphins, and they proved it on Sunday when they beat Miami 45-17.

Tampa Bay had been coming off of two hard-fought games against the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots the past two weeks that kept their offense in check. They took out all of that energy on Miami’s defense on a beautiful day at Raymond James Stadium.

Tom Brady and his group of incredible weapons were able to do just about whatever they wanted against Josh Boyer’s defense. Xavien Howard and Jerome Baker, two of Miami’s defensive leaders, were getting burnt all day. They combined to give up three touchdowns, two to Antonio Brown and one to Giovani Bernard.

Maybe the most disheartening moment for Baker was a play near the end of the first half that saw Leonard Fournette completely lose him pre-snap and post-snap.

Miami’s secondary also gave up two late touchdowns to Mike Evans to seal the deal.

The defense was gashed all night. That was even the case on the ground despite Raekwon Davis returning in the middle of the line. Tampa Bay backs totaled 109 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown.

Offensively, Jacoby Brissett was able to get the ball out quickly on most attempts. He was decisive and on target with a lot of his passes, as he was pretty impressive even though he was dealing with an injury throughout the game.

One of the few times Brissett wasn’t able to step up resulted in a strip-sack by Shaq Barrett that was recovered by his teammate Ndamukong Suh.

Miami’s offensive line was moved around a bit before the game. Liam Eichenberg got the start at left tackle and Austin Jackson slid inside to left guard. Considering who was lined up against them, the line didn’t give their worst effort.

It wasn’t perfect. There were some positives and some very clear negatives.

There was a clear effort to get Myles Gaskin the ball, and it worked well. Gaskin brought in 10 receptions for 74 yards and two touchdowns, including this wheel route to give his team the lead in the first half.

Without Will Fuller (injured reserve), DeVante Parker (inactive with a hamstring), and Jakeem Grant (traded), Jaylen Waddle was targeted a number of times but only brought in two catches. He was also responsible for an interception for Jamal Dean that went completely through his hands.

Preston Williams made a few plays early but wasn’t heard from much late. They also got some help from Mike Gesicki who brought in four receptions for 43 yards.

On the call, Tony Romo brought up an interesting revelation. The former quarterback told the audience that co-offensive coordinator George Godsey was calling plays directly into Brissett and that was a change. While the Dolphins didn’t come out on top, the play calling wasn’t the issue.

There are no moral victories in the NFL, especially when your defense is shredded like this, but at least Miami got through this game without any major injuries and Tua Tagovailoa is expected to be back next week.

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